An excerpt from chapter 13 of The Most Excellent Way to Lead .

At times in my leadership, I feel as if I’ve hit a wall. Other times I feel like I just can’t do it anymore, and the world and the church would be a better place if I quit. During those seasons, I neglect to realize that the Lord is with me and wants even greater things for me than I can dream of for myself.

In the midst of those discouraging seasons, the Lord always reminds me that He is with me and that I haven’t been called to do this alone. He hasn’t brought me this far only for me to fail now.

One of the most important things we can do as leaders, whether we’re in a family, a church or ministry setting, or a business environment, is to pray for an increasing awareness of God’s presence. When we see how great the Lord is, we’ll be compelled to attempt great things.

I love the honesty we see in the next verse of Psalm 23 :

Even though I walk

through the darkest valley,

I will fear no evil,

for you are with me;

your rod and your staff,

they comfort me.

Psalm 23:4

David didn’t say he never experienced dark days but rather that in those times, he became more aware of God’s presence, which gave him the strength to make it through.

How does this apply to leadership in our world?

It’s simple: leaders who always protect make themselves more visible in tough times.

One of the best things an organization can do when going through a tough time is to have a leader who is calm and visibly present.

People want to know that there’s a plan in place and that the right people are working on it. I say this because many times leaders have a tendency to run, hide, or even flat-out quit when things get tough.

If you want to be an excellent leader, you have to be willing to fight through your own insecurities and make yourself visible in order to provide certainty to your people.

This is precisely when they need to know that you’re still in the game.

Perry Noble  is the author of  Unleash!: Breaking Free from Normalcy,   Overwhelmed: Winning the War against Worry , and most recently,  The Most Excellent Way to Lead  He is the founding and senior pastor of NewSpring Church, which was rated #2 on the Outreach 100 America’s Fastest-Growing Churches list in 2013. His primary concerns are being a servant to Jesus Christ; a husband to his wife, Lucretia; and a father to their daughter, Charisse. Perry is also passionate about seeing people meet Jesus, leading his church staff, and pouring himself into other church leaders on a local and global level. You can find him online at  www.perrynoble.com .