When I spent time onboard a ship the very last alert you ever wanted to hear was ‘Fire’!
When you heard that, no matter how small or large the flames were, there would be a response crew of 10+ people that would attack the fire and put it out as soon as physically possible. I was on a logistics supply vessel that carried different kinds of fuel for different kinds of ships and aircraft. So I am sure you can appreciate that any fire on board needed taking care of QUICKLY! 

When you go camping there is a reasonable celebration at the sight of flames. It represents a central place to your camp site, it is where you can cook food and keep warm if the elements call for that. 

In Leadership there is often a temptation to respond to every problem small or large, in the same manner as a ships fire crew would respond to a fire on board a ship. 

Not every problem is a crisis! Problems happen and problems are a part of leadership. One of our jobs as leaders, is to be problem solvers. Often a leader comes ALIVE at the sight of a complex problem that needs solving. It’s a buzz to be faced with a problem and being able to solve or sort it out. 

Bill Hybels (Leader of Willow Creek Church in Chicago, Illinois) says: ‘Problems – that’s the land where leaders live’. 

But as a leader you don’t have to sort out every single problem yourself. A problem may be an opportunity to identify what the organisation needs to focus on next. It may be an opportunity to grow an emerging leader. A problem that arises may shine a light on something you as a leader have been sensing but couldn’t definitively identify. 

Sometimes you may need to allow a problem to run its course to see if someone steps up to sort things out – so would help you identify a leader in the making. 

Problems like fires have their uses and not all problems need to be squashed, extinguished or taken care of.

You can very easily find yourself spending huge amounts of energy tackling every problem as if it were a large, consuming critical one. Just like the fire crew on a ship does with the sight or alert of any flame.

Start to view problems that arise in a different way! View them for their uses and opportunities. 

Jesus gives us this promise: 

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