by Kathy Brasby | Dec 3, 2018 | Jonah, Leadership
Ever made a dumb mistake? Yeah, me, too.
I’ve always loved Megamind in the movie, who argued with Minion and finally concluded, “You were right. I was less right.”
We are sometimes less right, and we hope, like Minion, that someone will let us be more right.
I was a strong-willed child who spent my early years trying to do what I wanted to do. Strong-willed kids are like that. I was sure that no one could stand up to my will.
My mother opposed those wild ventures at every turn, so often that I remember asking her, “Why don’t you like me?”
“Oh, I like you all right,” she said. “I don’t like some of the stuff you do.”
For me, that was a second chance. All my shenanigans at least wouldn’t land me on the street. Mom hadn’t given up on me yet. There was still hope.
I think of that stubborn six-year-old when I think about Jonah.
He assumed God wouldn’t abandon him, either. God gave him second chances and he expected it. He did not expect second chances for those he thought unworthy. He knew he was worthy but others, well, he wasn’t convinced.
God, in pushing Jonah to go to Nineveh, was also pushing Jonah to grow in the idea of giving second chances.
Leaders resemble like Jonah sometimes. We like second chances in our own lives because we make mistakes. Others let us down? They’re out of here.
Why should a leader offer a second chance to someone who has either made a mistake or maybe willfully crossed a line?
Imperfect people can help.
Jonah is a great example. God can use imperfect people to accomplish impossible things.
In fact, a quick scan of the people in the Bible shows us that God used plenty of imperfect people. Some weren’t even trying to please God, and he still worked through them.
And he worked on them.
Jonah certainly didn’t climb on that boat to serve God. He wanted out of the assignment. But things didn’t go that simply.
God was going to teach about second chances: to the people of Nineveh, to the sailors on the boat, and to Jonah himself.
God uses imperfect people to accomplish great things and so should we. It’s good leadership.
[bctt tweet=”God uses imperfect people to accomplish great things and so should we. It’s good leadership. #leadership https://wp.me/pahZ3c-46″ username=”kathybrasby”]
People can change.
That was probably the rub for Jonah: he had some idea this might be true. And he certainly didn’t want Nineveh to change. He had revenge in mind.
Leaders can’t forget that people change.
They don’t always, of course, but they can. And they do. Especially when others don’t give up on them.
This is one of the challenges of leadership. We might want to discard those who fall. We expect perfection – or at least a good try. Not everyone is up for that, at least not at first.
But given a second chance…. Well, it can work out pretty well sometimes.
Have you ever given someone a second chance that worked out well?
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by Kathy Brasby | Nov 26, 2018 | Leadership
This blog is about Christian leadership.
If you’re a Christian or even a person of faith, you’ll find that the Bible is packed with powerful leadership principles that apply to people today. I don’t plan to develop many leadership techniques. You can find methods all over the internet. I want to develop principles of good leadership.
I hope to show you what is behind a leader’s decisions, not how to carry them out. With solid principles in place as a foundation, implementation is the simpler part.
Photo by sydney Rae on Unsplash
These principles tend to work well, whether you’re a spiritual person or not.
Christian leaders:
Are other-focused.
This is a trendy statement at the moment, but it’s a principle from ancient times. Look at Moses. Look at Joseph. Look at Jesus. (And we will in future posts)Their goal was not to raise their own status but to serve other people.
Have a vision.
They have an idea where they are leading their people. They may not have the entire picture of the future (they often do not) but they have an idea of the goal. And they move ahead based on the goal, not necessarily the details.
Take the initiative.
They do not wait to be told to act. They move. They charge in and do something. They are often misunderstood, but they take action.
Are big-picture people.
They aren’t necessarily skilled administrators. They may not be organized, and they may not take care of details. But their vision is powerful, and they help others remember where they’re going. They remember the goal when others are confused and lost.
Trust others to help them reach the goal.
Leaders remember the goal but they are excellent at finding those who can help complete the tasks. They are not micromanagers or dictators. This is a result of being other-focused. They know who to trust and how to help others improve their abilities.
Ask others to do things that might be uncomfortable.
Reaching the goal is more important than keeping people comfortable. Leaders will ask their people to sacrifice or to take on a challenge. These things will help their people improve or gain something valuable.
Are OK with being uncomfortable.
Leaders don’t ask others to sacrifice where they won’t themselves. They are consumed with the vision. Personal comfort takes a back seat. They find fulfillment when they sacrifice for the greater good.
I will be developing these principles and more in future posts, and I plan to use stories from the Bible for direction.
Why use the Bible?
Because the stories are incredibly rich in showing how the interplay between people and their world works when following principles laid out by God.
[bctt tweet=” The Bible is packed with powerful leadership principles that apply to people today” https://wp.me/pahZ3c-3M username=”kathybrasby”]
People of faith get off track often but God’s principles work. They draw us outside ourselves and to something bigger, more valuable, more uncomfortable, more fulfilling.
These stories tell us that concern for others trumps our own comforts. They draw us to the thin air of the mountaintop, but the world needs our leadership.
QUESTION: What are some of your leadership goals?
sydney Rae
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by Kathy Brasby | Nov 19, 2018 | Jonah, Leadership
Leaders can get cocky. George Orwell explained the phenomenon well: “Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.”
Jonah had a lot of power. He heard God.
I remember as a child that I wanted to hear God so badly that I actually dreamt that it happened. In my dream, my mom and I were driving home, and God’s voice rang out with a deep sound that reminded me of our pastor. I was impressed.
I don’t remember what he said, but I remember the dream to this day.
Well, Jonah did better. He heard God and remembered what God said. And he relayed the message to the king of Israel. When the king of Israel was able to restore boundaries just like Jonah said he would, Jonah gained status.
He could add to his resume that he was a reliable prophet. He obviously thought he had the pipeline to God’s plans.
That’s pretty heady stuff.
Then Jonah heard God speak to him again.
But, like all of us, Jonah had biases. Jonah believed:
- God only worked in Israel for his chosen people.
- Jonah deserved the honor of being a prophet.
- Jonah knew God’s standard for evil better than God himself did.
- Ninevehites were enemies of Israel and therefore outside of God’s sphere.
- Nationalism trumped God’s mercy.
- The correct response to opposition is vengeance.
Jonah had it figured out, and he had no patience for God’s mercy.
We know that Jonah agreed to go to Nineveh and deliver God’s message. I’m surprised that he didn’t relish the job since, as far as he could tell, he was giving judgment.
I think Jonah had a sense that he was delivering a second chance. He didn’t approve, but he finally agreed to go.
How does this help us as leaders?
We can’t forget that we serve.
First, we serve God. Then we help his people.
God doesn’t limit himself to the projects that we prefer.
Leaders can have pet projects, but leadership isn’t limited to pet projects. Leaders need to think big. Leaders need to think worldwide as well as the community.
We should check our biases often.
We have them. Do they show God’s plans? The story about Nineveh teaches us that no one is outside God’s sphere.
Are we honest about God’s mercy?
Do we expect mercy for us in our circumstances but find it troublesome when extended to someone we don’t approve of?
Vengeance is never the right response
We may feel right about revenge, but leaders need to forgive and not retaliate. The correct answer to evil is not condemnation but compassion.
QUESTION: What biases have you met in your leadership journey? What can you do about one of them?
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by Kathy Brasby | Nov 12, 2018 | Jonah, Leadership
Have you ever watched the TV show, “The A-Team”? You can YouTube it. The episodes featured do-good mercenaries who always had a plan. Of course, things never went according to a plan. But in the end, the leader, Hannibal Smith, would poke a big cigar in his mouth and proclaim, “I love it when a plan comes together.”
We all like our plans to work.
You’d think that Jonah would be pleased that God’s warning had worked. Jonah’s warning s frightened the Ninevites. They believed that this new God could overpower any deities they had sitting on their shelves.
Amazing things that happened after Jonah’s warning:
- The great city of Nineveh was frightened.
- The people believed the message from Jonah.
- The people believed that God was more powerful than their own deities. They hoped he was more compassionate, too.
- They decided to change.
- The king of this great city stepped off his throne to join his people in the effort to convince God to change his mind.
- The king gave orders: “All shall turn from their evil ways and from the violence that is in their hands.”
In other words, the king of Nineveh knew why the warning had been given, and he decided to make a change. His people agreed with him.
Who could have seen this coming? A great city within a powerful war-like nation listened to one foreign man who declared that doom and destruction are coming. Even the king believed Jonah.
I’m not sure I would have listened. Jonah probably looked like an ant shaking his fist at a human. Why listen to this guy?
Obviously, God knew something about this city that Jonah didn’t know.
Jonah had finally delivered the message of doom that God had directed him to give.
And now this: the people were making changes that might cancel the doom and destruction orders. The hail and brimstone might not fall. A fireworks display wasn’t likely.
Jonah wanted to see all those people turned to dust.
That’s an ugly trait for this leader. He could easily condemn an entire city because he decided they deserved destruction. God had already shown Jonah compassion but Jonah wasn’t ready to show mercy.
God was compassionate to a city, but Jonah didn’t approve. God knew the people were ready for a transformation and God was willing to give them a chance.
There are times when leaders have a strong opinion about what should happen next. But a leader’s strong opinion isn’t always the correct one.
[bctt tweet=”A leader’s strong opinion isn’t always the correct one.”]
We talk about leaders trusting their instincts at times, and there’s a place for that. But instincts are a gift that should be held lightly. Jonah is an excellent example of trusting his instincts over God’s plan.
He should have rejoiced over this city’s repentance. The plan wasn’t the one he approved of, and he pouted instead.
What do we do when a plan comes together? What if that plan wasn’t our plan and we predicted failure? How have you handled a situation like that?
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by Kathy Brasby | Nov 5, 2018 | Jonah, Leadership
After NFL quarterback Drew Brees set the record for total passing yardage, he was asked what play had been called for record-setting pass. He said, “Gun King Trips Right Terrapin 52 Sway All Go Special X Shallow Cross H Wide.
I am not kidding.
The coach selected the play, Brees understood it, and his team executed it.
Communication is funny. Brees didn’t need to use a language that you or I might understand. (Well, I’m assuming you couldn’t run the play either.) He spoke in a way that his team could follow.
Communication must be specific to the team we’re talking to. If I called out Brees’ play to my team, there would be laughter and a lot of guessing. “Are we shooting fish? What are terrapins anyway? Who sways 52?”
My team would have a blast if I tried to give them directions like Drew Brees. He set a record but my team would be hysterical. They certainly wouldn’t set any records.
I wouldn’t have communicated in a meaningful way for them. If my team is to make awesome strides, we need to understand each other.
We’ve been talking about Jonah. You know how he heard God and made his own decision. But we need to take a step back.
Jonah didn’t really understand God. He interpreted in his own way. But there are lots of ways to communicate, and God illustrates that for us.
What happened with Jonah?
Jonah didn’t understand what God planned to do.
God could have given up on him. There were other prophets at that time. God could have picked one of them when Jonah defied his play call.
Jonah could have escaped. He would have assumed he comprehended the entire situation and made the right choice. But running from God’s presence wasn’t the right choice. Jonah didn’t understand that. Had God let Jonah run away, Jonah would have misunderstood God’s motives.
So God made things a little uncomfortable for Jonah. Being swallowed by a big fish might be more than a little uncomfortable. God got Jonah’s attention instead of letting him run. God didn’t give up on Jonah. He found another way to communicate besides words.
When words don’t work, we have to look for other responses. We can’t give up.
God wanted Jonah to understand.
God communicated to Jonah in a way Jonah could understand.
That’s the key here: we often communicate with words but sometimes we need to do more. We need strategies and empathy for those we’re trying to connect with.
When words didn’t work, God communicated with Jonah through uncomfortable situations. He sent a storm. He sent a fish. He sent a worm. He used uncomfortable times to break through. Jonah didn’t like any of them but God didn’t let him miss out on the opportunity and the lesson.
Leaders do that. We could call a play like “Gun King Trips Right Terrapin 52 Sway All Go Special X Shallow Cross H Wide.” We could expect our team to get it or get out. They’d get out because they couldn’t comprehend our goals and our instructions.
We shouldn’t do that. [bctt tweet=”Leadership isn’t about making us look smart but about helping others succeed.”]Leadership isn’t about making us look smart but about helping others succeed.
Communication is key to leadership. We have to be able to connect with people we are leading. That means learning how to express ideas and goals in ways that our people will understand.
We do that by learning how others communicate. What they value. What gets their attention. What helps them understand better.
If the goal is to communicate our intentions, we have to learn to speak in many ways.
What are some ways that you’ve changed your communication methods with your team when they didn’t understand?
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