LEADERS ARE POWERFULman’s energy. Work is not a curse but a blessing! It is this high energy level
that enables effective leaders to work longer hours...stay up later...study
harder...read more books...conceive more ideas...pursue more goals...
make more contacts...write more letters...make more phone calls...train
more people.
It is because of this principle that leaders are generally energized by their
work. A lot of leaders are prone to over-extension and over-work. Many
leaders tend to be “workaholics” because they enjoy their work so much.
For most people, a vacation is an escape from work for a period of time.
Most leaders find it hard to ever truly “take a vacation from their work.”
Wherever they may go, they carry it with them in their mind and are
constantly musing about it. For many leaders a vacation is something you
complete in order to get back to doing what you intensely enjoy – your
work! A leader’s pace often brings fatigue to others around them (my wife
often reminds me of this); while it energizes the leader. It is boredom
and inactivity that fatigues leaders more than their work! My wife and
I often compare our personalities and temperaments like this: I relax by
doing something, while she relaxes by doing nothing. One is not better than
the other, it is just the difference in our temperaments. Like everyone
else, leaders get physically tired and fatigued. More often than not, they
are energized and nourished by their work – because it is their life. They
are refreshed, refurbished and refired through the accomplishment of a
meaningful goal. Only after they have completed the task...finished
the job...reached the goal can they truly rest!
This principle can be seen in a situation in the life of the Lord Jesus. He
had just completed an unusually busy time of ministry. By the time that
He and His disciples had walked from Judea to Galilee to Samaria, they
were tired and hungry. The disciples went into the town to buy food.
Hot, tired and thirsty, Jesus sat down at Jacob’s well. There He had the
encounter with the Samaritan woman that transformed her life. Later the
disciples returned with the food and said: “Rabbi, eat something.” Jesus’
response must have shocked them: “I have food to eat that you know
nothing about.” Now they were really confused! They began to ask each
other: “Could someone have bought Him food?” Then Jesus told them:
“My food...is to do the will of Him Who sent Me and to fi nish His
work” (Jn. 4:27-34). Do you see the principle? They were physically tired
because they were spiritually spent. The very act of ministering to the