Who is the person you depend on for clear guidance and wise counsel? That person empowers you to maximize your life.

We have heard the old saying, “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” No one of us is omnicompetent. Each of us has defining strengths and limiting weaknesses. We do some things easily and naturally. Other things are more of a challenge, perhaps even impossibilities. 

It was Dirty Harry who said, “A man has got to know his limitations.” This is true for women and students as well. I am facilitating a LifePlan this week. In reviewing my client’s assessments (Insights Discovery, APEST, and CliftonStrengths), I see a remarkably consistent and focused man. 

Here is a man who knows his strengths. The question he is pondering these days is how to maximize those strengths in the next season of his life. This is a focus worth pursuing. What steps are you taking toward the same goal?

King Joash was well acquainted with his limitations. He became king when he was a child. Fortunately, he had Jehoiada the priest to guide and instruct him. Jehoiada lived a good, long life. He died at age 130. Joash always did the right thing as long as Jehoiada was alive. When Jehoiada died, Joash experienced the challenges associated with a lack of guidance and instruction. There was no one to ask the hard questions or to help him find the best path forward.

All that had made him so successful beforehand was removed and not replaced. The Farmers Insurance advertisements say, “We know a thing or two because we’ve seen a thing or two.” Jehoiada knew a thing or two. Joash needed his guidance as a child, a teen, and a young man. He also needed someone like him when Jehoiada died. 

We are at our best when we have people in our lives who can provide clear guidance and wise counsel. Who do you depend on for these essentials? Who do you invite to speak into your life? Who can question you without fear of your anger and displeasure? Who do you trust to help you plot a better path?

A Dallas businessman wrote a book called, You and Your Network. Fred Smith, not the FedEx guy, provides clear guidance and wise counsel for leaders. He writes about the kinds of people we need to maximize our lives in a manner that honors God and serves others. Bobb Biehl provides similar instruction in his book, Mentoring. 

Leaders who went fast without wise guidance can tell many a painful story. Learn from their mistakes. Cultivate relationships with those who see where you are blind and who are strong where you are weak.