Leadership Confessions

What Old Tomorrow Can Teach us Today about the Lost Art of Consensus Building

This week I spent an afternoon with a wise friend discussing, amongst other things, leadership styles and principles.  One aspect of our conversation centred around what skill set leaders need in today's cultural climate.  Obviously there's a multiplicity of answers but a few tend to dominate the contemporary conversation: public presence, communication abilities, and the ability to get things done.  

But these have not always been the dominate leadership traits, and perhaps looking to the past might provide some insight on a foudnational skill set for leaders today who work in fractured or volutneer-driven environments: the lost art of consensus building.  

Take, for example, Sir John A. Macdonald.  In 1885, he was bound and determined to see one of his projects, the Canadian Pacific Railway, move forward.  There was only one problem - no one supported him in this dream.  Not his finance minister, not his caucus, not the opposition.  And to make matters worse, CPR president George Stephen came knocking on Ottawa's door again asking for a government bail-out as the incomplete railway teetered towards bankruptcy.  Listen as author Christopher Moore describes the skill set brilliantly executed as the CPR story unfolds:

 

Macdonald knew the stakes. “The day the CPR busts, the government busts the day after,” one of his advisers put it succinctly. The money had to be found. If 1885 were 2012, that would have ended the crisis. Macdonald was the dominating political figure of his day and his re-elected government held a big majority. If Macdonald favoured the bailout, surely all he had to do was put the cheque in the mail. Isn’t that what a stable national majority government leader does?

 Instead, for another six months, Old Tomorrow kept Stephen waiting while the railroad lurched toward bankruptcy. The problem was Macdonald’s caucus and cabinet had deserted him. They could not stomach throwing more money at the railroad. Cabinet colleagues said letting the company fail was better politics than saving it. Backbenchers from the Maritimes and Quebec demanded something in exchange: help for their own pet railroads. His own finance minister, Leonard Tilley, thought the government could scoop up the assets of the bankrupt CPR and finish the job itself. In short, Macdonald led a majority government but lacked the parliamentary votes for a bailout.

Macdonald did not discipline his dissident ministers of 1885. The colossus of Canadian politics did not drive skeptical backbenchers out of politics as a modern leader would. Macdonald lived by the rules of 19th-century Canadian Parliaments: a leader answered to caucus, not the other way round. If a prime minister could not assemble a majority of his own MPs behind him on an issue, he accommodated.

That ability to accommodate certainly contributed to his reputation as Canada’s “nation maker,” as Richard Gwyn brilliantly portrayed him. But perhaps Macdonald’s greatest skill was as a majority maker. In a recent Historica-Dominion Institute project to promote the celebration of “John A. Day,” we suggested that what kept Macdonald at the top during his extraordinary career was rarely the authority of single-minded vision. More often, it was his uncanny ability to pull together majorities in the House when none seemed to exist." (Maclenas, Jan 23, 2012, page 25)

For those in church leadership, this situation will ring all too familiar.  There are boards, councils, deacons and various other volunteer groups to work with and under and for.  There are staff members sometimes with competing visions or strategies who need to be brought towards alignment.  Most contemporary leaders will default to using their positional authority to "get things done".  But not Old Tomorrow (John A's nickname).  He was patient and worked tirelessly at building consensus and helping people move towards alignment and vision through relationships and not coercion.  

And his railway project?  Well, the CPR was left unsure of it's fate until that May.  "Then came the Metis resistance on the South Saskatchewan, and it was the unfinished railroad that rushed troops to the West. Suddenly the CPR could do no wrong. Caucus came around, and the votes were there. The last spike was driven six months later. John A. Macdonald looked like a genius. Again." (ibid).  

What leadership challenge are you facing?  Perhaps rushing towards action instead of taking time to build a strong consensus may win you this battle, but you might loose the war.  Seems like Old Tomorrow just may have a powerful lesson for us still today.  

Do You Exercise Your Idea Muscle?

In 1975, after a year of intensely hard creative work, a young electrical engineer Steven Sasson was ready presented his new invention.  As history tells is "the device was huge, ugly, and took 23 seconds to record an image with a resolution of only 0.01 megapixels.  When Sasson finally showed the  gadget to his bosses, they were dumbfounded. 'Why would anyone ever want to view his or her pictures on TV?' they wondered, as he wrote in a blog post decades later.  Sasson earned a patent for his trouble but otherwise his project was forgotten." (from "I Want to be in Pictures" by Farhad Manjoo, FastCompany, Dec 2011/Jan 2012).  

The device?  You guessed it - a digital camera.  The company that failed to embrace creativity?  You guessed it, the same on that saw it's stock price plummet 60% on a single day in September of this past year: Kodak.  

So what lessons can you and I glean if your New Year's resolution is to become more creative?  Here's a few suggestions:

1. Get comfortable with failure.  Creativity means you are thinking outside the box, which means that the conventional approaches to the issue(s) you are working on changing do not apply.  And uncharted waters are full of jagged rocks.  Take James Dyson as and example (you know, the vacuum guy).  He tried 5,127 prototypes of his bagless vacuum cleaner before succeeding.  That means he "failed" 5,126 times!  If I was him, I would have given up around the 500 mark, which means I would have given up 10 times faster than him.  If you want to be more creative, settle in for a long-ish season of "non-success" and be prepared to hold the line and defend your experiments against the critics.
2. Exercise Your Idea Muscle.  It seems counter-intuitive to link creativity and discipline but listen to the advice of finance columnist James Altucher: Creativity "is not a talent.  It's a learned ability.  The idea muscle, like any other muscle, atrophies in weeks of non-use.  You start ever day with 10 ideas: people I should talk to, businesses I should start, books I should write.  It has to be a solid, doable next step.  You'll come up with nothing but bad ideas for the first month.  Between one and three months, you'll start coming up with good ideas.  After six months, honestly, life should be completely different.  it's not that your ideas are so good.  It's the sheer quantity and the honing of the muscle so you start to know more and more what ones are actionable and good." (Macleans, Jan 9, 2012, p.16-17).
3. Broader Your Horizon.  The challenge with the execs at Kodak is that they saw their world in very narrow terms: they perceived themselves as a film company.  This prevented them from understanding that in more broadly understood terms in the shift towards digital culture, they were actually a well-positioned company that provided pictures and images to people.  If they had been able to realize that (and they still could), they may be able to resurrect themselves from the doldrums of patent trolling.  The take-away here is to think beyond your traditional definitions or constraints.  What would it look like if you thought of yourself not only as a "youth pastor" but as a community advocate?  What would it look like if you thought of yourself not just as a "stay at home mom" but as a person with creative talents and passion to invest in your kids and school?  

Broadening your categories, generating and acting on as many ideas as you can and being increasingly comfortable when most of them bomb can help unleash some new creative ideas that just might change your thinking and your organization in 2012.  even if not organizationally, it might change you personally.  It sure did for Sasson, who ended up being inducted into the Inbventors Hall of Fame in 2011 and recieving a medal of honour from the US President.  It turns out that exercising your little idea muscle just might have the potential to change the world!       

Thoughts on Generosity From a Recent Kettle Bell Ringer

Each year, we work with our kids on a growth plan for them in different areas of their lives (thanks Tim Kimmel for the idea).  We're not always as intentional about it as we could be but this past year, one of the growth areas we identified was helping them understand the value and the discipline of generous living.  It's certainly an up-hill climb in a culture such as ours, but one that is well worth the effort.  

So it was a pleasant surprise to me when, coming into the fall, our 8 year old piped up and asked if he could volunteer with the Salvation Army to person a kettle for their Christmas fund-raising drive.  I'm not sure where he got the idea or how he thought an 8 year old would be able to ensure the security of the cash outside a large retail establishment for 2 hours in the cold, but he really wanted to do it (which meant that daddy really wanted to do it).  We took 3 shifts on subsequent Mondays, two at the provincial liquor store and one at Superstore.  The following are some observations based on our adventures:

• People have a general proclivity towards generosity and helping others, but they generally need to be provided with concrete and easy opportunities to give.  I'm not sure whether this is a hang-over from our Judeo-Christian heritage, a general sense of cultural obligation towards those who are "less fortunate", a by-product of the season (for example, would the kettle campaign work in the middle of summer?  I would guess not as effectively) or something altogether different.  My basic operational hypothesis arises out of the observation that when there was a kettle present, our local homeless shelter and Salvation Army programs received a boost of several hundred dollars per hour.  No kettle = no revenue for that period.  The lesson? Charitable organizations of all kinds benefit most when they give people easy on-ramps for participating in giving opportunities.  For a creative one, see my friend's on-line foundation site ChimpFund
• People give toward things they understand.  This flies slightly in the face of the usual charitable philosophy that people give toward that which they have as personal connection with.  While this is undoubtedly true in some cases (do you support any missionaries you don't know?  Most people don't), most people who walked out of the liquor store don't have a personal connection with the issues of homelessness.  But they do understand it clearly.  They understand the need, they understand (mostly through the local media) how this need is being met in a sustainable and holistic way through our local shelter, the Gateway of Hope.  The lesson? Clarity is your friend.  When your donors understand the cause and where their money is being spent, they tend to give with open hands and generous hearts. 
• Guilt is a powerful but not significant motivator.  My observations were that people who gave out of a sense of social obligation not to walk by a cute kids (my 8 year old) or a kettle, put in coins.  Those who did so out of a genuine desire to assist and who did so with joy put in $5 or $20 bills.  If you give out of guilt, you never sense the end of your obligation.  But if you give out of a plan and out of a generous spirit, you get filled up by the action (as opposed to feeling temporarily relieved that you've "done your bit").  This also applies for those who volunteer.  If you do it out of a sense of joy and passion for the people who will be the ultimate recipients of your labours, you come into your shift with a sense of purpose and meaning.  If you do it simply because you signed up for it and you don't want to back out, the 2 hours ends up feeling very long.  The lesson?  Check your motives before you get into a situation where you feel pressured to give.  Ask yourself why you feel guilt or joy.  Ask why this cause stirs your heart.  Ask why you feel the need to fumble out an excuse like "I gave at the office" as opposed to having a settledness is your spirit that you have given what God would have you give this year.
• Generosity Breeds Further Generosity.  The generous spirit of an 8 year old in contagious.  We've had lots of conversations in our house this month about what it means to be generous and how we can further stretch ourselves in this area.  My 8 year old is now thinking of additional ways that he can raise money for people who need it.  His next project is raising funds for wheelchairs in Guatemala (he's planning an on-line art auction - stay tuned to this space for more info).  Proverbs 11:25 says that those who refresh others, will themselves be refreshed.  In other words, there's something of a snowball effect when genuine generosity is present.  Other people want to emulate it and the spirit of giving and sacrifice inspires others to do the same.  The lesson?  Think of what small, concrete actions you could initiate to cause an avalanche of generosity in your family or your faith community in 2012.  What dreams and visions might you be a part of unleashing simply by listening to those around you and partnering with them on their intended acts of generosity?  You just might end up with some thoughts on generosity of your own to share!

Are You Ready For Christmas?

It's an oft repeated question in the month of December: "Are you ready for Christmas?"  Mostly, I take the inquirer to mean 'have you bought all your intended presents?' or 'have you stocked your pantry adequately for the volume of guests you are expecting?' or 'Are you sufficiently sick of your employment that you could use a few days off to finish out this calendar year?' (or some combination thereof).  But Advent, the season of waiting, is also a season of preparation.  We are to prepare our hearts with, at very least, the diligence and the intentionality that we prepare our homes or our calendars or travel plans for this high and holy celebration.

"In French homes, it is traditional for children to follow the custom of preparing a creche in the days leading up to Christmas.  For each prayer or act of kindness that they perform during the season, they place a piece of straw in the manger.  With each token of straw, the children are preparing the place for Christ to be born - literally, by creation a soft bed of straw, and also figuratively, by preparing their hearts with acts of kindness and prayerful devotion. The custom of preparing the creche mirrors the act of Christians preparing their hearts for the arrival of Emmanuel, God with us."  ("Christmas Eve: The History of the Feast", in God with Us, p. 119)  For a more contemporary way to enact this in your home, see here 

It is as if all through Advent and now as we come to the final few hours before the celebration, "we ourselves become the manger, inviting Christ to dwell within us just as He found rest in that Bethlehem stable" (ibid).  

So the real question is not about your home, what's under your tree (or, if you're a guy, what's still at the mall waiting for you to begin your Christmas shopping) or what's on the menu for the next few days.  The real question is are YOU ready for Christmas?  

The Subversive Message of the Prince of Peace: Why Mary's Magnificat was Banned in Guatemala

A few years ago, I was in Guatemala observing a country still reeling from civil conflict, political corruption and abject poverty.  I wondered again this morning how the beautiful people I met there will celebrate Christmas a few days from now.  How will they will read the story of Messiah, God's deliverer sent to bring hope and freedom to the nations?  

I was reminded in my Advent reading this morning that some of the Christmas story is so subversive, so pointed in its critique of power, pride and wealth that Luke 1-2 would read quite differently to my Guatemalan friends.  Listen to Katleen Norris' observations in a reading for the 4th Thursday of Advent: 

Mary utters a song so powerful that its meaning still resonates in profound and disturbing ways.  In the twentieth century Mary's "Magnificat" became a cornerstone of liberation theology, so much so that during the 1980's the government of Guatemala found its message so subversive that it banned its recitation in public worship. 

The Magnificat reminds us that what we most value, all that gives us status - power, pride, strength and wealth - can be a barrier to receiving what God has in store for us.  If we have it all, or think we can buy it all, there will be no Christmas for us.  If we are full of ourselves, there will be no room for God to enter our hearts at Christmas.  Mary's prayer of praise, like many of the psalms, calls us to consider our true condition: God is God, and we are the creatures God formed out of earth.  The nations are but nations, and even the power of a mighty army cannot save us.  We all return to dust. And if we hope to rise in God's new creation, where love and justice will reign triumphant, our responsibility, here and now, is to reject the temptation to employ power and force and oppression against those weaker than ourselves.  We honour the Incarnation best by honouring God's image in all people, and seeking to make this world into a place of welcome for the Prince of Peace." (p. 113-114 in "God With Us").

What kinds of wonderfully subversive actions will you undertake to celebrate Christmas this year? 

Annunciations of One Sort or Another In Most Lives

I came across this poem in my advent reading this morning and have been captivated by the reminder that we are always free to say NO to God, but at what cost?  What might we miss out on?  What would Mary have missed?  What might God be inviting you to participate in today that you won't want to miss?  

Poem: The Annunciation by Denise Levertov

We know the scene: the room, variously furnished,
almost always a lecturn, a book; always
the tall lily.

Arrived on solemn grandeur of great wings,
the angelic ambassador, standing or hovering,
whome she acknowledges, a guest.

But we are told of meek obedience. No one mentions
courage
The engendering Spirit
did not enter her without consent. God waited.

She was free
to accept or refuse, choice
integral to humanness.

Aren't there annunciations
of one sort or another in most lives?
Some unwillingly undertake great destinies,
enact them in sullen pride,
uncomprehending.

More often those moments
when roads of light and storm
open from darkness in a man or woman,
are turned away from
in dread, in a wave of weakness, in despair
and with relief.
Ordinary lives continue.

God does not smite them.
But the gates close, the pathway vanishes..

She had been a child who played, ate, spelt
like any other child - but unlike others,
wept only for pity, laughed
in joy not triumpf.
Compassion and intelligence
fused in her, indivisible.

Called to a destiny more momentous
than any in all of Time,
she did not quail,
only asked

a simple, "How can this be?"
and gravely, courteously,
took to heart the angel's reply,
perceiving instantly
the astounding ministry she was offered:

to bear in her womb
Infinite weight and lightness; to carry
in hidden, finite inwardness,
nine months of Eternity; to contain
in slender vase of being,
the sum of power -
in narrow flesh,
the sum of light.

Then bring to birth,
push out into air, a Man-child
needing, like any other,
milk and love -

but who was God.

 

What To Do with Santa Claus?

It was my 6 year old daughter who first piped up...  She had come across a little porcelain figurine of Santa kneeling at the Nativity which caused her to remark very mater-of-factly: "I didn't know that Santa and Jesus were alive at the same time, dad."  

It's been over 100 years since journalist Francis Church wrote a much-reprinted editorial: "Yes, Virgina, There is a Santa Claus" and people of faith and good conscience still wonder what to do with the jolly old fat man in the red suit.  Some shun him completely, feeling that by doing so, they are appropriately rejecting the consumerism that has come to mar the season in the Western world.  Others embrace him whole heartedly, as evidenced by churches hosting Santa Breakfasts and the like.  But like so many other facets of our faith, I am convinced that either end of that spectrum is perhaps less that healthy and I'd like to propose a third way.  This year, why not redeem St. Nick from the myths and caricatures that have come to dominate and return him to his rightful place in history.  

On December 6, the church has historically celebrated the Feast of Saint Nicolas.  He's come a long way "from being a fourth-century Bishop in the distant Roman province of Lycia, through innumerable pious legends, until he became "Sinter Klaas", which is older Dutch for Saint Nicolas; in our day, Americans have turned him into Santa Claus, patron saint of the season commandment to shop until you drop." (from Richard John Neuhaus' The Feast of Saint Nicolas, p. 41, God with Us).  Listen to some of his story to discern what aspects of his life and character can be redeemed:

Very little is known about his life, but he is remembered as a man of great faith and compassion.  He was also a fierce advocate for those who had been unjustly condemned.  But he left behind no writings: the legends surrounding his life are all we have.  Nicolas is most well know is the West as the patron saint of children and gift-giving.  His connection to the American character of Santa Claus is faint, but it can be traced.  According to tradition, Nicholas' parents died when he was young, leaving him a large sum of money.  With his inheritance, Nicolas practiced charity, helping those in need.

One legend in particular illustrates his generosity: a family in his community was desperate; the father had lost all of his money and had been unable to find husbands for his three daughters.  The daughters were in danger of being given over to prostitution or another form of degradation when, one night, Nicholas appeared at their home.  He tossed three bags of gold into the open window (or down the chimney, in some versions) - thereby saving them from a terrible fate.  This tale is probably the source of his eventual connection to the tradition of gift giving at Christmas....

Aside from the obvious disparities between Saint Nicolas and the secular Santa Claus, perhaps the most poignant difference between them can be seen in the nature of the gifts they give.  While Santa has his bundle of toys, the gift that Saint Nicholas gives is nothing short of freedom from poverty and desperation.  The life of Saint Nicholas is an example of faith made flesh in actions of true charity." (ibid, pages 39-40)

So instead of rejecting Saint Nick, I humbly suggest that we re-tell his true story and reclaim the deeper principles and more compelling practice of true Christian charity this Christmas.       

Fat Wallets, No Friends

Christmas is a women's holiday.  There, I said it.  I came to this perhaps illogical conclusion in a strangely back-handed way...  It has nothing to do with whose job it is or isn't to prep for the 25th but rather everything to do with the inordinately high presence of women's Christmas events.  Couple this with the conspicuous absence of anything for us guys and my logic is unassailable (well, OK, almost).  

I'm certainly not complaining or asking for some kind of a craft or caroling night for us guys, I'm simply wondering what it is about the social and communal nature of women's Christmas events that simply doesn't translate well for dudes.  I mean, when was the last time you saw a Christmas event that was specificlaly organzied with men in mind?  

Thomas Joiner, in his book "Lonely at the Top: The High Cost of Men's Success" tells the story of his own father "a successful businessman and family man who committed suicide at age 56.  'My dad had close friendships in early childhood but they faded or failed for whatever reasons...  The problem is not precisely that he lost them, the precise problem is that he did no replenish them - and I believe it killed him, or more accurately led him to kill himself.  His autopsy report should read: male, age 56, cause of suicide: friendlessness.'" (qtd in Macleans, Nov 14, 2011, page 95).

Why this lack of friendship?  Joiner postulates that "men, more than women, focus on attaining wealth and status, neglecting relationships.  'A lucky few can get by on the friendships they made back in the day.  But many can't, and over time, men drift away from friendship and simultaneously earn money and status.  This leaves them puzzled indeed - they spent years achieving money and status, finally got it, and yet they feel lonely and empty.'" (ibid).

The solution?  Get a gang.  "Gangship is essential to men's well being...  Lonely men at home crave a reconstituted gang.  Hence NASCAR and golf, the attraction to and fascination with, for men, represents an attempt to vicariously experience gangship" (ibid).  Another solution Joiner proposes?  An old-fashioned reunion - "it can be as juvenile a time as the guys can muster, and ideally it needs to occur regularly.  The goal of the reunion is to reconnect the man's social connections where they were at their peak" (95).  

So this Christmas, guys, while you spouse is at the ladies Christmas tea, why not pick up the phone and call an old buddy.  Or reach out on Facebook and put a hunting trip together.  Who knows, it just might wave your life. 

The Gift of Receptivity

I love Advent.  The sense of wonder that only grows when you learn to wait.  The excitement of knowing that all around the world, people from multiple streams of Christian tradition are setting their hearts and their hopes on the same thing at the same time.  

So last week I went down to our basement bookshelf where we keep all of our seasonal books (and a few well-loved but long since outgrown kid's books) to select my Advent reader for this year.  Being a person who does not love repetition, I have a few to choose from so that I don't fall into ruts too easily ("Oh, I remember this story from last year!" is not good for me).  I also like to stretch myself outside of my usual reading routines at Advent and so most of my readers are more high church or more global in focus.  I decided that after a few years off from it, I am heading back to one of my favorite Advent readers: "God With Us: Rediscovering the Meaning of Christmas".  I love the poetic passion of Luci Shaw or the deep theological ruminations of Richard John Neuhaus.  It's good food for the soul to get me started on winter mornings.

This morning was a great example.  The First Monday and Advent and already a gem!  Listen to Neuhaus as he describes what it means to have faith:

Faith does not assert claims; faith recieves the gift that is undeserved.  Faith is itself a gift, the gift of receptivity.  Mary received the gifts in saying 'Let it be to me according to your word."  To her, and through her to us, was given the gift of the Child who is nothing less, no one less, than the Saviour of the world.  For us he lived and suffered and died; for us he was raised triumphant that we might, even though we suffer and die,  forever live in his glory.  The gift is already given and forever is now for those who give him permission to let life be a gift in response to a gift.  It really is a matter of giving God permission, as Mary gave God permission.  He will not be the Lord of our life without our permission.  Faith is giving permission." (21)

The greatest gift you or I might recieve this season is the gift that has already been given and simply needs to be embraced: the gift of receptivity.  

Leaving the Gospel Out of Gospel Presentations

A friend of mine and I were recently lamenting the abysmal statistics on evangelicals and how we seem to have lost the zeal for evangelism that we once had as a movement.  Don't get me wrong - I'm glad that some of that mis-placed zeal is gone.  We've all likely had examples where someone came up to us (or we went up to someone?) and force-fed a pre-fabricated gospel presentation (known politely as a tract) to an unwilling participant.  Perhaps in a healthy way some of our timidity is related to excesses in this category.  

But there is a deeper question that underlies this: when you are n conversation with someone about faith, what are the non-negotiable must-be-included components of a gospel presentation?  Is there a 'core' mixture of elements that you dare not leave out of the conversation or is there a freedom that might require adaptive listening to the individual and the Holy Spirit?

In Acts 24, we see Paul making a gospel presentation to Governor Felix and his Jewish wife, Drusilla.  This is a couple who knows the story.  They know of Jesus, the know about The Way, they are conversant with both ancient and recent Jewish history and customs.  So Paul emphasizes a unique mix of elements in his conversation with them that do not traditionally find their way into our gospel presentations: Paul "told them about faith in Christ Jesus... He reasoned with them about righteousness, and self-control and the coming day of judgement." (24:24b-25a).  This is a fascinating mix of elements - both highly personal, highly contextual and highly Christological.  However, none of them come up in the Four Spiritual Laws

So the question is this - how rigid or fixed are you in your presentation of the gospel?  Are you able to take a detour off the Romans Road if the conversation requries it?  Could you leave out or re-emphasize the 4 spiritual Laws if the person's situation warranted it?  Do you have the skills, the courage and the creativity necessary to adapt your style and your content to the audience's history, needs and experiences?  If not, you might be leaving the gospel out of your gospel presentation.