Leadership Thought: A Bit of Advice I Gave to One of My Children.
Dear Friends,
I am writing this Leadership thought as I am overlooking the
crystal-clear waters of Lake Ontario as I sit on the porch of our summer
place in upstate New York. Yesterday I went fishing with my friends, and we had
a great day catching smallmouths while casting Little Cleo's, Mepps'
spinners, and plastic yellow tipped worms (only small mouth’ bassers’ can
appreciate these lure references) into the refreshing waters of Lake Ontario.
This morning at 5:00 a.m. I was again on the lake with another friend, my
next-door neighbor, watching the sun come up while doing the fishing
'thing' all over again. Yes, life is good on the lake, No Leadership Thought
yesterday-too busy enjoying the company of my friends on the water, and late
today because once again fishing took precedent. I sure wish you all could be
with Jean and I as we enjoy family and friends in beautiful White's Bay here in
northern New York. Even if you hate fishing, I know you would love the area.
I have received a number of responses to my Leadership Thoughts
the past couple of weeks, and if you haven’t received an immediate answer, it
is only because all the above summer activities have limited my time at the
computer keyboard.
A few years ago, I was asked by one of my children "if I
could give a young person any bit of advice, what would it be." I e-mailed
back my one-word answer-“integrity.” The one best bit of advice I could offer
anyone (other than to know Jesus personally) would be to always be a person of
integrity.
The world is looking for people who will say what they mean and
meant what they say, whose yes is a yes, and whose no is a no.
Ted Engstrom wrote a wonderful book I read many years ago, simply
called- Integrity. In it he defines integrity as follows. “It is keeping
our promises….doing what we said we would do….choosing to be accountable, and
taking the motto, ‘semper fidelis’, the promise to always be faithful” (Forward
to the book, Integrity)
The late Lloyd George Patterson, who was the historian at
Episcopal Divinity School, was once asked how he accounted for the endurance of
the early church, when so many of the tools of communication we associate with
growth either did not exist or could not be used in a hostile environment-they
couldn’t even have church buildings, let alone clever PR programs. He responded
by saying that, “The early Christian communities were characterized by
unusual integrity, and some people were attracted to that.” (Taken from
HomileticsOnline.com).Simply put this historian was saying “they walked what
they talked.” There was a consistency between their belief and behavior, their
creed and their conduct, their life and their lips.
Jesus was like that. His life was marked by consistency. If he
told his disciples to do something, you could be sure He did it Himself. He
taught His disciples to take up their cross and follow Him and He did that,
even at the cost of His own death. And of Him, the scriptures tell us, “Christ
pleased not himself" (Romans 15:3), and He taught that
"whoever would be great must become a servant," and He said, “I am
among you as he that serves (Luke 22:7). He encouraged His disciples to pray in
secret, and we see Him retreating to the mountains to be alone with His Father.
In short, Jesus practiced what he preached, and so did the early church. That
is why they were so attractive to the unbelieving world.
If you want to be a leader today, one who is followed and
respected, you must have integrity. Former president Dwight Eisenhower called
it “the supreme quality for a leader. Without it, no real success is possible,
no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in
an office. If a man’s associates find him guilty of phoniness; if they find
that he lacks forthright integrity, he will fail. His teachings and actions must
square with each other. The first great need, therefore, is integrity and high
purpose." ( p. 106, The Right to Lead, John Maxwell.
If you want a great lesson on this subject, let me encourage you
to google “poem, The Guy in the Glass” (sorry ladies as it could just as easily
have been “Girl in the Glass.” I hope each one of you will take a moment to
read this poem, and if you do, let me know what you think.
Yours in faith and friendship,
Tom
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