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