It’s usually sad when a person is institutionalized.

When your aging grandmother becomes too confused to take care of herself, her children institutionalize her.

When your elderly uncle becomes too weak to live alone, your cousins institutionalize him.

When a child with a physical or mental disability can’t function in normal society, he or she is institutionalized to keep them safe and help them survive.

Institutionalization is about protection, not propagation; guarding, not going; building a defense, not mounting an offense.

It’s often necessary for the weak—or the wayward; we institutionalize criminals, too. But when thriving enterprises become institutionalized, it’s never a positive sign of strength.

Last week I shared three key principles for leading long-term:

1. Have short-term memory. (Don’t let yesterday’s missteps sabotage today’s potential.)

2. Simplicity saves souls. Complexity causes confusion.

3. Make one next good decision each day. (Otherwise you’ll become overwhelmed or distracted, or both!)

These are not isolated ideas; each one leads to the next, and so let’s move from the third principle to the fourth.

I’ve discovered my life will be richer and my ministry more effective if I set goals for myself. I’m talking about personal goals, in addition to the goals leaders are setting for our congregation.

But setting the goals is just the beginning. Checking myself against my goals is key, of course, and June 1 prompted me to look again at the goals I set in January. Let me share them with you and tell you why each one is important to me.

My friend Brook Brotzman calls it “The Art of the Hang.” If you get together with people who will challenge or encourage you, you’ll discover there’s no better way to spend your time. If you just hang with leaders who care about your ministry, your ministry will be better for it.

Here’s a fact every leader must face: leadership is a fight. Yes, the leader will enjoy positive experiences and wonderful people, but meanwhile he will be forced to tackle one battle after another. Here are six fights you must face when you step into the ring of leadership.