Noel Castellanos Responds to Session 2
Let me jump right in and introduce Noel Castellanos as our guest blogger. His reflections on Carly's session will definitely swirl around in your heart and invite you into a moment of thankfulness. We are so grateful he has been able to share with us his thoughts around the impact of Carly's session on him.
A bit about Noel, he currently serves as the Associate Executive Director of the Christian Community Development Association. He has worked in full-time ministry in the Latino community since 1982, is a highly sought after speaker, motivator, and mentor to young Latino leaders throughout the USA. He has a deep passion to serve and invest in the lives of emerging Latino leaders.
Here are Noel’s thoughts:
“The conclusion of Carly Fiorina’s talk this morning hit the bulls-eye of my heart with her response to Bill Hybels’ question about being fired from Hewlett-Packard: “There is a gift in everything. I would not change a thing. If I had not gone through that experience, I would not be here talking to you all this morning.”
Immediately I began to reflect on some very tough moments in my leadership experiences in ministry, and I was challenged regarding my willingness to see these low times as a ‘gift’ in my life. To take it one step further, can I from the deepest places in my being consider that some of the pains and injustices that I feel have been inflicted on me by others, be embraced as a gift from God to help forge my character as a leader and more importantly, as a servant of Christ?
I was personally encouraged by the interview with this very accomplished woman. With so many credentials (none more impressive to me than her majoring in medieval history) and a spot at the top of the corporate world, Carly’s story did not have a fairy tale ending. The fact that she was willing to embrace that she was not only ‘released’ from her high profile job, but fired, made me want to listen to what she had to say even more intently.
Rebounding from personal or ministry failure is more common than most of us as Christian leaders are willing to admit (or feel permission admitting). We long to believe that God can redeem our deepest failures and disappointments. We long to trust that in our darkest moments. That He will bestow His grace on us in such a way that would not only sustain us, but will make us stronger as individuals and as leaders. In our best moments, we know that Christ is with us, and that all things work together for good for those who love the Lord and are called according to His purposes. (Since we have often comforted others with these words, it is only fitting that I use these words to try and encourage myself.) Finally, we long to come out of failure the way it seems Carly has: with grace, with optimism, with honest admission of her hurt, and with integrity.
I am certain I would have received a great deal from this session if I had only heard our speakers wisdom about motivation, teamwork, and the importance of leadership development, but truth be told, I was mostly touched by her strength in humility.
The Apostle Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians 12:10 come alive as I reflect on what I heard this morning:
“That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
In a world that is fanatical about leadership success, it is essential for me as a Christian leader to never forget that (my) weakness always opens the door to depending of the strength of Christ instead of depending on my own effectiveness and success.
I will read Carly Fiorina’s book, Tough Choices, with great anticipation. I expect to find a greater confirmation to a reality I have come to experience in my own life; that I have learned much more from my leadership failures than I have from my leadership successes…Maybe that is why I can consider these experiences as a gift from God.”
Kristen here, throwing it back to you. How has your leadership been transformed because of low experiences, failures, or setbacks you have experienced? How do you lead differently because you have experienced those times?
