Authentic Leadership Demands Hard 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. Warren Bennis put it this way, “What we are looking for is well-honed judgment that is rooted in visible purpose and values that we consistently count on over time.”

“Working the land: is at least about purpose and commitment to values of stewardship but it is also about capacity – rotating crops to benefit the soil or even resting the land: both helping to yield more of the core crop. Maybe that metaphor becomes reality in cross-training – allowing several to develop and expand skill sets. Takes extra effort. It’s hard work, but it pays dividends.

Whether it’s leading your firm 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 ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Servant-leadership: CONTROL YOURSELF: Choose to Smile

Proverbs 17:22 (MSG) A cheerful disposition is good for your health; gloom and doom leave you bone-tired.

Our Creator is sure practical! And health professionals have long recognized this truth; but it is even now permeating the business community.

According to author Susan Heathfield, writing on employee motivation, leaders should: “Start the day by showing a positive, cheerful attitude (Your arrival at work sets the employee motivation tone for the day.)”

Good medicine for you: good medicine for your company.

The leader lays the foundation for the culture. Your smile and disposition not only helps you, but also others.

Are you smiling?

Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Servant-leadership: CONTROL YOURSELF: Saying the Right Thing at the Right Time

Proverbs 15:24 (AMP) A man has joy in making an apt answer, and a word spoken at the right moment--how good it is!

Giving voice to thought – now, for me, that sometimes is very hard to control. As the Apostle Paul noted “…and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Corinthians 10:5)

The mind matters. Its thoughts must be taken captive – for a purpose. Why? Because out of the mouth flows the intents of the heart. The one follows the other.

Controlling both our thoughts, and our voice takes intentionality – in other words, CONTROL. You want to practice servant-leadership, get control of your thoughts and your talk.

The result of that control is “joy.” Giving a right answer. Building up: not tearing down. Encouraging. Providing advice. Saying the right thing at the right moment. The fruit of our words should be sweet and tasty – delightful to the ear. That’s not always the case for me. Tonality. Body language. I’m working on it – all the time.


How about you? Got the talk down? The timing right?


Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Servant-leadership: CONTROL YOURSELF: The Foundation

The image I use to illustrate the body/soul/spirit integration is the Statue of Liberty. Like many illustrations, it is not perfect, but is useful. The statue is an integration of the flame of the spirit, the crown of the mind and the structure of a supporting body. The foundation for this symbol is both large and solid.

Another illustration from Scripture might be instructive. Noah’s three sons named in Scripture - (Ham (body-physical), Shem (spiritual) and Japheth (mind - intellectual) - each may represent nations that mirror the tri-part makeup of humans.

Japhethites, essentially European people groups provided the world with great intellectual development – philosophy, science, psychology; the Hamites, a mix of African and Asian people groups (Egypt, Africa, Orient), provided the world great explorers, farming and crop-raising techniques, architectural wonders, servants (slaves, producers for the other nations); and the Semites, who gave the world both Israelites (Hebrew people – Jewish nation) and Ishmaelites (Arabs), have given the world much in the spiritual development.

God intended all to work together for the benefit of each. Man had different ideas. Ham, through his son Canaan, was cursed by Noah for his dishonoring behavior, has been fulfilling the curse, despite his grandson, Nimrod’s, attempt to rule rather than be ruled. If you read The Book, you know the final end of Babylon the city founded by him and then the final realization of God’s plan – of which there should be no doubt.

So what’s the “so what?” Shem’s descendant, Jesus of Nazareth, who came to earth as The God/man, provides the difference. The body must be nourished, feed what is good for it demands care and keeping. The mind receives nourishment from it to support our God-given intellect; therefore, it too must not be dismissed, demanding constant stimulation and challenge; but both are only temporary. The eternal spirit, however, changes our focus of body-care and mind-development. For if Christ was not resurrected, he becomes only another guru in a long line of Wiseman, and our spiritual faith is in vain.

That faith drives the reality of His Spirit living within us to provide us the power needed to control self. On our own, our attempts for control are temporary, and under stress, that self-foundation becomes obvious. Only a supernatural “Rock of Ages” – the Messiah promised the world- the living Jesus Christ provides the foundation we need to exercise control.

Is your life built on the shifting sands of self or the living Rock of the Ages?



Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Servant-leadership: CONTROL YOURSELF – Does Your Light Shine?

Tomorrow is 11 December 2009 AD or 24 Kislev 5770 – the former the Christian date; the later the Jewish date.

Chanukah (Hanukah for us Gentiles) begins Friday. Our Jewish friends will kindle one light before sunset. This is done in celebration for the miracle of the Jewish temple’s menorah burning continuously for eight days from a one-day supply of sacred olive oil. The Maccabees, who stood up to their enemies, cleansed their temple, and in the face of certain punishment or death, took risks for their faith: those people and that miracle are now celebrated with the “Festival of Lights.”

That Temple Menorah pointed to the “light of the world” – now Christian believers. (Matt 5:14 “You are the light of the world….” Jesus, the “true Light” gives that light to us to shine through us: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." (Matthew 5: 16)

This is His season; for it is the Christ of Christmas that changed history, and he was Jewish. We should not forget that. He came for all humans, but he came within a particular time, from particular ancestry - as foretold in Scripture.

In our pluralistic society, controlling self has come to mean, for some, political correctness. Control your spiritual self, in other words. Bah humbug! Rubbish. This is the Christmas season. We celebrate the birth of the God/man who walked among us as a Jewish carpenter, proclaiming the good news, to the Jewish nation, that their long-awaited Messiah had come. The one who brought them the miracle of the menorah now completed the expression of God’s light by being with us in this life. "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world" (John 9:5)

This truly is the season of lights. Homes in our neighborhood are lit up – despite the recession. Inside and outside houses, malls, stores –even some businesses - sparkle with lights. Nice. But not important. The light that counts is His light in you.

What kind of light are you? Is your life glowing good works that glorify your Father in Heaven?


Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Servant-leadership: CONTROL YOURSELF - Integration of Body, Soul (Mind) and Spirit

Controlling self is an integrated function that begins with an understanding of what controls humans. Business recognizes the importance of each attribute – and when they have discounted one for the others, problems arise.

Charles Dickens made a good living exposing businesses that worked people too many hours to the determent of the body – we have work-rules today that recognize that humans need to rest the physical structure. Dickens also exposed those who focused on the Soul (mind) to the exclusion of the spirit. These characters lived as if the body and soul were all that is – and the spiritual component of humans was dismissed as not important – indeed irrelevant. His writing, as well as others, gave rise to a leadership that became increasingly more sensitive to the complete person. Today, leaders must recognize all three natures and manage the business accordingly.

It is my belief that humans are both material and immaterial beings. Some writers in the area of theology posit that humans are two-part beings consisting of body (material) and souls (immaterial). Others distinguish the immaterial into two distinct, but interrelated “parts.” I hold to the second view.

Body – material (Gen. 2:7 “The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground…”) is the temporary housing for the Soul and Spirit. When humans die, the body dies – returns to “dust” – its chemical nature breaks down and becomes part of the ground from which it was originally created. The body has sensory-consciousness, which can be used to the destruction of humans –(Gen 3:6 “And when the woman saw that the tree was good (suitable, pleasant) for food and that it was delightful to look at…”). This, sin begin it journey into the world through Eve’s sensory gates.

Soul is that part of you that is the essence of living. (Gen. 2:7 “…and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man become a living soul…”) It is the “you-ness” of you - what makes you an individual, distinct from another.

Your body may look identical (like in twins) but each twin has a soul that is unique. This is the part of you that will live eternally. Your sensory gates are connected to your brain (material) and the brain has the ability to create meaning (the immaterial) both in your unconscious and conscious mind – a function that cannot be totally understood or explained.

Your soul nature includes your beliefs, attitudes, feelings, emotions, memory, will, thinking, reasoning and desires. Like the body, the soul must be controlled (Gen 3:6 “And when the woman saw that the tree was …to be desired in order to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate…”). As Aristotle noted, “what is in your power to do, it is in your power to not do.” The soul is the seat of your self-consciousness – and if left to dominate, can destroy your eternal relationship with your Creator.

Your spirit is the power that ignites you and controls you. When theologians tell us that humans are born in sin, they are talking about this spirit that is born evil and must be supernaturally reborn to become good. Your spirit is either of God or of Sin and thus gives meaning to life, helps you define your purpose (which can be changed with the spirit is changed). From your spirit you form your faith, your communication with your Creator (prayer) and your ability to have God-consciousness. It is this within us that can be regenerated so that we can know God and the things of God - I Corinthians 2:14 - "But the natural man (body & soul) does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him: nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned."

When humans were created, it is this that ultimately distinguished humans from the animals. Genesis 1:26-27 "Then God said "let us make man in our image, according to our likeness.... So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." The Apostle John reminds us that God is not material and we share an attribute of His for He made us in His image. John 4:24 "God is Spirit…" It is from our spirit that we worship either ourselves (we choose our own god) or our Creator God.

We now seem to be living in the BODY generation – we worship the body. Movies, entertainment, sports are each about the body – the material you. It may be a bit of an over-generalization, but it could be argued that the Reformation worshiped the SPIRIT – the educated opinion-makers focused on things spiritual. In like manner, thinker during the Renaissance worshiped the SOUL (mind), reasoning; what the human soul conceived was venerated. God was not.

Servant-leaders, I believe, should keep the three in balance and worship the Creator, not any one part of the creation. (Romans 1:25 “They (those that reject God as He has revealed Himself to us) exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.”)

Is your life in balance? Do you work at integrating your body, your soul and spirit? Do you allow the Spirit of God to be the fuel in the engine of that integration?


Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Servant-leadership: CONTROL YOURSELF - Leadership and Seduction

Proverbs 7:1-5 (MSG) Dear friend, do what I tell you; treasure my careful instructions. Do what I say and you'll live well. My teaching is as precious as your eyesight—guard it! Write it out on the back of your hands; etch it on the chambers of your heart. Talk to Wisdom as to a sister. Treat Insight as your companion. They'll be with you to fend off the Temptress—that smooth-talking, honey-tongued Seductress.

Being committed to personal purpose, having a system of ethics and a holistic worldview that does not separate the sacred from the secular is a good start. It is not enough.

The next step is the harder step. Disciplining yourself. These verses make it clear that eternal core values must be of paramount importance if we are to protect ourselves from seduction – of any kind.

For leaders, the line between leading and seducing by that power it mighty thin: consider the German language where “to lead” is “fuehren” (think Fuehrer!) and by adding only the prefix “ver” or “verfuehren,” the result is “to seduce.”

We must protect ourselves from the “Great Seducer” who wants to add a “simple prefix” to our thinking and paints his path as the path to freedom – freedom to think on our own and to run our lives and business on our own – a path that is actually the very opposite of freedom – slavery; a path that looks good, but is not. Seducing others to follow our lead down this path – playing around with your life – has deadly, eternal consequences.

The seductive path mimics the real. Can you tell the difference?


Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Servant-leadership - CONTROL Yourself: Integration – Body, Mind, Spirit in Sync.

Proverbs 4:20-23 (MSG)

Dear friend, listen well to my words; tune your ears to my voice.
Keep my message in plain view at all times. Concentrate! Learn it by heart!
Those who discover these words live, really live;
body and soul, they're bursting with health.
Keep vigilant watch over your heart; that's where life starts.
Don't talk out of both sides of your mouth; avoid careless banter, white lies, and gossip.
Keep your eyes straight ahead; ignore all sideshow distractions.

The first important step in “controlling self” is to have a process for keeping congruent your body, your mind and your spirit. As a leader, what marks your journey to develop the “soft side” of leadership - sensitivity to the qualitative aspects and character issues? For example: Are you expecting your sales team to produce revenue to the exclusion of integrity – white lies, exaggerations, manipulations, “dealing,” etc? Or, do you reward both results AND character?

How do you go about nourishing your body, your mind and your spirit? At work, do you allow your team to actually take real vacations – or are they on call 24/7? Not only is that probably a violation of the law, more importantly it is a violation of God’s law that rest is good and important for his creation. Just as you do not take a drink of water only one day a week, neither can you nourish your mind and spirit for two hours on a Sunday morning. You nourish your body by drinking liquid every day: how are you treating your spirit and your mind? (The Biblical term “heart” is a unique combination of both.)

What about your mind? Did school teach you all you needed to know? What the latest leadership book you have read – and studied (meditated upon)? How are you nourishing your mind with more than technical data about your products/services, the industry or the marketplace?

What of art, music, fiction, poetry, gardening etc. provides nourishment for your mind and spirit?

The “heart” fuels the engine of your mind and body. How do you practice reflection to keep your heart pure? Motives pure? When you look at the results you have produced at work, home or even play, how do you reflect upon them to change behavior to produce a different result? What is your experience with apologizing – recognizing that the results you just produced did not honor God, or other people?

Integration of body, mind and spirit takes work. Do you have a work plan?


Copyright ©2009 P. Griffith Lindell

SERVANT-leadership: Control Yourself

CONTROL SELF: Integration (body/mind/spirit congruence); Proficiencies (acquiring skills needed); Behaviors (capitalizing, moderating and supplementing behavioral patterns).


Proverbs 4:4b "Lay hold of my words with all your heart; keep my commands and you will live.

Solomon, writing as a father, recalls what his father taught him. It is the same instruction that our Heavenly Father taught back in the Garden. The corollary to, “If you eat (of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil) you shall die” is if you obey, you will live.

Ancient advice. Repeated over and over again by wise people. CONTROL YOURSELF! The decision is yours. Always yours. Despite peer pressures, or the childhood trauma. Regardless of the missing nutrition/education/medical care, the decision remains a personal choice. Humans must always make a choice to “lay hold…and keep” those commands that are meant to help shape our character and allow us to live, not only a productive live here on earth, but an eternal life in fellowship with our Creator. If the catechism still rings true, “the chief end of man is to glorify God (by keeping his commands) and enjoy him forever (the promise of obedience),” then learning discipline is critical to not only leading, but also following.

This, the second phase, of leadership development, while having its genesis in Scripture, is being symbolized by me with Aristotle – the great thinker and teacher who taught: “What it lies in your power to do, it lies in your power to not do.”

In a society, which accepts “blaming,” as a reasonable standard of explanation for behavior, effective leadership does not. The leader, in touch the on-going process of knowing self, this leader, if they want to be effective, to inspire, motivate and ultimately serve, must also learn to control self. This is the “walk the talk” phase - the hardest phase of leadership development by far.

Leaders must have an open heart. Take advice. Be open to change. Receive constructive criticism. Learn from results – all results. Above all, do right – not some wishy-washy, feel good, in-the-moment right, but right behavior that finds its source in our Creator, Redeemer and Friend, Christ Jesus, who said,

“If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.” (John 14:23-24)

Can’t be much clearer than that.

Control Yourself: Got a handle on that?


Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Servant-leadership: KNOW YOURSELF – a Summary

I have posited that to become an authentic servant-leader, one must begin with “knowing self” and that knowledge is the result of integrating your understanding of ultimate purpose (your relationship with God), your ethical framework (how you treat fellow humans) and your teleology (your worldview that combines purpose with ethics to understand the past, respond to the present and to build for the future).

The fundamental question is: Were you created, the result of a supernatural, self-existent, all powerful being who made matter, energy and time and also made you in His image? Or, are you a developed being, the result of a random, materialistic process, that, somehow, in a vast amount of time, not only organized your physical substance to make you human, but also your mental and spiritual identity? Your answer shapes your understanding of self and how you go about living an “examined life.”

Understanding what it means to “know yourself” is not about “self-enlightenment.” I would go so far to say that it is a concept that is antithetical to today’s view of self. It is not becoming a lover of self - satiated with self, encouraged by a society that accepts “me” as a nominative case pronoun (“me and John went to the store….”). This is not a trivial grammatical error – it demonstrates the shift in culture that has permeated our thinking with a self-hyphenated language (self-awareness, self-actualization, etc.)

The great philosophers of the past (like Socrates who said: "The unexamined life is not worth living") understood the fundamental nature of this examination of self. All of our interactions with nature, with the spiritual world and with each other begin with a true understanding of self. God says that the effects of sin is death and that man, created in His image, was fully intelligent, capable, creative and controlled their environment developing what was needed to life successfully.

Man did not emerge from some animal-like state to the supposed current evolved intelligence. Humans, Scripture demonstrates, have moved in the opposite direction from their original created state. Humans are less equipped today to deal with the environment, each other and their own natures than Adam and Eve.

Examining your life, moving from where you are at birth (dominated by a sin nature Rom. 3:23) to where you need to be to have fellowship with your Creator is found in God’s revelation to his creation: 2 Tim. 3:16-17 "All Scripture (not some, not the ones you want, this is not a menu!) is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

Knowing your self is not an exercise in “self-esteem” but it is a journey of humility. It must be noted that nowhere in Scripture are we told to seek “self-esteem;” rather we are warned repeatedly “not esteem ourselves highly” in relationship to others whether the ruler or the ruled- Deut. 17:14-20; 1 Kings 19:3-18; Proverbs 16:19; 25:6,7; Luke 14:7-11; Luke 16:15; - Romans 12:3.

A person at peace is better fit to lead. A person at peace with themselves is a result of having a deep peace with their purpose. They are at peace with others – their ethical framework works to benefit others and them. They are a peace with a troubled world because they have a clear sense of God’s sovereign control. As Daniel Schuman points out:

“The Scriptures speak of fixing one’s thoughts on the positive too, but it is not simply replacing negative thoughts with positive ones. Instead, the Bible indicates that for one to experience the benefits of the peace of God, that person must first experience “peace with God”. Romans 5:1-5 reveals this truth. It states: Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through whom we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in the our sufferings, knowing that our suffering produces endurance …character…hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. (Daniel Schuman © Website: www.renewABQ.com)

Are you really at peace? Do you know yourself, God’s way?



Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Servant-leadership-KNOW Yourself: Worldview

This, the third leg of the “Knowing Yourself Stool,” expresses your integration of your belief system (purpose – a vertical relationship, so to speak, with your God) with your ethical system (the horizontal relationships with others) into a systematic process of understanding the past, interpreting the present and thinking about the future – teleology.

The literature on the theory and practice of leadership has been around a long time. From Plutarch’s Lives, to more modern writers, a body of literature has developed about the ways leaders must think and behave to motivate followers - each writer offering valid ideas and processes on leadership. Studies have emerged from many disparate disciplines that have shaped and augmented the literature. Each writer, some intentionally, many without intention, has reflected a particular worldview.

One’s worldview consists of at least three attributes, (with thanks to Nancy Pearcey, writing in Total Truth for this model) it:

• Assumes something about origins (fundamentally either matter or spirit - first cause - is eternal);
• Defines the problems that beset the human being (at the core it’s either sin, or some evolved set of environmental/societal drivers); and finally,
• Ultimately offers a solution to the human condition.

Our view of these three attributes determines our views about intentions of individual behavior, behavior – the acting out of those intentions, and impact humans have on each other and the role that leaders and followers play in that dance of interaction.

Some questions to consider include:

• How do you view the worlds of scared and secular? Are they interrelated or separated by a “divide” that thinking humans do not cross?

• How do you incorporate your belief system into your mental models of how the world operates – the dynamics of human interaction?
• How do you connect your perceptions (assumptions) with reality (what your senses communicate)?
• How do you connect your purpose with your principles in a pattern of thought that will position you in the mind of those with whom you interact?

Are you leading from your core of “getting stuff done” that separates work, from play, from home, from faith, or are you leading from an integrated core that maintains that one is the same in each instance, expressing a different focus, but not a different person?


Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Servant-leadership – KNOW Yourself: Ethics

Imagine visiting an African game preserve. Hot. Sometimes windy. Often oppressively still. There, you are introduced by your guide to the Wildebeest or Gnu – a species of the Antelope - with horns sloping forward, its head looks very much like an ox, a mane like a horse, and a long tail. These strange looking creatures run in huge herds, creating a tremendous roar as they soar across the African plains.

From time to time, you may catch a glimpse of a carcass of the Wildebeest lying on the parched African earth, stripped of most of its flesh. Ask any guide, “What happened?” and you will learn that one strayed from the head and became a lion’s meal. The lions are watching carefully, always looking for that one or two that will stray from the pack.

Christian business leader, you and I face a “roaring lion” whose aim is to devour us. We are in a war! A battle for our foundational beliefs. Our understanding of eternal purpose. Our values. Our ethical framework

Many unprepared “Christians” in the business community are losing battles fought in the trenches of practical business decisions. Distracted – Dismayed – Discouraged – they have strayed from the herd.

The herd, in this case, may simply be a shared values system: sharing made more difficult now by three things: the assimilation of diverse cultures who have NOT become part of the “melting pot” that once defined being “American;” the eroding of the family and marriage; and the use and glorification of situational ethics promoted by the entertainment media. More and more pressure is put on the “grounded” businessperson to become shaped by this new pluralistic, postmodern culture - rather than shaping it.

As a leader, have you wrestled with questions like:

• Where are your values and ethics derived?

• What principles are non-negotiable and drive you?
  
  
• What is the ethical basis for your beliefs about:
  
  • How you treat other people?
  • The source and importance of truth?
  • The role of your obligations – are they binding or can they be changed?
    

Where does the business leader find his value system? There is an answer. I’ll explore that in a later blog.

Are you shaping your team, organization or company’s culture? Or are you being shaped?


Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Servant-Leadership - KNOW Yourself: Purpose

On your journey to becoming a better leader, especially moving along the path to mastering servant-leadership, understanding your purpose is vital and demands of you some powerful introspection. The fundamental question is: how can you lead anyone if you don’t really know where you are going?

Do you know why you are here on earth? Is your life, like all lives, ultimately an expression of random chance? Or were you created for meaning and purpose?

Where are you headed – ultimately? When you’re dead, you are just dead, right? Or do your choices in this life have a meaning that has eternal implications?

Does your life have meaning that is not just self-centered? Is it all about you? Are you just a mass of chemicals that evolution somehow connected that give birth to your body, mind and spirit? Do you believe that God created humans in His image and made humans “living spirits” – beings that are eternal?

What is your understanding about God? Is He the great “watch-maker” who wound it all up and has just “walked away” and let the watch run its course? Do you think that evolution really did happen but God interrupted it (in some mysterious way) to make humans special? Is God’s revelation accurate – does He exercise sovereign control over his revelation to humans (the Holy Bible) or is he playing with us, fooling us, and ultimately deceiving us? Did the Creator God make us in his image, came to us as human, died for our sin, conquered death for us so that we can be born one more time, this time in righteousness allowing us to live in the presence of a perfect God?

Is your chief purpose to glorify God and enjoy Him forever? Or is that just some religious point of view that is OK for some, but not for everybody?

How you answer these questions lays the foundation for your leadership style. Do be confused by the Zen approach to purpose – sure, humans can conquer fears, find meaning, even in suffering, and choose to be positive in the face of ugly circumstances. Good stuff – all of it. The question still remains, “so what?” What does it all matter if you gain the whole world – conquer fear, display sadness, give yourself to the poor and needy - but lose your soul?

Does your purpose have eternity in mind?


Copyright © 2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Led to Lead

Proverbs 20:24 (NIV) A man's steps are directed by the LORD. How then can anyone understand his own way?

For the Christian Leader, this may be a “Well, Duh!” verse. Of course! Really? Interesting conundrum here: we have a responsibility to think and act; but in our doing so, we never contradict God’s sovereignty.

As one moves through management and into leadership, bosses, processes or initiatives, which seem to be outside the spiritual realm, most often direct steps. This verse is one of those very tough leadership verses for we supposedly “know the way.”

You’re the leader: Strategy has been formulated. Implementation is in process. The vision is shared. The team is focused on the mission. Actions are shaped by the core values. You inspire and motive. You lead. But it’s not autonomous.

The key here is that this verse is PERSONAL – it's our individual steps that God controls. He works in all things – our bad decisions as well as our good ones – for His glory and purpose.

Scripture makes it clear: to lead, we must first be willing to be led, which demands of us a constant dependence on God. When I stop depending on Him and just venture out with a “Griff-generated-thing,” it most often results in being all about me. Not good. That’s “walking by sight” – not by faith.

Are you joining God, in prayer and by faith, to direct your “steps” – even at work?


Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Countering Gossip at Work

Proverbs 18:8 (MSG) Listening to gossip is like eating cheap candy; do you really want junk like that in your belly?

The internal politics of an organization can damage an otherwise healthy culture. Conflicting views of business strategy, for example, often yield pettiness, personal attacks and the politics of the destruction. Leaders, in both “sacred” and “secular” organizations, must deal with the human tendency to devour gossip.

When leaders allow the team to eat the cheap candy of gossip, the work environment becomes charged with negative energy that discourages at best and destroys at worst. Consequently, people loose faith in the leadership, and even good ideas for solving business problems are viewed skeptically.

When Adam and Eve realized “they were naked…and hid themselves,” we humans have developed a lust to expose the nakedness of others by telling stories that tear down the character of the person, or build ourselves up. The sinful result of having the “knowledge of good and evil” is judgmental behavior – gossip being one expression of it.

Leader, here are some tips to handle office gossip:

• Make certain you are not providing cheap candy to those with a “sweet tooth.”
• When making tough business decisions, collaborate effectively.
• Air conflicting strategic views.
• Ask hard questions, without demeaning, that demand critical thinking.
• Then, after a path is chosen, ask each team member how he or she will help motivate and inspire people to follow the direction just set.
• If team members cannot get behind the decision after this process, they don’t belong on the team. It’s a cliché, but applies: there is no “i” in team.

Most importantly, gossip is a spiritual battle; therefore be sure that you fight it with spiritual weapons – or you will loose.

Are you armed correctly to fight spiritual battles, like gossip, at work?


Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Positive, Persuasive Leadership

Proverbs 16:21 (NAS) The wise in heart will be called understanding, and sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness.

Definitions of leadership include words like influence, persuasion and motivation, i.e. the ability to inspire others to do what they normally may not consider doing.

Those writing about leadership agree that the simplest definition of a leader is a person who has followers. Street gangs have leaders. Criminal organizations have leaders. Organizations of followers have a leader. Right. Our focus then, is not about leadership, per se; it is about the right kind of leadership.

Wise leadership develops from other-centeredness that flows from a commitment to purpose greater than self; an ethical framework that cares about others first; and a view of the world that recognize individual lives have meaning.

Leadership is about - heart. Motives are changed. Perspectives are different. The intent of this heart yields “sweetness of speech” that increases impact – speech that motives, inspires and transforms listeners from hearers to "heeders."

Transformational leaders are first committed followers. When your heart is in sync with God’s heart, your persuasiveness takes on a winsomeness that results in mobilized action in your followers.

Do you want willing, motivated, and committed followers? Start with your heart.


Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Understanding Essential Issues

Proverbs 13:15-16 [PGL] Good understanding wins favor, but the way of the social deceiver whose conscious is warped does not endure. The prudent acts with knowledge, but the fool lays open his foolishness.

There are many expectations followers have about their leaders: one in particular is the leader’s ability to “understand.” A well-rounded leader wins the favor of followers by faithfully communicating, “they get it.”

This is a leader who has learned to both manage complexity well and lead clearly through the tensions inherent in the structural conflicts involved in change. Careful! Success here can lead to personal hubris. The “prudent” remembers that it is their Creator who has equipped them, not they, themselves.

Effective leaders understand that the tension between continuity and change is perceived differently by each follower and is based on how each were “hard wired.” The aware leader can inspire and motivate in a way that “wins favor” because this leader recognizes the communication style that will get through and get action for each member of the team. Jesus employed different approaches based upon the listener to whom he was speaking. Shouldn’t we?

Those practicing manipulative management and self-serving leadership have become slaves to their own ego. They are fools. The music of life is not in the baton of the maestro, but in the musicians in the orchestra.

The prudent leader with good understanding is the maestro we favor. The score of the music is the common purpose. The musicians’ take personal responsibility for fulfilling their portion of the purpose. Remember, tuning the orchestra does not produce pleasant music, but is necessary. The music begins when the conductor, with a clear understanding of each musician’s role, and knowledge of the author’s intent with the piece, raises the baton to start the music.

Are you a maestro trying to be an orchestra?
Do you know the “author’s intent” in the score of life and it’s expression at work?


Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

LOVING DISCIPLINE

Proverbs 12: 1 (AMP) Whoever loves instruction and correction loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is like a brute beast, stupid and indiscriminating.

Controlling self is a critical stage in learning how to lead: Discipline; Determination to change your approaches and responses to behavior yielding different results. I’m reminded of what M. Scott Peck said in his book The Road Less Traveled, “without discipline we can solve nothing.”

To put this verse more simply – “to learn, you must have discipline (NLT).” To grow personally as a leader, it demands of you not only self discipline, but also the “discipline” from others: both have the power to shape your work and your life to better pursue the direction needed to create positive change.

But note also what this word of wisdom from Proverbs tells us: we are not to tolerate discipline. Not deal with it. Not accept it. Love it. Leaders learn that every action taken is a learning experience: they see it as producing a result- not as success or failure, per se. That’s the attitude of loving discipline. Learn from the results you produce.

If you don’t like the results, change what you are doing – don’t be a “brute beast, stupid and indiscriminating.” Learn. Change. Grow.

Have you developed the attitude needed to learn from discipline?


Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Integrity - A Core of Servant-Leadership

Proverbs 11:3 (AMP) The integrity of the upright [righteous] shall guide them, but the willful contrariness and crookedness of the treacherous shall destroy them.

“Integrity,” here meaning not only complete, but also ethical straightness and perfection, is from a Hebrew word used only in this verse in Proverbs and four times in the book of Job - notably when God challenged Satan that Job would continue to “hold fast his integrity,” and Job’s wife challenged him by asking, “Do you still cling to your integrity? Curse God and die.”

Leaders who are driven by integrity make a difference – they are the ones who manage change well. Completeness I believe, has at its core an obligation of each leader to “know self” and this is a journey of three, interconnected phases:

Understanding Purpose:

• Do you know why you are here?
• What is your purpose? Have your written your personal vision statement?
• Why were you created?

Establishing Personal Ethics:

• What are the guidelines that direct your intentions and behavior? Do you have a list of words that you hold fast and dear?
• Do you believe that personal truthfulness, accountability and respect for the individual are without variation even in the face of changing circumstances?
• Have you written your core beliefs? Do you read them?

Developing a Worldview

• Why are humans on earth? How did we get here? Have you thought this through in a way that will help you motivate, inspire and challenge followers?
• What is the human condition? Are we just blank slates imprinted by environment and DNA? Are all humans sinners?
• What is the answer - the solution - to the human condition? Is our salvation a good education? Riches? Government? The Lord Jesus Christ?

Job apparently wrestled well with these questions. Even in the midst of horrific circumstance, he knew who he was, what guided him and how that fit into his worldview. He was an authentic leader.

Who and what guide you?


Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

A Leader's Words Give Life

Proverbs 10:11a (NKJV) The mouth of the righteous is a well of life…

All sorts of people can inspire, motivate to bring about change. Sometimes, the oasis of hoped for change is just a desert illusion.

Not so with a righteous leader: this person draws from a well of “living water” and motivates people to move (change) quenching their thirst with “the healing water” from the Giver of Life.

According to John P, Kotter, (Force for Change: How Leadership Differs from Management), a leader sets the direction, aligns the key factors that will yield success, motivates and inspires and produces positive change. To do these things, words take on great power. If a leader’s words are colored by discouragement, hesitancy based on current circumstances and an almost fatalistic recognition of present conditions, motivation is lost. Followers are not inspired. There is no joy for the words are not drawn from the “well of life.”

Yes, in the year 2009, we are going thru economic hardship – some of us. Not all. There are still “winners” in the stock market. Some businesses are counter-cyclic.

Regardless of your season, the personal focus must be on how the Lord is showing up even if we are in the “winter of our discontent.” Christian leaders must first communicate joy - because the “joy of the Lord is your strength.” Effective leaders speak first of what is going well (in a church or ministry context, it would be a conversation about God’s goodness) before s/he communicates the trials that must be faced and overcome. We can only truly motivate and inspire when we draw first from the “well of life.”

Leader: do your words result in joy, hope and inspiration to bring about positive change?


Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Building a Life of Significance

Proverbs 9: 1, 10 (MSG) 1Lady Wisdom has built and furnished her home... 10Skilled living gets its start in the Fear-of-GOD, insight into life from knowing a Holy God.

A special house has been built for Believers and it should be enough - but many times, we spend time looking out the window at other buildings that seem bigger, better, bolder.

The world does this as their practice of living. Never content. Always wanting more.

Building, per se, is not wrong, misguided or to be ignored. Leaders are often called "to build." Building a meaningful, significant life is important. That's building to the model of Wisdom's house. Skilled living - that’s the key.

Christian business leaders have the opportunity to demonstrate what God can do with a business wholly committed to him -- one that thrives, grows and is profitable - an enterprise run for His glory. Dickens would not have had much material to use if Christians, at the time his novels were placed, were committed to running Christ-enabled businesses.

Building a businesses, or simple building a life, God's way should be better - the leader more skilled at living because she/he isn’t trying to build a house on a foundation of the shifting sands of relative values.. We are called to build lives of significance at home, at work, at play - and success in this arena is measured by how well we walk down the path of skilled living.

Are you walking on the path that leads to the house Wisdom has built?


Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Following Jesus

Guest Blog: Aaron Potratz

Servants and Leaders


A few weeks ago I was listening to a Christian radio station, and one of the DJ’s was talking about servant-leadership. What he said struck me and I’ve not been able to let it out of my mind ever since. He said that there are so many books out there on servant-leadership, but very few people write about simply being a servant – which is what Jesus said He came to be in Mark 10: 43-45.

To be sure, I did an Amazon.com search on several keywords or phrases such as “servant leader,” “leadership,” “servant,” and “be a servant.” Here’s what I found:

· Most of the books on servant-leadership were newer books, written/published within the past 10 years or so
· Many servant-leadership book titles tended to focus on leading others through being a servant
· Books on servanthood or being a servant were generally much older and tended to be heart-focused or on developing godly characteristics
· There were many books in the “servant” search category that also included the term “leadership”

Who cares about book titles on Amazon and what does all of this matter anyway?

The point is that when we focus on leadership and greatness like the disciples did (Mark 9:34, Mark 10: 35-37, and Luke 22:24), we lose sight of what God has called us to.

Our culture is rich with messages telling us that leadership is desirable and a sign of success. Leadership itself is not a bad thing, it can be a good thing, but it is not the best thing according to Jesus. True greatness in the Kingdom of Heaven and discipleship is comprised of humble and loving service. We should be setting our sights on meeting the needs of others through service, sacrifice, and humility. In this way, we edify and exhort others while glorifying God’s name.

This is to be our primary concern, even above leading others because when it is reversed, it becomes too easy to get caught in the snares of self-glory and pride. However, when our own desires become second to the needs of others, those sinful tendencies become exposed and refined in the fire.

So what do you desire?

If you follow Jesus, your answer is to “be slave of all,” (Mark 10:44). Make being a servant your heart’s true passion and let God do the leading; He is more qualified and more experienced anyway.

Copyright ©2009 by Aaron Potratz

An Absolute for Leaders

Proverbs 5:1-2 (NIV) My son, pay attention to my wisdom, listen well to my words of insight, that you may maintain discretion and your lips may preserve knowledge.

Whom you look to for wisdom when leading your team, your small business, your ministry determines – well, everything. Your understanding of personal purpose, your core values and your worldview all merge at this intersection.

Biblical business ethics adheres to the underlying principle that there is absolute, foundational truth upon which you must build your thought life and behavior. Solomon of old never assumed that truth was relative and that morality was a function of personal choice: his worldview drove his proverbs.

Finding and assimilating Godly Wisdom drives two actions: first, that your view of others will not be self-serving (maintain discretion); two, what you say actually builds the continuity of useful knowledge (your lips may preserve knowledge).

Leadership that honors others and builds a legacy begins at the source. Pay attention to what God teaches first then you’ll be better able to understand and avoid the situational, shifting ethics of man.


Who is your source for wisdom: mankind or God?


Copyright © 2009 P. Griffith Lindell

Leadership Fundamentals

Prov. 2:2 (NAS) Make your ear attentive to wisdom; incline your heart to understanding; 2:9 (NKJV) Then you will understand righteousness and justice, equity and every good path.


Business schools demand certain perquisites to take advanced classes. Those “fundamental” classes lay the foundation for the deeper thinking required.

So also, Biblical Leaders have foundational classes; not only are we to “tune into” wisdom, we are to apply wholeheartedly what we have learned – it is an action consisting both of reason (thinking) and will (behavior). Inclining [our] heart goes to our purpose – why we were created. If the "chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever," we start that journey by acknowledging we need to first learn wisdom from our Creator.

The result? Effective and Godly leaders will develop an understanding of the impact of four attributes that shape leadership.

• Righteousness – here meaning conformity to an ethical standard. Word most often used in reference to judges who, looking at the law (standard), rule without partiality. Leaders have an ethical standard that is absolute and grounded and does not shif depending on the situation.
• Judgment – here emphasizing the application of the standard, even in a state of ambiguity. Ethics is lived out in the real world where all things are not black and white: it is one of the ramifications of eating from the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. It’s tough out there. Our ego will often cloud our judgment – at least that’s been my experience. I, too often, make decisions based on what Griff thinks – not what God thinks. Conforming to the image of Christ is an every day commitment of will.
• Equity – here used in a clear legal context means simply level or straight. The drive to “know ourselves” (wisdom) gives birth to behaving in a way that is “true.” I understand the difficulty here: one can have the best intentions: behavior, however, is what makes the impact. Can’t be a “straight-shooter” unless the heart is plumb, level and straight. That takes lifelong work.
• Knowing every good path. Every. Catch that. Take it from one who has stumbled along. Fallen often. “Every” is a tough standard. Interesting that this word for “good” has a practical meaning – economic benefit. I’m sure that “a good path” was presented as an option that I choose to ignore. It’s that “heart” thing again. One must will to choose the good path. Every time.

Have you taken your fundamental classes yet? Need a refresher course. I know I do.

Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Customer Asset Management

Proverbs 27:23 – 27 (MSG) [Be diligent to] know your sheep by name; carefully attend to your flocks; (Don't take them for granted; possessions don't last forever, you know.) And then, when the crops are in and the harvest is stored in the barns, you can knit sweaters from lambs' wool, and sell your goats for a profit; there will be plenty of milk and meat to last your family through the winter.

“Know the state of your flock” is a challenging instruction especially in our current culture focused on renewable resources. But these verses struck a different chord in the instrument of my mind: the customer chord.

Customers are assets that must be managed and nurtured. Customer retention has proven to be of great value to a firm – there exists a good body of literature supporting this contention. Common sense tells us that keeping a customer has value beyond just the transaction.

In my seminars on Sales, I often ask the question: Is your customer list a list of transactions or a list of friends? It is good business to know your customers – I mean, really know them. Care about them. Remember, it’s not about you.

Looking at customer’s as “friends” (know your sheep by name) is even more vital for the Christian Servant-leader. We are called to view work as a mission field (Matt. 28: 19-20 “As you are going…make disciples….”) It is difficult to make a disciple of a stranger.

If your customers see you as a person who: is a “straight shooter;” caring; a listener; a problem-solver (even with solutions that cannot be personally provided); is joyful despite the circumstance, you will be attractive. These behaviors will open conversations. One of those conversations can be about eternal issues. That conversation will give new meaning to customer service.

Do you take the time and effort to become a friend to your customers?


Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Leaders Meditate on the Right Issues

Proverbs 23:17(AMP) Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord all the day long.

We all meditate: we just don’t think about it as such. Probably your mental image is a yoga position, or you pictured a cloistered monk; however, don’t be deceived! What you think about when you are working-out – jogging or walking along – where you mind wanders and settles – that is meditation.

For some that thought-time is filled with complaining, anger, bitterness, gossip, sexual images, envy (coveting): Christian leaders are called to “guard [our] hearts” and ask forgiveness for the sin that is hidden in our thoughts, and turn our hearts toward our Creator, Redeemer and Friend.

Yes, life happens. The rain falls on the just and the unjust. The “just” have been given all-weather gear to keep them dry, safe and warm no matter the storm. We just have to use it. We don’t – at least I know I don’t all the time. I sometimes like to soak in my self-pity, my envy, my coveting. Think of it this way: what was Eve thinking about when the Serpent tempted her? Was her heart inclined to God, or to the lust of the eyes and the pride of life?

What you think about – meditate upon – matters. God’s instructions to Joshua concerning His Word was very straightforward: “Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.”

Will you join me in a journey to righteously meditate?


Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Leaders Understand What Drives Them

Proverbs 22:1 (NIV) A good name is more desirable than great riches; to be esteemed is better than silver or gold.

Understanding personal purpose - Why are you here? - yields not only knowing "who you are" but also how you impact others.

Consider that your impact on others as a leader has more value than all the wealth you can accumulate.

A.W. Tozer offered seven “tests” for us to use when we want to understand better how we are “known” and what really drives us:

1. What we want most
2. What we think about most
3. How we use our money
4. What we do with our leisure time
5. The company we enjoy
6. Who and what we admire
7. What we laugh at

And remember, as my Mom used to say: “What you do speaks so loudly, I can’t hear what you say.”

What does your impact as a leader "say?"


Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Leaders Don’t Play the Blame Game.

Pr. 19:3 (NIV) A man's own folly ruins his life, yet his heart rages against the LORD.

The blame-game. Easy to play, given we have so very much practice. Hard to stop, given our self-centered natures. When our words are wrong, we blame others. When others make mistakes because of our folly, we blame. Blame. Blame Blame.

Christian leader let me put this in context: I’m not writing about mistakes, it is about an attitude! The word “folly” comes from the same root as our English word evil, and in this context, means simply “doing it my way.”

At work this can be played out when the “Sunday stuff” we wear to church is thrown off Monday – Saturday - when our language, coarse humor, jokes, and “in-your-face” attitude all reflect the folly of the Evil One. All done because somehow, the thinking goes, this will help us mix and communicate with those in the “world.” (I can't help think of the scene in the barber shop in the movie Gran Torino). It won’t. It will slowly destroy you. Christian business person, you and I are called to be Holy - in the world, not of the world.

Is stress building in your life? People at work making mistakes. Bosses on your case about making the numbers. Customer’s grumbling. Time to look in not out. Blaming an employee for poor performance blasphemes God. Blaming the boss for rigid adherence to numbers blasphemes God. Blaming customers, blasphemes God. We are called to encourage, teach, inspire. Not blame. The root of that word is worthy of note; both the Latin blasphemare and Greek blasphēmein mean “to blaspheme.”

Effective and attractive leaders don’t play the blame game. They cover their workplace in prayer. They cover their people in prayer. They walk around the office, alone, praying individually for each employee. Either God is in control of your life and your work or you are. The later is folly and it will ruin your life.

Who is in control of your life?


Copyright (c)2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Leaders Communicate Carefully

Proverbs 15:2 (NKJV) The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly, but the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness.

The stored-up knowledge of experience becomes most useful when communicated wisely. It takes care to communicate “rightly” – proper time, proper place, and proper thoughts.

I understand this so very well, because sometimes I fail to wisely communicate. I blurt: Foolish thing to do.

Using any of the many personality inventories gives clues to how a person processes information – how to speak their language. Blanchard/Hershey’s Situational Leadership posits that the right leadership communication style is based on the person being led: leaders communicate with awareness so that relationships can be built – that’s using knowledge rightly.

Foolish people practice “throwing it out there to see what sticks” with no concern to listener’s style, their underlying fears, or where they are in life experience – that’s more like “belch[ing] out foolishness” (NLT) than speaking.

Do you communicate wisely – at home, at work and at play?



Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Biblical Leaders Worship God’s 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 insightful understanding that has its foundation laid in a clear, personal purpose, a set of consistent ethics, and a compelling, yet coherent worldview.

In their groundbreaking work, Daft and Lengel, in Fusion Leadership point out that leaders must have heart to lead. They proclaim, [that a] “Fusion Leader stay[s] emotionally connected with people and work…and are collaborative and interdependent.”

A heart of wisdom yields emotional connections that integrate 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 vision “pursues higher purpose that touches the heart.” Whatever possesses a heart regulates living.

What's enshrined in your heart?



Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Effective Leaders Do More Than Just Listen

Proverbs12:15 (MSG) Fools are headstrong and do what they like; wise people take advice.

“Taking advice” defines effective leaders. They are the ones who have learned having an open mind yields beneficial results. That learning is life-long. Leaders learn to listen - not just hear - and are listening with the expectation of learning from the advice, no matter the source.

Advice comes in many forms: sometimes as a quiet comment from an unexpected source; other times, as an aside shared during a conversation; sometimes it comes unsolicited – the hardest of all advice to hear! In business settings, it may flow from those to whom you report, your peers, or those who report to you.

But it also strikes me that leaders lead because they first learned to follow - follow the One who has provided eternal advice about living whether at home or at work. Advices about letting go and letting God speak through His word or His workers.

Simply listening to advice and actually taking advice are two different activities.

Do you “do what you like” or do you “take advice?”



Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Change Is Constant: Direction of Change is a Choice

Proverbs 9:9 (AMP) Give instruction to a wise man and he will be yet wiser; teach a righteous man (one upright and in right standing with God) and he will increase in learning.

The acquiring of wisdom is a journey, not an event. The journey is not only revealing about “self” but also about the shape and expression of a leader’s ethics.

Our progress in life is a result of our choices and our willingness to learn from them. Employees and customers often teach us about the ethical framework (righteousness) we use to respond to “change.” Customer service, for one example, is a practical expression about a leader’s heart.

Servant-leaders must learn to discipline her/himself to continue to learn. These leaders work at body, mind and spirit congruence. They actively acquire the skills they need and hone the ones with which they have been endowed by their Creator. They become aware of the patterns of their behavior and the impact a behavior has on others.

The result for the Biblically based leader? They will behave in a way that:

• Expresses love for God (obedience)
• Demonstrates their love for the “neighbors.” (Isn’t that the essence of customer-service – looking out for their needs, before our own?)

An outcome? Their leadership will be clothed in justice and righteousness. Employees will be free to make customer-oriented decisions that benefit the firm. Customers will be attracted to companies that “do business right.” Families will be nurtured and grow the love God.

Are you consistently learning and growing? Or, have you become stagnate?


Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

What Leaders Focus Upon Matters

Proverbs 8:9-10 (MSG) [Wisdom speaking] Prefer my life--disciplines over chasing after money, and God-knowledge over a lucrative career. For Wisdom is better than all the trappings of wealth; nothing you could wish for holds a candle to her.

In Bruce Doyle III’s book Before You Think Another Thought he suggests that “what you focus on expands in your life…[and]…it is important to focus your attention effectively.”

Focus is a choice – a preference.

The seductions of power, position and prestige can easily distract. Wisdom suggests that choosing to focus on spiritual disciplines and God-knowledge will yield something that wealth will never provide.

Leadership is not about what you preach or what you intend to do: it is about how you behave and the impact that has on people.

How you lead, what you do and say are the result of choosing the right things to focus upon. Begin by focusing on Wisdom – the focus that will prepare you each day to think, do and say the kind of things that not only please God, but also your followers.

As Bruce says it, “What you believe is just you will get.”


Do you believe in Wisdom? Or wealth? Your answer matters.


Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Managing Expectations

Proverbs 6:16-19

Here are six things God hates,
and one more that he loathes with a passion:
eyes that are arrogant,
a tongue that lies,
hands that murder the innocent,
a heart that hatches evil plots,
feet that race down a wicked track,
a mouth that lies under oath,
a troublemaker in the family.

God’s expectations for his people were, of course, communicated in the Decalogue; in light of those, Wisdom gives us insight into their application in practical living and when combined with Jesus’ insight about our thought life, this list, by itself, is challenging.

Understanding expectations is crucial for building meaningful relationships with those who led us and for our followers. Communicating expectations is a key the attractive leadership.

An exercise for expectation exploration that has produced positive results is expressed in my Key Success Factors Exercise. In general, the leadership team is asked to write for themselves, what success looks like for them in their job. Afterward, each then is asked to write what success looks like for the other. The first key is how congruent is the CEO’s view of expectations for each team member and each team member’s view of their success.

If you are interested in the process, click here and in the message section type in KSF.

Do you clearly communicate your expectations? Do you have a process for “checking it?”


Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Silence is Golden

Proverbs 5:1-2 (AMP) MY SON, be attentive to my Wisdom [godly Wisdom learned by actual and costly experience], and incline your ear to my understanding [of what is becoming and prudent for you], that you may exercise proper discrimination and discretion and your lips may guard and keep knowledge and the wise answer [to temptation].

Leaders communicate. Effective leaders communicate well. Sometimes, however, communicating well means being quiet.

As some readers know, I was a theater major many years ago and completed all my graduate work, sans thesis, in theater. That schooling made it clear to me that actors are taught not only how to communicate, but also how to “be” in the silence between speaking parts. It is a form of active listening, as it were - being the character -which sometimes is not part of the direct conversation, but is part of the stage conversation.

Your leadership may call on you to practice discreet silence. Keeping one’s own counsel. “Playing their cards tight to their chest.” Guarding knowledge. When to speak about a matter and when to just listen takes discretion that is often born of experience – bad experiences.

As in all matters dealing with communication, one must be diligent to not only control the tongue, but also the body. Sometimes, our silence communicates the message we have withheld speaking.

Are you as careful with your silence as you are with your words?


Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Leaders Are Always Learning

Proverbs 1:5 (NASB) A wise man will hear and increase in learning, and a man of understanding will acquire wise counsel…

Life-long learning is an attribute of leadership – especially of those seeking to hone their skills as a servant-leader.

From recorded history, wisdom has been institutionalized, and with good reason. The wise were about sharing, training and producing wise people. We learn from history. We learn from the imbued wisdom of intact teams who have been with an organization for years.

Leadership foresight is an attribute of Greenleaf’s servant-leader and is the result the synergy between the lessons of the past and the realities of the present. These are connected in such a way that the potentials for both intended and unintended consequences in the future represent the right thinking at the right time and in the right manner.

Note the parallel construction in the second phrase in Pr 1:5 The word counsel is used only in Proverbs and Job and means to guide, and direct with the attributes of right thinking and experience in decision making.

Increase in learning. Acquiring counsel. Are you a life-long learner?


Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Walking Like a Leader

Proverbs 30:29-31 (AMP) There are three things which are stately in step, yes, four which are stately in their stride: The lion, which is mightiest among beasts and turns not back before any; the war horse [well-knit in the loins], the male goat also, and the king [when his army is with him and] against whom there is no uprising.


My mind is filled with scenes from Hollywood trying to depict what Agur, the author of this observation depicted – and sometimes they capture a whiff of this kind of stateliness.

I have been fortunate to know some who fit this mold, and the room does really “hush” when they enter.

The leader who know his/her purpose, has articulated their values, has a firm grip on their mental model of the world (worldview), and have a dominating perspective of a humble heart and an open mind (to the input from others) have shown themselves to be innovative,. These folks are stately to their followers. They are the kind of leaders whose “troops are with” them and against whom “there is no uprising.”

Jesus Christ, had that same effect on people – and Christian leaders are called to be Christ-like.

How’s your walk as a leader?


Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

An Eternal Vision for Leaders

Proverbs 29:18 (AMP) Where there is no vision [no redemptive revelation of God], the people perish; but he who keeps the law [of God, which includes that of man]--blessed (happy, fortunate, and enviable) is he.

A fundamental of authentic, transformational leadership (servant-leadership) is that the leader has a clear understanding of his/her purpose. The platform for personal purpose is under-girded by a person answering essential questions like:

• Where did you come from?
• Why are you here?
• What is your destiny?
• What role does God have in your life?
• Are you aligned with a purpose outside of self?

If one believes that we are a product of mindless, random chance it is difficult, if not impossible, to be aligned to a purpose outside of self. Self-centeredness is destructive. People perish.

For others, who believe we are a result of a purposeful, redemptive Creator (known by revelation), that belief should shape both personal and corporate visions (or purpose statements) that recognize the power of the law as:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.” Matt 28:37-30

What a powerful incentive for biblical-based business leaders. Who is better equipped to express God-breathed behavior in the workplace? Who is better equipped to express the “redemptive revelation of God” to the marketplace? When individuals are focused on obeying God, they are used for a purpose greater than just work. Companies are transformed. Lives are changed. People prosper.

Does the expression of your purpose yield prospering?


Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Leaders Hate – Covetousness

Proverbs 28:16 (MSG) Among leaders who lack insight [or judgment], abuse abounds, but for one who hates corruption [covetousness], the future is bright.

The juxtaposition of covetousness and the lack of insight drive us to look inward to understand motivation and behavior.

The terms “emotional fluency” or “EQ” (the ability to use emotions effectively) are sometimes used when describing the process of developing positive corporate culture by practicing integrity.

Examples of corrupt leadership include:

• those who coerce staff to fudge on the inventory; or
• book phantom orders in response to quarterly scrutiny; or,
• the abusive manager, who sucks the very life out of the team.
  

Leaders must resist behaviors that is “all about them and their success” by utilizing an equally powerful emotion – hate. That’s right – righteous hate: we must hate corruption and covetousness! It takes that emotional commitment to turn from self-serving behavior to practice integrity.

Integrity built on an understanding of our purpose – a purpose given us by our Creator. Sometimes those insights about our motivations and lack of purpose come from transparent communication with friends who are wise – the kind of insight that helps us lead others into a “bright future.”

Do you have the kind of friends that help you hate your self-serving behavior?

Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Leaders Practice Self-control

Proverbs 25:28 (NLT) A person without self-control is like a city with broken-down walls.

A common characteristic of failed leadership is a lack of self-control - a lack manifested in many ways: but most important among them is the blame game.

Taking full responsibility for our actions, learning from mistakes and using what you have been given to its full advantage are “walls” that will protect the leader.

Learn self-control by:

Curbing curiosity – everything is permitted, but not beneficial – explore carefully also evaluating impact

Checking pride and vanity – it’s not about you – it is always about them (customers, staff, suppliers, stakeholder of any kind!)

Containing anger and revenge – these drain you; and equally important, expressing them will not draw others to you

Confining personal ambition – When yours is palatable, it pushes people away – they will not follow.

Emptying yourself of destructive curiosity, vanity, revenge and self-centered ambition creates a void that is crying out to be filled: fill it with the God who created you. He will build strong walls to protect you. It is his indwelling that will grant you peace and safety as you learn to control self by giving control to their Creator.

Which of those four “Cs” do you need to work on?



Copyright © 2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Leaders Are Aware

Proverbs 22:3 (MSG) A prudent person sees trouble coming and ducks; a simpleton walks in blindly and is clobbered.

Foresight is one of the characteristics of leadership, and is especially focused upon in the literature about servant-leaders.

Beyond the simple thought of seeing “trouble coming” and avoiding it, is the deeper realization that developing the awareness to integrate information that is flowing toward and around you into knowledge is a product of maturing wisdom.

Information alone is not a building block of “prudence;” rather, it is a clear understanding of past events, the objective look at current reality and an educated estimation of the intended and unintended consequences of what one “sees…coming” that are the hallmarks of prudent leadership.

Leaders are constantly moving between time states and it is the prudent (wise) leader that understands the past, respects the present and practices humility to face the future – especially a future over which the leader has no personal control.

The authentic leader is comfortable with that ambiguity – the servant who is a leader (the real power of servant-leadership) has the ability to make sense of the chaos of the “trouble coming” and the personal character and breadth of vision to respond appropriately for the benefit of the organization and the team. Forecasts are important: foresight adds insight and is vital.

Leadership awareness: are you taking the time to develop the skill of foresight?


Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Leaders Pursue Godliness Even in the Workplace

Proverbs 21:21 (NLT) Whoever pursues godliness and unfailing love will find life, godliness, and honor.

Plato taught that moral thoughts are universal and that “the Good” can be attained through reason not through submission to revelation. Pursuing godliness is an act of submission.

Submitting or reasoning? We like the second: appeals to our ego.

Pursuing godliness (righteous living) and love (focus on others) in the workplace results in the kind of life that is attractive. The “work of the Lord” is always about love; therefore, we must speak the truth seasoned with grace.

Even when dealing with an under-performing employee, speaking brutal truth is about us: our reasoning ability to see what is “right and true.” Authentic leadership drives us to use compassion in exploration of the drivers of behaviors that result in negative impact on productivity (what Will Tuttle calls “ethical intelligence”). Honor results when we focus on the impact that truth will have on the hearer for the benefit of the Kingdom.

Pursuing godliness fuels personal outcomes that are attractive to God and others.

What fuels you?

Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Power of Your Words

Proverbs 18:21 (MSG) Words kill, words give life; they're either poison or fruit—you choose.

Speech is the mirror of the soul; as a man speaks, so he is. (Publilius Syrus)

Our words, written or spoken, have power. More power than we often realize. Beyond the obvious meaning of choosing words that feed and nurture a person, as opposed to words that destroy a person, there is a subtly that is sometimes missed.

The leader who is full of jest, quick wit, “in-your-face” retorts or even IYF humor must develop the discipline to know when that kind of confident, carefree speech is appropriate. It would be well to remember what Plato said: Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something.

Especially in this day of 140 character “speech” on social networking sites, something written with jest -- not because one has something to say, but because one can say something -- can easily be misunderstood because of the law of unintended consequences.

Developing the proficiency to speak in such a way that one limits the unintended consequences is a skill leaders must continually develop. I know how easy it is to quickly say what I’m thinking instead of thinking before I say.

For the Christian leader, your words have eternal consequences: “But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” –Jesus Christ (Matthew 12:36-38)

Remember, that the words we say will teach if we practice what we preach.

What do you “preach” by your life and your language?


Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Leaders Understand the Danger of Fools

Proverbs 17:12 (NIV) Better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than a fool in his folly.

Does this seem like a hyperbole? A bit melodramatic? A stretch? A human who spreads his/her folly more deadly than a 500 pound Syrian Brown Bear, with bared teeth, menacing growl, towering height and long claws, diving down and running at us?

Fear the deadly, angry mother bear vs. a person wise in their own eyes: doesn’t seem like a choice? A person, who having no need for God, with whom we seek out for advice, listen to and admire is more deadly than that mother bear!

Why is that? Is it because the folly of fools fills us with false hope. Or is it because that folly is seductive: it appeals to our self-centered natures. It makes us feel good -- feeling good is paramount today.

Perhaps it is because the world’s words, having wormed their way into our willing hearts and minds, seem somehow filled with wisdom. And, after all, if “everybody” is thinking “that” way, it takes courage to provide a different perspective.

We have become a timid lot, we followers of the Way. It seems that takes more courage to stand up to a passionate person, wise in their own eyes, having no need for God and seducing the world to idolatry (worshiping anything other than God - a fool in his folly) than the deadly, angry mother bear.

Sharing God’s Word with grace and truth demands of us a discipline of active listening and attractive communication. It demands asking good, thought-provoking questions, not vicious verbal attacks are passionate disagreement.

Committed Christian leaders must be always learning not only when to “stand up” – to discern the seduction of words and thoughts that have their genesis in Hell – but also what and how to say what honors God.

Who are you afraid of most: the bear or the fool?


Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Believing Leaders Worship God While Doing Business

Proverbs 16:11 (AMP) A just balance and scales are the Lord's; all the weights of the bag are His work [established on His eternal principles].

A Christian Worldview recognizes that the source for maintaining truth and justice in affairs of commerce is God.

A secularist sees the weights and scale as simply man’s manufacturing ability – man’s ingenuity. The philosophical two-story worldview in which we live (faith, feelings, etc. are in the private, upper story; science, math, commerce etc. are in the public, lower story) is blind to not only the source of the materials upon which creativity is applied, it also denies the Source of all: the Creator God who became man forever broke that false barrier. It is He – our creator - who put the concepts of “just scales” in man’s heart “so that no man can alter them without violating God's rights and authority.” (Wesley)

“God cares about honesty in the workplace; your business is his business.” (MSG) The righteous leader knows God is all and in all – even in work.

Do you honor your Creator – in your business?


Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell