The Challenge for Leaders to Focus By Andrea Leigh Capuyan

Are you able to focus on the here and now?

It can be challenging for leaders to focus on the here and now. Projecting vision and evaluating future opportunities are critical skills for effective leadership. Yet, always looking ahead can be dangerous because we can uncouple from our current reality. Fearlessly pursuing something emerging on the distant horizon can lead to mission drift. Wisdom anchors our imagination of “what can be” to “what is.” Wisdom invites us to be leaders first in the here and now.

We must ground ourselves in present reality when our imagination is propelled forward. Wise leaders will understand how their vision of ‘what might be…’ is influenced by their memory of ‘what was…’ Visions of the future can often be built on relics of the past. It is not just the remnants of shared human history; instead, it is our kaleidoscope of former dreams and past choices that can blur our sight.

Philosophers remind us of the importance of self-reflection and self-awareness.

“The unexamined life is not worth living.” – Socrates

“The heart has reasons that reason knows nothing of.” – Blaise Pascal

Scripture invites us to an even richer intersection of knowledge and truth. Jeremiah challenges us.

“The heart is deceitful above all things,

and desperately sick;

who can understand it?

I, the Lord, search the heart

and test the mind…”

“Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed;

save me, and I shall be saved,

for you are my praise.”

Indeed, our finite insight and twisted thinking can derail a proper understanding of self without God’s penetrating wisdom. The good news is that God knows us truly. His Spirit plumbs the depths of our hearts and brings to light everything entangles us to false thinking and former loyalties. God does not conduct a secret mission of our soul. Our transformation is done in partnership with Him. He desires to reveal what is hidden and to make what is unknown known if we pause and ask. He invites us to join Him in understanding how our past strategies can become entangled in our present decisions.

I am not one to negotiate. I don’t haggle or bargain. When faced with a choice, more often than not, I boil everything down to ‘yes, I can do this’ or ‘no, this isn’t for me.’ For many years, I saw this as a personal quirk. A manifestation of a personality wired for a ‘get it done’ mindset. And then there came a moment when a negotiation sidelined me. During a dialogue, I suddenly felt my chest tighten, and an inner wall began to form. I felt resistance and even resentment beginning to build. I became aware that my reaction did not sync with my present circumstance. I asked for a pause. I wanted time to consider options. And more than that, I wanted to know what was happening to me. I needed to delve deeper into personal reflection and prayer. And what came next was something akin to a veil being lifted. Through reflection, prayer, and the help of others came discovery. The result was my recognition of a personal pattern where I thwarted conversations and usurped decision-making because I was “re-living” old situations of being trapped and deceived.

A history influenced by trickery can help one develop discernment and powerful instincts. However, that same history can also cement patterns of rigid thinking and irrational assumptions. It is true that our past hones our God-given strengths. Also, our past can fortify a personal unspoken commitment to survival strategies. Left unexamined, our leadership is an unhealthy cycle of harming self and harming others, spiraling downward to the detriment of the ministry. Left unexamined, we lead behind walls of resistance and resentment. We are stuck.

As you think about ministry opportunities and long-term forecasts, where do you see your assumptions impacting your assessment of current circumstances? How are your leadership and the organization guided by unknown legacies from YOUR personal history?

My hope is that you and I can be leaders who prepare for tomorrow and are responsive to today because we are not blindly driven by yesterday.

Lead from the here and now.

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Andrea Leigh Capuyan serves on the Center for Steward Leader Studies board and is executive director for the LPC – a local ministry helping individuals impacted by unintended pregnancy, reproductive loss, and post-abortion recovery. Andrea also provides coaching and consultation, assisting others in experiencing abundance as a leader. She is a Credentialed Christian Nonprofit Leader (CCNL) with the Christian Leadership Alliance. She holds a master’s degree in organizational leadership from York University.

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The theme of the Outcomes Conference, April 29- May 1, 2025, is SEEK FIRST.

Here and now, we invite you to explore everything planned for you!

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 Current Team of Five Rate: $3,196

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