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Podcast, Season 2, Episode 10: Lessons On Leadership From the Life and Times of Ezra (part 10 – What Is In Your 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 10, I am discussing one of several lessons on the practice of leadership, and this one is about how to handle obstacles and opposition. 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 pace and your race. We have already talked about the importance of the ability to see the big picture and giving people a voice in the process, and about motivating them. Today we are discussing how to handle obstacles and opposition when they threaten to mess up your plans.

Have you ever had your plans derailed, or things fall apart, because something unexpected emerged that ruined things, or because someone interfered and stopped it from happening. I think for a lot of people, the COVID-19 virus n 2020 played that role. When the virus began to spread and steps were taken by federal and state governments to mitigate the spread, it seemed like the world changed. As the head of a school, for me that meant that students all had to stay home for some length of time, and we had to figure out how we were going to educate all of our students virtually. And by the next school year, we were having to wrestle with whether or how we were going to be bringing students back on campus.  We had parents on both ends of the spectrum, some who thought we needed to be incredibly restrictive and hold all of our families to those restrictions, and others who thought we needed absolutely no restrictions or procedures, and that all the other families needed to recognize and accept that. And these were families who loved the school, loved each other, and loved God, yet couldn’t agree with each other. So we had great obstacles in the form of the virus and the necessary procedures around it, and we had great opposition in the form of parents with completely opposing views on this issue trying to force our response. In full transparency, that was one of the most difficult seasons I ever found myself in school leadership. I believe we navigated it very well, but there were still repercussions that I had to manage or deal with for quite some time afterward.

You must accept the reality that you will face both obstacles and opposition in your leadership journey, often from unexpected places and from people you care about. Obstacles can come from anywhere, and could take the form of circumstances, events, or people, and can be both expected and unexpected. 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. Because they will be unavoidable, the best thing you can do is develop coping strategies, so that you are ready to handle it.

There are three things you can do to be prepared:

  1. Be pro-active. Do this by planning ahead for both obstacles and opposition, knowing that they will come from somewhere. My dad used to say, “It’s better to be pro-active than reactive.” It needs to be said that he was talking about parenting and discipline, but it still applies here.  Include as part of your strategic planning process your “disaster preparedness plan.” Just like my family and I always did at the start of hurricane season when we lived in Florida, prepare your plan of response ahead of time.
  2. Be reactive. Even though you want to first be pro-active, you also want to react in the right way when those challenges happen. Be truthful and transparent and reflect godliness and character in how you respond. Even when you are unjustly attacked, show the love of Christ in your boldness and your truth-telling.
  3. Trust God. Remember all that I have talked about regarding God’s plan and purpose, and that He works all things out for His good and ours. Then trust His plan, His timing, and His love.

The work of leadership is never easy, and it’s only made more difficult when obstacles and opposition present themselves in front of you. You can’t avoid them, so don’t try to. Instead, prepare for them, respond in the right way, and trust God’s sovereignty and purpose. If you can do that, you can handle whatever comes your way.

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Leadership Ezra: Who’s In Charge Here? (Part 10, What’s In Your Way?)

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.

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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.

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Leadership Ezra: Who’s In Charge Here? (Part 9, Let’s Get Fired Up!)

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 9, I am discussing one of several lessons on the practice of leadership, and this one is all about motivating your followers.

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 over 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.

There were several valuable leadership lessons that I learned from this, but one of the key questions I wrestled with was that of motivation: why had I never been able to get myself to do this before? I had tried so many times but could never seem to light that fire enough to follow through, and I could never seem to find the motivation that would drive me to change. But something was different this time, and I had finally found the discipline and desire to do it. I had discovered the right motivation that worked.

I think this is a question that we all struggle with – how to motivate ourselves, and how to motivate others. There are plenty of theories and ideas about motivation, and I won’t claim to have the corner on an exclusive motivational secret, but I do think we can learn some valuable lessons about it from Ezra. Specifically, Ezra 4:23-5:5 provides us with a scenario that teaches us two important components of motivation.

This passage begins with the halt of the construction on the temple in Jerusalem, when those opposed to the work used the authority of the king to force the Israelites to cease their building. It wasn’t until sometime later, after a new king had come into power, that circumstances led to the restart of the construction. In between, Ezra 5:1 makes the statement that two prophets, Haggai and Zechariah, “prophesied to the Jews who were in Judah and Jerusalem,” which then prompted the Israelites to begin the rebuilding again.

It seems that whatever it was that Haggai and Zechariah said, it motivated the Israelites to begin the work again, so we need to understand what they said, in order to learn the motivational lesson from their methods. To do this, we need to look at their respective books, Haggai and Zechariah, in which the first few verses of each book introduce that prophet and gives us the context of the messages they each shared. Haggai’s message came first, in the sixth month of the second year of King Darius’ reign (Hag. 1:1), and Zechariah’s message followed two months later (Zech. 1:1). I think that this order matters, because they had different messages that served different purposes. Therefore, it is helpful for us to see what those differences are so that we can learn from their example.

Haggai 1:1-15 provides Haggai’s message, which was one of exhortation, or challenge, in view of the present circumstances and need. In his message from God, he confronted the Israelites for saying that it was not the right time for them to rebuild the temple, and then contrasted the ruin of the temple to the nice homes in which the people were living (vv. 4-5, “Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, and this temple to lie in ruins?” Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts: “Consider your ways!”). When Haggai spoke, he confronted the current culture, presented the need, and challenged the people to respond. His exhortation to them was that it was time to finish the temple; therefore, the temple would need to be completed before God could bless their efforts (v. 4, 8).

Zechariah 1:1-6 provides Zechariah’s message, which was one of encouragement. In his message from God, he contrasted the past failure of the previous generations with the future hope for this generation, reminding them of their future reward and hope (v. 3, Therefore say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts: “Return to Me,” says the Lord of hosts, “and I will return to you,” says the Lord of hosts.). Zechariah encouraged the people with reminders of God’s promise and blessing, to keep the people moving forward. His encouragement was a reminder to them of Gods sovereignty, that He needed the temple, and so it would be built just as He had determined. Therefore, his message reminded and focused on God’s future promise of His presence.

Understanding the messages of these two prophets provides us with two applicable lessons for our own leadership. The first is simply the steps – in this order – of exhortation, then encouragement. People first need to be confronted with the difference between where they are and where they need to be (and the implications of each of those two places; and sometimes – in Christian community – that confrontation needs to be a spiritual confrontation in response to a departure from God). Black and Gregersen talk about this same idea in the book Leading Strategic Change, when they identify the need to “create contrast” as the first step to changing people’s mental maps. Then people need encouragement, to believe that they can do it and that it will be worth it. It is important that encouragement comes after confrontation, in order to lift spirits and inspire confidence, especially if, after the work has begun, people begin to get weary and worn (which often happens).

The second lesson for us is the clear reminder of God’ timing and plan. The context of Ezra 4:23-5:5 paints a picture of God allowing circumstances to carry out His ordained timing, in that the work was stopped until the specific time that God determined He was ready to start it up again. When that happened, nothing could get in the way or prevent it. And on top of that, Haggai 1:14 shows us that God intentionally moved in the hearts of the leaders and the followers at this point in time to begin the work again. Notice, however, that even though God was the one directing the timing, He chose to use men of God to share His message. So, for us, the example of these prophets can remind us that we are instruments in God’s plan; therefore, as we live out His purpose in our lives, we can trust His providence. We still have people to lead and a message to communicate, and we need to make sure that we are communicating His message and not our own, but if we are doing so, we can leave the results in His hands. In that message, we need to confront people with the need for change by providing contrast, but we also need to encourage them with the view of the future that creates a belief in its value. So, do you need motivation? Do you need to motivate others? Combine exhortation with encouragement, and keep your plan aligned with God’s.

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Podcast, Season 2, Episode 8: Lessons On Leadership From the Life and Times of Ezra (part 8 – What Do You Hear?)

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 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. 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 as one of those things, and today we are discussing the important of giving people a voice in the process

Earlier in my marriage, my wife and I had moved to a new state for a new job, and I was trying to establish myself in this new organization. It’s helpful to know that I am an introvert by nature, and I tend to process my thoughts internally. How this manifested itself is illustrated by my tendency in leadership meetings almost everywhere I have worked. There will be a topic or agenda item on the meeting list, and the group will have a healthy and robust discussion all around this topic, and the whole time I am listening to what everyone is saying, thinking about the implications of what they are saying, and putting them in the context of the situation. Toward the end of the discussion, I will finally share the conclusion of thoughts. Usually, the response is something like, “Jeff, I think you’ve captured the right idea and plan.” In my experience, some people say something out loud then talk about it as part of their thought process.  I think about it in my mind first, and then say something out loud.

That is a great skill for decision-making and analysis, but it also has it’s flip side, which my wife helped my learn. In this new organization and new position, I was meeting with some employees who were expressing their concerns and ideas. I was sitting with them, and my mind I was attentively listening to what they were saying while I was carefully processing. When they were done and left meeting with me I continued to think and process, so that I could determine the best response and course of action. By the time I got home, however, word had already reached my wife that I didn’t listen to them. I was frustrated and was explaining to my wife that I was listening and thinking while they talked, and she said, “Jeff, they didn’t know you were listening because you didn’t say anything. And because they didn’t know you were listening, they interpreted that you were not.” Then she said, “If you give people a blank page, they will write their own story.” You see, because I gave no outward sign or indication, they felt like they had not been heard and did not have a voice in the situation. And I had a mess to clean up.

The reality is that people want to have a voice in the circumstances of their lives. Those circumstances include their jobs, which should matter to you. Remember that they are typically the ones who experience the effect of your decisions, and see how it is lived out around them.  They have knowledge of what has worked and what has not. They see how things are received. And they care about what is happening, so they want to be able to speak up and feel like they have been heard. Therefore, it is vital that you foster that kind of environment.

You need to make sure that people have a voice and feel heard. Those are two sides of this important topic. The first is that you need to give them the opportunity and a forum to speak up and share what they have to say.  But that’s only one side. You also need to respond with your words and act visibly in a way that communicates that you heard what they had to say. They are not usually speaking just to hear their own voices, but because they believe they have something important to contribute, and they want to know that you really heard their meaning and intent.

The bottom line is that you need to give people an opportunity to speak, and make it safe for them to do so (that’s another lesson, because if they don’t feel safe, you won’t get them to say anything). Find ways to let them share. Then respond back in ways that show them you heard them. And finally, act in a way that shows you took what they had to say and valued it. When you do that, people will feel like they have a voice.

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Leadership Ezra: Who’s In Charge Here? (Part 8, What Do You Hear?)

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.

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Podcast, Season 2, Episode 7: Lessons On Leadership From the Life and Times of Ezra (part 7 – What Do You See?)

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.

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Leadership Ezra: Who’s In Charge Here? (Part 7, What Do You See?)

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), and 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.

I enjoy puzzles. I enjoy all kinds of puzzles – word puzzles, number puzzles, brain games, etc. – but in this instance I am specifically referring to jigsaw puzzles, the ones that are pictures cut into hundreds of little pieces that need to be assembled. And I have a preferred method of assembly: first turn all the pieces face-up, setting aside those that have a straight edge (the outside frame); then assemble the outside frame; finally, begin to assemble the rest of the pieces, looking first for pieces that more obviously fit in the same section together. In the process of putting the puzzle together, however, one of the most important components is not the puzzle itself, but rather, the picture on the box.

It is the picture on the box that provides the perspective and the vision of what is being assembled. It provides a visual landscape that helps in determining the general context or place where an individual piece belongs. It’s a map that lets you see where you want to go. I once used the picture on the puzzle box to illustrate a lesson, by giving a puzzle to each of several small groups of people. Some of the groups had the puzzle box, so they could see their picture, but some of the groups did not (and some had all the correct pieces, but some had the wrong pieces or were missing pieces; that served to make a different point). Part of the purpose of the lesson was to illustrate the importance of “the big picture,” or the master plan, for managing a process, a task, or life itself.

The implication of this illustration is simply that a good leader needs to be able to see the big picture. Like puzzle pieces, each piece of the context, the environment, the organization, or the situation fits into a larger context, and a leader can best see how it fits when viewing the whole picture. In order to see the whole picture, that leader must be able to get on the balcony, zoom out, and get above the forest to be able to see clearly. Being able to do this will keep him from getting lost among the trees and will provide the perspective necessary to implement changes and adjustments.

However, for a Christian leader, there is an even bigger picture and a more important lesson: seeing the big picture from God’s perspective. I have discussed in other articles about the fact that God has a sovereign plan and purpose, and it is against this backdrop (of the clear evidence of God’s sovereignty) that we learn from Ezra how to see the big picture from God’s perspective, and even how that affects motivation and purpose.

The lesson emerges in chapter 7, a pivotal chapter in understanding Ezra’s leadership. The chapter details how Ezra had been granted permission by King Artaxerxes to return to Jerusalem (with another reminder of God’s hand in that circumstance in 7:6 – “and the king granted him all that he asked, for the hand of the Lord his God was on him”). But then the king went beyond granting permission, and wrote a letter that provided authority, protection, and significant resources for Ezra (7:11-26). After the proclamation of the letter, Ezra’s initial response is recorded in verse 27: “Blessed be the Lord God of our fathers, who has put such a thing as this in the king’s heart.” His response clearly reveals that Ezra saw God’s hand in all that had happened. He was able to look beyond his own finite, human scope of vision and see the events from God’s perspective. He recognized that God’s purpose was over and through the circumstances.

As a result, he understood the real importance of what was happening, which in turn shaped his purpose and drive, and his communication to his team, which we see in 8:28: “And I said to them, ‘You are holy to the Lord; the articles are holy also; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to the Lord God of your fathers.” Ezra helped his team to understand that God had a sovereign purpose, and therefore the tasks that they were carrying out were being used by God to fulfill that purpose; therefore, their work was holy. Ultimately, an understanding of the holiness of their task (and of themselves) impacted their drive, their commitment, and their performance.

This story from the life of Ezra provides a great lesson for our leadership: while it is important – and even necessary – for a leader to be able to see the big picture, the Christian leader must take it a step further and see the big picture from God’s perspective. Then, when our understanding and determination of purpose are filtered through recognition of God’s purpose, it affects how we answer two important questions: Where are we going, and why are we going there?

It is always important for a leader to determine and define the necessary and intended direction (where we are going), but part of understanding this comes from seeing the bigger picture of context from God’s perspective. When you are able to do that – to see the big picture from God’s perspective – you have an understanding of destination that goes beyond the visible and immediate future. You recognize a purpose that is bigger than you, that is bigger than your big picture, and which has an eternal impact.

What follows is an impact on motivation (why we’re going there). For people to respond, there must be a clearly established and communicated purpose and motive, one that makes sense to and resonates with people, and helps them to understand and believe in why they are doing what they are doing. When they can see that they are fulfilling a role in God’s plan, then the work they are doing is elevated to a new level of importance; more than that, it is elevated to an act of holiness. For the follower of Jesus, this provides true motivation.

So, seeing the big picture is important, but seeing it from God’s perspective is more important. The challenge for you and me is to learn to open our eyes to God’s presence and intentional involvement, not just in the history recorded in Scripture, but in our lives today. It is to see the events and circumstances that are taking place in our daily experiences from His perspective. And when our eyes have been opened, and we recognize His sovereign purpose and see the big picture from God’s perspective, then our responses, our purpose, our motives, and our motivation rise to whole new level.

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Podcast, Season 2, Episode 6: Lessons On Leadership From the Life and Times of Ezra (part 6 – There is No “I” in “Team”)

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 6, we are taking a minute to step away from our discussion of your individual leadership and talking about the idea of Team Leadership. If we carry the “running a race” analogy forward from the last few weeks, this would be a little like a relay race, in which you are dependent on others for combined success. 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 just finished a 3-week subset in this series in which I laid the groundwork for effective leadership. I used 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!” (I know that the starter actually fires a starter’s pistol, and doesn’t yell “go!”, but you get the idea.) Those three commands capture the ideas I discussed:

  • “On Your Mark” – that’s all about getting to the starting line and in the right place. As a leader, that means getting yourself into the right frame of mind and equipping yourself for what is coming. It involves aligning yourself with truth by seeking and knowing God and knowing where He has placed you, and by establishing your foundational beliefs and values, and this is where your capability comes from.
  • “Get Set” – that’s all about getting into position in the right form, so that you are best prepared to start well. As a leader, that means performing the actions that set you up to be followed and trusted. It involves living your life so that your actions and behaviors reflect those beliefs, which is another way of describing a life characterized by integrity, and this is where your credibility comes from.
  • “Go” – that’s when the starter’s pistol goes off and you start running. As a leader, that’s when the work begins as you start leading your people and your organization toward your mission, vision, or change. It involves stepping out and doing the work of leadership. It’s hard work and therefore requires someone who is both capable and credible, and that’s why this step must follow the other two.

In one of my early experiences in school leadership, I was the head of a school that had been struggling, and the enrollment was very low. As a result, the school was operating with minimal staff, which meant that along with the teaching faculty, I had an administrative assistant and a one of the teachers who also served as the athletic director. Often, when I would walk back into the office area after spending time observing classrooms and interacting with students and teachers, I would comment to my administrative assistant that I was going to my office to have a administrative team meeting with myself. Although I was joking about it, the reality is that I did not have a team, and so there was little I could delegate and little opportunity for discussion with fellow administrators.

However, in another school experience years later, I was blessed to have a full team of administrators serving with me. When we did skill assessments, they revealed that we had a well-balanced and complementary set of skills and personalities, and the combination filled in all the gaps for the needs of the job. We intentionally cultivated excellent interpersonal relationships as well, and the result was a high functioning team that worked well together.

What a difference a good team made! Sometimes, you have limited access to other people, and you have to do everything yourself, but when you can have a team, it can be a tremendous asset. I say “can be,” because it’s not a guarantee. Teams are very capable of being dysfunctional, and I’ve been part of my share of those. For a team to work well, there needs to be the right combination of gifts and abilities, and a willingness to be collaborative. Without those, there will either be a lot of conflict and dysfunction, or there will be poor performance due to deficiencies. That was the blessing of the team I had – when you looked at the typical four quadrants of abilities that are categorized on profiles, our combination filled in every quadrant. In addition, we respected each other’s roles (such that no one wanted any of the other persons’ jobs) and built a positive and supportive relationship with each other. We had disagreements, but because of our attitudes and relationship, we were able to work through those and come out better.

The point for you is to recognize the value of team for your leadership, but only if it is the right kind of team.  In the Leadership Ezra website article that corresponds to this podcast episode, I talked about three types of people: those with leadership ability, those with wisdom, and those who are humble spiritual leaders. In addition to that, you also need to gather a team that fills out different abilities: at the very least, you need a visionary, a people-person, a detail planner, and a jump-in-and-serve person, and then whatever other skills are needed for your group or your task.

You may not always have the privilege of putting together and working with a good team, but if you do, you should take it.  Be intentional about it, and seek the right people, including the ones that every team should have as well as the ones uniquely needed for your team. Then cultivate the relationships between and among the team members. When you can do this, the end result is that what you have will be greater than the sum of the parts, a team that in combination with each other that is greater than the individual members.

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Leadership Ezra: Who’s In Charge Here? (Part 6, Let’s Go, Team!)

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 6, we are taking a minute to step away from our discussion of your individual leadership and talking about the idea of Team Leadership. If we carry the “running a race” analogy forward from the last few weeks, this would be a little like a relay race, in which you are dependent on others for combined success.

Today I am deviating a little bit from our study of leadership applied to you as an individual, and turning briefly to the study of leadership applied to teams. I am still taking the lessons from Ezra, and will be exploring Ezra’s experiences in some detail, revisiting chapter 7 and then looking at chapter 8. In my original study of the book, I learned many lessons that were personally valuable for my spiritual growth. Beyond that, though, I also identified a significant number of lessons that I thought were particularly applicable to leadership, and especially to Christian leadership. One of those leadership lessons that struck me involved Ezra’s approach to team leadership.

I think it helps to revisit the entire context: The book of Ezra describes some of the events surrounding two stages of a return to Jerusalem by the Israelites. The first stage involved a group returning in order to rebuild the temple, and the second (nearly 60 years later) involved a smaller group that returned in order to rebuild the spiritual condition of the people. Ezra – considered to be the author of the whole book – is actually only specifically involved in the return of the second group, described in chapters 7 through 10. More pointedly, chapters 7 and 8 describe the preparation of Ezra for that return, the assembling of his team, and the carrying out of the mission given to his team. In application to lessons on team leadership, this points to the three components of a team that are evident in these chapters: the leader of the team, the team, and (putting those two things together) leadership of the team.

Chapter 7 introduces us to the leader of the team, Ezra, and clearly presents his preparation for leadership in verse 10, which says, “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.” As I had explained in the previous articles, this verse points out a sequential, three-step process of development that I believe is essential for the development of any individual Christian leader. Step one is “learn.” In a general sense, any leader of a team needs to learn the history and context related to the organization and the strengths and characteristics of the team members and needs to understand the issues to be faced. But at a deeper (and more important) spiritual level – shown by Ezra in this chapter – the Christian must learn to know God. He needs regular, intimate time with God, because this is what gives him the capability to lead. Step two is “live.” This means that the actions of the leader must reflect what he has learned with authenticity. He must “walk the talk,” demonstrating consistency between values and actions, and this is what gives him the credibility to lead. It is only after growing deep in his relationship with God, and then applying and reflecting God’s truth in his life, that he can move on to step three, which is to lead by teaching, guiding, and showing others the way.

Chapter 8 introduces us to the team, specifically in verses 15 through 18. Here we see that Ezra, before beginning any tasks or moving forward, took time to look at the people around him and gather his team together. The first thing he noticed is what he was missing on his team: spiritual leaders (“I looked among the people and the priests, and found none of the sons of Levi there.”) The rest of the team was made up of two different groups: 1) those he described as “leaders,” the ones who had previously demonstrated effective leadership ability and experience, and 2) those he described as “men of understanding,” or those with a gift of insight and understanding who would be advisors and counselors (the term “understanding” is the same one used to describe the wisdom and discernment granted to Solomon in I Kings 3:9-12). With these two segments of the team in place, Ezra selected a spiritual leader, and specifically one with discretion, before setting up the plan for the mission. Ezra knew that he had to have, as Peter Northouse explains in Leadership: Theory and Practice (2013), the right number and mix to have an effective team. Therefore, he was very intentional about putting together a combination of people who would meet the specific needs of the mission, reflecting the idea that “the most cohesive and successful teams possess broader groupings of strengths.” (Rath & Conchie, Strengths-based Leadership, 2008) He didn’t move forward until he had the right team in place, a team that was willing to submit to God and follow Ezra’s leadership. In the words of Jim Collins from his thoughts on Level 5 Leadership, he “got the right people on the bus, moved the wrong people off, ushered the right people to the right seats – and then [he] figured out where to drive it.” (HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Leadership, 2011)

This takes us to the final piece of this puzzle: putting those two pieces together to establish the leadership of the team, which is presented in chapter 8, verses 21 through 31. Ezra had prepared himself, and he had assembled the right people for his team, and now they had a mission to accomplish. While the task was to be carried out by the team, not an individual, he as the leader of this team knew it was his responsibility to make sure they effectively accomplished the goal, and there were four components that he incorporated into that leadership. First, he set the example – specifically, a spiritual example – in attitude and humility, recognizing God’s sovereignty in their task (vv. 21-23). Then he assigned responsibility, by dividing up the resources that were to be carried by his team and giving them their instructions (vv. 24-30). Third, he provided motivation, reminded them of who they were and of the magnitude of their task (v. 28). Finally, he maintained unity in the group, as they undertook the mission together (v. 31).

As a Christian leader, these are significant and important lessons for your leadership development. First and foremost, intentionally recognize and submit to God’s sovereign activity, purpose, and process in your life, in the team and in the task. Make sure – and this one is absolutely critical, which is why I have included it so often in each of the articles in this series – that you are aggressively pursuing an intimate relationship with God and living a life consistent with God’s truth. Intentionally gather the right people around you, including those with leadership ability and those with wisdom, but especially include spiritual leaders who are humble and committed to God. Then, and only then, lead your team.

Collins, J. (2011). Level 5 Leadership: The Triumph of Humility and Fierce Resolve HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Leadership (pp. 115-136). Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press.

The Holy Bible: New King James Version. (1979). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Northouse, P. G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and practice (6th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.

Rath, T., & Conchie, B. (2008). Strengths-Based Leadership: Great Leaders, Teams, and Why People Follow. New York, NY: Gallup Press.

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