Leaders inspire with hope, see possibility, and keep people tethered to a vision. They're the bridge between reality and possibility. They chart the way forward. So why are limits so hard to accept?
Join Jenni Catron, CEO of the 4Sight Group, as she talks more about "3 Good Reasons to Heed Limits" in her latest LeadCulture Podcast.
By the end of this session, you'll possess a newfound appreciation for the art of self-leadership, ensuring you're well-equipped to steer others toward success.
We need your help to get the Lead Culture podcasts in front of more leaders! There are three simple things you can do that truly help us:
Leaders inspire with hope, see possibility, and keep people tethered to a vision. They're the bridge between reality and possibility. They chart the way forward. So why are limits so hard to accept?
Join Jenni Catron, CEO of the 4Sight Group, as she talks more about "3 Good Reasons to Heed Limits" in her latest LeadCulture Podcast.
By the end of this session, you'll possess a newfound appreciation for the art of self-leadership, ensuring you're well-equipped to steer others toward success.
We need your help to get the Lead Culture podcasts in front of more leaders! There are three simple things you can do that truly help us:
The Art of Leadership Network. Hey leaders, welcome to the Lead Culture Podcast, part of the Art of Leadership Network. I'm your host, Jenni Catron, CEO of the 4Sight Group. We're a company dedicated to helping leaders develop thriving teams. Each week, I'll be your guide as we explore practical strategies to equip you with the tools you need to lead with clarity, confidence and build unstoppable momentum in your organization. My mission is to be your trusted coach, empowering you to master the art of self-leadership so you'll learn to lead yourself well, so you can lead others better. Each week, we take a deep dive on a leadership or a culture topic. You'll hear stories from amazing guests and leaders like you who are committed to leading well. So let's dive in and keep learning on this leadership journey together. All right, friends. So before we get into today's episode, I want to remind you about the Art of Leadership Live coming up in Dallas, Texas, on September 16th through the 18th. This is hosted by my good friend, Carrie Nieuwhof, and he is gathering leaders to help you level up this season. Over three transformative days, you'll engage in a series of powerful talks and conversations on your spiritual and emotional health as a leader, strategic growth and creating a healthier future for leaders and, specifically, church members. So this is an event where you'll sit down and listen to keynote speakers for eight hours a day. Instead, it's carefully designed with the perfect balance of teaching, connection and free time so you can find the right insight and actually act on it. With a select group of leaders, you'll be able to have the safe, unfiltered conversations that you can't have anywhere else. You'll learn strategies that challenge and change you and build connections with the right people. You'll leave having set up the foundation you need to grow your church and leadership and have a blast while doing it. So, church leader friends, this is something I want to make sure you check out. Early bird pricing is available for a limited time by visiting the artofleadershiplive. com Again, that's the artofleadershiplive. com to learn more and secure your ticket today. All right, friends?
Speaker 1:Well, I want to dive into a topic today on the idea of limits. I don't know about you, but I'm not a fan of limits, and so today we're going to talk about three good reasons to heed limits in your leadership. So what sparked this for me is that recently, I was pursuing an opportunity that I was pretty excited about. I love opportunities, I love big ideas, and not only was it something that I thought I would enjoy, but it also would enable me to be closer to family, be able to help, kind of the future, of 4Sight- I saw all these reasons why it made sense on a lot of different fronts. And, you know, I kind of started out a little cautiously optimistic, you know, a little measured, but with each step it seemed like this opportunity was really going to become a reality. So I got a little more excited, right.
Speaker 1:And then a major roadblock emerged unexpectedly and the idea was dead. Right, it was done, it was over. You know, I had hit the roadblock and that was the end of it and I found myself limited by a circumstance really beyond my control. I'm sure that's not foreign to you, right, like so many times we find ourselves in situations where it's beyond our control, right, like we have no control over the outcome. And I was frustrated, as any one of us would be. I just I hate limits. I pride myself on being someone who gets things done, someone who can find a way to overcome an obstacle or make things happen. That's just my nature. It's like it's not if we can do something, it's just how is typically my perspective around it.
Speaker 1:And so I found I just got kind of curious about this frustration that I was feeling with that limitation, because, probably like you, as a leader, I'm energized by possibilities, I'm inspired by ideas. A sense of momentum is engaging, it's energizing, it keeps me going, and this nature of limits actually I was realizing to a degree really comes with the territory of being a leader. We juggle both right. We juggle the hope and inspiration and seeing possibility. That's a big part of what we do as leaders is we help keep people tethered to the vision. We help people see what's on the horizon. We're that bridge between reality and possibility, and so we really are focused on moving forward.
Speaker 1:So what I find in myself is, anytime something is inhibiting forward motion, anything that's inhibiting momentum, for me as a leader is incredibly frustrating. And so I just began to kind of look at this and unpack this, because when I do look back at some of the limits I've experienced, I see the good in them, right, that sometimes limits are a really good thing. I think they have a purpose, and that is when we're wise leaders, we pay attention to the limiting factors that we face. So here are three good reasons that we, as leaders, should heed limits. The first one is that not all possibilities are good, and maybe that sounds obvious, right, but I think a lot of times as a leader I can talk myself into anything being a good idea, but the reality is not all ideas are sound, and so I have to be conscious of that.
Speaker 1:I can get caught up in the thrill of momentum and begin to believe that every idea will work out and that no possibility is bad, like I can kind of turn anything into a good idea. So we begin to believe that we're invincible and we keep plowing forward as if we are. There was a season in leadership for me where the team and I were really we were growing at such a rapid pace this was about 15 years or so ago. We were growing at such a rapid pace that we were really in way over our head, but we were just chasing the momentum so much that we didn't even realize it, and there's a bit of a sense of invincibility, a little bit of arrogance in that. As I reflect back on it and I think it's important for us to be more aware of that, both personally and organizationally of are we just plowing forward, thinking that we're invincible and that we can charge through anything.
Speaker 1:Because limits, if we pay attention to them, can help us slow down to evaluate and discern what is essential and necessary for the moment or the season. So I want to encourage you to pay attention if you hear yourself or your team say, oh don't worry, it'll all work out, if you just kind of slap that or, somewhat dismissive, you kind of just slap that disclaimer on there and we'll figure it out, it'll work out, it'll all be okay. If you're saying those things, let that be a caution. That might be true, but I think if you hear those phrases, it's a caution sign to maybe, hey, we need to pump the brakes a little bit here and see if this is a good idea. Leaders, we know this, but there's a difference between faith and foolishness, and discernment is really essential for that.
Speaker 1:Number two. Ignoring limits hurt to you and those you lead, and again, more obvious in hindsight. But I think when we come up on resistance, we need to pay attention to this, because by the nature of our drivenness, we're not comfortable with complacency. Anything that feels like we're slowing down, we're pausing, we're stopping feels like complacency, and we don't like it. At least I don't. And so when we've not learned to manage our sense of urgency. We put the proverbial pedal to the metal and we go all out right, like if we're not comfortable with things being slower in some seasons or we're not super aware of that sense of urgency and drive that's within us. We just kind of keep plowing forward, and when we do this, we often lead disaster in our way, don't we? Sometimes our health suffers, our family might suffer, our teams and their families might suffer. Every circle of influence is impacted when we don't recognize and respect limits. And think about that. You can probably reflect on a stage or a season in your life or journey where maybe it was you or it was your team, where you were just plowing forward and you saw the impact after the fact right. So understanding what drives and motivates us as leaders is imperative, because when we abuse limits, we hurt ourselves and we hurt the people closest to us.
Speaker 1:Number three limits give us perspective. When we're moving too fast, we don't have time to observe the landscape and take note of what's around us. Right Like it is, like you're just blowing by things, it's a blur. So in a way, we have tunnel vision and we can miss other concerns that might need to be considered. So, again, you're moving so fast that you kind of have blinders on and you're not seeing other things that maybe you really should be paying attention to. When we're limited by something maybe it's time, it's resources or an unexpected roadblock it forces us to kind of pull out and get a wider view right. Like all of a sudden, you're looking up, you're looking out, going okay, what's going on? What are we missing? Is there another way? Do we need to slow down? Do we need to go another route? Like once when you hit a little bit of resistance, it causes you to just look up, look out and ask some better questions. So, used intentionally, limits may provide perspective that helps us see another way forward.
Speaker 1:I once had a mentor say to me there are nine other numbers between zero and 10. And what he meant by that was that my leadership doesn't have to be all or nothing right. When we recognize limits, we become more keenly aware of the pace that we need to lead at, and different seasons call for a different pace. Sometimes you need to be running at a nine or a 10. And sometimes you need to be slowing down to a two or three. And so extraordinary leaders learn and appreciate the value of limits. You just get the fact that you know what limits might be telling me something. That resistance or that roadblock or that detour might be telling me something, and so I need to take a closer look at that. So I want to encourage you just to think about that today.
Speaker 1:These three limits I'll read them again for you. The first one is not all possibilities are good. The second ignoring limits hurts you and those you lead. And number three limits give us perspective. So I want you to think about that. What might be limiting you, your team? Maybe it's been a frustration, maybe it's, you know, you've been going over these speed bumps and you just keep plowing forward and your whole team is exhausted from it. And so maybe you need to slow down and look at these, those limitations, and see what they might be telling you and is there a different way to approach them? And I want to leave you with this.
Speaker 1:This is a prayer from Ruth Haley Barton's book Strengthening the Soul of your Leadership. It's one of my all-time favorite books. If you haven't checked it out, I want to encourage you to do so, but I want to read you this prayer that she has in there, because I think it applies to this topic. She says, god, help us live within the limits of both as individuals and as an organization. Help us give our very best in the field that we have been given to work and to trust you to enlarge our sphere of action if and when you know we are ready. Help us know the difference between being driven by grandiose visions and responding faithfully to the expansion of your work in and through us.
Speaker 1:All right, friends, I hope that got you thinking today. Maybe it will spark a good conversation for you, your team, your leaders, to just pause and reflect and look at the limits that might be impacting your leadership. And what are they telling you? All right, I am so glad you joined us today. Thank you for listening. Thank you for being a part of a LeadC ulture community. I'm so grateful every time I get to connect with one of you and hear how what we're sharing on the podcast is helping you lead well. So let me know what you thought of this week's episode.
Speaker 1:Connect with us on Instagram and Facebook at Get4S ight that's G-E-T, the number four, s-i-g-h-t or on LinkedIn at the 4Sight Group, and I would love it if you would share this episode with another leader. If you haven't done it yet, would you leave that five-star review? We would so appreciate it and it helps us know that we're creating great content that's equipping you to lead well. And if you're looking for more leadership resources to help you and your team thrive, sign up for my free insights newsletter at get4sight. com. That's G-E-T, the number four, s-i-g-h-t. com. Go check that out, lots of resources on the website. If you haven't been there, there's a free culture blind spot assessment. There's a ton of articles, free resources that you can download. But also make sure you're signed up for the newsletter so that you hear the latest that we're sharing every week. All right, friends, thanks for listening today. Keep leading well and we'll see you next week.