Change

Today's devotional is from The Leadership Walk: Devotions for Leaders of Today and Tomorrow

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build . . ." Ecclesiastes 3:1-3.

This well-known passage from Ecclesiastes reminds readers that life is full of activities and events that are diametrically opposed to one another. Being born and dying are at opposite ends of the life spectrum and involve a series of changes leading from one to the other. The changes are drastic, however, and each change in these verses represents an end and/or a new beginning.

Leaders must help followers deal with change and sometimes that change is terminal, like the end of a product, service or staff position—or life itself. When something ends, it doesn't indicate that someone made a mistake; it is simply part of the cycle of life and death, beginning and end, conclude and start afresh.

LEADERSHIP STEP: If you are like most leaders, you love 'life' but avoid 'death.' You embrace the new but dread ending something that has been an important part of so many lives, including your own. You may even be avoiding the termination of someone on your team whom you love, but whose time to end their current position has come. Your Step today is to face the fact that there is a time for everything and to initiate or face that change with courage and resolve, even though you know it will cause pain.