According to Jim Collins ("Good to Great"), a Level Five leader is self-confident enough to set up their successors for success. This implies three very important things. First of all, it implies that the Level Five leader is most concerned with the health and success of their organization -- not just personal success. There are many men and women who have achieved personal success; a Level Five leader is interested in organizational success. A Level Five leader will put the needs and interests of the group before their own. Those who do not, do not become Level Five leaders. Secondly, a Level Five leader will not be threatened by other good leaders. Many organizations never benefit from the gifts and talents of their team because a leader is too insecure to let another person shine. A Level Five leader is competitive but the competition is not internal but external. Finally,…
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As a senior leader, I try to read various perspectives on leadership -- from Biblical sources, Christian authors, and business leaders. I've even read a few books on the neuroscience of leadership. One of my favorite authors is Jim Collins, a researcher who approaches leadership and organizational health from a business perspective. His book "Good to Great" should be required reading for leaders of all types of organizations. In a nutshell, he examines what enabled a good company to become a great company while other good companies either stalled or failed. Not surprisingly, one of the distinguishing characteristics of great companies was leadership. Not just good leadership, but what Collins calls "Level Five" leadership. According to Collins, there are five characteristics that contribute to the Level 5 leader's success. Here they. I will spend the next several posts fleshing them out. They are self-confident enough to set up their successors for…
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A few weeks ago, Mark shared this quote in a sermon: "I would rather light a candle than curse the darkness." Adlai Stevenson, a former governor of Illinois and twice a candidate for president, once used this quote in reference to Eleanor Roosevelt. Only he took it a step further: "She would rather light candles than curse the darkness, and her glow has warmed the world." As Christ-followers, we are told to live among unbelievers in such a way as to "shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life" (Philippians 2:15-16). In other words, our glow should warm the world around us -- in our homes, around the neighborhood, and at work. My prayer for 2013 is that our church will become a glowing reminder of what God wants this world to be.
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At Christmas time, one of the carols we often sing includes these words from Scripture: "peace on earth, goodwill to men." Since the beginning of recorded history (3,100 years), do you know how many years have been without war? Only 286 years. That amounts to approximately eight percent of recorded history. During this same period of time, 8,000 treatises have been signed and broken. Our track record with peace is not so good. Even when you move from a global perspective to individuals, are we any better? The answer is simple: no. We experience interpersonal conflict, strife at work, hostilities at home. Most importantly, apart from Jesus, we are not at peace with our Creator. In fact, the Bible refers to our pre-Christian experience as being "enemies of God" (cf., Colossians 1:21). Through Jesus we can become friends with God. That's the message of both Christmas and Easter. The hostilities…
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Much of John 5 is Jesus responding to the Jewish leaders who were criticizing him for performing miracles on the Sabbath. More than miracles on the Sabbath, they were upset that Jesus was claiming to be the Son of God. Jesus launches into a discussion about authority and testimony. His authority comes from God and God himself testifies to this fact. In the midst of this, Jesus drops this line about John the Baptist: "John was a lamp that burned and gave light" (John 5:35). What a great depiction of the kind of life God honors. Not all lamps burn. In ancient days, a lamp without fuel would be a dark lamp. Today, there are lamps in my house that will only give light when they are plugged into the wall. They may look nice, even decorative, but that's not what a lamp is for; a lamp is for providing…
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