Are you able to find ways to encourage your team? (138-2)

Effective leaders find ways to refresh the spirit of those on their team. Read Proverbs 17:22.

Few functions of a leader are more important than keeping hope alive on their team. God loves us so much that He is pleased to encourage us over and over in His word; many of His promises are specifically designed to encourage us. According to Proverbs 17:22, there is even a relationship between being encouraged and our physical health. I like the way the Living Bible paraphrased Proverbs 17:22, “A cheerful heart does good like medicine, but a broken spirit makes one sick.”

A leader’s encouragement can be given under any set of circumstances. Your team can be on top of the world and a leader’s encouraging words will seal the joy in their hearts so that it is remembered years later or, according to the testimony of some of the guys returning from the Viet Nam war, even though they were imprisoned in a small cage for several years their life was saved by the leader in the cage next to them who gave them an encouraging word.

There are a few things a leader can do to be a more effective encourager:

• Be an example that your team respects. Once a leader is respected their words are taken as truth and become more meaningful. If you have failed in this area it’s OK, acknowledge that failure to your team and start now! It will take time but any leader can do this if they will work on their integrity and invest the time.
• Be truthful. Don’t distort reality. Soft pedaling or ignoring bad news is not encouragement and neither is hitchhiking on good news a long-term encouragement to a team. No matter what the reality looks like a Christian leader should focus their encouragement on their trust in the love and rule of a sovereign God. Encouragement isn’t grasping at straws; it is a deep commitment to a true hope that inspires others.
• Continually demonstrate your love for your team. One very effective demonstration of your love can be truly listening to your teammates and when the moment is right pray for them in their presence. This isn’t a long showy prayer but a targeted prayer that God, in His sovereignty, will meet the specific felt need of your teammate.

Are you able to find ways to encourage your team? This week look for one specific area where you can encourage your team (if not the whole team, at least one teammate who desperately needs encouragement). Christian leaders, who become effective encouragers, always link their encouragement to God’s sovereign power and their genuine concern.