Leading In The Storm by Andrea Leigh Capuyan

A Steward in the Storm

Storms, conflicts, or challenges leaders face at work or in ministry offer personal transformation opportunities. Hard times allow good leaders to learn, grow, and improve—to lead others better and serve more faithfully. Plus, the difficulties we face as we lead will change us if we let them.

The storm is raging all around me, and it is raging in me. How can God remain so still? Is he sleeping and unknown? How should I continue steering this boat when the strong winds blow?

If we let Him, He uses external chaos to expose our internal chaos. He will reveal those laces in our hearts where we are tossed to and fro…unsettled and untethered.

A Steward Perspective

A central tenant of a steward leader is learning our appropriate relationship to power, control, and an ‘owner’ mentality. A faithful steward must be willing to examine internal commitments to maintain control and dominance. A faithful steward must first acknowledge that God owns everything and is in control. It becomes a commitment and a continual part of our journey. And amid the storm, when what is true seems upended, and a safe harbor appears to be a distant shore, the refrain that God is in control becomes a daily, indeed, moment-by-moment prayer for a steward.  

When facing a storm and mounting chaos, the steward leader will pause and attend to their personal emotions, reactions, and inner turmoil. Perseverance is not a choice to ignore personal reactions and ‘white-knuckle’ our way through the storm. In fact, as leaders, if we do not examine what is stirring in us, our denial will contribute to what is raging, and the chaos will grow. Challenging circumstances can be an opportunity to deepen our self-awareness. It is an opportunity to allow God to form our character and reveal any strongholds or bitterness we might hold, Where arrogance can be exchanged for wisdom. Even while walking through difficulty, God invites us to wrestle and embrace all that confounds us as His image-bearers. I believe essential themes rise to the surface during challenging times when we can admit what we withhold from Him – what we need to entrust to Him.

Responsibility

A sense of responsibility is critical for any leader, manager, or decision-maker. Leaders who are not thoughtful and responsible are reckless. Yet, over time, as our influence expands, we can fall into the trap of overreach. We can begin to assume responsibility for matters. Which are not ours. In our relationships, churches, and organizations, we need leaders who will support the team, guard it, guide it, and have their back. Flourishing environments welcome risk, expect mistakes, and foster learning. Steward leaders don’t only have an environment; they also reflect these saviors. At the same time, there is a danger with the mentality ‘the buck stops here’ because it can entice a leader into micro-management. We believe we alone bear the burden of all the problems. We alone become responsible for fixing everything. We trade good leaders for actions that are more akin to helicopter parenting, impairing the growth of others—the desire to over-reach masks a desire for control and ownership.

Personal Change

First and foremost, taking responsibility must remain focused on personal change. We cannot change others. We can invite change, but we do not have the power to make people change. We can model personal responsibility. We can choose to hold only what God says is ours to hold. Acting with personal responsibility cultivates humility because we release our demands for control. We accept our boundaries and limits. We are willing to admit when we are wrong. Acting otherwise places a steward at loggerheads with God’s desires, will, and activity. It promotes dysfunction and burnout. The truth is this: Success is not all about us, and failure is not all our fault. If we are not “the savior of all”, then neither are we “the devil among us”.  Instead, we ask,

• How” am I contributing to the problems?
• Do I ‘hear’ an intern ‘l message that, ‘this is all’ my fault?” What might be behind his message?
• Who else shares responsibility in this situation?
• What are our options moving forward? What is each person’s responsibility for taking action?
• Do I allow others to try and fail? Do I allow myself to forget? What thoughts stir when I allow others to take responsibility? Do I worry? Do I make room for my own and others’ takes?
• What is God asking me to hold, and what does He want me to release?

Dependency

Thinking we must stifle our needs and cares when life turns sideways is tempting. The most powerful storms in reality will reveal our longings. In the doldrums, we can become numb to our personal needs.  It is dangerous to think a steward must be “need-less” and “want-less” while caring for the best interests of others. This is not true. This is not selflessness. When we deny our needs, we move toward resistance, operating independently of God and others. Adam and Eve, stewards of the Garden, were created to need one another’s help – so do we. We flourish in partnership, not in isolation. God created us to experience abundant life when we live fully open to Him and fully dependent on Him. This means we live in awareness of our needs. This frees us to create interdependent relationships around us. Steward leaders who move toward their neediness and dependency will be able to recognize others in the boat with them who, like them, are weathering the storm. They will move toward finding help and cultivating mutual partnerships.

Even in the worst weather, our Rescuer remains at rest. Nothing, externally or internally, that we face alarms, God. He is never anxious. As we face our storms today, I pray we will respond to His still, calm voice. We will respond to His invitation to understand what is happening inside us so that we can look beyond the storm to see He is at work. He is in charge. You can depend on Him.

Dear Lord, Jesus, a friend of sinners, have mercy on us.

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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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