Several years ago my wife and I attended the live broadcast of an early morning news show on one of the major networks. We were excited to see the people we watch every morning up close and personal. Being in the studio that morning we were able to see how the show was put on. And we were able to see the stars of the show when the cameras were rolling and when they weren’t.
Perhaps I was naive, but what I saw deeply disappointed me. The lead anchor was aloof and rude to the support staff during the commercial breaks when the cameras weren’t rolling. She then transformed herself completely when the show returned to the live broadcast. The person we had been watching, and admiring, every morning for years wasn’t the same person when the cameras weren’t on.
This episode reminds me of some “advice” that Machiavelli provided in The Prince, his class book on the acquisition and retention of power.
“A prince, therefore, need not necessarily have all the good qualities I mentioned above, but he should certainly appear to have them. I would even go so far as to say that if he has these qualities and always behaves accordingly he will find them harmful; if he only appears to have them they will render him service. He should appear to be compassionate, faithful to his word, kind, guileless, and devout. A prince, then, must be very careful not to say a word which does not seem inspired by the five qualities I mentioned earlier. To those seeing and hearing him, he should appear a man of compassion, a man of good faith, a man of integrity, a kind and a religious man. And there is nothing so important as to seem to have this last quality.
Men in general judge by their eyes rather than by their hands; because everyone is in a position to watch, few are in a position to come in close touch with you. Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are. The common people are always impressed by appearances and results.”
I don’t know about you, but I have an internal radar that helps me spot a fake. Something in me seems to prompt me when someone isn’t sincere. They just don’t seem real. Everything they say and do comes across as an act. They seem to be performing a role and I am left wondering who they really are.
Leaders worth following do not engage in this kind of masquerade. Rather, they seek to live out the values they proclaim. While no leader is without gaps between their espoused and enacted values, legacy leaders constantly strive for a level of consistency. The appearance and the reality are lined up. There is no masquerade.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
The Leadership Account - Part 3
Now that we have created our T-Account for Leadership and made the debits, we need to look at the credits.
Leadership is an Asset account. The normal balance is a debit balance. To increase the Leadership Account we debited. Now we are reducing - taking away - from the account, so these will be credits. These credits identify the behaviors and attitudes that need to be subtracted from every leader's life.
Again, we will be referencing The Legacy Leadership passage in 1 Thessalonians 1:2-2:12.
As I read this passage, I see 4 things that need to be subtracted. In fact, they should be absent from the Legacy Leader's account.
Deception: In the Greek, the phrase “by way of deceit” refers to trickery. Originally, it referred to using bait to catch fish. While we certainly want to use bait that hides the hook to catch fish, as Legacy Leaders our message and our methods should by pure. No hidden agenda, no bait and switch.
Flattery: Flattery has the idea of using remarks as means of obtaining some personal gain and involves the use of insincerity to persuade another to do what you want them to do. When Paul states that he “never came with flattering speech,” he denied that he was a smooth-talking preacher telling people what they wanted to hear. Thus, Paul asserts that he was not trying to make a favorable impression to obtain some personal advantage. He did not pursue goals that would meet with the approval of people or seek their praise for himself. While he and the other apostles may have deserved and received praise, that was not their motive.
Greed: As Legacy Leaders we should never come “with a pretext for greed.” Pretext refers to a mask that conceals the real motive. The word refers to the idea of putting forth something that is plausible, that may in fact be true in itself, but is not the real reason for performing an act. Again the idea of deception is at work here.
Greed refers to an inordinate desire to possess more and more. Greed doesn't stop with healthy competition. It goes way past that and becomes an obsession with more - more money, more territory, larger crowds, bigger buildings, and even greed for more personal attention and fame. Like any addiction, greed is never satisfied and it takes more and more to satisfy its demand. Greed in any and all of its forms is ugly and derails many leaders.
In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul takes this on by saying that greed, among other things, should not even be named among us (Ephesians 5: 3-4).
Lording Authoritarianism: When some of the disciples were debating among themselves about who would sit where in the Lord's coming Kingdom, Jesus confronted their self-centered concerns by pointing to the Gentiles whose leaders "lorded it over them." Then, he continued by telling them, "It should not be so among you."
I have worked for some bosses - I won't call them leaders - who "lorded it over" me and my coworkers. They yelled, threatened, demanded and relied on the power to fire us to get us to do their bidding. In the short run this may work: We complied to avoid punishment; but, there was no long-term commitment.
Those of us who hold leadership positions certainly have legitimate power bases because of our formal authority. But, Legacy Leaders don’t rely on their formal authority. They understand that the best influence comes when we don't assert our authority.
Paul understood this. The phrase “even though as apostles of Christ we might have asserted our authority” refers to demands he might have made on the Thessalonians for physical and financial support. Rather than doing this, Paul worked night and day so as not to be a burden. He lived on what he earned as a tent-maker and the offerings from the Philippians. By earning his own way, Paul further demonstrated the purity of his motives which, in turn, gave him a platform for influence that did not rely on the authority of his title or position.
He reiterates this point and again emphasizes it in his second letter to the Thessalonians the importance of leaders modeling the behavior they seek to see developed in their followers. In 2 Thessalonians 3:7–9, Paul says:
“For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example, because we did not act in an undisciplined manner among you, nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with labor and hardship we kept working night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you; not because we do not have the right to this, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you, so that you would follow our example”[emphasis added].
Examine your Leadership Account.
Are there some attitudes and behaviors that need to removed?
Leadership is an Asset account. The normal balance is a debit balance. To increase the Leadership Account we debited. Now we are reducing - taking away - from the account, so these will be credits. These credits identify the behaviors and attitudes that need to be subtracted from every leader's life.
Again, we will be referencing The Legacy Leadership passage in 1 Thessalonians 1:2-2:12.
As I read this passage, I see 4 things that need to be subtracted. In fact, they should be absent from the Legacy Leader's account.
Deception: In the Greek, the phrase “by way of deceit” refers to trickery. Originally, it referred to using bait to catch fish. While we certainly want to use bait that hides the hook to catch fish, as Legacy Leaders our message and our methods should by pure. No hidden agenda, no bait and switch.
Flattery: Flattery has the idea of using remarks as means of obtaining some personal gain and involves the use of insincerity to persuade another to do what you want them to do. When Paul states that he “never came with flattering speech,” he denied that he was a smooth-talking preacher telling people what they wanted to hear. Thus, Paul asserts that he was not trying to make a favorable impression to obtain some personal advantage. He did not pursue goals that would meet with the approval of people or seek their praise for himself. While he and the other apostles may have deserved and received praise, that was not their motive.
Greed: As Legacy Leaders we should never come “with a pretext for greed.” Pretext refers to a mask that conceals the real motive. The word refers to the idea of putting forth something that is plausible, that may in fact be true in itself, but is not the real reason for performing an act. Again the idea of deception is at work here.
Greed refers to an inordinate desire to possess more and more. Greed doesn't stop with healthy competition. It goes way past that and becomes an obsession with more - more money, more territory, larger crowds, bigger buildings, and even greed for more personal attention and fame. Like any addiction, greed is never satisfied and it takes more and more to satisfy its demand. Greed in any and all of its forms is ugly and derails many leaders.
In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul takes this on by saying that greed, among other things, should not even be named among us (Ephesians 5: 3-4).
Lording Authoritarianism: When some of the disciples were debating among themselves about who would sit where in the Lord's coming Kingdom, Jesus confronted their self-centered concerns by pointing to the Gentiles whose leaders "lorded it over them." Then, he continued by telling them, "It should not be so among you."
I have worked for some bosses - I won't call them leaders - who "lorded it over" me and my coworkers. They yelled, threatened, demanded and relied on the power to fire us to get us to do their bidding. In the short run this may work: We complied to avoid punishment; but, there was no long-term commitment.
Those of us who hold leadership positions certainly have legitimate power bases because of our formal authority. But, Legacy Leaders don’t rely on their formal authority. They understand that the best influence comes when we don't assert our authority.
Paul understood this. The phrase “even though as apostles of Christ we might have asserted our authority” refers to demands he might have made on the Thessalonians for physical and financial support. Rather than doing this, Paul worked night and day so as not to be a burden. He lived on what he earned as a tent-maker and the offerings from the Philippians. By earning his own way, Paul further demonstrated the purity of his motives which, in turn, gave him a platform for influence that did not rely on the authority of his title or position.
He reiterates this point and again emphasizes it in his second letter to the Thessalonians the importance of leaders modeling the behavior they seek to see developed in their followers. In 2 Thessalonians 3:7–9, Paul says:
“For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example, because we did not act in an undisciplined manner among you, nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with labor and hardship we kept working night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you; not because we do not have the right to this, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you, so that you would follow our example”[emphasis added].
Examine your Leadership Account.
Are there some attitudes and behaviors that need to removed?
Monday, March 8, 2010
The Leadership Account - Part 2
Now that you have created your T-account for Leadership, we need to start making some entries into that account.
Today’s entries will be based on things we need to add to the account. Remember, Leadership is an asset account, and we are adding these to the account. So, these will be debits.
As a context for us, I would like you to read what I call “the Legacy Leadership passage” in Paul’s 1st letter to the Thessalonians 1: 1 Thessalonians 1:2-2:12
“For our exhortation does not come from error or impurity or by way of deceit; but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who examines our hearts. For we never came with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed--God is witness-- nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, even though as apostles of Christ we might have asserted our authority.
But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children. Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us. For you recall, brethren, our labor and hardship, how working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.
You are witnesses, and so is God, how devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly we behaved toward you believers; just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children, so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory."
As I read this account I see several positive characteristics that need to be added to our leadership account:
Sensitivity to Needs: Legacy Leaders are aware of the needs of their constituents and work hard so as not to add to their burden. This awareness is possible because Legacy Leaders are “among you.” There aren't barriers and a great deal of distance between the leader and those they are leading.
Sincere Affection for People: Legacy Leaders are genuinely interested in the people they serve through their leadership. Paul was a rough and tumble kind of guy, yet he was totally transparent in his affection for these people. In contrast to the many macho pseudo-leaders we see today, Paul was comfortable displaying the gentleness and “fond affection" that characterizes a “nursing mother tenderly caring for her own children.”
Authentic Engagement: Because Paul was among the Thessalonians, he could call on them as character witnesses of the type of life he lived because they saw him up close and personal. He not only shared the gospel with them, but his own life as well. This is a great picture of the vulnerability with which Legacy Leaders interact with the people they lead.
Enthusiastic Encouragement: Legacy Leaders are intensely intentional in helping people grow and become all that God designed them to be. Like a father, Paul was encouraging, exhorting, and imploring “each one” of the Thessalonians.
This tells me he was actively involved with each individual and customized his approach to meet their specific needs. Yet, he was always clearly focused on his intent: “so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory."
This demonstrates the definition of Legacy Leadership: Legacy Leadership is intentional influence that takes place in the context of a relationship.
Can you book these characteristics in your Leadership Account?
Today’s entries will be based on things we need to add to the account. Remember, Leadership is an asset account, and we are adding these to the account. So, these will be debits.
As a context for us, I would like you to read what I call “the Legacy Leadership passage” in Paul’s 1st letter to the Thessalonians 1: 1 Thessalonians 1:2-2:12
“For our exhortation does not come from error or impurity or by way of deceit; but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not as pleasing men, but God who examines our hearts. For we never came with flattering speech, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed--God is witness-- nor did we seek glory from men, either from you or from others, even though as apostles of Christ we might have asserted our authority.
But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own children. Having so fond an affection for you, we were well-pleased to impart to you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become very dear to us. For you recall, brethren, our labor and hardship, how working night and day so as not to be a burden to any of you, we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.
You are witnesses, and so is God, how devoutly and uprightly and blamelessly we behaved toward you believers; just as you know how we were exhorting and encouraging and imploring each one of you as a father would his own children, so that you would walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory."
As I read this account I see several positive characteristics that need to be added to our leadership account:
Sensitivity to Needs: Legacy Leaders are aware of the needs of their constituents and work hard so as not to add to their burden. This awareness is possible because Legacy Leaders are “among you.” There aren't barriers and a great deal of distance between the leader and those they are leading.
Sincere Affection for People: Legacy Leaders are genuinely interested in the people they serve through their leadership. Paul was a rough and tumble kind of guy, yet he was totally transparent in his affection for these people. In contrast to the many macho pseudo-leaders we see today, Paul was comfortable displaying the gentleness and “fond affection" that characterizes a “nursing mother tenderly caring for her own children.”
Authentic Engagement: Because Paul was among the Thessalonians, he could call on them as character witnesses of the type of life he lived because they saw him up close and personal. He not only shared the gospel with them, but his own life as well. This is a great picture of the vulnerability with which Legacy Leaders interact with the people they lead.
Enthusiastic Encouragement: Legacy Leaders are intensely intentional in helping people grow and become all that God designed them to be. Like a father, Paul was encouraging, exhorting, and imploring “each one” of the Thessalonians.
This tells me he was actively involved with each individual and customized his approach to meet their specific needs. Yet, he was always clearly focused on his intent: “so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the God who calls you into His own kingdom and glory."
This demonstrates the definition of Legacy Leadership: Legacy Leadership is intentional influence that takes place in the context of a relationship.
Can you book these characteristics in your Leadership Account?
Thursday, March 4, 2010
The Leadership Account - Part 1
The first C that I made in school came during my first semester in the MBA program at The University of Texas at Arlington.
I made a false assumption that because I was pretty good in math, I would do well in accounting. Bad assumption! I could not figure out why when you increased some accounts you debited them, while increasing other accounts you credited them. Why couldn’t they be consistent???
When the report card for that semester came, I was pretty sure the sun wouldn’t come up the next day. I was devastated.
A few years later, I was teaching economics at Tarrant County Junior College - One class, two nights a week, at the way-out-there Northwest Campus. So, I asked if there was another class that I could teach on those nights to make the drive more worthwhile. They said, “Well we have a Principles of Accounting class. Would you like to teach that?” I immediately responded, “Sure. I can do that!”
Well … You don’t really learn something until you to teach it to someone else.
Fortunately for me, the text had a chart on the rules of normal balance for all of the different types of accounts. It also showed what to do – debit or credit – if you were increasing or decreasing that account. Finally, the logic of accounting began to make sense to me!
I don’t know how many times I repeated these phrases that semester:
"What kind of account is it?" Class Response in Unison: "It’s an asset."
"What are we trying to do?" Class Response in Unison: "Increase it."
"So what do we need to do?" Class Response in Unison: "Debit the account!"
Now when you read “Class Response in Unison” you need to think about the scene from Leave it to Beaver:
Ms. Landers: “Good Morning Class”
Class Response in Unison: “Good Morning Ms. Landers!”
Now that y’all are up to speed on accounting, I would like to apply your understanding to leadership. If we were accounting for Leadership, how would we “book it”?
Well, “What kind of account is Leadership?”
In unison now: “It’s an Asset Account.”
Very good. As leaders there are several things we need to add to our account. Those will be debit entries. And there are several things that need to be subtracted. Those will be credits. And because leadership is an asset account, the normal balance for the Leadership Account is a debit.
In my next few posts I will be discussing the Leadership Account. So, go ahead and create a T-Account labeled Leadership.
We will walk our way through some important journal entries that all of us as leaders need to make.
Before we do, let me ask:
What is the balance in your Leadership Account?
I made a false assumption that because I was pretty good in math, I would do well in accounting. Bad assumption! I could not figure out why when you increased some accounts you debited them, while increasing other accounts you credited them. Why couldn’t they be consistent???
When the report card for that semester came, I was pretty sure the sun wouldn’t come up the next day. I was devastated.
A few years later, I was teaching economics at Tarrant County Junior College - One class, two nights a week, at the way-out-there Northwest Campus. So, I asked if there was another class that I could teach on those nights to make the drive more worthwhile. They said, “Well we have a Principles of Accounting class. Would you like to teach that?” I immediately responded, “Sure. I can do that!”
Well … You don’t really learn something until you to teach it to someone else.
Fortunately for me, the text had a chart on the rules of normal balance for all of the different types of accounts. It also showed what to do – debit or credit – if you were increasing or decreasing that account. Finally, the logic of accounting began to make sense to me!
I don’t know how many times I repeated these phrases that semester:
"What kind of account is it?" Class Response in Unison: "It’s an asset."
"What are we trying to do?" Class Response in Unison: "Increase it."
"So what do we need to do?" Class Response in Unison: "Debit the account!"
Now when you read “Class Response in Unison” you need to think about the scene from Leave it to Beaver:
Ms. Landers: “Good Morning Class”
Class Response in Unison: “Good Morning Ms. Landers!”
Now that y’all are up to speed on accounting, I would like to apply your understanding to leadership. If we were accounting for Leadership, how would we “book it”?
Well, “What kind of account is Leadership?”
In unison now: “It’s an Asset Account.”
Very good. As leaders there are several things we need to add to our account. Those will be debit entries. And there are several things that need to be subtracted. Those will be credits. And because leadership is an asset account, the normal balance for the Leadership Account is a debit.
In my next few posts I will be discussing the Leadership Account. So, go ahead and create a T-Account labeled Leadership.
We will walk our way through some important journal entries that all of us as leaders need to make.
Before we do, let me ask:
What is the balance in your Leadership Account?
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Reading 2010 So Far
It’s been a while since I posted a list of the books I have read.
In fact, it's been a while since I have posted anything. The situation that prompted my Amen or Oh Me post has been dominating my thoughts for several weeks. On that situation I have finally settled on Oh Me!
Now for books. As you know, I read a variety of books. I am not a speed reader, but I am a persistent reader. I read every weekday morning during my quiet time. I read on the "cardio days" at the gym while riding the stationary bike. And, I read every night before I go to sleep.
I wasn’t always a reader. I think I caught the reading bug as a student at Austin College. There was a ton of required reading, but I also found myself wanting to dig deeper into the subjects and began reading beyond the requirements. And of course now, I read for a living!
Here’s what I have read so far.
More accurately, this is what I have finished so far this year. In accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, I only record a book as read when it is completed. Some books, like Theodore Rex are multiple month endeavors. Some are multiple year endeavors!
In fact, it's been a while since I have posted anything. The situation that prompted my Amen or Oh Me post has been dominating my thoughts for several weeks. On that situation I have finally settled on Oh Me!
Now for books. As you know, I read a variety of books. I am not a speed reader, but I am a persistent reader. I read every weekday morning during my quiet time. I read on the "cardio days" at the gym while riding the stationary bike. And, I read every night before I go to sleep.
I wasn’t always a reader. I think I caught the reading bug as a student at Austin College. There was a ton of required reading, but I also found myself wanting to dig deeper into the subjects and began reading beyond the requirements. And of course now, I read for a living!
Here’s what I have read so far.
More accurately, this is what I have finished so far this year. In accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, I only record a book as read when it is completed. Some books, like Theodore Rex are multiple month endeavors. Some are multiple year endeavors!
I highly recommend the books that are italicized and bold-faced. Beware: Theodore Rex will require a long march, but it is well worth it. Theodore Roosevelt emerged from that book as my favorite presidential leader!
Books 2010
January
1. Crazy Love, Frances Chan
2. Derailed, Tim Irwin
3. Primal: A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity, Mark Batterson
4. Just Walk Across the Room, Bill Hybels
5. Finally in the Land, John MacArthur
6. Lifetime Guarantee, Bill Gillham
February
1. Fascinating Lives of Forgotten Saints, Chuck Swindoll
2. Prophets, Priests, and Kings: The Lives of Samuel and Saul, John MacArthur
3. Theodore Rex, Edmund Morris
4. Holy Ambition, Chip Ingrum
5. Leadership: Influence that Inspires, Chuck Swindoll
Books 2010
January
1. Crazy Love, Frances Chan
2. Derailed, Tim Irwin
3. Primal: A Quest for the Lost Soul of Christianity, Mark Batterson
4. Just Walk Across the Room, Bill Hybels
5. Finally in the Land, John MacArthur
6. Lifetime Guarantee, Bill Gillham
February
1. Fascinating Lives of Forgotten Saints, Chuck Swindoll
2. Prophets, Priests, and Kings: The Lives of Samuel and Saul, John MacArthur
3. Theodore Rex, Edmund Morris
4. Holy Ambition, Chip Ingrum
5. Leadership: Influence that Inspires, Chuck Swindoll
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