Are You a Chicken or an Eagle?

Leading people takes great courage. Courage does not mean to be empty of fear, courage is revealed when we do something in which we are afraid. I am not fearless, but I am (usually) courageous. ;)

I remember walking into the lead CEO's conference room with the “biggest suits” in the company. I was presenting a business case with my CIO to build an IT platform that would improve compassionate care, help our company grow, and give us business insight we had never had before. The room was much like something you would see in a movie. Although many of those sitting around the table knew me and I considered them “friends”, I can’t begin to tell you how intimidating it felt to be in that room! Honestly, it had nothing to do with the person at the helm, and everything to do with the level of scope and responsibility of those sitting around this large board room carried. My team and group leaders had ensured I was ready. They tested me, played devil’s advocate and challenged me at every turn. You may think, how was that helping? All great ideas can withstand a challenge. All great teams are led by people who encourage “push-back.”

These meetings have a packed agenda and each presenter is one line item on a list. You wait outside the room until your team is called in to present. My team had worked for months to build the business case and strategy. The entire team was excited about the possibility of building the tool, and I truly believed would change the way we led care across the country, but frankly, I am sure the person presenting before me and after me felt the same way.

Eventually our name was called and there was just no opportunity to screw this up. I sat down at one end of the table, there were about 15 people on each side and the lead CEO sat at the other. These things never go as planned, you can have the best “presentation” in the world, but you have to learn to just follow their lead. It is like a dance. I must know every step in the dance, but be prepared to follow the lead of those in the room. Be bold, but not too bold. Listen and understand why the question is being asked. Show passion, but not loss of control. Demonstrate confidence but not cockiness. Be executive, but not disingenuous. All in all, be cool, calm and collected by being courageous and of course...know your stuff!

This can be really difficult, but the only way I know how to do this is to trust God. He says, “For I am the Lord your God who holds your right hand, who says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.’ Isaiah 41:13

With that, I can walk into any board room without fear. The outcome of the above situation was one of a Hallmark movie, all happy endings. :)

What if that is not the case, did God fail us? Was he not there? The above was a great outcome, but I have also had the opposite. Right before Jesus was captured to eventually be hung on the cross, he was afraid. He was 100% man and 100% God. In Matthew 26, Jesus knew He is going to be hung on the cross in a brutal death. He also knew that Jews had to sacrifice animals to “pay” for their sin and justify them. God is just and cannot be around sin. A perfect sacrifice had to be given to justify the sins of all humans for all time, and that was Jesus’s sacrifice through his death. Basically he had the “vaccine” for sin…the cure. He could have decided not to die, but He loved us enough to sacrifice Himself for us. That does not mean he was not afraid and He was Jesus! He even asked God, “…if it is possible, let this cup pass from me…but if this cannot pass unless I drink, your will be done.”

The reason you can have courage is through your TOTAL trust and faith in God. It is not about the outcome, but about your ability to obey and follow God’s path regardless of the outcome. I have not wanted to leave an organization more than once, but obeyed. I have prayed for troubles to go away, but they didn’t. I have prayed for circumstances to change, but they stayed the same. If God had listened to me, I would not have been prepared for what He had coming. Sometimes, He did give me what I prayed for, just in His perfect timing. If we enter all possibilities, all situations, and all opportunities with complete trust that God is in control, regardless of outcome – courage is easy.

It is not about us, it is about Him. We were never in control. Say that again – I was NEVER in control. We have the most powerful God of all time and existence. We are HIS child, if you trust and believe in Him. There is no doubt something happened 2000 years ago and people are still talking about it.

I do promise this, if you want to feel joyful, peaceful, strong, courageous, and loved while being blissfully sure that you are completely out of control…trust God.

Stop being a chicken pecking at worms in the ground.

YOU ARE NOT A CHICKEN. YOU WERE NEVER PLANNED TO BE A CHICKEN. YOU ARE IN GOD’S IMAGE, AND HE IS NOT A CHICKEN.

YOU ARE AN EAGLE!!!

Be an eagle, soaring courageously toward the Son.

Isaiah 40:31

But those who trust in the Lord will renew their strength, they will soar on wings like eagles, they will run and not become weary, they will walk and not faint.