Guard the Gates
Every kingdom faces attack. Some threats are negligently invited through the gates with a smile. Others arrive at night with torches.
Wise leaders know that stewardship is not just about building well. It’s also about guarding well.
But protecting the kingdom does not have to be about building walls of fear. Ideally, it’s more about creating firm boundaries with clarity and purpose.
In last week’s Stretch we talked about the leader’s sacred responsibility to steward their “kingdom” well – to embrace their role as a “benevolent dictator” over the organization they have built, shaped, and nurtured through blood, sweat, and tears.
Today we want to lean into our responsibility to defend the borders of the land we’ve been entrusted to govern.
Every healthy kingdom has a system of structure, order, and culture. But as that system is being established, refined, and sustained, it must also be defended.
Leadership is not just about vision casting and operational harmony. It is also about vigilant protection at the proverbial gates.
The first line of defense is internal.
Long before an external competitor threatens your success, internal compromise can threaten the soul of your organization.
Culture drifts more frequently through neglect and drift than rebellion.
When leaders stop clarifying the “why” behind everything they do, the team starts crafting their own interpretations. Before long, the kingdom’s walls begin to crumble.
Leaders protect their culture through consistent reinforcement:
Revisit your core values regularly.
Call people up to the standard, not out for missing it.
Seek to build a culture so strong that it naturally repels what does not align.
Encroachment is the next threat, and it rarely begins as an invasion. It often starts as a “small exception.”
A senior leader who bends the rules “just this once.”
A partnership that feels misaligned but “makes sense financially.”
A societal pressure that causes you to soften your message “just to avoid controversy.”
Wise leaders see these moments for what they are – tests of organizational and leadership integrity.
The longer you delay correction, the more ground you will lose.
Guard the edges early, and you will rarely have to fight at the center.
Leaders often confuse protection with control. But we also should know by now that fear-based control breeds rebellion.
It’s not about control. It’s about clarity
High-integrity leaders make clarity a priority through:
Clear expectations.
Clear consequences.
Clear communication.
When good people that know what is right and what is wrong, and when those standards are lived out at every level, they will defend the kingdom with you, not against you.
As noted above, though, it is not uncommon for the danger to lie within your own ranks. It may be a gifted but toxic employee, a team that operates as a rogue fiefdom, or a trusted lieutenant who has lost their way.
Protecting your kingdom means having the courage to confront what endangers it, even if it comes from the inside. Even if it costs you something personally.
This is where integrity is proven. The leader who fears discomfort will always lose. We must learn to value health over harmony.
In ancient times, watchmen were posted on the city walls to warn of danger long before it reached the gates. Today’s leaders must do the same.
Stay alert to shifts in culture, market, and morale. Pay attention to what others ignore. Listen for early warning signs in the hearts and voices of your people.
“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the people of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me.”
Ezekiel 33:7
The principle is timeless: The leader who watches over their people with care and conviction fulfills a divine trust.
Remember this: Every kingdom worth building is worth defending.
And while you cannot control every threat that comes against you, you can lead with vigilance, courage, and moral clarity.
Protecting your kingdom is not about fear. It is about faithfulness to your role as steward.
It is about ensuring that what has been built on purpose remains true to that purpose, even under pressure.
Guard your gates. Not to keep the world out, but to keep your values in and your vision alive.
Blessings to you, my friends!
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This Week’s Resource Recommendation:
"Nehemiah: Becoming a Godly Leader"
- Gregory Brown
From Amazon: Nehemiah: Becoming a Godly Leader is a fourteen-week expositional study of the book of Nehemiah. It considers topics like the characteristics of a godly leader, a godly leader’s priorities, cultivating a life of celebration, characteristics of revival, how a godly leader responds to discouragement, conflict, prosperity and promotion, the tactics of the enemy, and much more.
MMS 25-42
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