Servant Leadership

Some quotes from my reading this morning. These are powerful:

"Ministry is a tool to make the lives of everyone in the community better"..."not a tool to be used to see how far I could go."
- Matthew Barnett at the National Leadership Forum.

"If you want to be a good servant leader, you've got to have the right perspective....and you have to believe in the power of one person to make the world better."
- Tim Sanders

"What makes the difference between callous and good leadership? Courage and humility."
- Megyn Kelly

"Maybe we aren't all created to be Gandhi, bit I think we all can live those moments of greatness"
- Erwin McManus

"Good leaders need to come down from their platforms and serve the people"
- T.D.Jakes

" A winning corporation gives people great lives and it gives them a chance to give it back."
- Jack Welch

These really launched my day strong today.

Assigned Roles

One of the things that leaders are assigned to do is to assign tasks. Remember that no matter where you are in the leadership ladder, you have leaders above you. I appreciate it when my leaders spend time with me and assign me tasks that compliment my interests and abilities. I need to do the same for those who might be waiting for assignments from me. Generally there is a close connection between one’s interests and one’s abilities. We enjoy doing things we are gifted to do. Some of the most frustrated people I know are the people that are assigned roles by leaders who have not built a solid relationship with them. If you feel weak, incompetent or insignificant, you will likely underperform today. My prayer for you is that you will be given the opportunity to be key figure in your game rather than simply a pawn in someone else’s game. I pray that you will find someone who will put confidence in you today as they share knowledge with you. Your part will be to enthusiastically respond to that with efficiency and appreciation for the opportunity.

…Luke 12:48 “For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required…”

Gathering the Courage

In my lifetime eleven different people have taken the oath of office to be President of the United States. The event still holds me spellbound as an event of significance and change. The concept of starting with a clean slate and shaping a new administration is especially exciting in this time of uncharted waters of instability in the world. I read a verse in the Bible this morning that caused me to stop, re-read and ponder a concept. It is the place in the Gospel of Mark where Joseph of Arimathea wanted to ask for the body of Jesus after the crucifixion so that He could give Jesus a proper burial. It said that he “Gathered his courage” and went and asked the authorities for the body. Courage is one of those things that hangs around , sometime loosely, and must be gathered up from time to time. I need to keep it close so that when I need it , I can gather it up at any given moment . I don’t think courage can be bottled up and kept on the shelf. It apparently is to be gathered as needed. Rather than looking at it as an asset that I own, I must look at it as a gift from God that is available to be appropriated. My prayer for President Obama is that He will find the courage that he will need to face the challenges in a way that will honor God and in turn will bless the nation. Please join me in praying relularly for the new president and all our leaders.

You can make a difference

I was reading this morning in my Leadership challenge” book and found the following statement:

“Hope…means that no one needs to wait around to be saved by someone riding into town on a white horse. …because there is a generation of leaders searching for opportunities to make a difference….right down the block or right down the hall there are people who will seize the opportunity to lead you to greatness. They’re your neighbors, friends and colleagues. And you are one of them too. “

What I have learned and have stated over and over about success is that it is all about relationship. Our choice is to face things alone or to build relationships with others who are either going through it or have gone through it successfully. Relationship with God beats “religion” every time. The Bible tells us that Jesus went through every trial and temptation we will ever face and He successfully navigated through it. My relationship with Him is key in my life. He represents that hope that I can make a difference.

Three quotes that blessed me this morning:

“I have found the paradox that if I love until it hurts, then there is no hurt, but only more love. ~Mother Teresa”


“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world. ~Anne Frank”


“Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does. ~William James”

Let’s make a difference today!

"We" not "I"

As we enter this final couple weeks of 2008, it’s a good time to take a life inventory. I was reading out of the book of Proverbs and was reminded that I have a responsibility to stay sharp and to be a sharpener for others. I need to engage others in the leadership decisions and learn to say “we” more often than I say “I”. Personal success in today’s world requires more than just a few loyalists. It requires real connection with peers and all those who have a stake in the vision. Synergy is the term used to describe a situation where the final outcome of a system is greater than the sum of its parts.

In the Bible, synergism illustrates a connection of human, and divine cooperation:

1 Corinthians 3:6-9 I planted the seed in your hearts, and Apollos watered it, but it was God who made it grow. It's not important who does the planting, or who does the watering. What's important is that God makes the seed grow. The one who plants and the one who waters work together with the same purpose. And both will be rewarded for their own hard work. For we are both God's workers. And you are God's field. You are God's building."

Solomon also used this concept in wisdom literature.

“As Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” (Proverbs 27:17)
This concept allows me to help others to do good work. Someone once said that much can get done by us if we are not so concerned about who gets the credit. A leaders ability to enable others to act is essential. I wonder who around me could be turned into a leader if given the chance today?

Inspiration from Leadership

I read a couple of great lines about leadership this morning:

“Leaders inspire a shared vision. They gaze across the horizon of time, imagining the attractive opportunities that are in store when they and their constituents arrive at a distant destination.”

Real leaders have a desire to change the way things are and have the ability to see the finished product even before the project is started. Their clear image of the future pulls them forward. The other line that I read this morning really made sense also:

“Leaders cannot command commitment, only inspire it.”

It real leadership is a dialogue rather than a monologue, I had better do some listening today to pick up on the mindset of those around me.

“Come let us reason together”
-God

An energized nation

Like millions of Americans I watched last night as the voters of our great nation made their wishes known. I am so proud to be an American today. I may disagree with my new president on issues, but he is on the top of my prayer list as he needs God’s help and God’s wisdom to step into this powerful position. This change in leadership of our nation will not change the fact that Jesus Christ is still on the throne. We are poised to experience a great revival move of God. These are not dark days, but days ripe for positive growth for the Kingdom of God. It is time to take the high road. God Bless America! And America Bless God !

“ Bless the Lord, O my soul and all that is within me, Bless His holy name.”
Psalm 103:1

Perspective builders

I read a paragraph this morning that was a perspective builder. It was a statement about connection and linkage. The world may be connected but it is far from being a community. The world is a pretty parochial place. There are more countries in the world today than there was a decade ago. Fierce tribal rivalries are threatening domestic and international peace, and special interest lobbying is tearing at our sense of community. The marketplace has been broken into tiny bits. Each of your customers expects to be treated with respect and do you. We do not have to agree but we do have a need to understand each other. Good leaders today are the ones who have figured out ways to unite their constituency. How to get people of totally different perspectives in the same arena to look at common issues.

I find that the Bible makes a huge point of this by pointing out that we are all in the same boat when it comes to how we have treated God. Romans 3:23 tells us that we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. We have the common need for a savior. We have God telling us that He has a plan to deal with that. “Red and yellow, Black and white, they are precious in His sight.” The leadership qualities of the Holy Spirit are sound and bring us together into the same room and place of decision. The ball is in our court as to whether we leave that room on the way to heaven or the way to hell. No matter who you meet today, you have a connection and common need of God. You will not meet anyone today who is not desperately loved by God.

Essential Data for our times

In the book “Leadership Challenge” by Kouzes and Posner, there is research data about the shifts in the context of leadership in today’s culture. The basic rules of leadership are still the same but it takes new avenues and new thinking to do it today. The things that enable a leader to influence others are more complex than ever because the challenges people face are more complex. The availability and transfer rate of data today is mind boggling. The power of computer search engines brings that data to our lap. When we make our choices with good data as our basis, the level of guess work decreases and efficiency rises. Since a rising tide raises all boats, our whole society has the “data base” to operate from. You no longer have to own a computer to access the search engines. Public venues such as the library offer free access. Laptop computers are as common in people’s hands today as wrist watches were fifty years ago. What we do with all that data is the key. Convincing others to want to do what we are convinced needs to be done is what true leadership does. I was reading this morning from John chapter 14, where Jesus shared deep truths about the peace that comes through the knowledge of heaven being a real place and the comfort that He was going to send to His disciples after He was gone. It was data that they would need for the coming days.

“Let not your heart be troubled….” John 14:1

God has the data all sorted out.

Ahead and Behind

For a couple days I am in Presbytery Board meetings in Des Moines. It is a time to hang out with some of my favorite leadership people. I like a quote I read this morning from Isaac Newton:

“If I have seen farther than others, it is because I was standing on the shoulder of giants.”

I have been blessed through life to walk in the company of people I would call giants in the faith. Many of them feel that they didn’t intend to take the leadership mantle, but found they had followers. That automatically qualifies them as leaders. John Quincy Adams once said, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” I wonder sometimes if there are more following than I know about or who I am unknowingly following and emulating. I thing there is great value in taking that inventory occasionally because I can learn some things about myself that I may not have been aware of. I certainly need to keep away from the “I “ and move toward the “we”. Peter Drucker once said that the leaders who work most effectively, never say "I." And that's not because they have trained themselves not to say "I." They don't think "I." They think "we"; they think "team." They understand their job to be to make the team function. They accept responsibility and don't sidestep it, but "we" gets the credit. This is what creates trust, what enables you to get the task done. It has often been said that more can be accomplished if we are not so concerned about who gets the credit.
Since I am flooding my blog this morning with thoughts from others about leadership, I might as well close this with a Greek thought here from Plato:

“A tyrant is always stirring up some war or other, in order that the people may require a leader.”

Check out who you are following and who is following you today.

Psalms 108:5 "Be exalted Oh God, above the heavens, and let your glory be over all the earth"

Maintaining vs. Moving up

I read a statement this morning that bears repeating:

“Leadership is not a sprint, it is a relay race.”

So much of what we fill our day with is done in a hurry. About a month ago, I wrote a blog about living in the fast lane without being hurried. It is important to remember the principle of making deposits and investing in life so that there is something there to withdraw when the need arises. It is important to remember to both inhale and exhale while breathing because that is how life is sustained. Both investing and breathing are examples of things that are long-haul habits that pay valuable dividends. Much of our leadership role is to prepare the next leader to handle the baton well. In the sport of track relay races are won and lost by the efficiency of the baton-passing technique. A dropped baton costs time and energy to pick up and start again. Good leaders invest much of their time in training someone to take their place. When someone is ready to take my leadership role, I can move to the next level of the race. The following quote from Dr. Henry Cloud makes sense:

“The number one reason for lack of growth in people’s lives, I have observed, is the absence of joining forces outside themselves who push them to grow.”

When we begin to feel that we can push ourselves to grow, we become inefficient and at best just maintain status quo. I need the outside push. I need a motivating force bigger than me to fuel my move. One of the keys is to be able to pass the present baton and be free to take the new course. The best motivating force I know is the power of the Holy Spirit who takes us to a course “Exceeding, abundantly above all we can ask or think.”

Which is bigger, Your dreams or your memories?

Some thoughts from last night's meeting:

We are at our annual council meetings in Des Moines this week and are being challenged to be willing to "shift for the new day". Our organizations will not grow beyond their leadership. Our dreams need to be bigger than our memories if we want a future that is bright. Any organization whose memories are bigger than their dreams is on the way out of significance. When we lose vision we become self-centered. As long as we figure out that everything belongs to God, we will be willing to let loose instead of greedily hanging on to stuff. We only worry about stuff we have not given to God. If it is His, He takes care of it.