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Before You Can Do It, You Have to Know It

This is a seemingly obvious and simple statement, but upon reflection, one with significant meaning.  Simply put, before you can teach and lead others, you have to live it, but in order to live it, you have to know it. I experienced this (or, better put, failed at this) in my first experience as the top leader in an organization. To be honest, as I walked in the door, I was questioning my own preparedness, unsure of whether I knew enough to be able to lead well. But I had been given the opportunity, so I quelled my fears and jumped.

I arrived at a place with longstanding, competent employees, and my relative youth probably didn’t help. In my enthusiasm, I started to run without first taking the time to learn. I began making changes (some of them drastic) and implementing new policies and procedures but failed to take the time to study the history, culture, and people involved. As a result, my actions stemmed from ignorance rather than knowledge, resulting in conflict and disruption. It wasn’t until I took the time to learn that my actions of leadership could represent the right knowledge and therefore win followers and become effective.

But for Christian leaders, this truth goes much deeper: to be effective in your actions of leadership, you must first and foremost have a personal and in-depth knowledge of God and His Word. Your knowledge of His truth is more important than anything else in your preparation. Ezra, as a leader, provides a great example of this. In the passage that describes his preparation for leadership – and more pointedly, his preparation for a specific task – Ezra 7:10 states, “For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel.” Clearly, he had prepared himself for what he was about to undertake, but notice the order of the steps because the order is important! The first step in the process was “to seek the law of the Lord,” which led him to living out what he knew and, in turn, enabled him to teach and to lead. People followed him because his life gave him the credibility to lead, but first having the knowledge gave him the capability to lead.

What does it mean, then, that he had sought the law of the Lord? It means that he had spent time with God. He had studied the Scriptures intensely and diligently, learning who God is and what He says. And that took time and intentional practice. At the core, this is a basic and fundamental part of the Christian walk, and so it shows up nearly everywhere that someone talks about steps of growth. Gordon MacDonald, in Ordering Your Private World, discusses the importance of first having the private world of the inner man in order and says that this must come from developing intimacy with God through regular time with Him and in His Word. Tim Challies, in The Discipline of Spiritual Discernment, explains that the ability to discern is directly related to knowledge of God and of His Word. J. P. Moreland, in Love Your God with All Your Mind, communicates that faith is also an act of reason, based on truth – specifically the truth of Scripture – and therefore, Scripture must be studied for faith to grow. Kevin DeYoung, in Taking God at His Word, explores the doctrine of Scripture and, in the process, argues for the importance and necessity of reading and studying the Bible. And the list could go on and on. The clear understanding is that every Christian (not just leaders) needs to regularly spend time with God, studying Scripture and building that personal relationship.

Scripture itself supports this truth, as is seen in the examples of men and women of God (like Ezra), but as is also explicitly stated. Psalm 1 describes the person who will be blessed because of his moral choices and states in verse 2 that this is someone “whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.” In the book of Joshua, chapter 1, verse 8, as Joshua is preparing to lead the people of Israel into the Promised Land, God challenges and encourages him with this statement: “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” The bottom line is our thought processes, choices, and outcomes are directly impacted by our time spent in the Word of God.

As a crucial byproduct of studying Scripture, Ezra developed an intimate, personal relationship with God. Because of that personal and deep relationship, he didn’t simply learn to know who God was and is; he also came to understand God’s nature and heart. He had developed a relationship that enabled him to trust in God even in uncertainty and difficulty. It was from this relationship that he was, therefore, able to move and act with confidence in God’s sovereign plan and that he was able to see God’s hand and His purpose in the events that occurred.

This is a critical lesson for you and me. Leaders must be learners, but Christian leaders must also be learners of God’s Word. Therefore, in our leadership development, we absolutely must study Scripture, growing in intimacy with God. We need regular time with God, in prayer and in His Word. This must be central and foundational to what we do, to how we live, and to our call or purpose from Him. Doing this first is what makes us knowledgeable and gives us the capability to lead, because we will learn to see people and circumstances from God’s perspective, shaping how we think and act. It is from this growth of knowledge and relationship with God that we are able to “walk the talk,” modeling and practicing what we know and living authentic, genuine lives that inspire trust and result in effective leadership.

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Leadership Ezra

“I think I want to write books.”  That was my answer to my dad’s question.  I had completed my seminary master’s degree in marriage, family, and personal counseling and had started working in my first counseling job.  However, I was still wrestling with my future goals and where I ultimately wanted to be in my life.  Writing books sounded like a worthy goal, and I admired people who could write books that inspired, helped, shaped, or guided others (like some of my professors at Liberty University).  So, when my dad asked me what I thought I wanted to be doing in ten years, that was my answer.  “I think I want to write books.”  He reflected quietly for a moment and then with his usual wisdom, said to me, “Jeff, before you can say something, first you have to have something to say.”

Now, thirty years of life and experience later, it seems God has given me something to say.  Or at the very least, something to say for my own benefit, lessons that I have learned and continue to learn from the life of ministry to which God has called me over that span of time, and that I can put down on paper.  In particular, God has taught me lessons based on stories, principles, and truths from the Bible that have been translated into personal application.  I am a connect-the-dots kind of person; therefore one of the ways God has taught and grown me is in connecting the dots between scriptural truth and life application.   

That’s the goal of this book:  to connect the dots between Scriptural truth and life application, specifically within the realm of leadership, using a story in the Bible to do so.  In this case, the story is actually the story contained in the book of Ezra, a book comprised of two different journeys of return for the people of God.  The experiences in this book demonstrate and illustrate lessons that can then be applied to our practice of leadership today.  

I “discovered” these lessons when I randomly decided to do a personal Bible study on the book.  I had been reading in the Old Testament and came across the first verse of Ezra 1, and figured out that it was connected to Jeremiah 29:10-11.  That piqued my interest, so I decided I wanted to start reading through the book as a Bible study and asked the Lord to teach me from it.  I started writing down my thoughts and responses to the story I was reading and began to recognize valuable lessons that directly impacted my leadership role at that time and place.  By the time I finished the study, I was amazed at how much God had taught me about leadership from this unexpected book.

Now I am sharing it with you. In this newly published book, “Leadership Ezra,” I hope you can also make the same connections to your leadership.  But before you order your copy, open it up, and start reading, I would encourage you to first read the book of Ezra from start to finish.  You might be surprised at what God teaches you from your own reading of His Word!

Order your copy of “Leadership Ezra” on Amazon here.

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Be an Example to the Flock

Early in my marriage, my wife and my mother were having a conversation about me (always a scary thought), when my wife commented about how annoying it was that I would wiggle my feet while I went to sleep, which of course made it difficult for her to fall asleep. My mother replied, “His dad does the same thing!” What was most interesting to me about this was that I was not even aware (consciously, at least) that this was one of my dad’s habits.

Years later, when we lived in another state, my parents came to visit, and while there, my dad came to see me at work. It didn’t take long for my extroverted father to disappear in search of other conversations, and after a while, one of my coworkers stepped into my office and asked if my father happened to be visiting. When I asked what made him say that – knowing that he had not met my father – he said, “Because I just saw someone who walks exactly like you . . . and like your son.” These two events illustrated for me the realization of how much I had followed my father’s example (whether I was aware of it or not), and how much my son, in turn, was following mine.

This is true for all of us – we are examples, whether we consciously realize it or not. People watch us, especially people that are close to us or are following us. And when they watch us, they learn from our example and emulate what we do, in some form or another. That’s why it doesn’t actually work for us to tell our children to “do as I say and not as I do,” because the truth is, they are going to do what we do regardless of what we say.

Knowing the power of our example, the Apostle Peter gives it some attention in the book of I Peter. In fact, he specifically talks about our example in the context of leadership, but before we get there, let’s get a broader view of the whole book. In the first four chapters, Peter seems to spend a lot of time talking about the importance of serving others in humility. Most of this instruction is applied to specific relationships and circumstances (such as the relationship between citizen and government, husband and wife, employer and employee, Christian brothers and sisters, and so on), but is also connected back in some way to our call to glorify God and reflect Christ in everything we do. He also clearly says that having this kind of conduct and character will not always be received well, and in fact, may bring persecution and suffering, but to do it anyway . . . because our motive is always outside of ourselves: again, so that God can be glorified and Christ can be modeled.

In this context of serving, humility, and representing Jesus, Peter says in chapter 5, verses 1-3:

“1To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed: 2 Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; 3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.”

Peter says that those who are leaders have a responsibility to watch over and care for the people they lead. When I read how he describes that, it sounds to me like it is an obligation that should not be done out of obligation! He says we are to do this not because we have to, but because we want to; not for what we can get out of it, but for what we can give; and not to climb the ladder or exert power, but to serve as an example of what we are trying to grow. He says that we need to lead with a positive, selfless, and giving attitude while living an authentic example in front of them.

You see, as a leader you ought to be caring for the people you lead, but you shouldn’t do it for what you can get out of it, rather, you should do it because it is the right thing to do. In doing so, you provide an example that will shape and influence them far more than you realize, because they are watching you and they will imitate you. In the end, your recognition and reward are beyond the material and temporal gains, but will instead be the lifetime reward of developing people and the eternal reward of glorifying God. Therefore, as a leader: be an example to the flock.

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Your Walk Talks, and Your Talk Talks

My father went home to be with His Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, on Sunday, May 8, 2016, as the result of a stroke a few weeks earlier.  As my siblings and my mom gathered together in the hospital, with much uncertainty at the time about the eventual outcome, often our conversations would turn to our memories of the words of wisdom he had shared over the years.  Some of it was quite funny, but all of it was wise.  This particular post centers around something he often said when he talked about the importance of your example to others.  Even as the years continue to pass by, I still grieve at the loss of my hero, mentor, and friend, but I rejoice at the celebration of his arrival in heaven.

“Your walk talks and your talk talks, but your walk talks louder than your talk talks.” I heard my father say this many times when I was growing up, in his effort to teach the importance of being genuine. The lesson, which was reinforced to me on numerous occasions, was that my words (what I say) and my actions (what I do) need to match.  What he was teaching me, in fact, was the reality that people will judge me more by my actions than by my words.

As I grew into an adult, I eventually realized that I had unconsciously taken on many of my father’s characteristics that I had learned by watching his “walk.”  Whether it was his actual physical characteristics and behaviors, or his moral character, I had unconsciously learned much more from his walk than his talk.  But thankfully, in my father’s case, his walk and his talk matched.  Interestingly, I think the same thing happens in organizations: people within the organization, over time, take on many of the characteristics of the leader.  When that happens, it is mostly likely to be the characteristics they have observed that were lived out in front of them rather than words that they heard, unless what was observed and what was heard matched each other.  I’m reminded of the classic parenting line, “Do as I say and not as I do,” which we all know is not what really happens; we tend to do what we see. That same conclusion was reached by Albert Bandura in his studies on behavior modification and observational learning, most notably in his classic “Bobo doll” study (1969, 1986, 2003).

One of the primary applications of this truth is the importance of consistency in leadership. In essence, do what you say you will do. I found strong affirmation of this in a recent study by Jack Zenger and Joseph Folkman, which was undertaken to identify “what separates the competent from the exceptional individual performers” using over 50,000 360-degree evaluations on 4150+ individual contributors over a five-year time period. Stated in an article in the Harvard Business Review Blog Network, they said, “Walk the Talk. It’s easy for some people to casually agree to do something and then let it slip their minds. Most people would say that this is mere forgetfulness. We disagree. We believe it is dishonest behavior. If you commit to doing something, barring some event truly beyond your control, you should follow through. The best individual contributors are careful not to say one thing and do another. They are excellent role models for others. This is the competency for which the collective group of 4,158 individuals we studied received the highest scores. That means, essentially, that following through on commitments is table stakes. But exceptional individual contributors go far beyond the others in their scrupulous practice of always doing what they say they will do.” (Zenger & Folkman, 2014)

Consistency in what you do is one of the most important factors in your credibility as a leader. It gives you trust, it makes you believable. John Kotter made the same connection between consistency and credibility when he said, “Another big challenge in leadership efforts is credibility – getting people to believe the message. Many things contribute to credibility: the track record of the person delivering the message, the content of the message itself, the communicator’s reputation for integrity and trustworthiness, and the consistency between words and deeds.” (HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Leadership, 2011, p. 48) I had the opportunity to live this out in one organization that had an absence of trust between leadership and employees when I arrived. In my first year, I became very intentional about communicating publicly what I would be doing (both minor and major things), and then making sure that people saw that I did those things. I wanted them to know that I would do what I said I would do, so that they could trust me. My efforts were affirmed when, during an evaluation process at the end of the first year, the consensus of the employees indicated that “trust of leadership” was one of the most positive aspects of the year.

I want to go one layer deeper in this principle. The consistency of doing what you say you will do is critical to effective leadership, but it will really only work well if it is genuine, and it is only genuine if it is who you are. In other words, it’s not simply about your actions matching your words, but your life matching your values. Jim Collins calls this “consistency of action – consistency with values, consistency with long-term goals, consistency with performance standards, consistency of method, consistency over time.” (Collins & Hansen, 2011, p. 21) Consistency begins with what you say, is demonstrated by what you do, but is validated in who you are. It is actually at this deeper level that you will find the strength and courage to resist the pressure to compromise in ways that make you inconsistent, especially when circumstances are difficult.

Bandura, A. (1969). Principles of Behavior Modification. New York, NY: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston.

Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: a social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Bandura, A. (2003). On the Psychosocial Impact and Mechanisms of Spiritual Modeling. International Journal for the Psychology of Religion, 13(3), 167.

Collins, J., & Hansen, M. T. (2011). Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos, and Luck – Why Some Thrive Despite Them All. New York, NY: Harper Collins Publishers.

HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Leadership. (2011). Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press.

Zenger, J., & Folkman, J. (2014, April 11, 2014). The Behaviors that Define A-Players.

 

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