A cannon has a lot of similarities with a good leader. Both are powerful and aggressive, both are able to change a situation, both stick to a plan.
Yeah, well, you may not be so sure about that. Neither am I, to be honest.
Do you ever watch an old battleship movie? All the creaks and groans of the soggy wood and thick ropes give the movie gripping texture.
When those ancient ships entered a battle, they lined up beside each other and fired cannons. After a cannon was fired, it was pulled back from the outside railing by thick ropes to the center of the ship. Then it was stuffed with gunpowder and ball for the next round.
But those creaky ropes sometimes broke.
Suddenly a 3500-lb monster on wheels was raging wildly on the ship. Every wave brought a new direction for the cannon, which could easily crush a sailor or bash through the railing of the ship.
Loose cannons were terrifying. Deadly. Uncontrollable.
So my opening analogy falls flat on its face. A leader and a cannon have little in common.
Until something changes, both a leader and a cannon look successful. Both seem to accomplish what needs to be done.
Jonah was a successful leader in ancient Israel, a counselor to the king, a man of renown.
He was a prophet, accustomed to hearing God’s message and passing it on. But, when God gave him a message he didn’t like, Jonah became a loose cannon.
He severed the ropes that held him to Israel and took off. On a ship, appropriately, just to stay with our metaphor.
Jonah believed he was so established as a leader that he could decide if a plan was good or not – even if it was God’s plan. He also thought he could escape God’s presence and not be bothered anymore by God’s idea to help someone in danger.
Jonah made some odd assumptions:
- He chose to escape God’s presence on a ship manned by pagans. He wouldn’t go to pagan Nineveh but he could use a pagan crew to help him get away.
- He went to the hull of the ship, as though that was even farther from God’s presence.
- When the storm hit, he made no effort to comfort the terrified sailors with the power and compassion of God. Was he even aware of God’s compassion?
- He was willing to be thrown overboard rather than give in to God.
What kind of leadership was this? He didn’t care any more for the sailors than he did for Nineveh.
And finally we come to it: Jonah was self-centered. He knew God was offering an escape to people but he didn’t approve. These people didn’t deserve his compassion. He assumed his status – his successes – gave him the right to serve his own ideas.
There are times when a leader looks successful. Invincible. Like a powerful cannon. Sometimes we measure leadership quality by results rather than by how we help people.
As we consider our own leadership qualities, we have to look at how much we value success. What will we sacrifice to be successful? And when could that turn us into loose cannons?
QUESTION: Why would a leader trade compassion for success?
