Oct
17
2009
I limited my telephone calls today while I took a few hours to join three fellow clergymen in a motorcycle road trip. It was not a great day weather-wise, 30 MPH head-on winds forced me to totally focus. The H-D Sportster is a very fast bike but it is not designed for this type of driving–too lite on the front end. Several times today I felt like wind gusts would lift me right off the road at speeds over 70 MPH. The challenge was exhilarating and sharing the time with these men made for a special camaraderie. I will sleep well tonight. Two special events made me take time to put my reflections in writing;
First-during my last hour on the road I began to sing and pray. While moving at speeds nearing 80 MPH my spirit began to intercede about places, people and events. I prayed for scores of pastors and congregations in LA. I prayed for my wife and hundreds of other ladies at the national women’s conference in SFO. I interceded for hundreds of US military in Garmish, Germany for the MTTM retreat; I prayed for spiritual renewal meetings scheduled for Amite and Baton Rouge this week. As I prayed time passed, miles clicked under my wheels and a wonderful sense of the Presence of the Lord filled my mind and heart-fabulous!
Second, I witnessed a great example of the very type of courageous confrontation that we discussed in this blog. I was called by a colleague informing me that he had been offended by a decision I had made recently. I value this man’s opinion so I attempted to explain to him how I had come to my decision. He stopped my explanation to say that he was not offended by my choice but rather by the dishonest way he felt I had dealt with him in the process. As I listened to him confront me with his perspective I realized how difficult it must have been for him to do this. He was not acting out of anger but rather a conviction that a breach had been created between us by my apparent dishonesty. He could not let that pass without confronting me and trying to clear this issue up and to do his part to heal the breach. What courage! What strength of charachter! He refused to hold a bad opinion of a brother without confronting me to get my perspective. I had unknowingly communicated to him something I never intended. The truth was that I held in him in high regard and my miscommunication was a matter of focus and priority rather than any deliberate attempt to mislead or manipulate him. I still had to ask his forgiveness. The bottom line; our friendship was preserved, my communication was refocused and my respect for this brother rose signiificantly. The greatest part of the experience was that I felt as though we made God smile.
Oct
14
2009
I never cease to be amazed at our penchant for self-deception–especially when it clouds our view of reality in regards to our leadership. A leader I once worked for often told me. “Don’t ever believe your own press–good or bad. When the Lord helps us to accomplish a few things a crowd may gather & start patting us on the back. If we’re not careful we can soon lose our focus and start believing that we are indispensable or entitled to special favors–don’t ever believe it! It’s never really about us, but it’s ALLWAYS about HIM and the people He has called us to serve.” I’ve found his advice to be so true.
Leaders today, if they are to be truly trustworthy, should be both honest and accountable. The successful leader often is able to surround himself with persons who learn to help accomplish his mission and insulate him from distractions. Sometimes the leader loses touch with reality or for various reasons may begin to lose his way. He needs those around him to help him stay on course and not lose his bearings. He desperately needs someone to give him honest and accurate feedback in regards to his actions and their impact upon his team and those he would try to lead. The problem is that few people, save perhaps those who have a negative motive, would be honest or courageous enough to overcome the discomfort and even danger that could be needed to confront the leader…especially if the leader was in their direct chain of command. In some organizations to tell the leader the truth could be misunderstood. Unfortunately, the higher a leader rises in an organization the more he is in need of someone to ‘speak the truth in love’ and the less likely someone will give him honest and immediate feedback regarding his words and his actions. This kind of open two-way communication is desperately needed in order to ensure the leader gets honest feedback and does not yield to the temptation to become careless with the truth.
So who will be the leaders accountability team. How can we, if the need arises’ tell the emperor he has no clothes. I’d like to suggest that modern technology and culture has brought us a potential tool to help deal with this…..more to follow.
Oct
2
2009
I heard a noted Israeli security expert say we were missing the point regarding how we were defending against terrorist attacks. In his judgement we spend way too much time/effort/money to defend against the hijacking of airplanes. He said that event is no longer a plausability in a post-911 world; the reason–no terrorist could safely take over a plane and expect to go unopposed by every able man, women and child on that plane. Our attitude toward hi-jacking has changed. Since 9-11 we are no longer willing to stand by and let some unauthorized lunatic take over the plane we are on and use it as a weapon of terror. We will oppose it even at the cost of our lives.
I hope we are getting near that frame of mind toward the bullies and unresponsive tyrants that take over our congress, our churches and sometimes our denominations. I’m not espousing careless rebellion but rather a demanding of integrity, honesty and accountability by those who call themselves leaders. If you are a leader then lead by example and keep your word. If you’re not then get out of the way and take your place among those limp-wristed, weak-kneed spineless ones that like the applause and the bright lights but won’t wash feet, cut grass and fight for the truth.
Whew! I gotta stop writing these entries after watching late night news and reading email from whining would-be leaders.
Sep
28
2009
Many of us have learned just how easy it is to deceive ourselves and others when faced with conflicting values. In order to help us bear the load we practice linking ourselves with friends that will not only pray for us but will hold us accountable when we are tempted to compromise our declared values. To help take us thru these times of moral blindness we invite our accountability partners beforehand to take us to task should they ever notice duplicity in our words or actions. This is not a relationship of judgmentalism but rather one motivated by love.
Leadership author Bill George encouraged leaders to determine ahead of time their ethical boundaries by making clear their values and taking time to reflect on them regularly. George recommend the use of what he called the “NY Times truth test”. He said our standard for integrity in personal conversation and communications should include the idea: “if anything I said or am about to do was printed on the front page of the NY Times, would I still do it?”
Sep
18
2009
Is it just me or does anyone else believe that the most important quality of a leader is trustworthiness and his willingness to accept responsibility? If he wont tell the truth while in the light he can’t be trusted in the heat of conflict.
While following an 18-wheeler along Interstate 12 recently I read the sign painted on the back of the trailer, it said: “If you observe me driving in an irresponsible manner please call 1-800-XXX-XXXX and report my actions.” Clearly the idea was to encourage responsible driving by this truck driver. The truck’s owner believed if his driver was reminded he would be held accountable for his actions he might be motivated to drive responsibly in those moments when his own commitment was at low ebb.
Accountability and responsibility are two sides of the same coin. We should do the right thing in all circumstances irrespective of wether or not someone is watching. The truth is there are times when we are tempted to take temporary short cuts that sacrifice long term good. Yielding to this temptation is devastating to a leader because it undermines trust. We overcome these moments of weakness if we have the support of an external accountability system. I’d like to hear your ideas on this.