You know this person: they’ve been to leadership conferences, paid big bucks for one-on-one coaching, spew all the current buzzwords. But they don’t care much about the people they’re leading. Their team is there to help them climb the corporate ladder.
Somehow, in all the training, they forgot about the people.
And we can be sympathetic. Leading takes some planning, especially thinking ahead to the goal. There are mission statements, purpose statements, three top goals, daily to-do lists…. and none of this is a bad thing.
Leadership planning shouldn’t isolate the leader from the people.
When I was 12, I put together a play for my parents using younger siblings and cousins as actors. In my young mind, they were chess pieces to be manipulated.
Our stage was our family’s living room and my bedroom was backstage. There was a flurry of children rushing to and fro, through the small entrance door of my bedroom.
The inevitable happened. I rushed through the door as my younger brother came in. He was seven. His head crashed against the door frame as I pushed by.
Did I stop to see if he was hurt? I did not. I had a show to put on. When I returned backstage, he was sitting on my bed holding his head and crying.
Did I stop the show to tend to his injury? I did not. I had a show to put on.
I was focused on the production as I saw it and not on the people involved.
Let me introduce you to Jonah. You probably remember Jonah and the whale from the misty past. But let ’s pull back the veneer on a leader of his day.
What we know about Jonah:
He was successful
His full name is given, including his father’s name. That identifies him as a prophet of Israel. As a prophet, he spoke God’s word to others. He had predicted that King Jeroboam would restore the northern boundary of Israel. When that happened, he was known as a great prophet. There were other prophets int hat time but none were given the job that Jonah was given.
He was called a servant of the king
No play on words here. Jonah wasn’t called a servant of God – although he was known for that, too – but a servant of King Jeroboam. He hung out with royalty. He likely knew the inner court on a first-name basis.
He knew what God could do.
He had seen God save Israel even though King Jeroboam was a bad king. A king dedicated to other gods and not to God. But God delivered to Israel not what King Jeroboam deserved but protection out of God’ kindness and grace.
He was a nationalist.
Jonah was concerned with the things that kings and political leaders are concerned with: boundaries and good fortune for the nation of Israel. He was a blue-blood Israelite and proud of it.
Such a leader would expect to hear from God again.
And Jonah did. But God’s words were confusing, to say the least. God was sending Jonah to a hated enemy to warn them. Warn them why? So the destruction might not come?
Jonah was certain that Nineveh needed to be destroyed. Why should he warn them?
Jonah, the prophet and successful leader in Israel, examined this new assignment and he took off the other direction.
It’s clear that Jonah did not care for a group of people that God did care about. He was a successful leader who had forgotten that leadership is about people. We know there are bumps ahead for Jonah but that’s for another post.
QUESTION: Have you ever overlooked the people you were supposed to be caring for?
