Discernment, discernment, discernment.  The most important aspect of leadership.  That’s right, discernment.

To really understand and process discernment you have to drill down into people’s lives.  To do that, man, all Hell will break loose.  All Heaven will break loose as well.  You’ll discover who is with you, who’s just for you, and who ultimately will use you. Discernment, though, is where it’s at.  It’s not passive, it’s active.  We either lead out of discernment or denial.  Denial is like, “Out of sight, out of mind.  I don’t want to upset the apple cart.”  Yet if you live in denial for too long (and I have before) one day you’ll look and there’ll be no apples in the cart! 

Discernment is the way to go.  Discernment will stretch you.  Discernment will keep you focused on the vision.  Discernment tells you who you will reach and who you will not reach.  When it comes to leadership, it’s all about discernment.

I’ve studied leaders for a long time and a friend of mind, at a recent conference told me something I thought was so profound about leadership.  It was Pastor Mac Reshard.  Mack said,

“Ed, let’s face it.  We lead the way we parent.”  We need discernment in this hour in every slice of life.  It’ll take you places you never dreamed possible.