The influence flowing out
Is determined by the source flowing in
As leaders there are constant demands on us. Our ability to give out and meet those demands will determine our level of influence and ultimately our level of leadership. I’m sure you have heard the saying before about being river not a reservoir. The thing is, the only way you can be a river is to have a continuous source fueling you. If there is no source a river will become a dry creak bed with no life giving ability.
I remember several years ago being given the opportunity to teach a class I had never taught before. I had some experience with the subject but I had never put anything together in a way that could be taught and replicated by others. All of the sudden I felt like a huge creek bed with only a trickle of water flowing through it. That wasn’t going to be helpful to anyone. I had to increase the flow and quickly.
Luckily we live in a digital age and I was able to connect to a wide variety of sources. I was pulling out all of the stops. I was reading voraciously, mentoring with people and spending countless hours of time integrating all of the information into something useful. My dry creek bed soon filled up and I was able to be a source for many others.
It’s one thing when we are thrust into a situation where we know we need more to be able to handle the demands on us. It’s quite another thing to have the demands increase incrementally. Unless we are intentional about cultivating sources of input for all the areas of our life we can find ourselves being drained instead of having a fulfilling flow for people to drink from.
What areas of your life do you find yourself drained? Is it your physical energy level, your ability to manage your emotions, your thinking, your relationships, your creativity, your production or maybe your leadership? Maybe it’s time to look at the source flowing into those areas.
River channels are self-formed dynamic features that have the ability to alter the geography around them. The kind of influence you have as a river is determined by the impact from the sources flowing into you.
