On Leading Well

Year: 2008

  • Blogference 2008: Lead Change by Bridging The Gap

    Yes, you’re at the right place. Welcome to the Blogference on Leading Change.

    Each day several of us will be posting entries on some aspect of leading change. You’re invited to read, reflect, and respond. I hope this will serve as a great exposure to other thinkers and their ideas about living well and leading well.

    On this blog we’ll explore this idea: Lead Change by Bridging the Knowing-Doing Gap.

    What is the Knowing-Doing Gap? It’s a very dangerous place. If left unexplored it can grow into a black hole of fear, pride, and traditionalism. Worst of all – nothing grows there. Jesus described the gap this way:

    Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, “The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat, so practice and observe whatever they tell you—but not what they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. (Matthew 23:1-7, ESV)

    What does this have to do with leading change in an organization? Well, everything. An organization is simply a group of people who work together toward a common end. It can be as small as a family or as large as a sprawling multinational corporation. As members of an organization, it’s easy for us to wait for someone else to change first. We say things like “If only the leadership – they – would do this or change that, then I could….” This type of thinking creates passivity. Desirable change occurs each time a person in that organization chooses to act in accordance with what they know is right.

    Leadership is initiative. Leadership is character in action.

    This concept is captured well in some recent ads by Liberty Mutual.

    The first requirement for leading change is to model the Way. Jesus, without question the greatest organizational change agent who ever lived, knew that. So it comes as no surprise that James Kouzes and Barry Posner, co-authors of The Leadership Challenge, list Modeling The Way as the starting point for exemplary leadership. (BTW: If you don’t have that book on your shelf, you’re missing out on one of the best books published in the last 1,000 years on leadership.)

    Lesson for change agents: Start here. Lead change by modeling the way.

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  • Know Your People

    Last night I witnessed some excellent old-fashioned leadership at Timber Creek High School’s Awards Night. Following the opening fanfare, principal John Wright rose to introduce the “Leaders of the Pack.” Out of a graduating senior class of 1,000 and a high shool with an enrollment of 4,500, these 16 or so Timber Creek Wolves were selected from among the top 70 recommended by faculty as leaders among their peers.

    Travis and I both gawked in amazement. Mr. Wright introduced each student by name, then added personal remarks such as “Tim Gooldy, dual-sport athlete in soccer and lacrosse, also a member of such and such clubs and the National Honor Society, and….” Why were we amazed? Because the man had no notes in front of him. He knew these students.

    People today long to be known. Whether Wolves or sheep or people, servant leaders know well the state of their flock. Way to go, John Wright!

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  • What Is Coaching, Anyway?

    The recent surge in the personal coaching profession indicates that people today are hungry for answers. What drives someone to pay anywhere from $250 to $1200 (or more) per month for a weekly 45 minute phone call?

    I believe it’s partly due to our innate, God-given desire to grow, improve, and succeed.

    During the past week I’ve spent time in two Athens – one in Greece and one in Ohio. Conversations with friends who invest most of their time with college students gravitated to the issue of life-change. Today’s students are overwhelmed with choices, data, and information. As a result their filters are high – most won’t even answer their cell phone if caller-id doesn’t show someone they know.

    Contemporary educational theory purports that if students are given more information they will make better, more responsible (can we say moral?) choices. But the evidence doesn’t bear that out. Studies reveal (see Made To Stick) that more choices typically lead to analysis paralysis. Maybe that explains the 3.5 hours per day that the average guy spends gaming or surfing.

    People today want coaches because they want to know how to live better.

    What does a good coach do? In sports, good coaches teach the fundamentals, observe performance, offer affirmation and correction, inspire with an arm around the shoulder or a well-placed kick in the rear, and work with a player to chart a course for the future. The best coaches find a way to extract an individual’s dreams and keep them in view.

    Smells a lot like life-on-life discipleship to me. When Jesus said “I am the way, the truth, and the life,” he wasn’t just talking about theory or religious ideas. He meant “I am the way to live – do it this way.”

    Each of us needs a few friends to help us sift through the mountains of information we’re inundated with each day and convert that into knowledge leading to wisdom. Wisdom is simply knowledge applied well. Wisdom, like a good coach, offers teaching, reproof, correction, and training in good living.