Leadership lessons, connected with faith and wisdom.

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Lessons on Leadership from the Little Things in Life: Learning Happens All the Time

Life is full of examples that teach us lessons. That’s why stories and illustrations make learning so much more effective. When a story can be used to illustrate or demonstrate a valuable lesson, the story makes it much more understandable, relatable, and memorable. With that in mind, I want to take some time to do just that – share examples of circumstances and stories experienced in everyday life which illustrate leadership lessons that we can learn and apply. This is one of those examples, and it reminds us that opportunities to learn are everywhere.

Sometimes the little lessons are right in front of us are but not necessarily always in something that we are doing or something that happens. Sometimes those lessons are simply in something we read or hear. One of those for me came from reading the Bible.

My wife and I are in the habit of reading a chapter in the Bible together every night. When we were in Deuteronomy and got to chapter 6, I read a passage that I was very familiar with, one that I had used often in an educational context. That passage was Deuteronomy chapter 6, verses 6 through 9, which says:

“And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”

In a classroom setting, and in the application of biblical truth to teaching and learning, I always used this passage to point out integration, modeling, and both formal and informal instruction as essential to good teaching. Integration is the idea that biblical truth ought to be woven into everything. Modeling is the idea that the application and content of learning should be lived out and demonstrated. Including both formal and informal instruction is the idea that teaching and learning is planned and structured, but also spontaneous and relevant.

However, as I was reading this passage with my wife, what struck me this time was a life application lesson. The lesson was this: you are always learning. Or, at least, opportunities to learn are always in front of you. It’s your choice whether or not you learn from them, but they are always there. It might be in something you’re reading (which often happens with me). It might be in something you’re listening to or watching. It might be someone who is a mentor or model for you, a public figure that you admire, or even someone who is being a bad example. It might be something that you were experiencing in your own life, whether big or small. But the opportunities to learn are always there.

When I was in college and did a summer sales experience, Zig Zigler led a workshop in one of the training activities, and I remember him saying, “20 years from now, you will be the same person you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read.“ The truth is, you will be changed as you walk through life and experiences, but you get to decide if that change is for your good or not. If you choose to learn from what you experience every day, you will grow throughout your life. So the lesson on leadership from a little thing in life that I learned by just reading a chapter in my Bible is the reminder that I always have the opportunity to learn and grow if I choose to see it and take it, because opportunities to learn happen all day long and are everywhere around you.

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Podcast Season 3, Episode 2: Lessons on Leadership from the Little Things in Life (First, Get the Whole Story)

Life is full of examples that teach us lessons. That’s why stories and illustrations make learning so much more effective. When a story can be used to illustrate or demonstrate a valuable lesson, the story makes it much more understandable, relatable, and memorable. With that in mind, I want to take some time to do just that – share examples of circumstances and stories experienced in everyday life which illustrate leadership lessons that we can learn and apply. This is one of those examples, and it reminds us of the importance of getting the whole story.

Here is the link to the podcast.

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Lessons on Leadership from the Little Things in Life: First, Get the Whole Story

Life is full of examples that teach us lessons. That’s why stories and illustrations make learning so much more effective. When a story can be used to illustrate or demonstrate a valuable lesson, the story makes it much more understandable, relatable, and memorable. With that in mind, I want to take some time to do just that – share examples of circumstances and stories experienced in everyday life which illustrate leadership lessons that we can learn and apply. This is one of those stories.

It was a normal day and I was driving in normal traffic. The light turned red up ahead, so I stopped and was waiting at the stoplight behind a long line of cars. There wasn’t any kind of urgency on my part, and I wasn’t trying to get somewhere by a particular time, but when the light turned green and nobody seemed to be going, I started to get a little frustrated. I started having those thoughts in my head like, “Oh come on, why isn’t anyone going, get moving people!“ But then I saw and heard an emergency vehicle approaching the intersection, one that I had not been able to see and hear from where I was in the line of cars. There was a reason why no one was moving, but because of my vantage point, I was not initially aware of that reason, and I allowed it to affect my attitude and my response. Immediately, I realized that the lack of movement was justified, and the problem was simply that I did not have all the information.

The next thing that came to my mind was the recognition that this was a tremendous example for life and leadership. God always has a plan and a purpose, but we don’t always see what he is doing, nor do we see the end intended down the road. We can be quick to react and jump to conclusions without knowing the whole story, and when that happens, it can affect our mood and our behavior, and can cause damage or lead to poor decision-making.

It made me think of Proverbs 18:13, which says, “He who answers the matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame to him.” I first wrote this verse down to keep on my desk when I was doing marriage and family counseling years ago, as a reminder to listen to both sides of the story and to try to get the whole picture before preparing a plan. Then I used the same verse for years in my roles in education with student issues, parent issues, and employee issues, again to remind me to try to hear the whole story before jumping to conclusions and making a decision. I have been guilty of responding too quickly before I knew the information that I needed to know, and it has never gone well. Just like sitting at that traffic light, jumping to a conclusion in my own mind about what was happening before I knew all the information caused me to have the wrong conclusion, which in turn affected my response and behavior.

So, the lesson on leadership that was illustrated in this little life event is the importance of pausing to get the whole story before jumping to a conclusion. First, find out what happened (and if it involves people, be sure to hear all sides) and then determine what your next steps need to be. And always be humble enough to allow for the fact that God may be doing something for a reason, and He just wants you to trust Him without getting ahead of His plan. The lesson on leadership from this little thing in life? First, get the whole story.

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Podcast Season 3, Episode 1: Lessons on Leadership from the Little Things in Life (An Introduction)

Life is full of examples that teach us lessons. That’s why stories and illustrations make learning so much more effective. When a story can be used to illustrate or demonstrate a valuable lesson, the story makes it much more understandable, relatable, and memorable. With that in mind, I want to take some time to do just that – share examples of circumstances and stories experienced in everyday life which illustrate leadership lessons that we can learn and apply. Today we begin with this introduction to the series.

Here is the link to the podcast.

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Lessons on Leadership from the Little Things in Life: Introduction

Life is full of examples that teach us lessons. That’s why stories and illustrations make learning so much more effective. When a story can be used to illustrate or demonstrate a valuable lesson, the story makes it much more understandable, relatable, and memorable. With that in mind, I want to take some time to do just that – share examples of circumstances and stories experienced in everyday life which illustrate leadership lessons that we can learn and apply.

The idea behind this came when I was sitting in my car at a stoplight in traffic, and something happened that initially caused me a little frustration. But then I realized in the moment that there was a lesson I could learn that was being illustrated by the circumstances. That prompted further realization that this was not the first time that had happened, that I had learned a lesson about something from the example of a circumstance I was experiencing. It may have been a lesson about life, or parenting, or relationships, or leadership, but regardless, it was a valuable lesson being illustrated.

If you believe, as I do, that all things are created with design and purpose by God, which implies intentional interactions and relationship between things, it should come as no surprise that we can learn lessons from the examples of those interactions and circumstances. The reason I can say that is because our universe is created with design, and is not random. That design means that there are processes and patterns that are consistent and knowable, and that are representative of similar patterns, processes, and ideas in other circumstances. God himself demonstrates this frequently in the Bible, when he uses examples of stories from characters to teach a lesson, or even uses examples from creation to teach a lesson. For example, Jesus frequently referenced Old Testament stories and passages when he was teaching a lesson, and used living creatures (like the sparrow) and plants (like flowers or a fig tree) to illustrate something important.

In a similar way, this series will be about using examples of experiences and circumstances to identify a comparable lesson that can be used in life and in leadership. I hope you can learn from these examples, but more than that, I hope that you can begin to see examples of lessons in your own life circumstances and events. Because there are lots of lessons that we can learn from the little things in life.

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Year 2 in Review

A little less than two years ago, I embarked on a new (and scary) journey. For the needs of my family, I had stepped away from 30 years of ministry in Christian education, with 24 of those years as a principal or superintendent/head of school. I wasn’t retiring, but my personal family circumstances necessitated making a change so that I could be at home every day. So, I stepped down from my position at the place where I had served for 8 years as the Head of School to start a new journey using my experience and abilities to serve God and develop people. And that led first to this venture at www.LeadershipEzra.com. At the same time, God was gracious in providing work to teach an online graduate course on leadership and an undergraduate online course on education, and to mentor doctoral students in their dissertation and research project work. What made all of this scary was that I was starting something completely new in my life, while still needing to provide for my family, with no idea of what the outcome would be. Along the way in the process, I accumulated what I began to call “Joshua Stones,” those unique and specific events that were clear evidence of God at work that would stack up to be my memorial marker to remind me of God’s divine presence and leading in my steps. In the end, where God primarily directed and placed me was in working for two different universities, one with a focus of responsibility on education and the other on organizational leadership.

My desire with the website, though, was that God would use Leadership Ezra in a much greater way to grow others in their leadership. The initial idea for this had come about out of a lot of prayer, and in that process, what the Lord had made clear to me was that I needed to connect faith, wisdom, and leadership in a way that would help other followers of Jesus grow in their leadership and make an impact. That original dream of an idea turned into three things: the self-publication of a book on Amazon (Leadership Ezra), the creation of the Leadership Ezra website, and the initiation of a corresponding podcast, streaming on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. The overarching theme became “Faith. Wisdom. Leadership.: Connecting biblical truth with wisdom for leadership.” As an added bonus, I included a weekly feature on the website called “Quote Your Dad,” where I simply shared wisdom-filled quotes that I would often hear from my dad.

In year two of both the website and the podcast, I shared three series. The first was called “Who’s in Charge Here?” and it was a review of the ideas I covered in my book, Leadership Ezra. Over 15 episodes I talked about the big idea of the book, and then the main idea of each chapter. The second series was called “The Five Be-Attitudes of Better Leadership.” In this 22-part series, I talked about five groups of attributes that are essential to good leadership, and these groups were: Be Genuine, Be Relational, Be Trustworthy, Be Knowledgeable, and Be Excellent. The third and final series of the year (and one that I may continue in the future) was called “The Character of Leadership.” This series was focused on identifying a character trait representative of a biblical character, and learning from it.

So now, I am heading into year three. As always, what’s in store for the next year is in God’s hands, but my current plan is for a year-long series called “Lessons on Leadership from the Little Things in Life,” where I will be sharing a typical, everyday experience or life event, and connecting it to a leadership lesson. Beyond that, what I would hope for is that God would bless this work and put it in front of more people who would benefit from what He has given me to share. So, if you have read the book, followed the website, or listened to the podcast, and have found any of those to be good for your leadership, would you tell at least three other people? With your help, I believe that God can use these resources to better equip leaders who will make an impact for His Kingdom.

Thank you for following and listening! On to the next year!

God Bless,

Jeff McMaster

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Podcast, Season 2, Episode 48: The Character of Leadership: Samson

In this study of the character of leaders, I find myself thinking about “the character of characters.” A “character” is a person, often someone who plays a part in a story and is an example from whom we can learn, but it is also a trait or attribute that can be applied to that person and to his/her leadership. When we study the character of that character – identifying biblical characters, and then identifying something in their character that can teach us something about who we are and how we lead – we learn things about the character of leadership that can be applied in our own lives. In this week’s episode, we are learning from Samson.

Here is the link to the podcast.

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The Character of Leadership: Samson

In this study of the character of leadership, I find myself thinking about “the character of characters.” A “character” is a person, often someone who plays a part in a story and is an example from whom we can learn, but it is also a trait or attribute that can be applied to that person and to his/her leadership. When we study the character of that character – identifying biblical characters, and then identifying something in their character that can teach us something about who we are and how we lead – we learn things about the character of leadership that can be applied in our own lives. In this week’s episode, we are learning from Samson.

Speaking transparently, for much of my life in my teaching and leadership roles, I have battled the tendency to be a people-pleasing perfectionist. I think it probably stemmed primarily from my personal insecurities when I was young, but it led to me wanting to put on a front that I always knew the answers, knew what I was doing, and was doing everything right, out of fear of looking like a failure and feeling unworthy. The reality was that I was and still am a flawed and broken sinner in need of a savior, Jesus Christ, and in need of God‘s hand at work in my life. God had to do a lot of work in me on that, but at the same time, I am so grateful that God chose to use me despite my imperfections.

That’s one of the reasons why God takes the time in the book of Judges to tell the story of Samson. Samson was chosen by God from birth to serve a special role for God‘s kingdom and for His purpose. God had a long-term plan in mind, and He chose Sampson to play a role in that plan. But most of Samson‘s story that we read in the book of Judges is a story of flaws, selfishness, and willful disobedience. Although at times it becomes clear that he relied on the power of the Holy Spirit, much of the rest of the time, he was arrogant about his strength and his capability, which led him to be self-reliant, rather than God-dependent. Because of that, he made a lot of decisions that were contrary to the holiness that God was asking of him. At the very end of his life, he was shown to be someone used by God for greatness, at a time when he found himself fully and completely reliant on God. That’s been a lesson that I’ve had to learn in my leadership and in my life. I am a flawed and broken person, and if I am not in a position where I need to be dependent on God, it is easy for me to be self-centered and self-reliant, and to lose sight of God or to not keep Him in focus. It is in recognizing my flaws that I am reminded of two things:

1) I am dependent on God because of my imperfections and flaws. Just like Paul prayed for his “thorn in the flesh” to be removed, and God left it there so that Paul could acknowledge that it was in his weakness that God was made strong, it is in my flaws that God can work in me.

2) God wants to use me despite my flaws, and in doing that it becomes clear that the work that I do is because of God working in me and not because of my own mistaken sense of perfection. And so the story of how God used Samson in spite of his great flaws is a tremendous lesson for you and me.

The character of this character shows us that God is not waiting for us to be perfect, because we never will be, but wants us to be dependent on Him and allow Him to work through us to accomplish His plan. My challenge for you, based on Samson‘s example, is to be willing to acknowledge and accept your flaws, and allow God to work in spite of them and through them to use you in your leadership.

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Podcast, Season 2, Episode 47: The Character of Leadership: Nehemiah

In this study of the character of leaders, I find myself thinking about “the character of characters.” A “character” is a person, often someone who plays a part in a story and is an example from whom we can learn, but it is also a trait or attribute that can be applied to that person and to his/her leadership. When we study the character of that character – identifying biblical characters, and then identifying something in their character that can teach us something about who we are and how we lead – we learn things about the character of leadership that can be applied in our own lives. In this week’s episode, we are learning from Nehemiah.

Here is the link to the podcast.

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The Character of Leadership: Nehemiah

In this study of the character of leadership, I find myself thinking about “the character of characters.” A “character” is a person, often someone who plays a part in a story and is an example from whom we can learn, but it is also a trait or attribute that can be applied to that person and to his/her leadership. When we study the character of that character – identifying biblical characters, and then identifying something in their character that can teach us something about who we are and how we lead – we learn things about the character of leadership that can be applied in our own lives. In this week’s episode, we are learning from Nehemiah.

In my years of educational leadership, and in the various roles that I served, part of my responsibility was connected to strategic planning. Sometimes I was a member on a committee, and sometimes I was driving the committee, but regardless, it was an important part of what I did. In several instances, that strategic planning also involved some type of capital improvement or construction along the way. It may have been renovations or additions to current facilities, or it may have been the construction of brand new buildings. And to do that required intentional thought and planning and a process that had to be put in place, starting from exploring the needs and the options, to getting buy-in from people, getting the necessary funds and resources, and then carrying out the construction plan.

That’s one of the great lessons that Nehemiah helps us to learn. He successfully brought about the construction of a project for the Jews in Israel, and did it in an incredibly remarkable fashion. Understand that Nehemiah was the cupbearer to the king. What that means is that it was his responsibility to test the food and drink that came into the king to make sure that there was no poison intended to harm the king. That also meant that he was a very trusted employee of the leader of the land. That’s remarkable, given that he was a Jew, and his people were captive in another land where he was serving that king. But in that capacity, God also gave him a burden and a purpose, for helping to restore the security of Jerusalem.

Even though this mission and calling to serve God and lead his people in a project was a calling that came from God, that did not remove Nehemiah‘s responsibility to be strategic and purposeful in the project. So he began by getting permission from his boss, the king, to go and see what he faced in his work to carry out this task in Jerusalem. With permission in hand, he first went quietly, without drawing any attention, to go and look at the situation, to evaluate what obstacles he would be facing and what would need to be accomplished, so that he could prepare a plan. Then, with that plan in hand, he gathered the resources, came to the people, presented the plan to them, and then initiated and drove the construction project. In his case, the “construction project“ was rebuilding the wall around the city of Jerusalem. Keep in mind that this was a fairly massive wall, perhaps 20 feet high and 10 feet thick, intended to serve as a protective barrier for the city. What is incredibly remarkable is that Nehemiah was able to lead the construction project in such a way that the wall around the entire city, which had been broken down rubble, was rebuilt in less than two months. That is amazing! I’ve been involved in numerous construction projects, and it is normal for a single 30,000 square-foot building to take a year to a year-and-a-half to build. That’s a single building, and yet Nehemiah led the reconstruction of the wall around an entire city in less than 60 days!

How did he do that? First of all, he was being obedient to God‘s leading, and it was God‘s plan, not Nehemiah’s, so God‘s timing was very much a part of the process. But he gave Nehemiah the ability and wisdom to be strategic in his planning, so that the “less than 60 days“ process was really only the timeline for the actual physical construction. Nehemiah had spent additional time before that getting permission, getting resources, evaluating the circumstances, and preparing the plan. That was where the strategic part came into place. And that’s an important lesson that we can learn from the character of this character.

On the front end of the process, Nehemiah was called by God to rebuild the walls. On the back end, he led the people of Israel in an incredible construction process of a little under two months to actually rebuild those walls. In between, he engaged in strategic planning so that he was prepared for the project, and prepared to lead it. That’s a critical part of your role as a leader. God may have called you to something, and you will be blessed if you get to see the work brought to fruition, but in between you have a responsibility to develop a strategic plan based on your circumstances so that you can lead it well. From Nehemiah‘s example, learn to be strategic.

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