Leadership Impact

Proverbs 29:12 (MSG) 12 When a leader listens to malicious gossip, all the workers get infected with evil.

Ron Heifetz, co-founder of Harvard’s Center for Public Leadership, is quoted as saying, “Purposeful honesty and appropriate transparency at all levels are eventual indicators of your organization’s adaptability and ability to thrive.” Leadership has impact. If lies, gossip, spurious chatter of any sort is tolerated at the top (of any size “heap”), that lack of judgment drives the organization below. What leaders listen to – i.e. honor - matters. Honesty and transparency go hand-in-glove with discernment. You want your faith to be active in the workplace? Then be known as a discerning leader who won’t participate in any form of gossip.

Copyright ©2006 by P. Griffith Lindell

Authentic Leadership Demands Work

Proverbs 28:19 (NIV) He who works his land will have abundant food, but the one who chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty.

Working the land, like authentic leadership, is about doing the right stuff at the right time in the right amounts. There’s purpose to that working. There’s commitment to the values whose predicates are often long, tedious hours of “real work.” It’s about caring more for the “land” than for your comfort – there are days when certain work must be accomplished no matter how you feel. Working the land is also about capacity – rotating crops to benefit the soil or even resting the land:  both helping to yield more of the core crop. Whether it’s leading or growing in your journey of knowing God and making Him known, both take constant effort – work. Fantasy has no place in either pursuit. What are you working on?

Copyright ©2006 by P. Griffith Lindell

Leaders Know Where to Find Satisfaction

Proverbs 27:20 (NLT) Just as Death and Destruction are never satisfied, so human desire is never satisfied.
Matt 5:6 (KJV)  Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness: for they shall be satisfied.

Whether your secret desire for satisfaction is expressed in the pursuit of money, power, influence, sex, sports, food or rampant hedonism (just feel’n good, man), one outcome is certain: you will never be satisfied. Let’s make it simpler:  self-satisfaction is an oxymoron. Only when our desire is to satisfy what justice demands; only when we put the needs of others first; only when we are driven to pursue God’s Righteousness; only then will we be satisfied. For business leaders, servant-leadership provides a significant reward: true satisfaction. Are you really satisfied? Matthew 5:6 proclaims a promise you can count on.

Copyright ©2006 by P. Griffith Lindell

Leadership Communication

Proverbs 26:4-5 (NASB) Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will also be like him.  Answer a fool as his folly deserves, that he not be wise in his own eyes.


What appears to be contradictory in these verses is not. Verse four admonishes us that sometimes it is best not to answer a question whose foundation is foolishness:  silence is golden for the question was not asked to learn, but only for selfish purposes. But there is a time to answer the foolishness of this world:  and that time is when the truth is at stake. In this instance, to not be ready with an answer might lead the foolish person to swallow their own foolishness and contaminate others, leading them to believe that the fool’s words were unanswerable. This is why Believers are admonished to “Work hard so God can approve you. Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth.”

Copyright ©2006 by P. Griffith Lindell

Leaders Have a Heart for Communication

Proverbs 15:23 (NLT)  Everyone enjoys a fitting reply; it is wonderful to say the right thing at the right time!  Ecclesiastes 10:12 Words from a wise man's mouth are gracious, but a fool is consumed by his own lips.

The tongue is a dangerous muscle. Words do hurt. Goethe observed, “No one would talk much in society if they knew how often they misunderstood others.” University books are written on the subject. (McGraw-Hill/Irwin text, Leadership Communication by Deborah Barrett, for example.) Saying the right thing at the right time is scripted in movies, but it is not in real life. Textbooks, seminars and higher education can well prepare the mind for leadership:  it is only God who can prepare the heart. Wise (Godly) leaders are called to offer a distinction to the world by their words: words that encourage and do not destroy; communication that motivates and inspires followers; words that correct without demeaning the hearer; and replies appropriate to the occasion. Leadership is a heart thing. It begins there. It lives there. Do your words show it?

Copyright ©2006 by P. Griffith Lindell     

Leaders Worship Wisdom

Proverbs 14:33 (NLT) Wisdom is enshrined in an understanding heart; wisdom is not found among fools.

Wisdom’s place in the heart is not ostentatious.  It is quiet  - a strength that leads to understanding. In their groundbreaking work, Daft and Lengel, in Fusion Leadership point out that leaders must have heart to lead. The “Fusion Leader stay[s] emotionally connected with people and work…and are collaborative and interdependent.”  It is a wisdom that integrates grace and truth:  not just the cold, hard facts of truth and not just the warm safety of grace; rather, this wise leader combines them in a way that compels understanding, positive emotional reaction and change. This leader’s corporate vision “pursues higher purpose that touches the heart.” Whatever possesses a heart regulates living. What's enshrined in your heart?

Copyright © 2006 by P. Griffith Lindell

Leaders Listen and Learn

Proverbs 13:10 (MSG) Arrogant know-it-alls stir up discord, but wise men and women listen to each other's counsel.

In an discussion about misplaced arrogance in leaders, the Center for Creative Leadership recently reminded its audience, "The leading reason managers [leaders] with impressive track records and high potential get knocked off the career track is their inability or unwillingness to change." These people, caught-up in their own hubris, lead with the arrogance of "it's my way of the highway." As Jim Collins, author of Good to Great discovered, successful leaders are not only humble, but also have learned to collaborate - listen to the advice of others. Arrogance says, "My past has taught me all I need." Humility says, "I am ever learning, and I need you to teach me." Which kind of leader are you?

Copyright ©2006 by P. Griffith Lindell

Leaders Do Not Tolerate Arrogance

Proverbs 11:2 (NIV) When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.

In John Kotter & James Heskett's book, Corporate Culture and Performance, they explored with empirical research how the "culture" of a corporation influences performance. They found that strong leaders "do not tolerate arrogance in others. They remind people often of who they must serve...." And "They keep their own egos under control. They make room for other egos." Their research revealed that arrogance, inward focus and encumbering bureaucracy are all features of a company in disgrace - unable to adapt to change. Scripture says that hidden in humility is wisdom: the last sentence of Kotter & Heskett's' book says, "...if leaders do not have the hearts of servants, there is only the potential for tyranny." There it is again:  positive, productive leadership begins in the heart. Got the heart to be a leader?

Copyright ©2006 by P. Griffith Lindell

Leaders Remember to Remember

Proverbs 7:1 &4a (NIV) My son, keep [remember] my words [follow my advice] [do what I tell you] and store [treasure] up my commands within you [stick to it]….Love Wisdom like a sister…

One can't follow advice if one does not choose to remember it: remembering is a result of an attitude adjustment – learning to "treasure" the commands and paying attention to the instruction that flows from Wisdom found in one place. The opposite way of living is called foolishness. In the first nine chapters, both Wisdom and foolishness are presented in the feminine and the latter as a seductive, but “religious,” adulteress (see verse 14). She is attractive: provocative; stimulating; enticing; full of energy; and, she even smells good. How easy it is to be sucked into the way of the world, and sometimes the distinctions are subtle. The seduction mimics the real. Are you remembering to remember to do business God's way?

Copyright © 2006 by P. Griffith Lindell

Leaders Value Others

Proverbs 6:16 - 17a (AMP) 16These six things the Lord hates, indeed, seven are an abomination to Him:  [#1] A proud look [the spirit that makes one overestimate himself and underestimate others]

Phil 2:3 (AMP) Do nothing {don’t even think about it – Griff} from factional motives [through contentiousness, strife, selfishness, or for unworthy ends] or prompted by conceit and empty arrogance. Instead, in the true spirit of humility (lowliness of mind) let each regard the others as better than and superior to himself [thinking more highly of one another than you do of yourselves].

Bill George, in his book, Authentic Leadership: Rediscovering the Secrets to Creating Lasting Value, proclaims:  “… that leadership begins and ends with authenticity…(it’s) being the person you were created to be.” He then points out that truly understanding self takes some risk and humility – learning to be open to others. He admits, “For years I felt I had to be perfect …I tried to hide my weaknesses from others, fearing they would reject me if they knew who I really was. Eventually, I realized that they could see my weaknesses more clearly than I could. In attempting to cover things up, I was only fooling myself.” He learned that pride (haughtiness) prohibits potential leadership power from being realized. Leading from humility is indeed rare, but very powerful. “As a person thinks in his heart so is he.” God judges the heart - the thoughts. What are you thinking about?

Copyright ©2006 by P. Griffith Lindell

Leaders – Every Moment, Every Day

Proverbs 5:21 (NIV) For a man's ways are in full view of the LORD, and he examines all his paths.

Richard Kriegbaum, in his book Leadership Prayers, writes in the section on Integrity, that we are not business leaders every moment  (every step), but we are ourselves every moment. Imagine that. Every moment counts. And our lives are a much stronger message than our words. Integrity - being whole - means that we must be ourselves in all situations and God has called us to be holy - set apart for righteousness. Can't do that on my own. It takes two. That's why we have the Holy Spirit. Are you allowing the Spirit to work in you and for you? It does mean giving up what you want to and letting Him shape you into His image - one way/path/step at a time.

Copyright © 2006 by P. Griffith Lindell     

God-fearing Leadership

Proverbs 1:7 (NASB) The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.
(MSG)  Start with GOD-the first step in learning is bowing down to GOD; only fools thumb their noses at such wisdom and learning.

There was a time in our culture when the term "God-fearing man or woman" was used to describe a Christian; however the literature of the last century painted an image of this person as hard, cranky, without compassion, stoic, even brutal - not a pretty picture. Notwithstanding, the "fear" written of here is not the trembling Lion quaking before the Wizard of Oz; rather, this fear includes the attitude of honoring God as having authority over all things rejecting the attitude of  "I don't need God:  I can do just as well on my own."  This faith is not mere facile declaration. This faith is vigorous, attentive, and "alive." God-fearers are called to be magnets - attractive people - because they don't worship self, they value others, and they lead with a moral compass firmly established. Are you an attractive God-fearer in the workplace?

Copyright© 2006 by P. Griffith Lindell