Archive for year: 2024

In thirty years of life and experience in leadership roles in Christian organizations, there are lessons that I learned (and continue to learn) from the life of ministry to which God called me.  Over that time, He taught me lessons based on stories, principles, and truths from the Bible that have been translated into personal application.  This series of articles focuses on a set of those lessons drawn from the book of Ezra in the Old Testament (and then published in my latest book). This week, in part 10, I am discussing one of several lessons on the practice of leadership, this one is about overcoming obstacles and opposition.

Facing Obstacles and Opposition

In the summer right after I graduated from high school, I had the privilege of working for one of my uncles, who was a general contractor and owned a construction company.   During this particular summer, he was building an apartment complex, and I was there to do whatever manual labor he assigned me to do. My first day on the job, he informed me with a smile that I would be the “gopher” – “you know,” he said, “go for this, go for that, go for whatever I need you to get.” I spent that summer before college carrying lumber, operating a jackhammer, driving a forklift, sweeping floors, sanding walls, and running errands.

Toward the end of the summer, when much of the construction had been done and the finish work was in process, I was given the task of installing the air conditioning wall units in each of the apartments. In a space that had been left open in one of the outside walls of each apartment, my task was to insert the units, connect all the wires and lines, test them to make sure they worked properly, and then clean the area so that it looked neat and finished.

However, in one specific apartment, I ran into a problem. I could not get the unit to fit properly, no matter how I tried, and I began to get very frustrated. I was ready to give up when my aunt walked in and asked me how it was going. I told her, “I have a problem,” and explained what was happening, to which she replied, “Jeff, there are no such things as problems, only challenges to solve or overcome.”

The truth is, there will always be challenges. Since the fall of Adam and Eve and the introduction of sin, there have been difficulties, challenges, and conflict, and work has been hard. Therefore, until we are fully sanctified in heaven, we will always have adversities and adversaries that create difficulty. They may be obstacles that get in our way, or they may be people who oppose us, but regardless, they will be challenges that must be overcome.

The Israelites showed us this, when they experienced great challenges in their efforts to rebuild the temple, described in Ezra 4, 5, and 6, This passage provides us with a picture of the types of attacks and hindrances they experienced, as well as their responses. Then, in chapter 8, we see also see a brief description of the danger of the potential obstacles a team could face. Together, these events give us a good idea of the challenges we also may face.

Ezra 4-6 fills in a major portion of the story of the rebuilding of the temple, which took place over many years. It wasn’t long after they had first initiated construction that people began to try to block their efforts, trying a variety of ways to interfere with the work. Eventually, those opposed to the building that was taking place wrote a letter to the king that painted the Israelites in a bad light. The letter contained half-truths, with biased and twisted information, which resulted in an order from the king to stop construction. It wasn’t until years later that the work began again, and once again, almost immediately, others tried to force them to stop, again writing a letter to the king. This time, Scripture tells us, nothing could get in the way of the work they were doing.

Ezra 8 provides a second glimpse into this issue, this time when Ezra himself was preparing to lead the spiritual leaders back to Jerusalem. As they made their preparations, Ezra crafted a plan that would ensure the greatest success, but he also appealed to God for guidance and for protection from the dangers and obstacles they would face on the road. After they arrived (safely) in Jerusalem, Ezra noted in verse 31 that “the hand of our God was upon us, and He delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambush along the road,” pointing out that these were things that could have happened but didn’t, because of God’s protection. In combination, these two scenarios in chapters 4-6 and 8 show us the types of obstacles and opposition we will be up against.

Obstacles can come from anywhere, and could take the form of circumstances, events, or people, and can be both expected and unexpected. Ezra’s appeal to God taken together with his recognition of God’s protection points this out. In 8:22, Ezra foresaw the potential for danger and prayed to God for protection from the enemy, knowing that they would be embarking on their journey to Jerusalem. Then, as we have already seen, in 8:31 he gave credit to God for the protection he provided for them, “from the hand of the enemy and from ambush.”

We can draw from these verses that obstacles can come in a variety of ways. They can be in the form of known enemies, but they could also be in the form of unknown enemies. They could be visible attacks that we can see coming, or they could be surprise attacks that come as an ambush.  They could be obstacles that we are anticipating (like a speed bump with a sign that warns us it is approaching), or they could be completely unforeseen (like a pothole that comes out of nowhere). The point is, obstacles can come in almost any form, from almost any direction, with or without warning.

Opposition tends to come directly from people, but we often forget that it can come from inside an organization just as much as it can come from outside. This is the picture with which we are presented in Ezra 4, after the Israelites had begun to rebuild. Here we learn that their adversaries had presented themselves as if they were on the same team, with the same values and the same goals. They tried to look like they were part of the same community, but in reality, they were intentionally trying to deceive, and their motives were destructive.

The same thing happens to us. People will try to assimilate themselves into our organization or align themselves with us in order to be accepted, but with the motive of undermining our efforts or corrupting and changing the culture. Jude 4 talks about this, showing it to be a tactic of Satan, and reveals it as a pattern of allowing evil, then accepting evil, and finally rejecting good. This is the pattern that the opposition uses, claiming to be one of us but instead seeking to destroy.

Opposition can also come from outside, which is what we see a couple of verses later in chapter 4, in verses 4 and 5, where we see that the opposition was obvious, clearly the intent to frustrate and oppose the work, and their methods included physical and verbal attack, discouragement, interference and sabotage, and continual harassment.

This is no different from the opposition we will face. It may shock us to realize the extent to which people will go to hurt others (like the feeling of disbelief I remember having when our home was robbed, disbelief that someone would actually do that to another person), but we are in a world marred by sin, and people will oppose the work of God. Often their efforts will be intentional and planned, prepared with guidance and strategy, for the purpose of blocking, hindering, and stopping the work that we do. And when they have an opportunity, they will jump at that opportunity to cause us to.

The obstacles and opposition we face can be overwhelming and disheartening, and therefore we must be ready to handle it. Looking again at these passages, we can see a few things that help us to be ready; specifically, there are three action steps we can take:

1. Be pro-active, by planning for potential difficulties, like Ezra did in chapter 8 when he went to God for protection and prepared a strategic plan.
2. Be reactive, by responding in the right way regardless of how we are attacked. This is reflected in Ezra 5:11-13, in the Israelites’ response the second time that charges that were brought to the king against them. In their response, they told the truth, they put the burden on God, and they were unafraid to be bold about their faith.
3. Consciously and willingly submit all circumstances to God’s plan and timing. The passage from chapter 4, verse 23, through chapter 5, verse 5, show us this picture, revealing God’s intentional timing regarding when He wanted the work on the temple to be completed.

There is no guarantee that doing work for God will be easy; if anything, there is a certainty that there will be difficulty in work (remember that God cursed the work of man when He confronted Adam in the Garden of Eden). We will encounter obstacles and we will face opposition. But if we are prepared, and if we respond in the right way, and if we trust God’s sovereignty, we can handle whatever comes our way.

In my thirty years of life and experience in leadership roles in Christian organizations, there are leadership lessons that I learned (and continue to learn) from the life of ministry to which God called me.  Over that time, He taught me lessons based on stories, principles, and truths from the Bible that have been translated into personal application.  This particular series of articles focuses on a set of those lessons drawn from the book of Ezra in the Old Testament, the same lessons that I have published in my latest book. This week, in part 9, I am discussing one of several lessons on the practice of leadership, this is about giving people the motivation they need. Here is the transcript of the podcast.

In this series we are diving deeper into principles and practices that connect biblical truth with wisdom and applying them to the practice of leadership. The purpose of the series, and of the website as a whole, is to connect faith, wisdom, and leadership in a way that will help you grow in your leadership and make an impact. That starts with realizing that God has a plan and purpose that can be trusted, whether or not we can visibly see His hand in it, and He has a part for us in this purpose.

We then spent 3 weeks laying the groundwork for effective leadership, using the analogy of the starting blocks in a race, when all the runners line up and get into position, and the starter yells, “On your mark, get set, go!” The first command, “On Your Mark,” was all about getting to the starting line and in the right place by getting yourself into the right frame of mind and equipping yourself for what is coming. Aligning yourself with truth by seeking and knowing God and knowing where He has placed you, and by establishing your foundational beliefs and values, gives you the capability to lead. The second command, “Get Set,” was all about getting into position in the right form, so that you are best prepared to start well. Performing the actions that set you up to be followed and trusted involves living your life so that your actions and behaviors reflect those beliefs, and that gives you the credibility to lead. The final command, “Go,” is when the starter’s pistol goes off and you start running. That’s when your work begins as you start leading your people and your organization toward your mission, vision, or change. This is hard work and therefore requires someone who is both capable and credible, and that’s why this step must follow the other two. But with those things in place, the race is underway, and what follows are the things you do to maintain your race. We have already talked about the importance of the ability to see the big picture, and of giving people a voice in the process, and today we are discussing how to motivate your followers.

There is an old cliché that says, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.” The point it makes is that you can provide all the right things that someone might need, but ultimately, that person has to decide for himself or herself what they will do. People decide their own actions. That’s the challenge of motivation: You can’t make anyone do anything that they don’t really feel that they need or want to do. Sure, you can force compliance, but it won’t be their best work, it won’t be sustainable, and it will cause them to sabotage, disrupt, or leave. So, then, how do you motivate people?

I shared this same story in this week’s website article, but it’s very appropriate, so I will share it hear as well. For over twenty years, I lived my life in the same (over)weight range, always believing that I needed to lose some weight, but never really doing so. I tried a variety of diets and exercise regimens, but nothing ever moved me out of that range, nor did any of them ever become a long-term lifestyle. I finally convinced myself that I simply had a stocky build, and, in fact, I had developed a sense of pride about my larger size. And I believed that I was much healthier than I actually was. But then I was confronted with the realization that I was very overweight, out of shape, and unhealthy, when my doctor found it necessary to prescribe medications to treat the effects of my poor health, and a family member confronted me on my overeating. I realized that I was endangering not only my own life, but also the care and well-being of my family.

It was then that I embarked on a journey that (literally) changed me into a different person. I changed some of my eating behaviors, incorporated several tools to help me maintain a daily awareness – most helpfully, an app on my phone – and gradually implemented moderate exercise. The results shocked me – I consistently lost several pounds a week, losing a total of 50 pounds in just under four months to reach my goal weight (and I have since maintained my healthier weight and lifestyle). My greatest moment of joy came when I was able to once again wear the leather bomber jacket that my wife had given me at our wedding 26 years earlier.

I had tried to lose weight at other times in my life, but it never went well, nor was it ever sustained. What motivated me to make the change this time, and then keep it off? There were three things that I can point to. First, I was confronted by people who matter to me, in a way that connected to my core values and beliefs. In a conversation about behavior that honors God, one of my children said, “But dad, you don’t seem to have a problem with gluttony, and the Bible calls that a sin.” Ouch. I realized that my child was learning from my behavior, and I had to question whether or not I really did want to honor God. Second, I was equipped with the simple tools I needed. I had been reading a book about leadership, and the book was teaching a valuable lesson by using a weight loss study to make a point about sustainability. The author referenced a study that said people who kept weight off for 6+ years had three things in common: they weighed themselves every morning, they ate breakfast, and they had basic exercise equipment at home. I had and could do those things. Third, I kept myself from discouragement by allowing what I call “micropleasures.” I drank my café con leche every morning. I had a piece of chocolate every night. I made food that tasted good. Because I have a sweet tooth and love the taste of food, I needed to do these things to keep from becoming discouraged. Which means that I did these things to keep encouraging myself to move forward.

The point is that people need motivation, but that’s hard.  Some will respond well to more external motivation, while others will resist that. Some seem to have more internal will power and discipline and need the motivation to be internal, where others struggle. The truth is, all of us struggle in both of those at different times in different ways. Therefore, you need to work at intentionally motivating people well, but in a way that benefits them and sustains the change. How do you do that? With a combination of confrontation, equipping, and encouragement.

The task for you, then, is to find the right balance of those things, in a way that fits your context and your people. Confront them with need and value of change but connect it to what matters to them. Make it easy for them to have access to the tools they need. And then provide continuous encouragement throughout the change process.

The bottom line is that motivation done well can help you initiate and maintain change. If it’s done poorly, or forced, the resistance you encounter will derail the change; but even if you can force the change anyway, it won’t last and you will lose people in the process. You need to provide motivation, but the right motivation in the right way. Understand what matters to people, then help them see how the change will benefit what really matters to them, give them the tools they need (don’t make them have to fight for it), and constantly encourage them along the way. Start by practicing on yourself, motivating yourself to make a needed change in your own life, then use that example to help you learn to motivate the people you are leading.

In thirty years of life and experience in leadership roles in Christian organizations, there are lessons that I learned (and continue to learn) from the life of ministry to which God called me.  Over that time, He taught me lessons based on stories, principles, and truths from the Bible that have been translated into personal application.  This series of articles focuses on a set of those lessons drawn from the book of Ezra in the Old Testament (and then published in my latest book). This week, in part 8, I am discussing one of several lessons on the practice of leadership, this is about the important of giving people a voice and letting them be heard.

Let People Have a Voice

If you have been following this series, by now you realize that I have found that the book of Ezra is chock full of lessons and illustrations on leadership. I have already written about topics like understanding God’s sovereignty in my plans, preparing myself for leadership, team leadership, the work of leadership, and seeing the big picture. In my study of the book, I have also found application to many other leadership principles and concepts, like strategic planning, overcoming obstacles, building motivation, and more. Another of those lessons, which is illustrated in the events that take place in chapter 10, verses 7 through the end of the chapter, I believe specifically provides an example of the value of giving people a voice.

There was a time when leadership was viewed as an authoritative role that looked something like this: I am in charge, I know what needs to be done, I tell you what to do, and you do it. The assumption was that the leader was the one who really knew what was best, so he talked, and the followers listened. Classrooms used to operate the same way, when teachers would lecture, and students would listen and take notes; but it was a very one-sided dialogue. Studies of leadership recognize that this is not effective leadership, and that now we need to be willing to give people a voice in the process. Heifetz and Laurie, in their Harvard Business Review article “The Work of Leadership,” included in HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Leadership (2011), found that “giving a voice to all people is the foundation of an organization that is willing to experiment and learn” (p. 69). However, that doesn’t mean that it’s no longer a struggle for us to do, and so it is still something that we need to intentionally cultivate in ourselves and in our leadership.

A couple of important concepts have personally helped me to recognize this truth. One was the realization that many people know much more than I do about many things, and there are many things that others can do better than I. I don’t know everything, and I am not the most skilled at everything. Therefore, I can be more effective when I tap into the knowledge and skills of others, but that, in turn, means giving them an opportunity to contribute. A second was the realization that those who are closest to a situation – those on the ground floor – generally have the greatest understanding of what is taking place. The people actually doing the job often have the best understanding of what works and what does not. The result, then, is that I have learned that I need to give people a voice, especially in the process of implementing change. If people are given the ability to speak into the process, they will in turn take more ownership of it and will be more involved and more committed. And this is where a look at Ezra 10:7-17 gives us some great insight. If we walk through the passage verse by verse, what we see is a great step-by-step picture of the importance and value of leaders giving people a voice in the process.

Verses 7 and 8 set the stage, describing how Ezra gathers everyone together. A proclamation is sent throughout the area instructing people to come to a central location for what will be an important meeting. They are given three days to arrive and gather, and the proclamation includes a rather severe ultimatum to ensure that people come. The important components that are immediately evident for our understanding of leadership are these:

• Include those who will be affected, so that the ones who will be impacted have an opportunity to have a voice.
• Provide a time and place for the dialogue to take place, making sure that the availability of those invited is taken into consideration.
• Provide a motivation that underscores the importance of the meeting, increasing the likelihood of the right people being there.

Once gathered together (v. 9) – and notice that the attendees recognized the importance of this discussion – Ezra stood in front of everyone present and briefly explained the basic issue and the needed outcome (vv. 10-11). In their case, it was the sin of unfaithfulness to God, requiring confession, repentance, obedience, and separation. The example it provides helps us to see the next thing that  people need:

• Provide a clear and understandable idea of what the issue is and what the outcomes need to be.

Before people can give input, it is the responsibility of the leader to communicate and summarize so that everyone involved can understand and engage. Everyone needs to see the picture clearly and be on the same page from the start. And clearly, Ezra did this well, because the response of the people (v. 12) was a resounding “Yes! We are on board and we will do it!”

At this point:

• Give people the opportunity to speak into the situation – and make it safe to do so (vv. 13).

The discussion that ensues is a wonderful representation of the importance of giving people a voice. They have heard the issue and the needed outcomes, they have expressed absolute support, but they also recognized that there are some factors that need to be considered in the process, because those factors will affect their ability to accomplish the goal. In their situation, they identified the problem of volume – how many and how much (“there are many people,” and “there are many of us who have transgressed”) – and the problem of physical circumstances (“it is the season for heavy rain”). Very often, it is those who are on the ground floor and in the trenches who are best able to understand what is being faced and how it will impact those involved. The leader may be the one who is best able to “zoom out” and see the big picture, but once you “zoom in,” the people who are carrying out the work of the tasks may be best able to see the details and provide input. They will see things that you miss, and so if they are not given the opportunity to speak, you may be creating obstacles that can greatly hinder the likelihood of accomplishing the goals.

But it didn’t end there. The people knew the obstacles that would increase the challenge, and they were able to offer ideas to solve those issues (v. 14). They proposed a solution that addressed their problem of volume and allowed for the disruption caused by their physical circumstances. Then, because they were empowered to speak, they got behind the leadership and took ownership of the issue and the solution. Their solution, based on their first-hand knowledge of the circumstances, included identifying representative leaders, arranging a schedule and time frame, establishing a process, and clearly communicating the purpose. This provides a great example of the result and benefit of giving people a voice. When people are given the opportunity to participate and contribute, they buy in and take ownership. When that happens, you will have their support and involvement and have a much higher probability of accomplishing the tasks. And keep in mind, because they may have the best picture of the details, they can provide valuable input into a workable solution.

With that backdrop, verses 16 through the end of the chapter reveal the final – and critical – step by the leadership:

• Listen to the people and take their input into consideration when determining the action steps.

They then followed that established process, completed the plan, and achieved the goals. But before that happened, verse 15 points out an interesting side note: the proposed solution did not have unanimous support. Several leaders of the people opposed the idea, including at least one spiritual leader. One of them, Meshullam, is also mentioned in Nehemiah 3:4 as someone who was helping to repair the wall in Jerusalem, so I don’t think these individuals were opposed to the goal, just to the process that was proposed. This gives us a good picture of how the process operates in organizations (and how the body of Christ operates): there will likely never be full agreement on anything, but giving the people a voice will bring the best ideas, and it is then the responsibility of the leadership to filter the responses, seek God, and determine the direction. As Seth Godin says in Tribes, “Listen, really listen. Then decide and move on” (2008, p. 128).

Ezra’s leadership shows us the value of giving people a voice. If we don’t do the same, we only make our job more difficult. So I say, “Let the people speak.”

Godin, S. (2008). Tribes: We Need You To Lead Us. Portfolio: New York, NY.

Heifetz, R. A., and Laurie, D. L. (2011). “The Work of Leadership,” in HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Leadership. Harvard Business Review Press: Boston, MA.

In my thirty years of life and experience in leadership roles in Christian organizations, there are leadership lessons that I learned (and continue to learn) from the life of ministry to which God called me.  Over that time, He taught me lessons based on stories, principles, and truths from the Bible that have been translated into personal application.  This particular series of articles focuses on a set of those lessons drawn from the book of Ezra in the Old Testament, the same lessons that I have published in my latest book. This week in part 7, I am discussing one of several lessons on the practice of leadership, this one is about the importance of seeing the big picture (and especially of seeing it from God’s perspective). Here is the transcript of the podcast.

In this series we are diving deeper into principles and practices that connect biblical truth with wisdom and applying them to the practice of leadership. The purpose of the series, and of the website as a whole, is to connect faith, wisdom, and leadership in a way that will help you grow in your leadership and make an impact. That starts with realizing that God has a plan and purpose that can be trusted, whether or not we can visibly see His hand in it, and He has a part for us in this purpose.

We spent 3 weeks laying the groundwork for effective leadership, using the analogy of the starting blocks in a race, when all the runners line up and get into position, and the starter yells, “On your mark, get set, go!” The first command, “On Your Mark,” was all about getting to the starting line and in the right place by getting yourself into the right frame of mind and equipping yourself for what is coming. Aligning yourself with truth by seeking and knowing God and knowing where He has placed you, and by establishing your foundational beliefs and values, gives you the capability to lead. The second command, “Get Set,” was all about getting into position in the right form, so that you are best prepared to start well. Performing the actions that set you up to be followed and trusted involves living your life so that your actions and behaviors reflect those beliefs, and that gives you the credibility to lead. The final command, “Go,” is when the starter’s pistol goes off and you start running. That’s when your work begins as you start leading your people and your organization toward your mission, vision, or change. This is hard work and therefore requires someone who is both capable and credible, and that’s why this step must follow the other two. But with those things in place, the race is underway, and what follows are the things you do to maintain your race. One of those things is the ability to see the big picture.

Early in the doctoral program for my Ph.D., my cohort was assigned a book to read by Margaret Wheatley, called “Leadership and the New Science.” The book was a discussion of leadership principles and ideas drawn from the illustration of Chaos Theory. The author provided some explanation of what Chaos Theory was as it pertained to science, with some of its components and implications, such as a discussion of something called fractals, and then made applications to lessons that applied to how we can lead.  I particularly remember the discussion on fractals, because that was a place where I could so clearly see a reflection of God (even though that was not the author’s intent). Fractals are complex patterns that make up the miniscule detail of matter in various ways. At first glance, and in a close-up view, they generally appear to be random and chaotic (hence the connection to chaos theory), but when you expand and repeat the view of the pattern, their seeming randomness is revealed to be part of a greater pattern that makes sense and is very beautiful. [For any Chaos Theorists and scientists who hear this explanation, I know I oversimplified it, but the basic premise is still true.] When I read this in Wheatley’s book, what struck me is how this is a picture of God’s activity in our lives.  There is much that happens that may seem to be random, or that we don’t understand, but from God’s perspective, it is part of a large purpose that He is using to create a beautiful picture.

What I learned from this book while in the context of my doctoral program was not just lessons about leadership, but lessons about how my life and purpose were part of a larger picture in God’s purpose. When I began to see my leadership this way, it helped me to get outside of my circumstances and see a greater purpose that I couldn’t see as well while in the middle of it. On one level, the existence of fractals is a lesson on leadership in that it is an illustration of the patterns that are there, that we can identify if we step back and view the big picture, which then helps understand what is happening and make better decisions. But on a deeper (and, in my opinion, a more important) level, it is illustration of how our lives have purpose in an intentional plan that God has for us. We may be too close to the situation or too recent in time to see it, but that doesn’t make it not true.  

The point for you is to recognize the same thing.  In your organization, there will be identifiable patterns that you can find so that you can anticipate, respond or act in the best way possible. There are patterns and models that you can follow because they have been proven to be true over time, even if there are variations in circumstances.  For example, there are certain steps that consistently lead to weight loss, primarily eating a healthy diet with appropriate portion sizes and doing moderate exercise.  There are lots of variations in how that can be done, but the basic pattern is the same. It’s the same in your leadership. However, I believe it is even more important to see the big picture from God’s perspective, recognizing that your experiences are part of His design and pattern, and are there for a reason. Embrace that knowledge, and have the confidence that God has a purpose in your leadership.

I have learned to see God’s purpose in all my past experiences as part of the preparation for where He has my today.  The experiences in my life, when viewed through that lens, reveal an order in my life that has equipped me each step of the way for what is next. For example, when I had to use much of what I had learned in my counseling background to help individuals heal in an organization that experienced great wounding, I could see the purpose of that background is part of God’s plan to prepare me, even though at the time I had no idea I would need that capability in this organization. So when I can see my life, experiences, and leadership in that way, it brings peace and confidence. The secret to having that lies in seeing the big picture from God’s perspective.