Developing Kingdom Leaders – Tom Yeakley

Taking the Mystery out of Leadership

Archive for the month “December, 2016”

26 Dec 2016

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”
29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. 31 You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”
34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”
35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. 37 For nothing is impossible with God.”
38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her.
The Holy Bible: New International Version. (1984). (Luke 1:26–38).

Posted in #1 KNOW- How a Leader Thinks and tagged ,
19 Dec 2016

The Cost of Following Jesus

When I was first around The Navigators, the vision of changing the world one person at a time took root in my heart.  Dana and I followed Him by leaving a promising career in equine medicine for the privilege of serving Him as full-time Navigator staff.  As I drove away from the clinic that last day, there was a great joy in my heart with little sense of sacrifice.

That calling eventually led to Indonesia with our three small children.  Five years of waiting for a visa and language study left us sitting in Singapore wondering if we would ever enter the country of our calling.  We did finally enter, but to lead an undergrad student ministry.  We never got to east Java, the role we have waited five years for.  Again the Lord’s faithfulness was evident as we thrived in a fruitful student ministry.

Ten plus years later led to an application for Indonesian citizenship.  But again our plans failed and we landed back in the U.S. with no clear future.  Months of waiting and trusting led to a move to Colorado Springs to join the Collegiate leadership team.  Three more years and I was leading the collegiate work with Dana.  Who would have imagined?

Transitioning the collegiate work led to a decade of coaching leaders in Europe and Dana serving with Nav20s.  Leader development contributions followed and finally a role these past three years as a Field Director for the Nations and serving on the NLT.  Not a clear career path for sure.

With each transition, move, and new responsibilities came new challenges and fears to be faced by faith and trust in His promises.  He has shown Himself faithful with each transition and surprised us with His wonderful goodness.  No amount of planning could account for the amazing journey Dana and I have found ourselves on.  There is no real sense of sacrifice, for His goodness far outweighs anything we have been asked to leave behind.

It continues as He has promised – to give back one-hundred times all that we may leave in serving Him (Mark 10:29-30).  May you too see the Lord’s faithfulness as you follow Him along the unique journey He has for you.

Posted in #2 BE - Who a Leader Is and tagged , , , , , , , ,
12 Dec 2016

Character Counts

Some time ago I found myself in a conversation with a man who was the chief head hunter for a Fortune 100 company.  He and his team hire 2000 new graduates each year.  I thought this was a great opportunity to gain some insights into university students from a new perspective, so I began to ask him some questions.

“What are you finding when you recruit these graduates?” I asked.

“Tom, we can hire those with top GPAs, work experience and internships, and resumes’ that are outstanding.  We offer them top salaries and benefits and place them in stimulating, cutting edge job situations.”

“Well, sounds interesting.  How’s that working for you?” I inquired.

“It’s a disaster!” he replied.  “All they want to know is when is the next holiday or how much vacation they get.  They don’t put in a day’s work for a day’s pay.  They have conflicts with their co-workers and supervisors.  They steal from the company.  They take the great salaries we give them and spend it on addictive behaviors, then we end up paying for counselors for them.

“That sounds pretty depressing.  What are you doing about this?” I said.

“Well, I will tell you what I tell my recruiting team.  We can’t put it in writing for we would be charged with hiring bias or discrimination.  But here’s what I tell the team.  When interviewing on campus, look for students who are leaders in The Navigators and other campus ministries.”

“Really?  Why?”  I said.

“We hire these people because they have character.  As we’ve looked at our successful hires, those who do well had this common background.  We can train new hires to do any job that we want them to do in this company.  But we can’t train them in character.  They either have it or they don’t.  Leaders in these campus ministries have what we want, so we look to hire qualified people who were leaders in these campus ministries.  They have character!”

This chief head hunter was not a believer!  But he and his team had figured out that character counts, especially when hiring leaders.  And they had identified a pool of potential leadership hires who had the essential character qualities that they were looking for.

Are you intentionally pursuing your Christlike character development?

Posted in #1 KNOW- How a Leader Thinks, #2 BE - Who a Leader Is and tagged , , , , , , , , , ,
05 Dec 2016

Guidelines for Leading Outside Your Comfort Zone

In Romans 14 and 15 Paul addresses the question of whether Christians should be complete vegetarians or is it acceptable to eat meat, especially meat offered in sacrifices at pagan temples.  Paul uses this specific case to address broader issues that eating habits for believers.

Below are 3 general guidelines for believers, especially leaders, who are called upon to make a judgment call where there is no clear biblical mandate.  As leaders it seems like we face these almost daily.

Guideline #1          Assume the Right Attitudes!

Romans 14:1 – Accept him whose faith is weak

Romans 14:5 – Be fully convinced in your own mind

Romans 14:13 – Stop passing judgment on others

 Guideline #2          Ask the Right Questions!

Romans 14:15 – Is my brother distressed?

Romans 14:16 – Is it spoken of as evil?

Romans 14:19 – Does it lead to peace and mutual edification?

Romans 14:20 – Does it cause someone else to stumble?

Romans 14:23 – Do I have doubts about it?

Guideline #3          Apply the Right Principles!

Romans 14:22 – Keep your convictions to yourself

Romans 15:1 – Strong yield to the weak

Romans 15:2 – Seek to please your neighbor

So, how’s your comfort zone in relating and leading others who have different beliefs than you do?

Posted in #2 BE - Who a Leader Is, #3 DO - What a Leader Does and tagged , , , , , , ,

Post Navigation

%d bloggers like this: