Leadership and Ambition

Prov. 27:20 (NCV) People will never stop dying and being destroyed, and they will never stop wanting more than they have.

What we “chase after” defines us – whether we like it or not. Some of us are more subtle in our chasing – we keep it at the fantasy level – you know, just in the head – never expressed as a vision, or personal goal. But it’s there. Defining us. What a person meditates upon can destroy them or develop them.

The human story is ripe with ambitious men and women – chasing dreams that, in the end, destroyed them, and even societies. Fortunately, there are also stories in the Judeo/Christian record of leaders whose ambition was not me-centered, but God-centered expressing an ambition to encourage, empower, and enhance the lives of others.

What are people of faith to do in the marketplace? "The world's idea that everyone, from childhood up, should be able at all times to succeed in measurable ways, and that it is a great disgrace not to, hangs over the Christian community like a pall of acrid smoke." (J.I. Packer. A Passion for Faithfulness: Wisdom From the Book of Nehemiah, Crossway Books 2000, pg. 206)

Our ambition must be coated with a resolute discipline of our will and built around the core of a humility of our spirit – or, we will end up leading just like those whose purpose for living is wrapped up in survival and not in eternity.

What are you wanting?


Copyright ©2010 by P.Griffith Lindell

10 Additional Ways to Influence the Workplace

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11. Practice being open to others by actively listening to them and not “telling” them

12. Daily prepare your heart so you are not seduced by subtle ethical distinctions – subtlety has a way of sneaking up – ambushes work on the ill prepared – be prepared.

13. Develop your personal purpose statement (Why were you created - born? What are you meant to accomplish?) and lead from it (and we all lead no matter our title)

14. As a person thinks so is he – therefore, practice Phil 4: 8-9 “Whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable – if excellent or praiseworthy, think about these things.

15. Be present in all your business conversations – connect with the person speaking – listening is an active activity – passive listening does not honor the speaker

16. Develop inner contentment – joy is accepting the circumstances with an understanding that our loving Father wants what is best for us in spite of the stuff happening around us. The peace of God is directly related to our anxiety.

17. Remember – you are a steward of this company, this team, this project, this business idea, this family – you and I own nothing.

18. Make all business decisions with integrity remembering that wealth is not a goal but a consequence

19. Idle words are dangerous – practice clear, concise, encouraging, edifying conversation

20. Understand what drives you (how God wired you) and then understand how God has wired others and communicate with them in the style that best meets their needs – not yours.


Copyright (c) 2010 by P. Griffith Lindell

Guided Leaders…Guiding

Proverbs 11:2b-3a (NIV) …with humility comes wisdom; the integrity of the upright guides them...

To guide others well, one must first be guided.

Guiding others, without a clear grasp of personal purpose (Why am I here? What’s my meaning?), is difficult, indeed one might say, impossible. God’s guidance for the Believing Leader is not a guessing game. His Word clearly provides the fundamental moral and ethical principles and the application examples are plenteous – those who successfully led others were committed to being lead by the Lord both actively (visions, a still, small voice, physical appearances) and passively (His revelation, powerful relationships with others and recognition of circumstances).

Guidance from our Creator is all about relationship: a deep, personal relationship with the one who “shepherds” us. That analogy of shepherding implies that we take the posture of sheep. Not easily done. We humans often aspire to be lions, tigers, cheetahs – fleet, strong animals. Sheep? Probably not. Sheep need to be lead. They tend to wander and get in trouble on their own. They can’t find green pasture on their own. Need to be lead to quiet watering holes. The leader, who is willing to be directed by the Sprit of God, will prove her/himself a capable leader filled with integrity and a clear sense of purpose and meaning.

Leading is not only about doing, but more importantly it is about being.

Are you investing the time needed to be centered, purposeful and humble?

Copyright ©2010 by P. Griffith Lindell

Cheerful Leaders Conquer Circumstances

Proverbs 15:15 (NIV) All the days of the oppressed are wretched, but the cheerful (merry, glad) heart has a continual feast.

It’s not the circumstance where you find yourself: it’s how you respond and that response begins with an understanding of who you are.

Understanding our purpose has powerful implications. Anxiety drains us. Allowing circumstances to shape our view of the future is not only unbiblical, it is damages our ability to live and lead. I know. I’ve been there. Circumstances crowded me. In that confined space, it was about me – not about my purpose in life – it was just about me and my “wretched” conditions. No cheerful heart there.

Recently studying the life of the Jewish patriarch, Joseph, has reminded me of the strength of a cheerful heart that is pure with a clear comprehension of purpose. If anyone had an excuse to be shaped by circumstances, it was he. He endured his brothers’ jealous behaviors and the false accusation of a lustful woman: he was imprisoned and forgotten for several years, and when released to interpret Pharaoh’s dream, he instantly deflected the ruler’s flattery and, in humility recognized the source of his abilities was outside of himself – it was not about him, but about the God.

The source of that instinctive humility? It was from a heart fixed on purpose and filled with joy. A leader, who serves others with humility and resoluteness of will, will do it in prison or in the palace. It does not matter.


How are you responding to your circumstances?


Copyright ©2010 by P. Griffith Lindell

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: 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

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

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

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 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