Leadership Mind Games

Being a leader is a big deal!

There’s so much more to it than people see as you carry the responsibility for others, and how you go impacts those you lead. When you grow, others have a chance to grow. When you stagnate, others will stagnate too. Furthermore, you are a target for other people’s struggles and issues, and for every compliment, more critiques are coming.

Have you been there?

Yeah, being a leader is not for the faint of heart, and I respect everyone who has embraced being a leader.

But like everyone else, leaders are navigating their mind games on a daily basis. I would suggest, that they are dealing with mind games on a different level because not only are they facing themselves, but they’re also facing what others are doing and thinking.

This can be a daily grind that pulls us up and down with the ebb and flow of conversations, conflict, and the leadership of other people.

After all, we as leaders have our own insecurity, self-doubt, and self-talk to navigate. If we’re not intentional with our personal growth, we can easily be overwhelmed by the weight of what and who we’re leading.

But there’s good news. If God made us a leader, then he’s empowered us to thrive in it and to win the leadership mind games.

I love this promise for us as leaders,

“For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.”

Philippians‬ ‭4:13‬

Notice, we can do everything through Jesus and that includes winning the leadership mind games we face.

So, what are these leadership mind games?

There’s a variety because all of us have different triggers; however, there are three that I believe are common for all of us.

First, am I good enough?

This is big because it plays on our past mistakes and the knowledge of our weaknesses. From this point the enemy loves to whisper, you can’t do this and you don’t have what it takes. This mind game can paralyze us into being indecisive and unsure of ourselves in the decisions that we make.

But here’s the truth, the areas of our weakness help us to connect to others. This is where people connect and respect us as leaders because people don’t want a leader that’s perfect, they want a leader that’s real. We all have strengths and abilities to lead, and at the same time, we all have weaknesses too. Our strengths give us the competency to lead, but it’s our weaknesses that connect us to the people that we lead.

So, when we hear we’re not good enough, we embrace it and make the areas of weakness a place of strength by being real.

“Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses so that the power of Christ can work through me.”

2 Corinthians‬ ‭12:9‬

Second, will I be successful?

Wanting success is an inherent desire we all have and maybe even more so for a leader. The responsibility of leading others in an effort, project, and goal has the desired outcome of success. But this is also a burden that is a mind game we navigate as leaders. The challenge is, that being overconfident is a trap and not believing in success sabotages the efforts before we start. Have you been here? Yes!

But here’s the truth, failure is a part of our journey. No one has a perfect track record, and if we’re honest, that wouldn’t be fun. The risk of it not working, and the tension of stepping out gives us the excitement we need as leaders. We didn’t sign up to make points, we signed up to make a difference, and the only way we do that is by taking risks.

Because of this, there will be times we fail and there will be times we succeed. But here’s the thing, if we learn from it and move forward, we are getting better and getting closer to the desired outcome we have.

God is with us and the path of a leader has ups and downs, but keep going and don’t give up. The best is yet to come.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

Jeremiah‬ ‭29:11‬

Third, is the comparison game.

Comparison is deadly. However, we all do it.

Every day we lean toward comparing ourselves to others, and with this, we either think we’re better than others or we think we are not. Both of these thoughts are wrong because God has NOT called us to be better than others or to be less than others. He’s called us to be the best we can be, and in the process, make a difference. When we compare, we’re not thankful, we’re not joyful and we’re not in the moments that God has given us. This breeds not having enough, not being where we want to be, and overlooking all the things we have.

But here’s the truth, when we seek to be the best we can be, we’ll be secure in who we are, and we can be happy for others too. When we have this perspective, we become big on the inside and rise to new levels in our leadership.

We must remember, that healthy people are happy for others, build others up, learn from others and support others. Their goal is to be better than themselves versus being better than others.

This is the leader we want to be and this is the leader we’re called to be. So go for it and defeat this leadership mind game.

“Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

Philippians‬ ‭4:7‬

I want to encourage you today, that you’re doing better than you think and your impact is farther than you see.

These mind games can be defeated because, with God, all things are possible. I pray God‘s blessings on you today and that you would have success in all that you do.

PD