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Leadership
Leadership
An important rule of
leadership “Don’t allow the patient to prescribe the medicine.” ── Michael P.
Green《Illustrations
for Biblical Preaching》
Leadership by Example
General Eisenhower would
demonstrate the art of leadership with a simple piece of string. He’d put it on
a table and say: “Pull it and it will follow wherever you wish. Push it and it
will go nowhere at all. It’s just that way when it comes to leading people.
They need to follow a person who is leading by example.”
At another time he said
“You do not lead by hitting people over the head-that’s assault
not
leadership.” ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical
Preaching》
Leadership
Thomas Monaghan is founder
president
and chief executive officer of Domino’s Pizza
Inc. From 1970 to
1985
Domino’s grew from a small debt-ridden chain to the second largest pizza
company in
When asked to account for
the phenomenal growth of the company
Monaghan explained
“I programmed
everything for growth.” And how did he plan for growth? “Every day we develop
people-the key to growth is developing people.”
Not special cheese
not a
tasty crust
not fast delivery schedules
but people! People are the key to all
effective leadership. ── Michael P. Green《Illustrations for Biblical
Preaching》
Leadership and Judgment
Two men once robbed a
jewelry store. One was a lawyer and the other was a high-school dropout. After
being arrested
convicted
and sentenced
the lawyer received a ten-year
imprisonment. The dropout received three years. The counselors for the lawyer
protested the harsh judgment but the judge insisted that the lawyer was under
greater responsibility to be an example of the law.
In
like manner are church leaders under a greater responsibility to be living
examples of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Leadership
An ancient Persian proverb
offers the following excellent advice on developing leaders.
He
who knows not
and knows not that he knows not is fool-shun him.
He
who knows not
and knows that he knows not is a child-teach him.
He
who knows
and knows not that he knows is asleep-wake him.
He
who knows
and knows that he knows is wise-follow him.
Leadership
The person who can’t lead
and won’t follow makes a dandy roadblock.
Leadership
Stay one step ahead of your
people and you are called a leader. Stay ten steps ahead of your people and you
are called a martyr!
Leadership
True leaders always rise to
the top
especially in difficult times. They are like beans in a jar of peas.
When you place peas and beans in a jar and shake them up vigorously
the peas
always settle to the bottom while the beans always come to the top.
So
it is with godly men. They can never be held down when shaken up. If they truly
have leadership abilities and a love for God
they will always rise to the top.
Leadership
One day
Confucius was
asked by one of his disciples about the ingredients of good government. His
answer: “Sufficient food
sufficient weapons
and the confidence of the common
people.”
“But
”
asked the disciple
“suppose you had no choice but to dispense with one of
those three
which would you forego?”
“Weapons
”
said Confucius.
His
disciple persisted: “Suppose you were then forced to dispense with one of the
two that are left
which would you forego?”
Replied
Confucius
“Food. For from of old
hunger has been the lot of all men
but a
people that no longer trusts its rulers is lost indeed.”
Leadership
Harry Truman once commented
on the importance of polls to leadership
with the following insight: “I wonder
how far Moses would have gone if he’d taken a poll in Egypt? What would Jesus
Christ have preached if he’d taken a poll in
Leadership
A bumper sticker reads:
“Don’t follow me. I’m lost too.” Motion des not always mean purpose. Be very
careful if you follow the crowd
for they may not know where they are going.
Leadership
A leader is like a radio
station’s clock. That clock is actually much more important than our own
watches because we set our watches by the radio station’s clock. So
too
with
the character of a leader-he sets the pace for our own standards of conduct.
Leadership
Over a century ago
a
colleague submitted to Asahel Nettleton a list of qualifications to be
possessed by those who should be encouraged to enter the ministry. It read
thus: (1) Piety; (2) Talents; (3) Scholarship; (4) Discretion. “Change the
order
” said Nettleton
“put discretion next to piety.”
Leadership
One definition of
leadership is the ability to recognize the special abilities and limitations of
others
combined with the capacity to fit each one into the job where he will
do his best. – J. Oswald Sanders
Leadership by Example
Shepherds of God’s flock
are not to lord it over the flock
but to prove to be examples. They are to
lead by their example. This is graphically illustrated in the U.S. Army. The
symbol of the infantry (footsoldiers who do most of the front-line fighting) is
a soldier with a rifle in one hand
helmet cocked
and head looking back behind
him. The rifle is pointing forward
the other arm is giving a “Come on ahead”
motion
and the leader is shouting back
“Follow me!” This symbol illustrates
leadership-by-example
as this soldier calls his men to follow him into the
heart of the battle.
Writer and Jazz enthusaist
Nat Hentoff
on Duke Ellington:
"Ellington talked to
me about his music. He composed with each musician in the band particularly in
mind. 'You keep their weaknesses in your head as you write
' he said
'and that
way you astonish them with their strengths." ── Nat Hentoff
Boston Boy.
In Everyday
Discipleship for Ordinary People
Stuart Briscoe wrote" "One of
my young colleagues was officiating at the funeral of a war veteran. The dead
man's military friends wished to have a part in the service at the funeral
home
so they requested the pastor to lead them down to the casket
stand with
them for a solemn moment of remembrance
and then lead them out through the
side door. This he proceeded to do
but unfortunately the effect was somewhat
marred when he picked the wrong door. The result was that they marched with
military precision into a broom closet
in full view of the mourners
and had
to beat a hasty retreat covered with confusion.
"This true story
illustrates a cardinal rule or two. First
if you're going to lead
make sure
you know where you're going. Second
if you're going to follow
make sure that
you are following someone who knows what he is doing!" ── from Stuart Briscoe
Everyday Discipleship
for Ordinary People.
Today's business people
can learn a lot about good leadership from orchestra conductors
says the Harvard
Business Review. The first thing a good conductor does is put together a
first-rate group of musicians. Toscanini
for example
could not have gotten
great music out of a high school band. The next thing the conductor does is
make sure that his musicians share his satisfaction with the quality of the
music. If they don't all feel an equal sense of accomplishment the conductor's
leadership has failed and he will not make great music. ── Management Digest
September 1989.
All morning
an instructor
on my staff had been explaining leadership to a class of police recruits.
Calling a man to the front of the class
he handed him a piece of paper on
which was written: "You are in charge. Get everyone out of the room
without causing a panic." The recruit was at a loss for words and returned
to his seat. The second man summoned tried: "Everybody outside. Go!"
No one moved. A third man glanced at the instructions
smiled and said
"All right
men. Break for lunch." The room emptied in seconds.── Howard Dean.
Leadership
I’d rather get ten men to
do the job than to do the job of ten men.— D. L. Moody
Actually
a manager needs
the ability not only to make good decisions himself
but also to lead others to
make good decisions. Charles Moore
after four years of research at the United
Parcel Service reached the following conclusions:
1. Good decisions take a
lot of time.
2. Good decisions combine
the efforts of a number of people.
3. Good decisions give
individuals the freedom to dissent.
4. Good decisions are
reached without any pressure from the top to reach an artificial consensus.
5. Good decisions are
based on the participation of those responsible for implementing them.*
What kind of person is
best able to involve others and himself in good decision making? J. Keith
Louden lists seven qualities:
1. The ability to look
ahead and see what's coming -- foresight.
2. Steadiness
with
patience and persistence and courage.
3. A buoyant spirit that
in spite of cares generates confidence.
4. Ingeniousness
the
ability to solve problems soundly yet creatively.
5. The ability to help
others.
6. Righteousness
the
willingness to do the right thing and speak the truth.
7. Personal morality of a
quality that commands the respect of others.**
── *
Charles W.L. Foreman
"Managing a Decision Into Being
" from the
Management Course for Presidents
pp.3-4.
** J. Keith Louden
"Leadership
" from the Management Course for Presidents
pp 10-11.
Advice from Ross Perot
about how to treat your people:
"Never ask anyone to
do what you haven't done before and wouldn't do again. That's a pretty
fundamental rule in leadership...treat them like you treat yourself. Things you
don't like
they don't like. You don't like to be jerked around
they don't
either. You don't like to be talked down to
and they don't either. You would
rather work with somebody than for somebody. So would they. You hate people who
pound on your head after you gave everything you had and failed...It's that
simple." ── Bits & Pieces
August
20
1992
p. 3.
Give your decision
never
your reasons; your decisions may be right
your reasons are sure to be wrong.── Lord Mansfield.
There is a very strong
tendency on the part of Americans
whether in government or business
that you
really have to establish some achievement of your own. In Japan
there is
emphasis on continuity. Unless there is something wrong
I build on what my
predecessor has built. In the U.S.
the new man comes in and very often the value
of that man is judged by the things he does differently from his predecessor.
This is very destabilizing-- you start from scratch. In manufacturing
there is
a great deal that can be achieved by continuity. ── Yotaro Kobayashi
President
Fuji-Xeerox Corp.
in Resources
#2.
When it is not necessary
to make a decision
it is necessary not to make a decision. ── Lucius
Second Lord Falkland.
Look over your shoulder
now and then to be sure someone's following you. ── Virginia State Treasurer
Henry Gilmer.
Tom Landry
former head
coach of the Dallas Cowboys and one of the finest leaders professional sports
has ever known
once said
"Leadership is a matter of having people look
at you and gain confidence
seeing how you react." ── Today In The Word
August
1989
p. 30.
Experts know what should
be done; leaders know what should be done and how to get people to do it. ── Quoted in C. Barber
Nehemiah and the
Dynamics of Leadership
p. 72.