Leadership is not limited to CEOs who have a wide span of organizational responsibility; I’m referring to life leadership. I’m talking about spiritual influence; Kingdom of God influence. Each of us has been planted in particu- lar places among particular people whom we might bless and benefit by sharing something good we’re receiv- ing from God’s Kingdom. Our influence would be the overflow of God’s very presence filling us and spilling from our lives in ways that bring refreshment, encouragement, and holy energy to others. Our influence will grow as we cul- tivate a way of living and working that feels far less draining over time and far more energized by the Spirit to the point of overflowing. We will experi- ence more and more moments when we feel as if we are living and leading from abundance, rather than out of sheer willpower or our own detached- from-God human efforts. Let’s learn together how to more closely follow Jesus in his way of being open to the people the Father brought across His path. Let’s learn how to put down our agendas and welcome divine surprises that weren’t on our calendars or to-do lists. Let’s learn to stop labeling as interruptions to our work what may actually be God-given opportunities to do His good work in that moment. Let’s learn to make good plans rooted in our fellowship with God, but may we hold those plans loosely enough for Him to guide us when we implement them. Jesus has invited us into this reality of an ongoing conversational relationship with God. I love this way of living and leading. Spiritual Leadership O ne of the ways inner hurry has hampered my leader- ship is when I’ve rushed to the conclusion that I am not a leader because I am not like a leader I admire. That person seems more like the ideal leader than me. But many leaders like me are more like Timothy than Peter: more tempted by fear than by pride, more likely to be self-deprecating than self-promoting. Unhurried leadership operates from a peaceful confidence that God has made me, that God is remaking me, and that God has invited me to live a life of influence from that very place and as that very person. God is making me to be the person of influence I was meant to be. Some people might want to call being an unhurried leader “spiritual leadership.” There’s truth there, but I would use that phrase with caution. Some will hear spiritual as meaning somehow detached from the real life of parenting, earning a living, paying our bills, mowing the lawn, and such. I use spiritual, however, to describe the most essential inner reality of who we are. Therefore, I don’t limit spiritual leader- ship to a leader’s prayer life, moral character, or religious observances. Spiritual leadership is leadership rooted in the deepest reality there is: living in vital relationship with God through Jesus, and then bearing the good fruit of that communion. Furthermore, the term “spiritual leadership” can help us remember that while what leaders do matters immensely, who leaders are matters even more. Of course what leaders do matters, but we sometimes overesti- mate the impact of things we leaders do and pay insufficient attention to the impact of who we are becoming. And who we are is the substance that fuels our actions. Are we becoming more generous, more others-concerned, or more patient? How might such a person 46 WWW.CITYGATENETWORK.ORG MAY/JUNE 2019 Unhurried leadership operates from a peaceful confidence that God has made me, that God is remaking me, and that God has invited me to live a life of influence from that very place and as that very person.