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Leadership Principles,
Continued
1.
Leadership Principle No. 14 - Keep Your People Informed
2.
Leadership Principle No. 13 - Keep Your Idealism, But Lose The
Perfectionism
3.
Full Bodied Preaching
Leadership Principle
No. 14--Keep Your People Informed
If
you count on and need the support of the people you lead--and
who doesn't--it is absolutely essential you keep them informed
on situations and up-to-date on circumstances. They will be reluctant
to make great sacrifices based merely on their allegiance to you.
Tell
them what's going on.
This
week, as I write, the president of the Baptist seminary in our
city sent a letter to hundreds of the school's supporters across
the country. In the single page missive he outlined the financial
situation for the seminary and the post-Katrina recovery which
is 90 percent complete. He pointed out what the American Association
of Theological Schools estimates the typical year of seminary
education to cost and laid that alongside what the six schools
of our denomination spend per student, and finally, contrasted
that with the much smaller figure for the New Orleans school.
"We're
not fighting for our survival," he pointed out, but the day-to-day
expenses of utilities and insurance have increased alarmingly
and put the seminary in a difficult situation. He was asking for
contributions to the general fund. The next day I wrote a nice
check and sent to this outstanding school which has played such
a key role in my own life and ministry.
Every
denomination has its own way of operating, but a motto in Baptist
life for many generations has been "tell the people."
Dean Doster, past-executive of Louisiana Baptists, likes to say,
"Baptists are down on what they're not up on." No doubt
it's true of other religious groups also.
I
believe that axiom and have the battle scars to prove it.
That's
why I did what I did and how I got into trouble.
Continued
Leadership Principle No. 13--Keep Your Idealism, But Lose the
Perfectionism
It
sounds so right: "I expect nothing less than perfection from
you. We have the highest standards in this church (or company
or family)."
Many
years ago, "Psychology Today" magazine ran an article
titled "The Perfectionist's Script for Self-Defeat."
It was one of the most practical and helpful things I had ever
found.
Here's
a woman on a diet. She has done well for two weeks now, avoiding
the danger foods, eating only the prescribed meals. She has lost
7 pounds and can already feel the difference in her clothes. One
day in a moment of weakness, she eats 3 potato chips. Just 3.
But she is so overwhelmed by guilt and the knowledge that she
has broken her diet, she gets discouraged about the diet and goes
on a binge. By the end of the day she has consumed 3 bags of chips
and a half-gallon of ice cream.
Anything
wrong with eating 3 potato chips? Not at all. The problem was
the impossible standard of perfection she erected for herself.
Continued
Full-Bodied Preaching
Grady
Cook, an artist in Central Mississippi, told me how he had improved
his technique. "The picture you bought from me last time,"
he said, "was all right. But I still had a lot to learn."
I assured him Margaret and I thought it was fine and that it was
hanging in our living room.
"Since
then, I've studied under a wonderful teacher," he explained,
"and have learned how to add darkness to my work." He
said, "Here. Look at this." Pointing at the picture
I would buy from him a few minutes later, he showed the shadows
and the blackness of the undergrowth of the forest. It made the
picture far more three-dimensional than the first one. The trees
stood out. It looked like someplace I'd like to explore.
We
still have both pieces of art on display in our home, but since
he explained the difference, I've enjoyed the last one far more.
"There's
something missing in this sermon," I said to myself. On the
surface, it seemed to work just fine. The "fruit of the Spirit"
passage of Galatians 5:22-23 is a familiar and well-loved one.
I'd studied it numerous times over the years and had preached
it on several occasions. I like what it says about the effect
of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer who abides in the
Lord, that in time one may observe all nine qualities of this
"fruit" in his life. I have enjoyed pointing out to
the members of my congregations that all nine qualities are the
"fruit," not "fruits," and that we do not
specialize on one or two, but the indwelling Spirit may be expected
to shine forth in all of these ways.
And
yet, studying my notes and trying to put myself in the place of
my people and listen to my own delivery of the message, I felt
it was rather blah. It just lay there. In short, it was boring
me--and if I was bored, how much more the poor hearers would be.
Something
was wrong.
Continued
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