Month: November 2016

Leading for the Long Haul

Well, The elections are over, and the “losers” are protesting. The world is stunned that a non-politician who ran a belligerent campaign, and whose personal life is filled with questionable and even despicable behavior has been elected president. That he has apparently failed to receive as much of the popular vote as his challenger, adds to the displeasure of those whose candidate lost. As I said yesterday, the immediate changes to our lives won’t be great, although the protests indicate that many believe the results are a harbinger of terrible things to come.

How are leaders to respond in such times? How are we to respond over the long haul when the short-term outlook is filled with uncertainty? As always my response to those questions comes from my faith in Jesus Christ: We respond with calm and assurance, because we know that He who is in us is greater than the one who is in the world. In other words, we don’t panic as so many are doing. We don’t act out as a two-year old who didn’t get his or her way in the check out line at the grocery story. We maintain our character. We consider the facts and respond with wisdom.

The protests surprised me, to be honest. I believe in the American system of government, and the peaceful election of leaders, and transition of power. We have become a nation of two-year olds in my lifetime. When we don’t get our way, the tendency is to act out. When we think we are “right” about a matter we tend to yell and scream to make our point. As I say so often when I’m speaking about the truths of God,”When you’re right, you don’t have to shout.”

I’m not saying that Donald Trump is right, and therefore we ought not to yell at his being elected president. I’m saying, the democratic process we use is the right one for us, and we must abide by the results it produces or protest in decent orderly ways. Particularly as leaders, we must remember that the systems and processes we put in place in our companies, our churches, and yes, even our government, are intended to bring meaning, purpose, order and predictability to our lives. When we disregard them, because we don’t like the outcome in brings disorder  and potentially chaos. That’s why we must lead in such times, through the crises, because crises come and go, and as we demonstrated wisdom and calm through them it becomes the long haul.

As I move toward the benchmark of sixty years on the planet, I have become more and more certain of one thing when it comes to leading for the long haul: Infantile responses to matters we don’t like, or with which we disagree are never beneficial. As leaders, we don’t have the luxury of acting out in such ways, because we don’t like outcomes or in order to change decisions that have been made. The way leaders address such matters is to pause and reflect before we act. I was talking with someone the other day, who has a strong tendency to overreact in situations he doesn’t like. He said he had started to pause, pray and reflect in such situations and was amazed at how much more positive his actions have become as a result.

Undoubtedly, we could take that advice as a nation right now. Most assuredly we, as leaders, need to take that advice all the time, but particularly as we go through crises on our way to the long haul. Every time we decide and act with wisdom in our daily lives, we are forging a long haul that is worthy of emulation. At the end of the day, one of our most important legacies as leaders will be the way we led over time. Anyone can lead effectively for a day, a week, or a month. But the test of leadership is seasons, decades and lifetimes. How are you responding or reacting to the crises of your life right now? What safeguards do you have in place to ensure that when life brings you something you don’t like or even hate, that you respond with wisdom rather than with raw emotion, or an impulse you will regret? What plans do you have in place to lead effectively over the long haul?

The way we respond to such questions will determine how we respond or react in the inevitable crises of our lives and of our leadership. May we respond in such ways that we are demonstrated to be leaders, true leaders, over the long haul.

Here’s to leading better, by pausing to reflect before we act, so our leadership will be effective–not only today, but over the long haul!

Leading Through Change

As I’m writing this post it is 11:53 pm and I have NBC news on it the background. We’ve just been told “Decision Night in America,” could be an all nighter. Regardless of the outcome, we will all be leading through change. We will be a divided people, as we already are as a nation. Whichever candidate wins will have a major task of seeking to convince those who voted against him or her that he or she is worthy of the office of president. For each of us who serves as a leader, we will experience some impact.

Frankly, the impact may not be noticeable right away. After all, whichever candidate wins won’t be inaugurated until late January. I told the folks at worship this weekend on Wednesday morning Jesus will still be Lord. For those of us who believe that, the stabilizing effect is huge. For those of you who don’t, moving forward will be a time of moving through change. How do we lead through such momentous change in the greater culture?

The key to leading through change is do the next right thing. That’s a statement I learned from my association with folks in AA and NA. For the past six and a half years I have led a weekly Bible study for those in recovery from alcohol and other drug addiction, and they have a saying, “Do the next right thing.” That’s good advice for all of us, but particularly for those of us leading through change, because we will need to discern the next right thing and lead others to do it. In times of change, it isn’t always clear what the right thing to do is, but clarity is a key of great leadership. In fact, over time, those who follow us will continue to follow our leadership if we are clear, even though at times we are clearly wrong.

Let me explain. When everyone is wondering what to do next, and no one knows for sure, effective leaders will examine the evidence, we will pray if we are men and women of faith, and then we will take a clear step in a particular direction, explaining why we’re doing it and how we’re going to get where we’re going. If we have a good track record of navigating uncertainty well and with clarity, people will follow. They will give us some latitude for error, because no one will know for sure what the next right thing is in times of change.

During times of change leaders don’t take polls and follow the majority, they may take polls to find out what people are thinking, but they will always lead based on what they believe is right and best for everyone they lead. The character we have been developing to this point, will guide us as we move forward into a new future. Whether we’re living under the first woman president, or the first populist president since Andrew Jackson, we will live in an historic time. Life is change. So leading through change is a given, yet at times the changes are more dramatic. This will be one of those times.

Will it matter to you who is president? Will your leadership change as a result? What changes do you anticipate depending on who is elected? Remember asking such questions helps us to be ready for whatever eventuality may come. My prayer and plan is to stay rooted in the truth and to live it out in love. Those two qualities: truth and love are going to be needed regardless of who wins, or by the time you read this post has won!

Here’s to leading better, by preparing to lead through change–today!

Vote!

The day has arrived–election day 2016. I devoted yesterday’s post to reminding as that as leaders we must often make the least bad choice, and commented on the two major candidates for president. I won’t rehash that here. My goal is short and simple today: to urge those who are registered to vote to VOTE!

The freedom to vote for our government officials is a great freedom, that men and women have defended for well over 200 hears. It was not purchased lightly, nor maintained without great cost. That means out of respect for those who have given us and continue give us this and many other freedoms, if for no other reason, we need to vote.

While so many have told me their vote doesn’t matter, that one person can’t make a difference, I would contend that one person has always made the difference. This blog is devoted to leadership, because history tells us that the most unlikely people can become leaders, and in their roles as leaders one person has always made a difference. We can go back several thousand years to a time when Israel was a fledgling nation, struggling under the political leadership of their first king, a man named Saul. While the Israelites didn’t have a right to vote the king out of office, or to select a new one from a field of candidates, the could and did offer their backing to God’s new choice: David.

David was a shepherd. On the surface, he didn’t look kingly. In fact, when the prophet Samuel came to anoint a new king from the family of Jesse, he had Jesse line up his sons in a row, and Samuel went through a handful whose appearance seemed more fitting than David. Jesse hadn’t even invited David to the lineup, because he seemed such an unlikely candidate. Yet God chose him. It must have been much easier to have God choose the king, than the process we use, and yet, whomever is chosen as leader in any era, that person must lead, that person must grow and develop or be looked at in the rearview mirror as an unworthy candidate.

David was a great king. He had many flaws as all of us do, but the people loved and followed him. Throughout the pages of history we see individuals who rose up from the back woods, from slavery, from oppression, from humble circumstances and became great leaders. That’s because each of us has a certain capacity for leading, but some recognize their role and take advantage of timing and step forward into leadership. The people must then rally around the leader, or determine he or she is not a leader.

What does that have to do with our voting today? Everything. We may not like many or any of the candidates, but they are what we have from whom to select. If we really believe “someone” needs to do something, then perhaps that’s a call to become more involved in the political process and perhaps to run for office.  After all, any of us who are leaders know it was a dissatisfaction with something that moved us to step forward and doing something in our area of leadership. What we can do today is vote. What we do tomorrow is our responsibility to discern and act.

Please, exercise your right and privilege to vote today!

Leading By Making The Least Bad Choice

The election is upon us. Tomorrow we get to choose the most powerful leader in the world. When you say it like that, it sounds extremely important. It is. I have the opportunity to serve in countries where people do not get to select their governmental leaders. Having no choice leads to many negatives. The mentality can be, “What difference does it make what I do, because I don’t have any influence.” John Maxwell and others have said, “Leadership is influence.” We get to select the leader of the United States of America. Now that’s influence.

The challenge is the two major candidates don’t offer us a good choice. What does it mean to lead when we have to make the least bad choice? The question is vital, because in our daily leadership we are often left with the choice between bad and worse, just as thankfully we are often left with the choice between better and best. All of life seems to be on a graduated scale when it comes to the choices, decisions and commitments we must make. How we navigate them makes all the difference for us as leaders. After all, if every choice, decision and commitment was a clear as a bell leadership would be unnecessary. Precisely because such matters are often clouded in uncertainty if not outright ambiguity leadership is necessary.

As a pastor, I find myself in the position of not being permitted to endorse any candidates for public office in my official capacity as the pastor of New Life Christian Ministries. I am certainly permitted to hold my own personal opinion as are all of us as Americans. I am permitted to encourage everyone to register to vote, and to vote. As Christians and as Americans we have a responsibility to do so, because as the Apostle Paul reminded us we are called to obey the governing authorities. Certainly part of that responsibility in a nation where the citizens have the freedom, privilege and responsibility to select their leaders through a popular election, is to make the time and effort to do so.

The decision as to which of the candidates to select for president, and for a couple of other positions on our ballot here in western Pennsylvania has never been more of a decision between bad and worse than it is this time. Neither Mr. Trump, nor Senator Clinton have said or done anything to make them a clear choice for me. I don’t want to follow either of them as “my” president, and yet one of them will be. No one seriously believes that any of the minor party candidates will be voted in as president. To plan a vote for one of them in “protest,” is to say, “I am not going to vote to elect the president.” It is to cast no vote for president. Certainly each of us has the freedom to do that. As leaders it makes no sense, because we are throwing away our influence.

So what are we to do? I have been praying and listening. I watched the debates, if we can call them debates, not only between the two presidential candidates, but also the one between their running mates. What I saw and heard was more than disturbing. Neither candidate moved me to a sense that he or she would be worthy of my vote, but one of them needs to receive my vote. I must use my vote to select the least bad choice. In doing so, I have considered several matters that are of great importance to our nation’s future: 1) Who will reflect our values as followers of Jesus better? 2) Who will be the better candidate when it comes to recommending Supreme Court judges? 3) Who will be taken the most seriously by the world around us as a world leader? 4) Who will have the best opportunity to get Congress to make and reform laws that will move us forward and make us great as a nation?

Some may contend that as citizens of God’s Kingdom, Christians ought not to concern ourselves with matters of who is president, senator, representative, etc…. The truth is whichever candidate wins the election tomorrow, God will still be in charge of the universe, and I will still look to Him for the primary foundation and direction of my life. Nevertheless, as a Christian and a leader, I have the responsibility to take the matter of voting seriously, and the matter of who gets my votes for the various positions on the ballot with the utmost seriousness.

Having weighed a great deal of input, and having considered which candidate is the least bad choice, I will be casting my vote for Mr. Trump. I abhor much I have seen and heard of his personal character and attitudes, but the same is true of Senator Clinton. The clinchers for me are Mr. Trump’s position on the sanctity of human life, his likely recommendations for Supreme Court justices during his tenure as president, his bringing a much-needed perspective as an outsider to Washington, and not wanting four more years of the past eight years, or more accurately the past thirty years of Senator Clinton’s vision for America. My hope is that as president Mr. Trump will do what President Reagan did and surround himself with folks who know far more than he does about the matters where he is deficient and they are many.

As a private citizen I am greatly concerned that the two “best” candidates we could put before the American people for the highest office in our land are Mr. Trump and Senator Clinton. As I have thought about that a great deal through this season of political campaigns, which seems to have run for the past four years, I have realized every decision goes back to a previous decision. We selected these two from a broad field of candidates in the primaries. Many “better” candidates were eliminated because they didn’t have the money to compete. Others eliminated themselves because of bad decisions they made. Still others were eliminated because we didn’t vote for them.

Our political system is flawed, but one of its beauties is I get to write that without fear of recrimination. We can criticize our government and its leaders. That is a privilege many in our world have never experienced. That privilege is tied to the privilege and responsibility of voting. As leaders we don’t get to “sit this one out.” We are called to go first, to set the example, and even when we must make the least bad choice, we make it, because that’s what leaders have always done and must continue to do.

Here’s to leading better, by making whatever least bad choices are before us–today, and especially tomorrow!

Leading in the Fruit of the Spirit: Gentleness

As we continue our series on leading in the fruit of the Spirit today’s focus is gentleness. While Siri’s definition of gentleness is the quality of being kind, tender, or mild-mannered, the biblical definition is closer to humility. However we define it, gentleness is probably not on the top ten list of the qualities most leaders would consider vital to leading effectively. And yet the Apostle Paul included it as a facet of the fruit of the Spirit. Why? The short answer is gentleness or humility is a quality of Jesus. He led by serving. He led by demonstrating a gentleness or humility unparalleled in the history of leadership, and the history of humanity for that matter.

What does that has to do with our leadership in the 21st century? That all depends on whether we want to lead in a manner reflecting Jesus or not. When we gain success as leaders, it is all too easy to let that success inflate our sense of ourselves, to exhibit pride, and to think that our leadership is the key to our organization’s success. We might even think without us our organizations couldn’t make it. While our leadership may well be vital to our organization’s success, one thing about which we must be clear is one day it will succeed without us, or it won’t succeed. We are all “interim” leaders when we consider things from the long view. Even if we hold our position for decades, the time will come when we retire, move on to another position or die.

That means gentleness is not only a helpful quality for leaders, but a particularly important quality for successful leaders. After all, gentleness will be the trait that helps us keep our success in perspective, to thank God for the abilities and gifts He has given us, and to remember that without a plan for succession there is no long-term success. Without gentleness or humility, we can forget that the organizations we serve are intended to outlive us. We may forget that we serve them and our employees or co-workers, and not the other way around. These are vital reminders for the long-term success of our organization.

So how is it going in the area of gentleness or humility in your leadership? Do you recognize the contributions of others? When you need to reprimand an employee do you do it with gentleness, recognizing that unless he or she is totally derelict as an employee, the time will come when you will be offering praise for work well done. Are you see the folks around you as people and not merely as “cogs” in the “machinery” of your organization? How would others say you do in the area of gentleness.

These questions are so important when it comes to examining our performance in areas such as gentleness, because we wouldn’t naturally think to consider the. Gentleness is like salt. When you add salt to food in the appropriate quantity it enhances the flavor without drawing attention to itself. When we lead with gentleness the same will be true. We will enhance the overall well-being of our entire organization without drawing attention to ourselves.

Here’s to leading better, by making sure we are exercising gentleness in our work–today!

Leading in the Fruit of the Spirit: Faithfulness

As we continue our season on leading in the fruit of the Spirit today’s focus is faithfulness. Faithfulness is the quality of being faithful; fidelity. Faithful means loyal, constant and steadfast, or full of faith. Faithfulness is a necessary quality of a leader if our goal is to be taken seriously over the long haul. A leader who is not loyal to peers and workers, or who is not steadfast when it comes to moral character, and the organizations mission, vision and values may succeed in the short-run, but won’t be successful over the long haul.

Faithfulness is a quality we may not talk about much in leadership circles, but we all know when it is missing in an employee or a leader. While faithfulness isn’t valued nearly as highly as it was in generations past from the standpoint that most workers and leaders today are not going to be “faithful” to a particular company over the long haul and most companies aren’t going to be “faithful” to their employees over the long haul, faithfulness is still a valued trait when it comes to depending on a person to follow through with commitments.

We all know leaders and workers who are faithful. We know if they tell us they’re going to complete a project, it will be done and done well. Faithfulness is what keeps an organization moving in the right direction over time. After all, if no one demonstrated the qualities of loyalty, constancy and steadfastness, if no one believed in the organization’s purpose it would be impossible to move forward over time. Thankfully, many leaders and workers do demonstrate faithfulness, because they are the glue who hold those organizations together.

Because we are talking about leading in the fruit of the Spirit, I simply remind us again that while the quality of faithfulness may be developed naturally, and demonstrated in increasing measure over time, the Holy Spirit offers an extra measure of faithfulness when He fills and indwells us. As I have pointed out several times during this series, the Spirit’s filling us with Himself doesn’t mean we will demonstrate the qualities He offers. We must still submit our wills to His guidance, and as we do whatever quality we’re considering will be demonstrated in greater measure and with deeper effectiveness.

As you consider how faithful you are, perhaps it would be good to ask this question, “Do those around me at home, work and where I hang out see me as faithful as loyal both to the cause I champion and to them?” How you respond to that question, and as you respond honestly, you will determine the level of your faithfulness. As I noted above, faithfulness is the glue that holds organizations together, because as our loyalty increases, as our steadfastness increases, we will influence others around us to move the organization’s purpose forward. All of the facets of the fruit of the Spirit are necessary to leadership, and faithfulness while sounding more spiritual than the others, is one of the most needed.

Here’s to leading better by committing ourselves to greater faithfulness to God, others and our organization’s purpose–today!

Leading in the Fruit of the Spirit: Goodness

As we continue our leading in the fruit of the Spirit series today’s focus is goodness. A dictionary definition of goodness is “the quality of being good, in particular; virtue; moral excellence.” The value of goodness in leadership is obvious to anyone who values strong character as part of leadership. In Andy Stanley’s book, The Next Generation Leader, he lists five qualities beginning with the letter “c” as traits of such leaders: competence, clarity, courage, coaching and character. For Stanley and many of us character is the quality of a leader that ties everything together. After all, if we aren’t trustable as leaders, we won’t be effective as leaders over the long haul.

Goodness can be equated with honesty. One of the eight historic principles of church order in the Presbyterian Church is: truth is in order to goodness. In other words when we know and value the truth it leads to goodness in our lives. As we all know it is easier to talk about good character and the traits of which it consists, including goodness, than to live them out in our lives and in our leadership. Far too many leaders have compromised our character in order to pursue some other, often short-term gain. While none of us are perfect, indeed, Jesus and the Apostle Paul reminded us that only God is truly good, the goal is to strive for goodness as leaders, so people will know they can trust and rely on us.

As with all the facets of the fruit of the Spirit, the point for us as leaders is we may have each in their fullest measure only as we are filled with the Holy Spirit. He gives us each of the nine qualities: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control as we call on Him to fill us with Himself on a regular basis. I start each day during my prayer time asking the Holy Spirit to fill me and guide me. For those of us who are leaders who follow Jesus, this is a great blessing. We get to have the God of the universe supply us with His goodness.

Even so, we must exercise that goodness in our lives and leadership. Just as filling a car with gasoline doesn’t make it go, without the application of a spark, and guidance, so being filled with the Holy Spirit and the goodness He brings to us, doesn’t mean we will act with goodness. We still have control of our decision and commitment-making processes. We must choose to live in goodness, or we won’t. The freedom we have to say, “Yes!” or “No!” to God is never more clearly demonstrated than in the moment by moment decisions and commitments we make in our lives. As leaders we make decisions, which become actions, which form habits, that become behaviors.

Overtime those behaviors determine our characters, whether for good or ill. How do you respond to those moment by moment opportunities to choose good? Are you consistently choosing what is right and true in your life, so that goodness is developing in you? Are there particular areas where you tend to take short-cuts, or make decisions that reflect low moral character rather than moral excellence? Remember that while goodness is a quality that becomes part of our character, we’re always only one stupid decision away from abandoning any of these good qualities as leaders. That’s why we must be on guard constantly. It’s also why the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit is such a blessing for those who trust and follow Jesus.

Here’s to leading better by choosing to live with moral excellence in all of our decisions and commitments–today!