LEADERSHIP SERIES PART I Leadership for Turbulent Times by Tom McKee We are in a leadership crisis in the United States. A couple of weeks ago the Wall Street Journal ranked California as one of the worst run states in the nation. When we were thriving in wealth a few years ago, we spent it. Although we live in one of the most prosperous areas of the world, today our state is in financial disaster. We certainly have a leadership crisis in business. Tom Peters wrote two years ago, "In the next five years, leadership is going to emerge as the most important element of business-an attribute that is highest in demand and shortest in supply." Two years into his five year prediction, we are seeing the results of this huge void in leadership. Outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas recorded 473 CEO departures in the first five months of 2001. Although many of these were from mergers, many were because of the failure to lead successfully. And the church is not doing much better. George Barna writes about the church: The people who fill the positions of leadership in churches today are, for the most part, teachers-good people, lovers of God, well-educated, gifted communicators-but not leaders. They do not have or understand vision. They are incapable of motivating and mobilizing people around God's vision. They fail to direct people's energies and resources effectively and efficiently. For the church to become strong again, we must heed the guidance of the leaders God has called and gifted for that purpose, while growing through the focused teaching of those who are gifted to explicate his Word and its profound implications for our lives. I see this crisis as a great time for Christians to fill the huge leadership gap in business, schools, government, and the church. We have great examples in the Scriptures, and today I'm going to begin a series of four sermons in which we will examine how four resilient leaders thrived in turbulent times. They were not perfect, but they led and made a difference. This study has applications for all arenas of leadership: home, youth leadership, business, organization, government, and church. The four people we will examine are: King Solomon: He outlines six ways of being a leader. David the Shepherd King: He faced the giant of intimidation with four courage builders. Moses the Liberator: He changed the course of history and a whole culture by the forgotten leadership skill-he listened. John the Baptist-a humble mover and shaker: He faced his self-doubt when success turned sour (he was in prison), and he got a lesson from Christ in the foundation of faith for leadership. Today we look at Solomon, a king who led Israel in one of its most prosperous times. He headed off an insurrection that tried to replace him as king. Adnojiah, one of David's other sons, felt he should be the King and tried to lead a rebellion. Solomon was able to fight off the rebellion and he leads Israel in a time of great expansion and wealth. At the end of Solomon's life, he writes the book of Ecclesiastes and in chapter 8, Solomon outlines a message to his managers. He is telling them the kind of leadership he needs for them is to be wise. In a sense, we could say this is a message to all middle managers. Now some of you might feel, "So what?" "What does this have to do with me?" "Why are we talking about a leadership crisis?" "I'm not a CEO, or the Governor, or Mayor, or President of the United States." These are important questions, because the beauty of our country is that change can happen at a grass roots level of our society. You and I are called to be leaders where we are and we can change society at this level. And that is the message Solomon has for us. All of us are in middle management. There is no one who is really not in middle management of life. And life is filled with the stressors of middle management. Mothers, fathers, coaches, teachers, church leaders, students, and even CEOs are in middle management. Whether we deal with our students, principals, teachers, children, parents, or our customers, we are often caught in the stress of middle management. How does this apply to me? How is this going to help me? Students-how you can impact your school, or youth group Parents-how you can be a leader in your home and community Coaches-how you can have an impact on the lives of the members of your team Church leaders-how you can be a leader in your God given gifts and ministry Managers-how you can be a leader in your place of business City, county, state and federal leaders-how you can lead our governmental agencies Schools - principals, teachers-how you can be a leader in one of the most important aspects of society today-education. In the first nine verses of chapter eight, Solomon outlines his six essentials that he expects from his leaders. I. Essential One: Leaders must make meaning (vs.1) "Who knows the explanation of the things?" When I read this verse, I am reminded of John Nordstrom's "one rule" policy for his employees. In the employee handbook is printed: Nordstrom Rules Rule # 1: Use your good judgment in all situations. There will be no additional rules. (Betsy Sanders, Fabled Service, p. 75) What John expected from his employees was wisdom-the wisdom to make wise decisions. If every employee could make wise decisions, John Nordstrom would be a very rich man. That is what Solomon is saying. Be wise. When Solomon says, "The wise person knows the explanation of things," I believe there are two meanings to this verse. The first meaning is the essence of the book: Wisdom. Solomon is writing about wisdom and gives a great definition of wisdom. Wisdom is what the book is all about. Solomon talks about life-education, money, relationships, health, government and work and he says that it is all meaningless-unless you are wise. But the wise person sees beyond the meaningless and sees life from God's perspective. Solomon calls this "life above the sun." If we only see life from the perspective of our life on earth, it is unfair. But there is more to life that this life. God has a purpose that will be revealed in eternity. But there is a second meaning of this verse. Solomon is saying that visionaries see beyond the task. They see the wisdom of the cause. I am reminded of the man who collects tolls at the Golden Gate Bridge. He has a short motivational greeting for everyone who gives him a toll. When you hand him your money to cross the bridge, he will look at you with a big smile and say something like, "Today is the first day of the rest of your life-have a great day." Now I have heard that he is bald and in the morning when the sun comes up it shines on his head and you can see his head shining in his tollbooth. Evidently people from Marin county like those motivational statements, so they line up to pay their toll to this man. Now I have heard that if you asked this person, "What do you do for a living?" he would not tell you, "I collect tolls." What he would say is, "I welcome people into the most beautiful city in the world." That is a person who sees beyond his or her task and is wise. That person is not a receptionist, a manager, a teacher, a plumber, a carpenter. That person has found a cause. That person reminds me of the brick layer who was asked what do you do. He did not say, "I am earning a living," or "I am laying bricks." He responded, "I am building a cathedral." I believe that is what Solomon wants of us. And I believe that is what he is saying is the essence of the wise man. The wise person can see the big picture. You are in the process of looking for a senior pastor. Being a senior pastor is being the only person in the entire church who sees the church as a whole. Every other position, whether volunteer or paid, sees the church from the ministry role they fill. Youth workers see the whole church from the perspective of youth. Music people see the whole church from the perspective of music. Mission people see the whole church from the mission paradigm. But the senior pastor is the only person who sees the whole church. It is the same way in business. Human resource people see the company through the H.R. eyes, while the marketing people see the company through the marketing frame and the engineers see the company through the marketing eyes. That is why leaders often put an emphasis on the mission so that everyone can see the big picture. Read more about Tom McKee on his web page: http://www.volunteerpower.com