Contentment, Complacency, and Control
Nov 2, 2024
3 min read
0
3
0
Servant Leader, there are three "C's" we should all be mindful of in our efforts to create a lasting legacy of service. They are contentment, complacency, and control.
First, as business leaders, rising stars, tenured contributors, or aging artifacts, we must learn to be content. We all face challenges that make us long for better days or wish we were somewhere else doing anything else. Those days bring trials that test our leadership skill, our relationship building, and our patience. They are the reason we look in the mirror and ask ourselves if we missed a sign or made a wrong decision.
On the flip side, we have days that empower us, recharge us, and create vast opportunities for us to grow, move forward, and improve our position. These are the days that reinforce our decisions. They codify our leadership skill into a style. They strengthen our relationships, and they remind us why we chose to do what it is that we do. These days are the reason we look in the mirror and remind ourselves of the right decisions we made and the signs and paths we followed.
As servant leaders, our challenge is not to seek to avoid the bad days and hunt constantly for the greener pastures of the good days; rather, it is to be content in either and to demonstrate to those in our sphere of influence how to trust God equally on the hilltops and in the valleys. After all, Paul reminds us of our charge to be content in all things in his letter to the Philippians.
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus...Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to [d]be abased, and I know how to [e]abound. Everywhere and in all things, I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. (Phil 4:6-7, 11-13, NKJV)
Paul leads us to my second point in today's blog. Contentment can lead to complacency, but complacency rarely fosters contentment. We are called to be content, not agnostic, lazy, or blind. As servant leaders, we must balance our responsibility to demonstrate righteous contentment with the temptation to let things lie. We cannot just go along to get along. We risk abdicating our responsibility to those in our charge if we allow contentment to morph into complacency. After all, Peter clearly warns us of the perils of being complacent.
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. (1 Peter 5:6, NKJV)
Servant leaders, we can be content without becoming complacent, and that leads to my final point today: Control, or more accurately stated, self-control.
Self-control is as much a choice as contentment or complacency. In the Marine Corps, we called it discipline, intestinal fortitude. Easily half of the Marine Corps' leadership traits (aka JJ DID TIE BUCKLE) point to self-control as a foundational principle. As a tool in your leadership toolbox, self-control is both grown and used daily as we face trials that challenge our contentment and risks borne out of complacency. Self-control is earned. It doesn't come naturally. It is the result of a mature approach.
And yes, the Bible speaks a lot on self-control. And in those passages, we learn that we are not alone. We are not facing new challenges. We are not expected to fail.
Therefore, let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. (1 Cor 10:12-13, NKJV)
So, Servant Leader, remember the Three C's of leadership: Contentment, Complacency, and Control. Be content in all things. Don't allow your contentment to make you complacent. And exercise self-control to avoid derailing the progress you have made.
(AI-generated image)
