My Bucket Overflows…and I’m Not Afraid To Admit It
This first book in our final course on leadership was well timed and helpful in the season of leadership that I’m in. The best analogy I have for this week was feeling like a bucket that was full of water and overflowing, but the hose was still on and pouring water into the bucket. Transitions between summer and school, at work and at home, and important decisions in the different leadership roles I am in have left me feeling inadequate and overwhelmed.
Humble Leadership was a gentle and powerful reminder that my insufficiencies and limits as a leader can be turned into an asset instead of a liability. Somewhere I picked up along the way that leaders need to have all the answers. It was the leader’s job to know what to do next and where to go, on their own and without input from those around them. Then, the leader would prove their ability by how many people followed them to the right destination. Thankfully, this is not good leadership.
Throughout this program my leadership has grown and deepened into much of what Humble Leadership is about; cultivating Level 2 relationships in the organizations I am a part of take time, but are more effective and healthier in the long run. I realize that I need to trust the groups I am leading with, and the presence of God among us, to know how to move forward in the challenging terrain we find ourselves in during this time and place. This type of leadership was exemplified clearly in Humble Leadership’s reference of Captain David Marquet and his book Turn the Ship Around. In that book Marquet mentions the power of admitting leaders don’t have all the answers. He says, “I realized I didn’t have to know everything. My job was to make sure the ship ran well, not to give all the orders or have all the answers.”[1] Marquet had a clear picture of what his role was on the team that he was placed in and it wasn’t to know everything or have all the answer. He had the humility to admit he didn’t have the answers. He continues later in this book to state even more clearly this leadership deception that leaders should know it all: “We’re taught that the captain is supposed to know everything, give crisp orders, and be in control. But if the success of the ship relies only on what the captain knows, we’re in trouble.”[2]
Humble Leadership was a fresh reminder that good leadership involves honesty and humility in the development of level 2 and level 3 relationships in organizations. And it takes the leaders at the top or the center of these organizations to help make these lasting changes. In many of the leadership spaces I’m in I am at the top or the center and the temptation to have all the answers has been strong, even this past week. But the times this week that I’ve relied on the intelligent and committed women and men around me to discern the next steps, as well as the reliance on the Holy Spirit, have been much more fruitful than the moments that I’ve done my own thing.
This leadership truth reminded me of another leader during a perilous moment in the history of the nation of Judah, as the large army had surrounded Jerusalem, threatening to destroy it. 2 Chronicles 20:3-4 says “Alarmed, Jehoshaphat resolved to inquire of the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all Judah. The people of Judah came together to seek help from the Lord; indeed, they came from every town in Judah to seek him.”
Its important to note that in his alarm, Jehoshaphat ‘resolved’ to seek the LORD and invite others to do the same. Later on in the chapter the king says this powerful prayer, “For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”[3] This is another powerful example of a humble leader, under duress, living out humble leadership and seeking the Lord and inviting others to join him.
This book and its timing this week, has reminded be that the battles I am facing are not mine alone. Yes, I have agency, and responsibility and a role to play, but God has put others around us to collaborate and lead with and, ultimately, has given us His Spirit to walk with us and fight alongside us.
So, if you’re water bucket is also overflowing, I would remind you to show up and stay humble as a leader in whatever you are facing into this week!
“Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the Lord will be with you.’”[4]
[1] (Turn the Ship Around!, p. 30 in the 2013 St. Martin’s Press edition).
[2] (Turn the Ship Around!, around p. 46–47).
[3] (2 Chron. 20:12) NIV.
[4] (2 Chron. 20:17) NIV.
About the Author
Ryan Thorson
Follower of Jesus. Husband. Father. Pastor. Coach. I am passionate about helping people discover the gift of Sabbath and slow down spirituality in the context of our busy world.6 responses to “My Bucket Overflows…and I’m Not Afraid To Admit It”
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Ryan, isn’t it a gift to know for certain that the Lord is with us? I’d love to know: how do you choose the leaders with whom you surround yourself? And how do you choose whom to lean on when?
Ryan,
I too, have felt like I have been leaning into the ideas in this book for a while. But, I don’t want to humble brag… 🙂
Learning to discern what we should do and what we ought to allow others to do is always challenging. How have you discerned along the way what to do yourself and what to give to others?
Good thoughts. Ryan. I too have felt, and still feel the pull to be the expert-hero leader. What are the internal drivers and external factors that create this for you?
Keep pressing on, brother.
I could resonate with many of your thoughts, Ryan. As you said above, developing Level 2 relationships takes time and effort. How do you discern who and how to invest in to get to a Level 2 and above?
Hey Ryan! I appreciate your thoughts and how you incorporated Jehosophat into the dialogue. How do you thinking incorporating Level 2 has affeceted your leadership?
Hi Ryan – I truly see you as a humble leader and think you set a great example for all of us. Have you observed any spaces where it is more natural to operate as a humble leader than others? Personally, I find that when things are going well, it’s easy, but in a crisis, it becomes much more difficult. I’m curious what your experience is like.