Greenwich Leadership Forum
Leadership By the Book – But Which Book?
David W. Miller, Ph.D.
Take-Aways from GLF
March 9, 2007

I want to be #1 in my field. I want to be head of the firm some day. I want to own my own business. These sentiments of ours are not much different than those expressed by John and James as they were jockeying for position with Jesus. They, like all rising executives in an organization, were thinking about their careers, their future. In one of the most incredible examples of boldness and career posturing, James and John ask Jesus if they can each have a seat at Jesus’ right side and left side in his glory (Mark 10:35-45). Talk about succession planning!

So how do we, as leaders and rising leaders in the corporate world, deal with our natural career ambitions and maximize the gifts and opportunities God has given us? Does the Bible call us to suppress them and give up our dreams? What does Godly leadership look like, and how do we avoid the cultural imposters? Is there such a thing as “Godly ambition”?

To get some answers:

• Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke of this very human instinct in his moving sermon, “The Drum Major Instinct.” We all have a desire to lead, to be out front, to be in charge, and to have others see us and applaud our moves. After pointing out all the biblical problems with the destructive nature of ambition, King does a stunning volte-face, and actually intones that the Drum Major Instinct is a good thing! If, that is, we direct our ambition to be first in serving, first in humility, first in generosity, and first in love.
• Jesus did not chide James and John for their outrageous ambition. Instead, he challenged them to be sure they knew what they were signing up for. “Do you really think you can drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with?” (Mark 10:38). In effect, Jesus is saying sitting at might right and left side, first of all is not mine to grant, but even if it were, are you really ready to pick up your cross and follow me daily? (see Mark 8: 34-36 )
• King and Jesus, and even the contemporary business guru Jim Collins all come to the same place. Sure, we all should have leadership ambitions, but they have to be rightly directed and rightly understood. We lead for the sake of serving others, not ourselves.
• As Jesus puts it: “Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:43-45)
  
• As King puts it, imagining what Jesus would say: “Don’t give up on this instinct. It’s a good instinct if you use it right. It’s a good instinct if you don’t distort it and pervert it. Don’t give it up. Keep feeling the need for being important. Keep feeling the need for being first. But I want you to be first in love. I want you to be first in moral excellence. I want you to be first in generosity.”
• And Collins puts it: the most successful leader is the “Level Five” leader who is known for: 1) vision without vanity; 2) humility yet intense will; 3) self-effacing yet confident; and 4) self-denial so as to serve the institution and the greater good.

In a nutshell – leadership for followers of Jesus looks different than the models in business best-sellers like “The Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun” or “Looking out for #1” in these ways:

• Leadership is not based on selling a personality type
  We all have the Drum Major Instinct – the challenge is to harness it for the good, for others, for service, for generosity, and for love
• Godly leaders are Servant Leaders
  Level Five Leaders embrace the paradox of vision without vanity, humility with resolve, and service of others not self.
• Read Mark 10:35-45 and also Philippians 2:1-11 as reminders of biblical images of leadership and ambition that honors God and serves neighbor.

So go ahead and strive to be #1. Rise to the top. Run your own firm. But do it by harnessing your Drum Major Instinct so you are #1 in service and love, in and through your work. That’s Leadership by The Book.
 

David W. Miller, Ph.D.
 
 

(david.w.miller@yale.edu)
Executive Director, Yale Center for Faith & Culture
God at Work: The History and Promise of the Faith at Work Movement (Oxford University Press, 2007)