Bush v Kerry

Well, it's official. John Kerry conceded defeat-- with a lot of class, I might add. And, President George W. Bush accepted the Presidency of the United States for a second term around 3 PM this afternoon.

We can all take a deep breath and our televisions won't be hijacked by Presidential debates, spin, Swift Boat Ads, Michael Moore and other such propaganda for a while. I guess.

This was, by far, the most fiercely fought election in my history and maybe one of the fiercest in American history.

I'm captivated by President George W Bush and the 'would-like-to-be-President' challenger, John Kerry. It's been a lesson in leadership to watch these two guys run for office. Some lessons are things I want to remember to DO and some lessons are things I want to DO NOT.

• I do want to be clear about who I am and where I'm headed as a leader.
• I do not want to use public opinion polls for every decsion I make, for some decisons -- popular or not -- are still the right decisions. (check out Jesus, John the Baptist, Paul, Daniel, Moses, Abraham, Joseph, et al)
• I do want to work harder on 'who I am REALLY'.
• I do not want to spend time, energy, money and relational currency trying to appear as other than I am.
• I do want to be consistent in all that I do.
• I do not want to have to keep a notebook to remember which story I made up for which audience.
• I do want to be a fully deovoted follower of Jesus Christ with no pretense.
• I do not want to hide behind 'media spin' to appear better, bigger, or stronger than I am.
• I do want to be more like Jesus.
• I do not want to more like people who are not like Jesus.
• I do want to advance a Kingdom that is even more vital than the United States of America.
• I do not want to live a small life in the shadows with those who are content to watch others work to make a difference.

So, I'm thinking about things I do want to do and about things I do not want to do.

I bet that the Presidential campaign has brought leadership thougts to your mind as well. I'd love to hear about them. Just hit the 'comments' box below and fire away.

Thanks Senator John Kerry and President Bush for great lessons in leadership.

Jeff

p.s. If you are a 'rising leader' who's excited about advancing the Kingdom of God, then you'll want to grab some great FREE resources over at www.risingleaderalliance.com