Thursday, August 26, 2004
Leadership
My Take on Leadership
Bob Tallent
Leadership is a hot topic these days. Like the old Negro spiritual on heaven, “Everybody talkin’ ‘bout it ain’t a goin’ there.” There is a proliferation of books, magazines and seminars on the subject but real leadership seems sparse in our time.
In this political season, I watch both candidates stumble and stammer. Any one who has worked with search committees has observed the scarcity of strong candidates. And the general foul-up in the corporate world is well known.
I took a seminar in seminary on leadership. Each student took a particular leader—religious and secular, good and bad. We tried to analyze why they were able to lead people. At the end of the course, I concluded that there was no magic bullet and that we did not really know what made a leader.
But today, one of the most popular pastor’s magazines is Leadership. And one of the most popular conference leaders today is John Maxwell whose main theme is leadership. Rick Warren’s best seller, The Purpose Driven Life, is to a large degree about leadership. In the religious world and in the secular world, there are lots of people claiming to have a corner on the business of leadership. I would say that the preponderance of all of these is good and we would do well to heed them. But I am not sure that will make you a leader.
I don’t have any thing profound to say on leadership; there are certainly more learned people than I on this subject. But after a lifetime in the church, I do have some observations.
I don’t think you can learn to ride a bicycle by reading a book. My mother used to say to me over and over, “Shakespeare did not become Shakespeare by reading Shakespeare!”
The first thing I ever read that grabbed me on this subject was from Gains Dobbins, the founder of Southern Baptist church administration. He said Jesus told us how to be leaders:
"You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 43Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. 45For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." [Mark 10: 42-45 NIV]
A Christian leader is a servant! This seems so hard for moderns. It is totally contrary to the constant drum beat of the world in which we live. We have the notion that leadership in being macho. I have noticed through the years that is the high testosterone types that corporations gravitate to—and sometimes even churches. And more often than not, sooner or later they come crashing down.
As a pastor, try as I might, I could never really convince deacons to be servants. They always wanted to be the Board of Directors. Of course, the very word “deacon” means “waiter.”
But when we say a leader is to be a servant, what do we mean. Some seem to think it means that we do folks the service of bossing them around. Now there may be special circumstances where that is indeed a service—say an emergency, for example. But even then, it must be with the right attitude.
My Dad was a fairly successful small business man. He used to always say to me, “Bob, you’ve got to be accommodating to folks.” I think all to often today’s would be leaded has no notion of this.
From Jesus’ words on the subject, we can conclude that leadership is not feeding your own ego; it is not “lording it over others.” [See I Peter 5:3) Our modern notions of success are contrary to a real Christian ethic.
Some time ago a pastor came to me very distraught. His church was growing nicely but his core group was getting very angry at him. He actually knew what the problem was because he said to me, “Bob, I can’t change.” I said to him, “Did you ever try to push a rope?” And he burst out laughing.
Harry Truman said “Leadership is getting people to do what you want them to do and making them like it.”!
When I was in seminary, my Church Administration Professor, Allan Graves, said, “It’s true that you can drive a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink—but you can salt him.”
Now the trick of leadership is knowing what constitutes the salt. Every person and every group has “hot buttons,” things that motivate them. A leader must discover in his situation what will motivate the people he is trying to lead. Now some of these “hot buttons” may be carnal: money, power, notice, praise, etc. But some are noble; there are people who want to do the will of God if you can convince them what it might be.
John Maxwell distinguishes between “leaders” and “managers.” But Leaders who do not manage well are soon in trouble. And managers who fail to lead may soon find that they have nothing to manage.
Now let be very specific:
(1) Leadership means doing what you say you will do and doing it promptly. It means returning your phone calls and e-mails promptly. It means listening. My mentor in the ministry, Rev. Norwood Waterhouse, said to me just before I left for the seminary, “Bob, ministry is a ministry of interruptions. No matter what important sermon you are working on or what else you may be absorbed in, you need to be prepared to stop and minister to someone who stops by or calls.”
When I was about eleven years old during World War II, we lived in the government reservation of Oak Ridge, Tennessee. We learned at the end of the war that we were making the fuel for the atomic bomb. On Sunday nights, I attended a Bible Club sponsored by a little non-denominational church that met is an elementary school gym. One night I was the only kid to show up. The Chaplain-Pastor conducted the club for me just as though we had a hundred kids. But I will never forget what he said to me: “There is no ability like availability!”
(2) It seems to me that another aspect of leadership clear communication. Paul said, “… if the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle? [I Corinthians 14:8 NIV] Too often leaders try to hint around at what thy want done. They say, “Well, they ought to know what I meant.” Friends, you need to say, “Who will be here Saturday at Ten AM to clean the church—raise your hand!” Be definite. Be specific. Do it now. Be consistent. That does not mean you can’t change you mind. But if you do you need to say you did and if possible explain why.
(3) And clearly task people. I often sit in meetings and it is decided to do this or that but no one is assigned the task. Folks this is not brain surgery. Everyone knows that tasks have to be assigned. Sometimes a leader has it in his mind who should do it but does not realize that he has not verbalized it. But other times there may be reluctance single out a particular person to do the job. However you do it, asking for a volunteer, ask the group or make the assignment yourself, the old adage is “everybody’s business is no body’s business.”
(4) One important rule in leadership is: Do not show favoritism. Everyone likes some people more than others. But if you are to have cooperation you must be seen as fair. In fact, in many cases, I would advise reaching out to those less supportive or even antagonistic. It may be that is why Judas carried the money bag for Jesus and His disciples. Of course it may not work, but I have seen it work many times.
(5) Be careful about making sudden changes in direction. This is dangerous in a car and also in leadership. Prepare people if you are contemplating a change.
(6) When I was ordained to the ministry, one of the speakers challenged me “not to forget the ‘little people.”’ I don’t like to call any on “little” in a pejorative way, it is important to pay attention to those who do not demand attention, to the people who are “on the periphery.” In fact this is where the potential for growth is. Of course, you have to pay attention to the loud and the powerful—not always to kowtow to them, but to be skillful in handling them. But just as Jesus took time with the little children, a leader shows response to everyone.
Decisions, decisions, decisions
The heart and the hazard of leadership is in the making if decisions. There are two parts of decision making: Making the right decision and making the decision right. You will not always make the right decision. There is an element of luck or circumstance that cannot be foreseen. Often you must make a decision with limited information. Some people seem to have an intuition for making good decisions. I would suggest that that is developed with education and experience. But there are times when you need to make a decision even if it may be wrong. When I was in seminary, the teachers often used the analogy to a surgeon. If in the course of maybe a routine surgery, the doctor sees something that needs to be cut out, he needs to act immediately. He cannot take it under advisement.
Some years ago I was on a plane when a women sitting near me got very sick. There was a doctor on the plane but he hesitated to look in her purse to see what medications she might be carrying. He was afraid of legal consequences of violating her privacy. Frankly, I yelled at him for his in action and he relented, found epilepsy medicine, gave it to her and she recovered rather quickly.
Of course, I could have been wrong and he could have been right. But leadership demands action and that implies risk. But a good leader does not let an error unnerve him. Rather, he (or she) seeks to redeem a bad decision. This might even mean sometimes you have to say, “Guys, I was wrong, we’ve got to turn around.” Most people appreciate honesty. But you can’t make too many reversals or folks will really decide you don’t know where you are going.
Bob Tallent
Leadership is a hot topic these days. Like the old Negro spiritual on heaven, “Everybody talkin’ ‘bout it ain’t a goin’ there.” There is a proliferation of books, magazines and seminars on the subject but real leadership seems sparse in our time.
In this political season, I watch both candidates stumble and stammer. Any one who has worked with search committees has observed the scarcity of strong candidates. And the general foul-up in the corporate world is well known.
I took a seminar in seminary on leadership. Each student took a particular leader—religious and secular, good and bad. We tried to analyze why they were able to lead people. At the end of the course, I concluded that there was no magic bullet and that we did not really know what made a leader.
But today, one of the most popular pastor’s magazines is Leadership. And one of the most popular conference leaders today is John Maxwell whose main theme is leadership. Rick Warren’s best seller, The Purpose Driven Life, is to a large degree about leadership. In the religious world and in the secular world, there are lots of people claiming to have a corner on the business of leadership. I would say that the preponderance of all of these is good and we would do well to heed them. But I am not sure that will make you a leader.
I don’t have any thing profound to say on leadership; there are certainly more learned people than I on this subject. But after a lifetime in the church, I do have some observations.
I don’t think you can learn to ride a bicycle by reading a book. My mother used to say to me over and over, “Shakespeare did not become Shakespeare by reading Shakespeare!”
The first thing I ever read that grabbed me on this subject was from Gains Dobbins, the founder of Southern Baptist church administration. He said Jesus told us how to be leaders:
"You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 43Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. 45For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." [Mark 10: 42-45 NIV]
A Christian leader is a servant! This seems so hard for moderns. It is totally contrary to the constant drum beat of the world in which we live. We have the notion that leadership in being macho. I have noticed through the years that is the high testosterone types that corporations gravitate to—and sometimes even churches. And more often than not, sooner or later they come crashing down.
As a pastor, try as I might, I could never really convince deacons to be servants. They always wanted to be the Board of Directors. Of course, the very word “deacon” means “waiter.”
But when we say a leader is to be a servant, what do we mean. Some seem to think it means that we do folks the service of bossing them around. Now there may be special circumstances where that is indeed a service—say an emergency, for example. But even then, it must be with the right attitude.
My Dad was a fairly successful small business man. He used to always say to me, “Bob, you’ve got to be accommodating to folks.” I think all to often today’s would be leaded has no notion of this.
From Jesus’ words on the subject, we can conclude that leadership is not feeding your own ego; it is not “lording it over others.” [See I Peter 5:3) Our modern notions of success are contrary to a real Christian ethic.
Some time ago a pastor came to me very distraught. His church was growing nicely but his core group was getting very angry at him. He actually knew what the problem was because he said to me, “Bob, I can’t change.” I said to him, “Did you ever try to push a rope?” And he burst out laughing.
Harry Truman said “Leadership is getting people to do what you want them to do and making them like it.”!
When I was in seminary, my Church Administration Professor, Allan Graves, said, “It’s true that you can drive a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink—but you can salt him.”
Now the trick of leadership is knowing what constitutes the salt. Every person and every group has “hot buttons,” things that motivate them. A leader must discover in his situation what will motivate the people he is trying to lead. Now some of these “hot buttons” may be carnal: money, power, notice, praise, etc. But some are noble; there are people who want to do the will of God if you can convince them what it might be.
John Maxwell distinguishes between “leaders” and “managers.” But Leaders who do not manage well are soon in trouble. And managers who fail to lead may soon find that they have nothing to manage.
Now let be very specific:
(1) Leadership means doing what you say you will do and doing it promptly. It means returning your phone calls and e-mails promptly. It means listening. My mentor in the ministry, Rev. Norwood Waterhouse, said to me just before I left for the seminary, “Bob, ministry is a ministry of interruptions. No matter what important sermon you are working on or what else you may be absorbed in, you need to be prepared to stop and minister to someone who stops by or calls.”
When I was about eleven years old during World War II, we lived in the government reservation of Oak Ridge, Tennessee. We learned at the end of the war that we were making the fuel for the atomic bomb. On Sunday nights, I attended a Bible Club sponsored by a little non-denominational church that met is an elementary school gym. One night I was the only kid to show up. The Chaplain-Pastor conducted the club for me just as though we had a hundred kids. But I will never forget what he said to me: “There is no ability like availability!”
(2) It seems to me that another aspect of leadership clear communication. Paul said, “… if the trumpet does not sound a clear call, who will get ready for battle? [I Corinthians 14:8 NIV] Too often leaders try to hint around at what thy want done. They say, “Well, they ought to know what I meant.” Friends, you need to say, “Who will be here Saturday at Ten AM to clean the church—raise your hand!” Be definite. Be specific. Do it now. Be consistent. That does not mean you can’t change you mind. But if you do you need to say you did and if possible explain why.
(3) And clearly task people. I often sit in meetings and it is decided to do this or that but no one is assigned the task. Folks this is not brain surgery. Everyone knows that tasks have to be assigned. Sometimes a leader has it in his mind who should do it but does not realize that he has not verbalized it. But other times there may be reluctance single out a particular person to do the job. However you do it, asking for a volunteer, ask the group or make the assignment yourself, the old adage is “everybody’s business is no body’s business.”
(4) One important rule in leadership is: Do not show favoritism. Everyone likes some people more than others. But if you are to have cooperation you must be seen as fair. In fact, in many cases, I would advise reaching out to those less supportive or even antagonistic. It may be that is why Judas carried the money bag for Jesus and His disciples. Of course it may not work, but I have seen it work many times.
(5) Be careful about making sudden changes in direction. This is dangerous in a car and also in leadership. Prepare people if you are contemplating a change.
(6) When I was ordained to the ministry, one of the speakers challenged me “not to forget the ‘little people.”’ I don’t like to call any on “little” in a pejorative way, it is important to pay attention to those who do not demand attention, to the people who are “on the periphery.” In fact this is where the potential for growth is. Of course, you have to pay attention to the loud and the powerful—not always to kowtow to them, but to be skillful in handling them. But just as Jesus took time with the little children, a leader shows response to everyone.
Decisions, decisions, decisions
The heart and the hazard of leadership is in the making if decisions. There are two parts of decision making: Making the right decision and making the decision right. You will not always make the right decision. There is an element of luck or circumstance that cannot be foreseen. Often you must make a decision with limited information. Some people seem to have an intuition for making good decisions. I would suggest that that is developed with education and experience. But there are times when you need to make a decision even if it may be wrong. When I was in seminary, the teachers often used the analogy to a surgeon. If in the course of maybe a routine surgery, the doctor sees something that needs to be cut out, he needs to act immediately. He cannot take it under advisement.
Some years ago I was on a plane when a women sitting near me got very sick. There was a doctor on the plane but he hesitated to look in her purse to see what medications she might be carrying. He was afraid of legal consequences of violating her privacy. Frankly, I yelled at him for his in action and he relented, found epilepsy medicine, gave it to her and she recovered rather quickly.
Of course, I could have been wrong and he could have been right. But leadership demands action and that implies risk. But a good leader does not let an error unnerve him. Rather, he (or she) seeks to redeem a bad decision. This might even mean sometimes you have to say, “Guys, I was wrong, we’ve got to turn around.” Most people appreciate honesty. But you can’t make too many reversals or folks will really decide you don’t know where you are going.
# posted by Bob @ 12:34 PM 
