Napoleon on Leadership- Be Honest

  I've been saying this before but Napoleon Dynamite is a literal treasure trove of leadership wealth...if you care to pick it apart!

  To the left is Pedro and Napoleon riding Pedro's sweet ride.  When Pedro takes his sweet ride out and does a jump off the ramp Napoleon says: "Wow, you got like 3 feet of air that time!"  Which was a dramatic over-statement.

  I think this is one of the best leadership lessons we can see from Napoleon and it is: "Don't over inflate...be honest!"

  Why is this such a big deal?

  Well, let's say Pedro believes Napoleon and thinks he really got three feet of air.  In his mind he may have achieved his goal and have a sense of mastery over the sweet ride he has.  He may never attempt to get better...even though he desperately needs to.  If we over inflate either our abilities or the abilities of those under our leadership, we run the risk of growth stonewalling.

  Also, it's deception.  I know, I know Napoleon was a character and his over exaggeration was hilarious in the movie but seriously, in real life, in real situations it's lying.

  Sometimes, we over inflate because we feel inadequate.

   Sometimes we over inflate because we feel the need to compete and make ourselves or our "thing" way better.

   Sometimes we over inflate because we know our "thing" or our very self is lacking and so we try to cover it up the lazy way by simply lying.

  I am well aware that the majority of my audience is Christian and that many of you reading this trust in Jesus...yet we (yeah I said we) do this.  And we need to stop it.

  As leaders we need to know we are more than adequate...not because of our abilities, but because of His.

 As leaders we need to know that we are in Kingdom work and any win for Christ (even if it's not "our" ministry) is a win for us.

  As leaders we need to know that when things in ourself or "our" ministry are lacking, lying and covering it up won't help.  We must seek Him to fulfill us, we must seek Him to enrich us and we must seek Him to help determine our steps.

  I come as one who is wrestling through this and one who is trudging through my own "issues" of over inflating.  I care way too much how it all "looks", but I must be honest.