Have you ever heard the saying that “every person, in any given interaction, is either a thermometer or a thermostat”? Think about it. What does that saying mean to you? A thermometer simply measures the temperature, but a thermostat sets the temperature and the conditions for the temperature (heat, cold, off). The thermostat is the person who will influence and change others. Do you want to be a thermometer or a thermostat? Do you want to simply let people tell you what to do and just follow them, or are you willing to step up and be a leader and influence others? How will you accomplish this?
A leader doesn’t need to be the “boss.” Real leadership is not about a title. How is this true? Good leaders “connect” or “network” with those around them. People do business networking through conventions, parties, after hours functions, etc. Most all “networking” efforts are
self-seeking in nature. We try to meet people with the mentality of what they can do for us. “It’s about who we know.” Old School mentality is that if you increase your rate of failure, you will naturally increase the rate of success. Essentially, the more people you meet and give
business cards, the more opportunities for rejection. But at the same time, the more opportunity you have for at least some person to call you.
Has church become the same way? The more people we can meet, the more tracks we can hand out, the more chance of more people getting saved, right? We “know” people, but do we really invest in having a relationship and influencing them? Do we invest in bringing out the best in them without expecting anything in return? Isn’t true leadership about serving others?
Mark 10:31 “But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”
Matthew 20:25-28 “Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
Comments (3)
Most people don’t really have quality relationships anymore. Whether at work, in our families or out and about, we don’t want to invest the energy or even take the risk of disappointment.
If we don’t develop relationships in our personal lives, how can we expect to develop relationships in our business endeavors?
Are we that lazy? That selfish?
A lot of people are out for themselves. Some not intentional, but we all want ourselves to succeed. Sometimes we sacrifice quality to see our own selves succeed. We are a selfish world, so I would say, yeah we are that selfish. In our world, “It’s all about me” and making sure I get what I need. I think we are that lazy too. We are always go, go, go in life. So when we have a moment to slow down we take that time for ourselves, making sure we have that me time.
I think one reason we fail to develope relationships is that it might force us to face issues we might not want to deal with. Some of us are shy, intimidated, or insecure with who we are. All of these things make it hard to develope a real relationship. We tend to live in fear of what people will think of us and we begin to pull away and refuse to interact. Combine that with a culture that is telling us that something is wrong with us and you have a recipe for disaster. Despite all of this, it is ultimatley up to the individual to over come these insecurities and emerge on top. Coincidently, to do this you really need the support of real friends whom you have a real realtionship with.
Some of us just have to step and reach out first. If enough people do so, maybe we can create role models for real relationships.