Podcast, Season 2, Episode 9: Lessons On Leadership From the Life and Times of Ezra (part 9 – How Do You Light the Fire?)
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.
