Currently my blogs are looking at the importance of healthy cultures
producing healthy Churches/Christian schools. I want to discuss what contributes to good and bad cultures.
A common trait that is often found in unhealthy cultures is negativity. Negativity breeds attitudes of defeat which leads to negative results and behavior.
Personally, the
attitude we take into each day will largely determine the outcome of
that day. If we choose to be pessimistic about the prospects of the day,
then our pessimism will be rewarded! If we are worried about the
impossible challenges of the day, then we will surely find ourselves
overwhelmed.
Alternatively,
if we choose to begin each day with a positive attitude, then we will often experience a moment, a decision, a result that is positive.
I was taught that one of the ways to survive in ministry is to surround myself with positive people. I found this to be true. Negative people sap the life out of me. Positive people energise me.
This truth can be said about leadership. Negative leadership - the type that says "we've tried that and it didn't work", "no it can't be done", "we don't do that here" - saps the life out of any good idea or forward thinking. Positive leadership looks for ways to see a good idea become a reality, even if finacnes are tight. Positive leadership says, "it can be done".
Spiritually speaking, negative leadership often reveals lack of faith. Sure tough times will always challenge progressive leadership, but such times don't have to dictate the way we operate. Under God, through prayer and with collective wisdom, there needs to be evidence of positive faith. When the disciples met together with Jesus they asked Him to "increase their faith" (Luke 17:5). The context for why this was being asked was that Jesus challenged them to forgive. The disciples knew that forgiveness can be hard so they wanted the faith necessary for such radical forgiveness. But Jesus didn't directly answer their question because the amount of faith is not as important as its genuineness. In
fact the Believer’s Bible Commentary says that “the reply of the Lord
indicated that it was not so much a matter of the quantity of faith but
of its quality. Also it was not a question of getting more faith but of
using the faith they had”. And so they could have faith as small as
mustard seed and still see some amazing things.
I believe leadership that has positive culture exercises more faith in the God who is able. As Christian author and apologist Zig Ziglar wrote: "Positive leadership will let you do everything better than
negative thinking will".
