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If
Jesus had not been able to attract followers, Christianity
might never have spread. And it was not just the message that
attracted followers; it was the man and his ability to engage
with others. This may seem like an obvious point, but it's
critical when we're talking about leadership, because the
outcome of leadership is a result of the relationship.
Just
imagine if Jesus had been the kind of leader the Roman emperors
were. Do you really think that over two thousand years later
people would be referring to Jesus as a leadership role model?
It's not just what he said, it's also how he behaved
that makes his story significant in the leadership literature.
Leadership
is a relationship between those who aspire to lead and those
who choose to follow. Sometimes that relationship is one-to-one.
Sometimes it's one-to-many. Regardless of the number, in order
to thrive in these disquieting times, Christian leaders must
master the dynamics of the leadership relationship.
Five
strong themes weave together these Christian Reflections
on The Leadership Challenge. They give us a deeper appreciation
for how faith informs and supports leadership, no matter the
context. They also demonstrate that Christian leaders have
an important contribution to make to our understanding of
the dynamics of the leadership relationship. The five key
messages we hear repeated in one form or another by all the
contributors are these:
1. Credibility
is the foundation of leadership.
2.
Leadership is personal.
3. Leaders serve.
4. Leaders sacrifice.
5. Leaders keep hope alive.
CREDIBILITY
IS THE FOUNDATION OF LEADERSHIP
If
leadership is a relationship, then what is the foundation
of that relationship? For over two decades and across six
continents, we've asked people what they look for and admire
in a leader - in someone whose direction they would willingly
follow. The key word in this question is willingly.
In all those years, the response has been the same. The most
important personal quality people look for and admire in a
leader is personal credibility.1 Credibility
is the foundation of leadership. If people don't believe in
the messenger, they won't believe the message. This finding
has been so consistent for over twenty years that we've come
to call it The First Law of Leadership.
And
what is credibility behaviorally? We've asked this question
thousands of times, and the most frequent response we get
is, "Do What You Say You Will Do," or DWYSYWD for
short.
Embedded
in this behavioral description of credibility are two essentials:
say and do. Leaders must stand for something,
believe in something, and care about something. Then they
must act on those ideals.
To
become a credible leader, we each have to first determine
what's important to us. Each person has to find his or her
voice. This point was underscored by every contributor to
this volume. No one was ambiguous about his or her beliefs,
and no one was timid about talking about them openly.
Of
course, voice and values can be expressed in lots of different
ways. Each leader in this book is unique. So are you. Voice
and values can be expressed by a businessperson, a volunteer,
a parent, a teacher, a missionary, a minister, or by anyone
in any role. Voice and values can be expressed on a farm,
on a mission, in a coffee business, in a charity, in a classroom,
in a church, in a home, or in any place where there are other
people. They can be expressed Monday through Friday, as well
as on Saturday and Sunday. They can be expressed anytime and
anywhere there are human needs to be served.
For
Christian leaders, of course, one's voice is also part of
a choira choir of shared values. Behind the melody there is
a beat, and that beat comes from a deeply held set of beliefs
about living with integrity, feeding the hungry, serving the
poor, aiding the afflicted, and spreading the gospel. It's
about doing God's work whatever your calling.
But
it's the "do" part of DWYSYWD that seems to elude
a lot of would-be leaders and has been forgotten by the fallen
ones.
Not
too long ago, one of us (Jim) was visiting with David McAllister-Wilson,
president of Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C.
(and a contributor to this book). Accompanying Jim was his
mom. While waiting for David to return from a meeting, Mary
Bates, David's assistant, brought them each a cup of coffee.
Jim reported that as his mom picked up her coffee cup to take
a sip, he noticed that inscribed on the side of her cup was
a quote that read, "Will the road you're on get you to
my place?" - God.
That
coffee-cup epiphany in David's office was just one more reminder
of how important the credibility lesson is, especially in
these disquieting times. The legacy you leave is the life
you lead. Will the road you're on get you to God's place?
After having read all the stories in this book, there is no
question that each leader followed a path that was true to
his or her values and that each was behaving in ways consistent
with Christian principles. None is perfect, and none is a
saint, but all took seriously the "Do What You Say You
Will Do" message.
LEADERSHIP
IS PERSONAL
Because
credibility is the foundation, the individual leading is central
to any discussion of exemplary leadership. We cannot engage
in any serious discussion of the subject in the purely abstract
or conceptual. Leadership is personal. It's not about them;
ultimately it's about you and me.
Research
on employee engagement clearly supports this message. Surveys
from eighty thousand managers in over four hundred companies
reveal that it's the immediate manager who has more
influence on employees' engagement with their work than any
other single factor - more important, for example, than pay,
benefits, or bonuses.2 It's the immediate
manager who has the most influence on whether a person voluntarily
stays or leaves an organization. In other words, people don't
quit their organizations; they quit their leaders. Expand
this research to religious institutions and you find similar
results. 3 The spiritual commitment
of congregational members is driven by their congregational
engagement, and that engagement is directly related to the
kind of leadership they are getting.
The
people featured in this book took leadership personally. They
realized that they were called to action, and they seized
that opportunity. Whether the challenge found them or they
found the challenge, they took personal responsibility for
doing something about it. However and wherever you express
your values and beliefs, you have to take leadership
personally. Seizing the initiative has absolutely nothing
to do with position. It's about attitude and action.
Because
leadership is personal, it also means that leadership development
is self-development. Engineers may have their computers, and
painters may have their brushes and canvases, but leaders
have only themselves. The instrument of leadership is the
self, and the mastery of the art of leadership comes from
the mastery of the self.
Self-development
is not about stuffing in a whole bunch of new information
or trying out the latest technique. It's about leading out
of what is already in your soul. It's about liberating the
leader within you. It's about setting yourself free.
LEADERS
SERVE
It's
useful to remember that Jesus was not elected to serve as
the formal leader of a movement: "With 51 percent of
the popular vote, the winner is Jesus of Nazareth!" Neither
did a board of directors get together and select Jesus to
be their CEO. He had no formal organizational power to do
what he did. He just acted like a leader, and others started
to follow and to believe.
In
the secular world of leadership, people are so accustomed
to saying "leader" and "CEO" in the same
breath that they've come to assume the two are equivalent.
The same could be said of the church hierarchy. The old command-and-control
style of leadership still haunts the corridors of power, and
the ghost of ancient practice still has a grip on our psyche.
Certainly, CEOs should act like leaders, but the title is
not what makes a CEO a leader. Leadership is not about position.
It's about practice. Leadership is not conferred. It's earned.
This
is another of the consistent messages in this book. Every
one of our contributors tells us that leaders serve. We see
it in every one of the case examples. Leaders serve a purpose,
as do the people who have made it possible for them to lead.
4 They put the guiding principles of
the organization ahead of all else and then strive to live
by them. They're the first to do what has been agreed upon.
The lessons that leadership is a service and that leaders
are servants are likely the most significant Christian teachings
about the nature of leadership.
The
concept of servant leadership has been getting more
and more attention lately, but it's not new to the secular
leadership literature. Over thirty years ago, Robert Greenleaf
pointed out that "the great leader is seen as servant
first, and that simple fact is the key to [the leader's]
greatness."5 Greenleaf, who had
spent thirty years as a senior executive in a Fortune 500
company, devoted the last years of his career reflecting on
and writing about leadership. He observed that those people
who believed foremost in the concept of service, who were
servant leaders, were also the most successful. "The
best test of this," Greenleaf observed, is
Do those
being served grow as persons? Do they, while being served,
become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely
themselves to become servants? And, what is the effect
on the least privileged in society; will they benefit, or,
at least, not be further deprived? 6
Greenleaf's
teachings have gained currency across the globe, and the fact
that they continue to resonate in today's world is testimony
to the power of his message. Greenleaf addressed his writings
to leaders of all faiths, organizations, and nations. He did
not intend it for one exclusive audience. Still, the message
of leader-as-servant is clearly one that speaks to the heart
of every Christian. The contributors to this book would argue
that you cannot be a Christian leader unless you see yourself
as servant first. There's no choice here. You either are or
you aren't. It comes with the territory.
LEADERS
SACRIFICE
Another
undercurrent of thought that runs through all of these reflective
chapters is the message that leaders must give something up
in order to get something more significant. They may give
up comfort, wealth, security, time, or even personal safety.
What they get is the great joy and satisfaction of knowing
that others are the beneficiaries of their service.
Leaders
are selfless. Leaders sacrifice, and by sacrificing they demonstrate
that they're not in it for themselves; instead, they have
the interests of others at heart. When leaders accept that
they are servants first, then they clearly know where they
stand. And it's not at the head of the line.
This
is a far cry from superstar executives who negotiate multimillion-dollar
deals and then can walk away rich, even when their companies
fail. It's a far cry from those in high office who can get
away with stuff the rest of us can't. They may be members
of the Christian faith, but their behavior says something
else.
Another
thing that we've consistently found in our research is that
people want leaders who are inspiring, upbeat, and energetic.
People want leaders with passion. When we think of
a passionate person, we think of someone with lots of enthusiasm,
excitement, and zeal for their cause. All of this is accurate.
But there is more to this word.
When
you look up passion in the etymological dictionary,
you see that it comes from the Greek word for pain and suffering!
7
A
passionate person is someone who suffers. A compassionate
person is someone who suffers with others. When we
point this out to our students and clients, they quickly get
it. It becomes clearer and clearer to them that the leaders
who are the most admired are those who have suffered the most,
who have sacrificed the most.
This
may sound like a very harsh standard to set, but that's not
our decision. That was the decision of Christ himself. He
made the ultimate sacrifice. Now, we're not prescribing that
you carry a cross or wear a crown of thorns to prove you're
a good leader. But we are definitely suggesting that leadership
requires a willingness to make personal sacrifices for the
sake of a higher purpose.
There's
a very positive consequence to selfless action. When leaders
are selfless and humble, people are much more inclined to
trust them. Putting others first - and meaning it - will earn
you more credibility than if you try to place yourself at
the head of the line.
LEADERS
KEEP HOPE ALIVE
We're
only a few years into this new millennium, and we've already
experienced extremely disquieting economic, political, and
social upheavals. The forecasts are still pretty gloomy. But
just because the clouds have obscured the view doesn't mean
there is no sun. That's how exemplary leaders see it, anyway.
When you review the cases in this book, you'll see an abundance
of adversity in each situation. It could have discouraged
our leaders from continuing their quests. But they weren't;
instead, they kept hope alive.
Christian
leaders know that service and sacrifice are redemptive. They
know that there is a deeper reward when you make sacrifices
for the sake of a higher purpose and in service of others.
They know that a potent antidote to the increased cynicism
and stresses of our time is renewed faith in human capacity
and an intensely optimistic belief that together we will overcome.
Leaders
keep hope alive. They keep hope alive by demonstrating the
courage of their convictions. They keep hope alive by painting
positive images of the future. They keep hope alive by taking
charge of change. They keep hope alive by trusting the abilities
of others. They keep hope alive by recognizing the dedication
of others as they get extraordinary things done.
Hope
is attitude in action. It enables people to mobilize their
healing and their achieving powers. It helps them to transcend
the difficulties of today and envision the potentialities
of tomorrow. Hope enables people to find the will and the
way to aspire to greatness. Hope is testimony to the power
of the human spirit. Leadership is often a struggle, and the
only way to thrive is to keep hope alive.
In
the final analysis, there is no shortage of opportunities
to lead. There is no shortage of opportunities to make a difference
in the world - be that world your family, neighborhood, congregation,
school, or corporation. Challenge is the opportunity for greatness,
and leaders seize these opportunities to make a difference.
The
most significant contributions leaders make are not to today's
bottom line but to the long-term development of people and
institutions that adapt, prosper, and grow. The next time
you say to yourself, "Why don't they do something
about this?" look in the mirror. Ask the person you see,
"Why don't you do something about this?"
___________________
Excerpted
from Christian Reflections of the Leadership Challenge edited
by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner (Jossey-Bass 2004).
Used with permission.
Click
here to learn more about this and other resourses.
___________________
Notes
1.
For a current summary of our research on credibility, see
J. M. Kouzes and B. Z. Posner, The Leadership Challenge
(San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2002), 23-39. Also see J. M.
Kouzes and B. Z. Posner, Credibility: How Leaders Gain
and Lose It, Why People Demand It (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass,
2003).
2. M. Buckingham and C. Coffman, First, Break All
the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently
(New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999), 34.
3. For more on The Gallup Organization's research on
religion and values, visit www.gallup.com. See especially,
A. L. Winseman's, The Driving Factor Behind Spiritual Health,
The Gallup Tuesday Briefing, July 9, 2002.
4. See Kouzes and Posner, Credibility, 183-217.
5. R. K. Greenleaf, Servant Leadership: A Journey
Into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness (New
York: Paulist Press, 1977), 1. For extensive information on
the life and writings of R. K. Greenleaf, contact The Greenleaf
Center for Servant-Leadership on the Web at www.greenleaf.org.
Interested readers may also enjoy J. A. Autry's The Servant
Leader: How to Build a Creative Team, Develop Morale, and
Improve Bottom-Line Performance (Roseville, Calif.: Prima
Publishing, 2001).
6. Greenleaf, Servant Leadership, 13-14.
7. E. Partridge, Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary
of Modern English (New York: Macmillan, 1977), 75.
___________________
Jim
Kouzes and Barry Posner are award-winning authors and the
developers of the Leadership
Practices Inventory
questionnaire.
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