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

Catch the Vision: Change the Culture

Proverbs 29:18a (DARBY) Where there is no vision the people cast off restraint


Corporate culture has a least three driving elements: vision; mission; and values.

A vision provides an over-arching view of the future. Great companies have articulated and shared their vision and the research demonstrates that those companies increase shareholder value well beyond comparable companies with no vision.

Vision shared effectively inspires employees to consider every problem as shared by each, calling for teamwork and cooperation, putting the needs of the company and its commitment to employees, customers and other stakeholders ahead of everything else. (The order is important, too!)

The mission presents the company’s reason for existence. It succinctly identifies what is done and the customer who receives the benefits of what the organization offers.

Values effectively shape the behaviors utilized to fulfill the mission.

Effective business leaders will have followers (employees) who understand the “rules” (core values), drive toward completion of a mission and help fulfill the corporate purpose (vision). Without a shared vision, assimilated values and a clear mission, employees not only are unsure of themselves and often unhappy, but also “cast off restraint” yielding an unwieldy team.

Leaders, passionate about the culture, inspire and motivate the team to focus on meeting customer needs in a way that yields a “happy” company (great work environment) and satisfied customers.

Are you taking this eternal principle and putting it to work at work?


Copyright © 2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Leaders Take the Time for Counsel

Proverbs 20:18 (AMP) Purposes and plans are established by counsel; and [only] with good advice make or carry on war.

Of course, you might say, leadership asks for advice.

Not according to a survey of 1,400 leaders and managers (by the Ken Blanchard Group) as reported by Nic Paton in www.Management-issues.com. It seems that a whopping 81 per cent of the respondents reported that leaders failed to listen or involve others in the process of planning.

Listening to the team and collaborating drives businesses success. The new CEO, with a new perspective and philosophy, has the difficult, but essential task of mining the imbued wisdom of the existing team before personal adjustments are made. Strategic planning process should be a team effort. Established leaders must develop an intentional process to collaborate. A process that cannot be cookie-cutter – it must match the leader’s learning style and/or communications style. Intentionality is key.

God, who promised us wisdom, not only imparts His wisdom through his Word, but also through others. The growing success of groups like Christ@work) or Wise Counsel or the Internal Coalition of Workplace Ministries demonstrates the benefits of wise, Biblically-based business counsel. A new resource can be found at Kingdom Business.

Are you connected to wise counsel?


Copyright © 2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Leaders Lives Are Living Lessons

Proverbs 13: 14 (MSG) The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, so, no more drinking from death-tainted wells!

In an article in Harvard Business School’s Working Knowledge publication, authors Sirota, Mischkind and Meltzer deduced that one does not have to motivate employees; they have to stop demotivating them.

They posit three goals – behaviors, really – that must be met: equity, achievement and camaraderie: in other words, treat people justly and with respect; recognize their contributions; and promote teamwork. With these practiced, demotivation will cease and teams will be built.

Core values of an organization, like these three, are the promises its members make to one another. They can’t be traded off: they each must be met. The values become "alive" in an organization when the leader practices them - the leader's life is the lesson.

Interesting: each of the three are taught in Scripture – our “fountain of life” - where the Christian leader is to be drinking deeply.

Are you a “fountain of life” to your team?


Copyright (c) 2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Leaders and Competitors

Proverbs 24:17-18 (NASB) Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles; Or the LORD will see it and be displeased, And turn His anger away from him.


There is an interesting metaphor about competition that vibrates with military images - the competition is somehow “the enemy.” The paradigm posits that business is about winning no matter what or who is crushed in the process.

What’s the Christian businessperson to do? This verse makes it clear. We lead with a different mindset; an attitude that is from above, not below.

The good news is that excellent marketing is not about crushing the competition: it is about differentiation: about distinguishing, from competitive offerings, the features your product provides, their compelling benefits, so that the user understands the value your product delivers. No crushing needed. Targeted, value-based messages produce positive results. (Need help with competitive differentiation that impacts your market? Click on the title above.)

Once again, for the Believing businessperson, it is all about attitude - a heart thing.

Are you rejoicing in Him, alone - no matter the marketplace circumstance?

Copyright © 2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Leading Cross-generational Teams

Proverbs 20:29 (AMP) The glory of young men is their strength, and the beauty of old men is their gray head [suggesting wisdom and experience].

Baby-boomers were looking forward to “those golden retirement years.” The 2009 financial markets have changed the plans of many. Retirement’s forestalled. Some are working in an environment recently energized with a new generation. New ways of thinking: behaving; processing information; using technology. Tensions mount.

It is interesting to me that this proverb is in Scripture. Then it dawned on me: We, who are older, sometimes fall in the trap of dismissing the enthusiasm and inexperience of our younger team members. After all, we have been there, done that. Sadly, some of us have had a singular good experience which we only repeat without change, enhancement or modification. Some, in gray, forget to pursue life-long learning.

Leaders, serving the needs of the team, recognize the strengths each generation brings to problem-solving. They foster a culture that maximizes the powerful properties of each generation. The vigor of the young can be shaped by the older generation. The gray generation becomes open again to the vigor of youth who see barriers as mere impediments that must be overcome. Strength and experience combine for robust and unique solutions.

Are you a leader who makes the most of your team, young and old?

Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Effective Leadership Begins at the Interview

Proverbs 12:13 (NLT) The wicked are trapped by their own words, but the godly escape such trouble.

When Dr. Donn Lobdell, head of R&D for COBE Labs, a high-tech medical device manufacturing company, was asked by the Denver Business Journal, "What's the most important part of your job?" he replied, "Hiring is the most important part of my job, because when you're hiring, you're creating the future of your company."

Good questions to get the interviewee talking are vital. Seemingly innocent questions work wonders. Questions like:

“Tell me about where you grew up?” [What issues do they talk about? Does their answer show awareness of the times and what it meant to their maturation?]

“Describe the work environment that invigorated you?" [What is important to them?]

"Tell me about the corporate culture where you experienced the most success.” [This is another way to ask the same question - is the answer essentially the same?]

“What are the three most important values you demonstrate as a leader/manager/team member?"
"Tell me a story that demonstrates how you made those values real within your workplace.” [This helps see if the values are platitudes or prompters to behavior]

The answers reveal character qualities and patterns of thinking that give you a glimpse at the heart. To be effective, your heart and the words you speak aloud must be congruent. Remember, what comes out of the mouth has its source in the heart. Skilled “hands” and great hearts build successfully organizations.

Do you have the heart to ask insightful questions?


Copyright (c) 2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Servant-Leaders Begin with a Humble Heart

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


In John Kotter & James Heskett’s book, Corporate Culture and Performance, they explored with empirical research how the “culture” of a corporation influences performance. They found that strong leaders:

• “Do not tolerate arrogance in others…
• They remind people often of who they must serve….
• They keep their own egos under control. They make room for other egos.”

Their research revealed that arrogance, inward focus and encumbering bureaucracy are all features of a company in disgrace – unable to adapt to change.

Scripture says that hidden in humility is wisdom: the last sentence of Kotter & Heskett’s’ book says, “…if leaders do not have the hearts of servants, there is only the potential for tyranny.”

There it is again: positive, productive leadership begins in the heart.

Got the heart to be a servant-leader?



Copyright © 2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

You Got To Have Heart

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

In John Kotter & James Heskett’s book, Corporate Culture and Performance, they explored how the “culture” of a corporation influences performance. They found that strong leaders “do not tolerate arrogance in others. They remind people often of who they must serve….They keep their own egos under control. They make room for other egos.”

Whether large or small business, arrogance, inward focus and encumbering bureaucracy are all features of a company in disgrace – unable to adapt to change. Adaptability in today’s economy is vital.

Scripture says that hidden in humility is wisdom: the last sentence of Kotter & Heskett’s’ book says, “…if leaders do not have the hearts of servants, there is only the potential for tyranny.” There it is again: As I have posited in other blogs, positive, productive leadership begins in the heart.

Got the heart to be a leader?


Copyright © 2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Leadership that Shapes Culture

Proverbs 9:10 (AMP) The reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord is the beginning (the chief and choice part) of Wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight and understanding.


Today’s culture demands that my thinking from this verse is a personal, subjective value but has nothing to do with objective reality - including how you lead and manage. The thinking goes something like this: it may be OK for you but certainly not for everybody else.

However, if the Incarnation and Resurrection are historical facts, (and I believe they are!) then the dichotomy that defines our culture is false. Have you bought into the view that “values” are the domain of personal and private issues, and that science, math etc. are the domain of only objective reality?

To believe both is a contradiction. God-fearing leaders hold that the Creation, Incarnation and Resurrection are objective Truth that speaks to our purpose, defines our business ethics and therefore shapes how we work, live and lead. Christian leaders must begin to shape our culture – not succumb to it.

Christianity offers a “unified, integrated truth” whose source is Wisdom.

Who are you going to believe: Our culture or our Creator?

Copyright ©2009 by P. Griffith Lindell

Leaders Learn From the Ant

This instruction is simple, but profound: "Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider her ways and be wise!" The ant society has no leader, no guide, no management team, but follows a pattern of work built into them by their Creator from which we can learn.

Four of the sixteen observed ant “behaviors” include:

Career Training: Ants learn particular jobs, especially worker ants; then, on some schedule, change & learn new careers – small business demands learning many tasks and doing each well. Larger business benefit from people who take on different tasks within an organization to better understand the "how" - something like ants!

Education: Ants may be the only group of animals besides us in which interactive teaching behavior has been observed during their life: they pace instruction to the learner’s ability – not all your employees use the same learning style as you did. Observe. Teach them based on how they learn. Some want visual examples - drawings, pictures, etc.: other, just written instructions; some want to watch before they do; others combine all for best learning.

Planning: Ants store food in the warm summer to feed a colony all of winter – Planning is one key to survival. Do you have a business plan? Like ANTS, remember, you must always be planning.

Limited Free Will: It seems that ant inter-relationships between ants more symbiotic than coercive. All of the above thrive in a symbiotic relationship. We can always learn from each other. Symbiotic relationships build on each other's strengths - working together to solve problems, no matter the "rank" of the team member. It's about solving a problem, not securing status. It's about listening. Communicating. On the other hand, coercive relationships are all about "me" and how "I" can get you to do what "I" want, when "I" want it. There is no "team" in coercive, save for the leader ( the "me" person) an all the other team members.

Observe and be wise: Leaders mentor, sacrificing time often to teach – even in tough times; a caring leader paces the instruction; and, an effective leader actively listens, interacting and communicating.

What kind of relationships do you cultivate: symbiotic or coercive?

Copyright ©2009 P. Griffith Lindell