credit for the success of ‘‘his’’ organization, his foot-washing would
have been reduced to a meaningless and hypocritical ritual.
Humility
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Humility means admitting that even the most powerful leader is not
totally in control, and that what ultimately makes leaders powerful is
not their personal charisma, but something deeper. As Steven Covey
writes:
Humility says, ‘‘I am not in control; principles ultimately govern and
control.’’ That takes humility because the traditional mind-set is ‘‘I am in control’’ . . . This mind-set leads to arrogance—the sort of pride that comes before the fall. [One is reminded of characters like King Saul, Samson, and Haman here.] People are supposed to serve. Life is a mission, not a career. 20
The great leaders of the Bible like Moses and Jesus realized that their
mission on earth was to serve a cause that was far greater than any one
leader or person. As a modern example, Gary Heavin of Curves for
Women feels a ‘‘call to greatness’’ is at the heart of his success. Ironically, that greatness can be achieved only with humility. ‘‘If you really want
to be a great leader, you must be a servant leader,’’ he says. ‘‘Our com-
pany is an upside-down pyramid; I’m at the bottom—it’s my job to
serve.’’ Heavin has ‘‘served his way’’ into becoming the third fastest
growing franchise in the world.21
ServiceMaster is a company literally founded on servant leadership.
Its 200,000 employees are in the business of serving others (mopping
and waxing floors, removing trash), and its leadership is in the business
of serving the employees. Charles Pollard, long-time CEO, cites ser-
vanthood as the linchpin of his leadership: ‘‘Too often, leaders sit in
large offices . . . and think they know and understand the people they
lead . . . Servant leaders listen and learn from those they lead. They . . .
avoid the trap that so many so-called successful leaders experience—the
arrogance of ignorance.’’22
There is no scarcity of feet to wash. The towels and water are avail-
able. The limitation, if there is one, is our ability to get on our hands
and knees and be prepared to do what we ask others to do.
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THE BIBLE ON LEADERSHIP
BIBLICAL LESSONS ON HUMILITY
A leader is no more intrinsically important than his people, but
his actions are.
No matter how much you achieve or how much acclaim you
are given, you are still human and not a god.
Express sincere (not phony) appreciation for your followers.
Where and who would you be without them?
Recognize the interdependence of yourself and all your
followers; the head is useless without the arms or the feet.
Honor the unique gifts of each member of your team.
As you rise higher, your mistakes have more impact and your
need for a humble perspective actually increases.
Don’t hold people to standards you are not meeting yourself.
To humble oneself is risky, but it usually pays off in increased
credibility.
A leader is ‘‘greater’’ than others only insofar as he serves them.
C H A P T E R
F I V E
Communication
‘‘Does not the ear test words as the tongue tastes food?’’
—P. 18:13
‘‘Like cutting off one’s feet or drinking violence is the sending of a message by the hand of a fool.’’
—P. 26:6
leader who cannot communicate clearly, powerfully, and
succinctly barely qualifies as a leader. The best ideas are use-
less if not communicated in a compelling way.
The leaders of the Bible did not have e-mail, fax ma-
chines, telephones, or even microphones. The printing press did not
exist during the times of either the Old or New Testaments, forcing
them to rely on handwritten scrolls that also had to be duplicated by
hand. Perhaps because they lacked sophisticated technologies to lean
on, they became masters of the written and spoken word, taking great
care to ensure that their messages were communicated accurately from
time to time and place to place. Consider the following examples of
communication described in the Bible:
❖ The Sermon on the Mount
❖ The protests of the prophets against idol-worship and the cor-
ruption of their own rulers and foreign rulers
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THE BIBLE ON LEADERSHIP
❖ Moses’ exhortations to the Israelites as he led them out of Egypt
and through the desert
❖ The delivery of the Ten Commandments
These communications rank as some of the most powerful, effective,
long-lasting messages ever communicated in the history of humankind.
No one could ever dismiss them as ‘‘last week’s memo’’ or the ‘‘usual
platform speech.’’ They were impassioned, inspired, and uniquely
memorable.
And despite the lack of sophisticated telecommunications equipment,
the leaders of the Bible made sure that there was plenty of two-way
communication as well. Moses, Jesus, and David were masters of man-
aging group meetings and group process (with some of the groups
reaching into the thousands). Particularly during the time of Jesus, let-
ters (epistles) went back and forth across the Middle East, Greece, and
Rome and were the primary method of communication and coordina-
tion among those who were attempting to spread the gospel in an
often-hostile environment.
Today’s leaders, with modern media at their disposal, are able to
reach many more people instantaneously. But the principles of commu-
nication remain the same. Ironically, because of the ‘‘overkill’’ of elec-
tronic communication (many of us receive several dozen e-mails a day,
most of them from people just down the corridor!), face-to-face com-
munication has taken on added importance and impact. Today’s smart
leaders complement ‘‘high-tech’’ communication approaches with
‘‘low-tech,’’ face-to-face contact to preserve the personal power of
communication.
THE IMPORTANCE OF COMMUNICATION
Without frequent and appropriate communication of overarching ideas,
mission, and vision, Judaism or Christianity would not exist today. The
Communication
89
leaders and prophets of the Bible took great care to ensure that their
ideas were communicated powerfully and accurately so the meaning
was not diluted or changed. The people did not always get the message,
sometimes they didn’t like it, and sometimes they failed to follow it,
degenerating periodically into idol worship and deviation from the
moral path. But a ‘‘great communicator’’ always arose to revive the
message and put the people back on the path.
When Samuel anointed Saul as the first king to rule over all Israel,
he was well aware of the potential for abuse of power, and he took great
pains to ensure that the people understood this potential as well as the
great potential for good that having a strong monarch promised. He
also made sure that the entire nation of Israel was present when he
delivered his message.
‘‘Samuel said to all the people: ‘Do you see the man the Lord has
chosen? There is no one like him among all the people.’ Then the
people shouted, ‘Long live the king!’ ’’ This could have been a perfect
time for Samuel to inflate himself and the new king by stirring up the
crowd even further. But instead, he communicated the need for moder-
ation and caution. Power would have to be balanced by responsibility
and controls: ‘‘Samuel explained to the people the regulations of the
kingship. He wrote them down on a scroll . . . Then Samuel dismissed
the people, each to his own home.’’ (1 Sam. 10)
A skilled communicator is comfortable in a variety of communica-
tion forums. Jesus utilized small task force meetings with his disciples,
speeches to the general public, and confrontations with the ruling reli-
gious and secular authorities. Each was handled in a different way. Simi-
larly, Moses met one-on-one with Pharaoh, in small groups with his
chief lieutenants, and in large groups with the entire nation of Israel.
Today’s best leaders need to be comfortable with groups of all sizes
and communication methods of many types as well. There is a different
kind of power in communicating with people individually, in small
groups, and in large groups, and the wise leader develops a comfort
level with each, mixing and matching these methods into an effective
communication effort that drives the organization toward its goals.
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THE BIBLE ON LEADERSHIP
had just succeeded Moses, the most powerful of Jewish leaders to that
time, it was important that he communicate consistency of message and
also invoke the power of his predecessor. He did this with a masterly
combination of verbal and nonverbal techniques.
First, Joshua ‘‘set the stage’’ dramatically by building an altar on a
mountaintop exactly as Moses had commanded. He also repeated
Moses’ message exactly, which further reminded his followers of his
direct acquisition of power from Moses, and he arranged the people
exactly as Moses had commanded. ‘‘There, in the presence of the Israel-
ites, Joshua copied on the stones the law of Moses . . . All Israel . . .
were standing on both sides of the ark . . . as Moses, the servant of the
Lord had formerly commanded . . . Afterward, Joshua read all the words