Serving Bread

I used to think of encouragement in leadership as letting people know in a gentle way that they could do better. When people affirmed me or when I affirmed others, it was under the category of being nice—not leadership.

In the past two years, God has been giving me a more profound picture of how affirmation operates in leadership. I’ve been observing how those who lead me use affirmation in leadership and I have realized how important of a role it plays when there is a specific affirmation that is true to me. Here is what I am learning about the role affirmations play in leadership:

• It confirms risks. So much of doing leadership is risking time, energy, money and resources for the sake of a greater thing. While I need to take care to not perform for others, when someone affirms those things in me, it confirms that the risks I have taken were valid and good.
• It confirms gifts. Leadership calls us to learn how to leverage our gifts (and passions) to lead people into God’s purposes. It is easier said than done to do that. Affirmation aids in confirming our gifts and how we use our gifts in ministry.
• It honors the calling. I believe I have a calling in ministry. There are often times where I don’t feel connected to that calling. Disappointments can make it difficult for me to recognize that I am still called to ministry or to my particular ministry. Affirmations help me navigate those waters.

I am sure there are a few more ways that affirmations play in leadership. Bobby Clinton of Fuller Seminary has editorialized in a post about the necessity of affirmations.

What has been an especially important learning curve for me is to receive my affirmations from God. While as leaders we can dish out affirmations and it is good to receive affirmations from others, ultimately, we have to learn to hear the voice of God. The Apostle Paul in Acts 18.9-10 and Jesus in Mark 1 and Mark 8 demonstrate how the voice and affirmation from God is necessary and important.

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