Growing Leaders document

6/28/22b

Hey all,

I did something last week I haven’t done in recent memory. I bought a book at the grocery store. Imagine that! It’s a book published by the History Channel and it was entitled: Founding Fathers: How They Shaped the Nation. So far, I’m pleasantly surprised by the content. While reading the book, I came across something very worthy to pass on.

By the end of what was named the ‘Second Continental Congress’, the Revolutionary War had broken out. George Washington was nominated to be Commander in Chief of the newly created Continental Army. He was considered for this critical role because of his unique leadership abilities demonstrated in prior circumstances of national import. At this point, let me quote directly from the book: “Inheriting a ragtag group of soldiers, he quickly set out training them for war. It would later be said that Washington's greatness as a general was based less on his execution of military strategy and battlefield genius than on his ability to hold the inexperienced, under supplied and outnumbered colonial army together. He proved himself to be a true leader - capturing the men's hearts and minds.” (Underlining mine)

There’s an old adage that rings true here and should never be forgotten: ‘People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care’. Few historians can argue that Washington’s ‘inexperienced, under supplied and outnumbered colonial army’ never entered a military skirmish considered the ‘favorite’. Yet, because of Washington’s character, his care for his men, his love for his country and his vision of a nation free of British shackles; a very ‘inexperienced, under supplied and outnumbered colonial army’ accomplished extraordinary things.

Let me ask you something. Do you care about ‘people’ or ‘projects’? Maybe you’d say ‘both’, and if so, great answer! Anytime we’re attempting to accomplish anything, both are vital. However, keep this balance very finely tuned. Even the slightest indications of ‘Project over People’ can begin to erode that all important ‘synergy’ that effective and productive teams possess. ‘Synergy’ simply means the ‘sum of the parts is greater than the whole’. On the whole, the Continental Army stood no chance against the world’s strongest military. But Washington was able to engage the hearts of his individual men to capture a vision far bigger than themselves - and the rest is history.

Whom are you giving leadership to in your life today? Church or business, do those on your team see themselves as vital parts of a meaningful, important initiative that will positively impact themselves and others or do they feel like independent ‘cogs in a wheel’, carrying out a required task with no clarity of direction or purpose? Clearly, the story of Washington and the Continental Army demonstrates this to be a vital differentiation.

Happy leading!

PJim

Where do you exist as a ‘spiritual leader’?

PJim – 7/5/22

“There is a way of ordering our mental life on more than one level at once. On one level we may be thinking, discussing, seeing, calculating, meeting all the demands of external affairs. But deep within, behind the scenes, at a profounder level, we may also be in prayer and adoration, song and worship and the gentle receptiveness to divine breathings. The secular world of today values and cultivates only the first level, assured that there is where the real business of mankind is done, and scorns or smiles in tolerant amusement at the cultivation of the second level - a luxury enterprise, a vestige of superstition, an occupation for special temperaments. But in a deeply religious culture, men know that the deep level of prayer and of divine attendance is the most important thing in the world. It is at this deep level that the real business of life is determined.” (A Testament of Devotion, Thomas R. Kelly, pg. 9; underline mine).

So, what does this have to do with leadership – particularly ‘spiritual leadership’? Here are a few questions to consider, deeply I hope, from Kelly’s comments:

1) Am I, as a spiritual leader, consistently cognizant of the deep reality of these two distinct ‘levels of existence’?

2) Do I realize that most I’ll encounter daily exist solely on ‘level one’ and consider any thought of a ‘level two’ as either totally absurd or equally unattainable to all but those with ‘special’ (uniquely spiritual) temperaments - a state totally unachievable by most men - even if there was such a ‘level’?

3) Have I reached the place of realization that though all mankind necessarily exists on ‘level one’, ‘level two’ is where the real business of life is determined?

Give it some deep thought and let us know what you think…J

7/15/22

Good morning, leaders. Another week has passed. Wow, time flies! How are you using the time with which you’ve been allotted? Are you investing it well?

Growing up, there were several sayings I pumped into my children’s heads on a consistent basis. Here’s one of them: “Readers are Leaders’. Why would I say that? Two reasons. First, because leaders are ‘lifelong learners’. Leaders are curious and consistently seek to broaden our scope of knowledge and understanding. Second, few things expand that scope like reading broadly and in a variety of genre’s and time periods.

Case in point. I’m presently reading a classic novel entitled 1984 by George Orwell (aka Eric Arthur Blair). It’s been on my reading list for way to long and I finally picked it up a couple of weeks ago. Written in 1949, Orwell describes what the world could well be like a mere 35 years later. To me, it sounds like a story extracted from the Stalin-led Russian regime during and beyond the end of World War II. The rear cover of the book probably describes it best: “Now, nearly 60 years after it was written (printed around 2010), Orwell’s prophetic, haunting tale of conformity, repression and identity strikes a disturbing chord. As we follow Winston Smith through his rebellion, imprisonment, torture and reeducation, we witness first-hand the destruction of the truths and freedoms that make us who we are, and the creation of a world where black is white, 2 + 2 = 5, and evil is good.” (see Isaiah 5:20)

Let me just say the similarities to the present abandonment of truth, the call for ‘revolution’ and predominance of ‘thought policing’ in our present American culture are chilling. Consider the common refrain constantly pounded into the subconscious of Winston Smith and the other citizens of fictional Oceana by ‘Big Brother’: ‘War is Peace – Freedom is Slavery – Ignorance is Strength’. Let me simply say this. If the publishers of this book were drawing such similarities to our world/American culture in 2010 (nearly 12 years ago), what on earth would they be saying now! As a leader, it helps me to read literature such as this in order to form a deepening perspective not only of where we are today, but on why we’re here (based upon where we’ve been in years past). Few things are more true than this quote attributed to Winston Churchill (and several others): “Those who fail to remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” I highly recommend ‘1984’ if you haven’t read it.

Now, you might say: “Pastor, I’m just not a reader! Never was. Does that mean I can’t be a leader?” No problem. Be a faithful, disciplined listener. Scores of great books are now on DVD or online through your smartphones. There are more fantastic historical and educational documentaries available through streaming video that you or I could watch in a lifetime. Bottom line, keep learning and exposing yourself to things that will broaden the scope of your personal knowledge and understanding. That’s what growing leaders do. J

Pastor Jim

GROWING LEADER’S WEEKLY

Servant Leadership

Pastor Jim Harper

7-22-22

Twenty-five years ago, a business leadership book hit the market entitled Servant Leadership: A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness, written by a well-known business leadership writer/practitioner named Robert Greenleaf. Consider a recent caption describing the book from a used online bookstore:

“The Revolution Has Only Just Begun! Twenty-five years ago Robert Greenleaf published these prophetic essays on what he coined servant leadership, a practical philosophy that replaces traditional autocratic leadership with a holistic, ethical approach. This highly influential book has been embraced by cutting edge management everywhere.”

I remember, like yesterday, the time I first saw this book title and read the description. I distinctly recall rolling my eyes and shaking my head. Why? Let me explain by revisiting the underlined portions of the posted caption above:

1) “The revolution has only just begun (twenty five years ago)...”

2) “These ‘prophetic’ essays…practical philosophy”

3) “…what he (Robert Greenleaf) coined ‘servant leadership’”

4) “…with a holistic, ethical approach…

Let’s take these one at a time.

First, this ‘revolution’ didn’t start 25 years ago with a modern-day business guru named Robert Greenleaf, but 2000 years ago with a Jewish Messiah named Jesus Christ (“The greatest among you will be your servant…Matt. 23:11)

Second, these essays may have had a ‘prophetic’ tone, but Robert Greenleaf wasn’t the original prophet laying the ground for their content. Furthermore, this model is far more about a Biblical theology than a practical philosophy (“Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under His Power…so he got up from the meal, put a towel around his waist…and began to wash his disciple’s feet…John 13:3ff)

Third, Robert Greenleaf may or may not have most recently ‘coined’ the epithet ‘servant leadership’, but the concept was first coined by Christ when he was teaching two of his protégés what true leadership was all about (“For even I (the Son of Man – God in the flesh) did not come to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many”…Mark 10:45)

Finally, Greenleaf’s book was praised as having a ‘holistic, ethical approach’, but in reality, the original intent was much more profound than that. I’d suggest Jesus would have more accurately described it as a ‘holy, redemptive approach’ (“But you know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and their officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you, it will be different.” Mark 10:42-43a)

Let me make a necessary admission. I didn’t read the book when it came out, but I do remember clearly when the ‘servant leadership’ craze hit the secular business scene. I was in a church at the time literally filled with businessmen from a wide spectrum of the corporate community. Robert Greenleaf may have developed the bulk of his points off Christ’s Biblical model. I’m simply not sure. But I strongly sensed the secular business community didn’t pick up on it if he did. Most outside the church embraced his teaching as if it was a brand new business phenomenon. Something else to implement to increase sales and corporate productivity. This made a profound impact on me at the time for two reasons – and with this I close:

1) It made me realize in an entirely new and fresh way that all truth is God’s truth. There is absolutely nothing new under the sun. When man, whatever social strata or historical context, ‘discovers’ something/anything – it’s never new. It’s always something God has already created. The best mankind can ever do is discover what’s already here, and if wise, follow God’s instructions in putting it to use.

2) The Bible already has the answer to every life or leadership issue that I or anyone else will ever face. Men can at times succeed in showing and suggesting practical ways to maximize/put best into practice God’s truth and wisdom, but that’s all it is. ‘Sharpening the pencil’ that God’s already handed to us all. Truly, wise leaders always start ‘with the book! (Proverbs 1:7)

Happy Leading!!