We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5
This is the seventh in a series of posts in a book I am reading on my Philippines trip. It contains leadership insights from the most victorious team in sports history (winning percentage = 86% as of the writing of the book): The All Blacks, The New Zealand National Rugby Union Team.
‘The work we do is all about the control of attention,’ says Brosnahan. In pressure situations, he says, it is very easy for our consciousness to ‘divert from a resourceful state to an unresourceful one’, from a position of mental calm, clarity, and inner strength into what he calls ‘defensive thinking’.
We’ve all felt it — the sensation as our shutters come down, our horizons narrow and we find ourselves in an ever-tightening corridor from which we feel there is no escape. In this state we’re thinking about survival, says Brosnahan. ‘A negative content loop’ forms and our perceptions create feelings of being overwhelmed, tightening and tension.
This in turn leads to unhelpful behaviors — overt aggression, shutting down, and panic. We let the situation get to us. We make poor decisions. And we choke… If we can control our attention…we can focus on controlling the things we can control, without worrying about the things we can’t. We stay in the moment. We can lead with clarity.”
Bene Brosnahan as quoted by James Kerr in Legacy: What the All Blacks Can Teach Us About The Business of Life (London: Constable, 2013) 104-108.
What does ‘control of attention’ have to do with generosity? Everything. It means that we must stay focused. We need to fix our attention on things we can control. In a word, we aim at faithfulness. We let the fruit take care of itself because that’s out of our control. Thus, we live and lead with clarity.
When we lose our focus, everything unravels. Our generosity become enslaved to worry, to fear, to trying to make things happen instead of trusting God, and to aim at providing instead of depending on God to serve as our Supplier. In our everyday stewardship, this leads to poor decisions related to money.
What distracts you?
I will ask that question tomorrow when I speak in an all day seminar on The Council: A Biblical Perspective on Board Governance. When we keep every thought captive and fix our gaze on things we can control, we grasp life in the moment and bear fruit that lasts.
Ask God to help you control your attention.