complaintIf you are a leader, on any level, people will misunderstand you.  They will have their own thoughts on what you should and shouldn’t do.  When you go against what they want, they may complain.  Hopefully any complaints made will be directly to you, but chances are that they will be made to other people.  Here are some ways to survive when you find out someone is talking negatively about you:

  • Be honest with yourself.  Remember how many people you have talked negatively about.  This will help you remember that although it is painful to receive, you have been the sender too many times to hold a grudge.  This should help you to stop talking about others.
  • Be even more honest with yourself.  Is their any validity to the complaint?  Even if you disagree, see if there is anyway you can use this information to grow in anyway (sometimes you can’t, but we need to try.)
  • Be confident.  God called you to lead whatever you are leading.  You are the person God created to lead what you are leading!  There is great strength in that. 
  • Wait.  If you feel like you need to address the situation, cool your jets.  Don’t be defensive.  Care more about the person you are talking to than defending yourself.  Christ does that constantly for us, we are too be Christlike.  I wish I could say “don’t take it personally” but I always take it personally.  I invest so much into what I do, that it is apart of me.  I take it personally, but it doesn’t mean I have to react to a negative in a negative way.
  • Read James 1

James 1:1-2
Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds,
3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.