Faith Venture

Would you follow the leadership of someone who is consistent, has a consistent message, who keeps confidentialities? Or a micro-manager who manipulates, cannot make a decision, is emotionally volatile?

The second (and last, really) good point Simon Sinek makes in his book “Start with Why” is the value of trust.

He uses two stories from the airline industry–Herb Kelleher of Southwest Airlines and Gordon Bethune of Continental (now United). He also uses the examples without the irony of time.

Kelleher posited the notion “that it is the company’s responsibility to look after the employees first. Happy employees ensure happy customers, he said. And happy customers ensure happy shareholders–in that order.”

Bethune shared that notion. When he became CEO in 1994, he said, “I could see Continental’s biggest problem the second I walked in the door. It was a crummy place to work. You can’t have a good product without people who like coming to work.”

And Bethune succeeded. (Note: I fly Continental/United, in fact I’m Premier Platinum this year.) The company’s performance improved dramatically and it was a good enough place to work that a loyal passenger like me noticed.

But… The board of directors eventually decided that they needed a cost cutter CEO and moved Bethune to retirement and brought in a finance guy (I call them “bean counters”) Larry Kellner. It didn’t take an entire year for him to begin to reverse all the policies and attitudes that made Bethune successful. He was succeeded by a mergers and acquisitions attorney Jeff Smisek when the board moved toward a merger/acquisition with United–a failed airline that was as bad as Bethune’s “crummy place to work.” And Smisek drove employee attitudes further down. Although neither could succeed in making it as bad as United.

Trust takes time to build. It can be destroyed in an instant.

When you are building a team in your church, parish or organization, better to study Bethune and Kelleher (same story with Sam Walton and his successors, by the way).

And for Biblical inspiration, study Nehemiah. He was a leader.

Great leaders inspire by communicating why the organization exists. So says Simon Sinek in his book, “Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone To Take Action.” Actually the book is surprisingly poorly written–should have been an article, rather than a book. Or, yet, it’s better as a short talk–as his appearance at the TED Talks generated millions of views.

His idea is insightful. Why do you work in the church? In fact, why do you work anywhere? If you are a leader in your church, why does your function exist?

I was reflecting on Paul’s letters–yep, all of them. He was the consummate organizer. Think about it. He had a “why”.

Micromanaging kills enthusiasm. Just filling a spot in a program kills enthusiasm. Just heard a story about a many who was moved by guilt and other manipulative tactics to take on leadership of a children’s class at church. He really didn’t like working with kids. He really wasn’t a teacher. Although a successful businessman, he failed miserably as a children’s teacher. He didn’t have a “why”, just a “what” that was filling a spot and reading the curriculum.

This week, define your why. If it doesn’t inspire, find something that does.

You volunteer to work for an organization–say a church or charity. You work somewhere to earn money to live. If you are a leader, especially of a church or charitable organization, you find yourself constantly recruiting to fill positions.

One of the talks I listened to while working out this week was by a senior pastor of a large church. He was talking about some techniques a pastor might use to recruit people to fill positions in the church. He might use guilt, for example. Or peer pressure.

Then I had another conversation this week about church leadership. She told me that she’s discovered that church leaders must begin with a foundation in the Holy Spirit. Only then can you feel called to serve. She was on to something. Manipulation only works in the short term and eventually breeds an environment of people doing what they don’t want to do only out of a sense of being talked into it. Not much moving of the Spirit there.

I have begun reading Simon Sinek’s book, “Start With Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone To Take Action.” I’ve watched his TED Talk. It’s powerful. Last night I read, “There are a few leaders who chose to inspire rather than manipulate in order to motivate people.”

His emphasis seemed to be on “a few” as in “not many” or “not nearly enough.”

Manipulation may be conscious or it may be just a person’s life orientation. Maybe the leader doesn’t know why, either. Sinek talks about What an organization does (which most people know), How an organization does What (which many people know), and Why an organization exists (which few people seem to know and can articulate).

A friend of mine recently wrote on his blog asking why people join professional associations.

I’d ask in this context, Why do you volunteer for church or charity work? When you recruit and lead, do you know Why your organization does what it does? Can you be passionate about doing what you do if you don’t know Why?