Do this when you're criticized
Do you ever have doubts about your leadership ability or credibility?
It's normal to doubt at least occasionally. In reality, not everyone can be our raving fans. Some think we're weak, some mentally roll their eyes when we speak, others smile in front and stab in the back. Even the most popular leaders have critics.
Can I tell you that you should self-doubt less often? As leaders we're going for the big picture. We should want mostof our followers to like us, mostof our strategies to work. We won't get a hit on every swing.
While people may not be happy with us all the time, they are not our first priority. We are first to be righteous – have right standing with God. This is the act of a servant leader: to obey our own King before we lead anyone else.
We wonder how to be servant leaders and yet be in control and in authority – this is how.
Let the critics criticize, but let the leader obey. It's ultimately for the people's good.
When the godly are in authority, the people rejoice (Prov. 29:2a, NIV84).
And yet criticism still comes. When you can't escape it, here are a few quick (and tweetable) encouragements from Scripture:
"Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing..." (1 Pe 3:9) Even when they criticize your #leadership!
"If you suffer for doing good & endure it, this is commendable before God." (1 Pe 2:20) A form of #leadership integrity.
"For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men." (1 Pe 2:15) Strike back with good!
"If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed..." (1 Pe 4:14) Have you been blessed lately?
The Apostle Paul shared our pain. He was the ultimate trailblazer and rarely without detractors:
"...[A] great door for effective work has opened for me and there are many who oppose me" (1 Cor. 16:9).
Excerpted from Servant Leader Strong: Uniting Biblical Wisdom and High-Performance Leadership, by Tom Harper (DeepWater Books, 2019). For more information about the book, visit https://deepwaterbooks.com/.
 | Tom Harper is publisher of BiblicalLeadership.com and executive chairman of Networld Media Group, a business-to-business publisher and event producer. He has written five books, including Servant Leader Strong: Uniting Biblical Wisdom and High-Performance Leadership (DeepWater Books, 2019) as well as the Christian business fable Through Colored Glasses and its sequel Inner Threat (DeepWater, 2022). Learn More » |
More on Conflict & Criticism
- Unique problems grow you uniquely (by Richard Blackaby)
- They tried to quiet Charlie Kirk—but the gospel still speaks (by Bob Russell)
- The power of an unoffendable heart (by Tom Crenshaw)
- How did Jesus deal with animosity? (by Chris Bolinger)
