Developing Leaders & Building a Legacy
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact
  • Other Works

Cave Darkness & Leadership

10/2/2015

4 Comments

 
Picture
"Man I'd hate to be in the cave after dark"

That's me in full-on Dad joke mode. Trust me, I got some eyes rolling with it.

But there's something about being in a cave in the darkness. It's one of the coolest parts of a Mammoth Cave tour, when they flip the lights off and you're left in the still darkness of an underground tunnel. There's no light, no sound, no way to tell where you are. And then the guide said something that stuck: "Whenever people would get trapped down here, it wasn't the darkness that got to them. They could light a flame and find their way out. It wasn't the cold. It was the silence, the feeling of being alone."

There's so much for leadership that carries over. Leaders often find themselves feeling alone, whether it's real or not. The scary thing about being alone is not knowing if there's any help, any rescue, any support, or any hope. The loneliness of leadership can quickly lead to despair, discouragement, apathy, and maintenance mode. All of those are dangerous for a leader, the one who sets the culture and drives the ministry train. How can a leader guard against the feelings of loneliness? Here are 3 suggestions:

1) Lead with others, not just alongside others - When you make decisions or develop new initiatives, make sure others are on board with you throughout the planning and implementation process. Leading with others involves a sense of community and support among those leading, and creates a team mindset rather than a group. Leading alongside others without involving them in the process builds invisible walls around the leader (and around the others) that hinders cooperation and synergy.

2) Get out of the office - I heard someone the other day say "Have laptop, will travel." Love it. We don't need to be tied down to our office chair in order to get things done. Consider having meetings at a restaurant or coffee shop, and block off some time each week to do intentional, strategic thinking in a library. Getting out of the office also means interacting with your team members outside of the office. Do team lunches once a month, go out as families to a baseball game, or arrange to watch each other's kids so the couples can do date night. Interacting out of the office tears down the walls of isolation that trap so many leaders.

3) Network with other leaders - Sometimes leaders find themselves alone in the cave because they've shut themselves off from other leaders who might be able to help them. Networking can be done digitally, at conferences, local gatherings, or in the parking lot at the grocery store! When we network with other leaders, it's like the sharpening stone hitting the knife blade: it makes it sharper, more effective, and more fruitful. When we take time to refresh ourselves and spend time with other leaders, we're moving out of the cave and into the light.

4 Comments
best dissertation link
5/16/2017 10:40:13 pm

People who work in this type of cave is always in danger and anytime blast can hit them. The reason is that this type of the cave full of the blasting material and safety is more important for them. This is really nice information you give through this article.

Reply
best office chairs link
10/21/2017 02:53:15 pm

You made some decent points there. I looked on the internet for the issue and found most individuals will go along with with your website.

Reply
Washgin Gemz
1/20/2025 10:57:50 am

When the man I love broke my heart, I felt something did left me because I wasn't myself anymore. I had gone to several places for help and counseling yet, I got no results. Until I found [email protected] and I was introduced to Dr Muna by text +2347035449257. I explained my marriage issues with Dr Muna. I’m glad I trusted him by doing all he requested. He performed a spiritual cleansing to banish negative energies that was battling against the joy in my home and then casted a love spell. After 72 hours, the man I was missing began to call and after our conversation, he texted how much he badly misses me too. He apologized for leaving me in the dark and we got back together again.

Reply
Manuel Franco
5/12/2025 06:00:53 am


I promised Great Dr. Odunga to post this testimony and I really want to say "Thank You" to everyone who supported me through the years. My name is Manuel Franco, New Berlin, Wisconsin. My story of how I won the Powerball lottery of $768.4M is a bit of a tale. I was feeling very lucky that day because I had contacted Great Odunga to help me with the winning Powerball numbers. I really had that great great feeling that I looked at the camera wanting to wink at it. I only did a tiny part of it when he told me he would give me the numbers and trusted him. He gave me the numbers after I played a couple other tickets along with it for $10. I checked my ticket after the winnings came online and saw the numbers were correct including the Power play. I screamed for about 10 minutes because it felt like a dream coming into reality. I had won $768.4M. Thank you Great Odunga. Well, his emails are [email protected] and [email protected] You can also call or Whats-app him at +2348167159012 so you guys can contact him


HE CAN ALSO FIX THE FOLLOWING PROBLEMS. RELIABLE AND TRUSTED

Lottery Spell
Love/Reunion Spell
Pregnancy Spell
Protection Spell
Marriage spell
Healing/Cure spell


Contact him for any of these today:
EMAIL: [email protected] OR [email protected] also Call and WHATS-APP HIM +2348167159012.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Scott M. Douglas

    A blog about leadership and the lasting legacy of family ministry. ​

    Archives

    August 2023
    July 2023
    April 2023
    June 2022
    May 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    November 2021
    September 2021
    April 2021
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015

    Categories

    All
    Book Review
    Burnout
    Change
    Crisis
    Delegation
    Digital Presence
    Family
    Family Ministry
    Finances
    Goals
    Leadership
    Legacy
    Manhood
    Networking
    Parenting
    Personality
    Planning
    Relationships
    Salary
    Social Media
    Starting Well
    Student Ministry
    Teaching
    Team Leadership
    Team Ministry
    Time Management
    Vision

    RSS Feed

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact
  • Other Works