How a leader can tap into the thoughts going around the office

Tom Harper April 25, 2019

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An omniscient point of view would be nice to have as a leader. I’d love to know the thoughts of the people I work with, sort of like an author who knows what’s churning inside the characters.

Sometimes we may think we know what’s going on inside someone, but as the disciples admitted in Acts 1:24, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart.” They didn’t understand the heart of man, and neither do we.

But we do have a source of insight into people’s minds: God’s Word. Scripture strikes deep into people’s hidden thoughts and attitudes, shining a light on our inner lives (see Hebrews 4:12).

So, if we lead based on biblical principles, we’re going to get past people’s facades and walls more easily. In this post, I’d like to give you a few tips from the Word to help you discern what’s going on inside people.

First, Proverbs 12:23 (NIV) says, “The prudent keep their knowledge to themselves, but a fool’s heart blurts out folly.” When someone is characterized by speaking every thought that comes to their minds and rarely listens or learns anything, not only are they prideful, they’re a fool at the core. Drama and nonsense motivate them.

If you’ve got a person like this on your team, you can save time and frustration for everyone by recognizing this “blurting” habit and addressing it quickly.

We can also look for outward cues that reveal someone’s inner thoughts and motivations. In a meeting, people’s countenances are telling. Proverbs 15:13 says, “A happy heart makes the face cheerful, but heartache crushes the spirit.”

Another way to mine a person’s inner self is to get to know their life outside of work. It doesn’t just improve our relationship with them, it tells us what their general attitude is, which will affect their work.

Proverbs 27:19 says, “As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart.” In other words, if they lead a generally peaceful life, they are peaceful within. If their life seems out of control or full of negativity at home, you can bet they’ll carry that attitude into work. Home life becomes office life.

The more we read and employ the Bible for everyday leadership, the closer we get to the Holy Spirit. Through this relationship, he often reveals small parts of people’s inner lives to us. We can ask him for discernment and wisdom about people so we can help them and lead them better.

This post is based on Through Colored Glasses: How Great Leaders Reveal Reality - A Biblical Leadership Fable (DeepWater Books 2018, by Tom Harper).

Photo source: istock 

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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 »

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