Lead like jesus ken blanchard pdf

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Answer the following questions in the sequence given or in paragraph form.
Choose one of the “5 Being Habits” (Blanchard, et al., 2016, pp.89-129) and discuss how this habit would be lived out in someone’s life today.
What do the authors claim are the benefit of adopting these habits?
Which one of the 5 Being Habits do you think is difficult and explain why?
Which one of the 5 Being Habits do you think is easiest and explain why?
In the book Jesus on Leadership (Wilkes, 1998) the author makes the statement; “You will never become a Servant Leader until you first become servant to the Leader. (p.22-23).”
Who is the “Leader” Wilkes (1998) is referring to in this statement?
Why is this so hard for people to agree to this idea and why do you think it is important?
As you think about becoming a group member for the rest of the semester in this class:
What strengths do you bring to the group as a group member in this class? Explain your answer by giving examples of how you have seen your answer to be true.

AISE FOR THE PREVIOUS EDITION

“One of our world’s great problems is egocentric, self-serving leadership—leaders who think people exist for their benefit, instead of vice versa. In stark contrast, Jesus modeled servant leadership, leading by example. He said, ‘I came to serve, not to be served.’ Now, two thousand years later, Jesus has over 2.1 billion followers, which makes Him the undisputed greatest leader of all time. No one else comes close! This is why you need to know how to lead like Jesus. He is the only flawless example. That’s why you should read this book!”

—Rick Warren, Author, The Purpose Driven Life Named One of “America’s Twenty-five Best Leaders” (U.S. News and World Report)

“I had the pleasure of hosting at our church one of Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges’s Lead Like Jesus Celebrations. What an impactful day that was for those who participated. I know they will never think about leadership in the same way again. Reading Lead Like Jesus will provide you with that kind of experience. Don’t miss learning from the greatest leadership role model of all time.”

—Bob Russell, Bob Russell Ministries; Retired Pastor, Southeast Christian Church

“Ever since writing Leadership by the Book with Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges, I’ve watched them grow in their depth of understanding of what the Bible reveals about how Jesus would have us lead others. The best thinking the Lord has revealed to them, to this point, can be found in this book. If you want to be the servant leader that Jesus mandated His followers to be, then read Lead Like Jesus. It will change your life and the lives of people you are able to influence.”

—Bill Hybels, Senior Pastor, Willow Creek Community Church

“You’ll find few men better qualified to address this topic than Ken Blanchard. His favorite name is Jesus and preferred verb is lead. Let him do for you what he’s done for me and millions of others—help you lead like Jesus.”

—Max Lucado, Minister of Preaching, Oak Hills Church; Bestselling Author

“Finally. Finally. Finally. A definitive guide to the connection between our faith and our work—one that is both theoretically elegant and immensely practical. This is, without a doubt, the most important management book I have ever encountered.”

—Patrick Lencioni, Author, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team

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“Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges continue to lead us deeper into the gold mines of God’s Word to the treasured truth of life. Lead Like Jesus promises a refurbishing, applicable perspective from the leader of all time!”

—Dan T. Cathy, President and COO, Chick-fil-A, Inc.

“For those who seek to lead like Jesus, this book is an important reflective tool in helping to better understand—who we are, where we are going, and why it is important for people to follow. It is a reminder to all of us that leadership is only a means. To what end is the ultimate question.”

—C. William Pollard, Chairman, Executive Committee, Billy Graham Evangelistic Association; Former Chairman, ServiceMaster

“There is no greater leadership model than Jesus, and Blanchard and Hodges have taken years of experience identifying the leadership characteristics of Jesus that will affect your life and leadership. They have hit the nail on the head with Lead Like Jesus.”

—John C. Maxwell, Founder of the John Maxwell Company, the John Maxwell Team, EQUIP, and the John Maxwell Leadership Foundation

“Millions of people wish everyone could lead like Jesus. Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges have dedicated their time and energy, insights and professionalism, to make it happen. Read this book and ponder the questions raised, the ideas presented, and ask yourself if you too can take up the challenge in your own life. It’s not just what would Jesus do, but especially, how would Jesus lead? This book will help you find the answers.”

—Laurie Beth Jones, Author, Jesus, CEO; The Path; Jesus: Life Coach; and The Four Elements of Success

“Ken has a divine passion for leaders to let Jesus live out His life through them in servant leadership. His book, Lead Like Jesus, is an extremely timely book that is both thorough and God-honoring. I highly recommend it to all who lead others.”

—Henry Blackaby, Author, Experiencing God

“Lead Like Jesus is a gift to the sincere and a beacon of light to the lost. May the knowledge conveyed in this teaching help spread the message of truth around the world. It has spoken to my heart as well as my mind.”

—Mary Anne Shula, Shula Enterprises

“Lead Like Jesus transcends all relationships and cuts to the heart of the matter— leading like Jesus will change you and the lives you touch. Choose this book today to be challenged and motivated to lead at a higher level everywhere! You’ll never be or lead the same again!”

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—Marjorie Dorr, Independent Director, Pharmerica Corporation; Former Chief Strategy Officer, WellPoint, Inc.

“In Lead Like Jesus we learn that it is intimacy with Jesus that transforms our lives and leadership. The difference between this and other leadership books is that the focus on Jesus encourages the leader to actually learn, grow, and change behavior. There is no more effective way to becoming a great leader.”

—Vince Siciliano, President and CEO, New Resource Bank

“A path-breaking book in every way. This book shows you how to live your faith in your world—without ducking, without offending. Follow the path and be changed in every way.”

—Bob Buford, Author, Halftime and Finishing Well Founder, Leadership Network

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© 2016 Lead Like Jesus

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ISBN 978-0-7180-7725-9 (TP)

ePub Edition April 2016: ISBN 9780718084974

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015917587

16 17 18 19 20 RRD 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

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CONTENTS

Ebook Instructions

Introduction

PART I: A BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE ON LEADERSHIP Chapter 1: Are You a Leader? Chapter 2: The Greatest Leadership Role Model of All Time Chapter 3: Jesus the Servant Chapter 4: Is Jesus a Relevant Role Model for Us Today? Chapter 5: A Transformational Journey That Begins on the Inside Chapter 6: The Four Domains of Leading Like Jesus

PART II: THE HEART OF A GREAT LEADER Chapter 7: What Does Leading Like Jesus Look Like? Chapter 8: I Want to Lead Like Jesus, but My Heart Does Not Chapter 9: The Results of a Heart Out of Order Chapter 10: Warning Signs on the Path to Edging God Out Chapter 11: A Heart Turnaround

PART III: THE BEING HABITS Chapter 12: The Habit of Accepting and Abiding in God’s Unconditional

Love Chapter 13: The Habit of Experiencing Solitude Chapter 14: The Habit of Practicing Prayer Chapter 15: The Habit of Knowing and Applying Scripture Chapter 16: The Habit of Maintaining Supportive Relationships

PART IV: THE HEAD OF A GREAT LEADER Chapter 17: Developing Your Own Compelling Vision Chapter 18: Jesus’ Compelling Vision Chapter 19: Creating a Compelling Team/Organizational Vision Chapter 20: Implementing Your Compelling Vision

PART V: THE HANDS OF A GREAT LEADER Chapter 21: The Leader as a Performance Coach

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Chapter 22: The Work of the Carpenter Chapter 23: The Way of the Carpenter Chapter 24: The EGO Factor

PART VI: THE DOING HABITS Chapter 25: The Habit of Obeying God and Expressing His Unconditional

Love Chapter 26: The Habit of Grace Chapter 27: The Habit of Forgiveness Chapter 28: The Habit of Encouragement Chapter 29: The Habit of Community Chapter 30: Leading Like Jesus Begins in You

PART VII: NEXT STEPS TO LEADING LIKE JESUS Chapter 31: Leading Positive Change Chapter 32: EGOs Anonymous: Taking the First Step Toward Exalting

God Only Next Steps to Leading Like Jesus: Checklist Next Steps to Leading Like Jesus: Resource List

Discussion Guide

Acknowledgments

Notes

About the Authors

Index

Scripture Index

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Ebook Instructions

In this ebook edition, please use your device’s note-taking function to record your thoughts wherever you see the bracketed instructions [Your Notes] or [Your Response]. Use your device’s highlighting function to record your response whenever you are asked to checkmark, circle, underline, or otherwise indicate your answer(s).

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INTRODUCTION

The world is in desperate need of a different leadership role model. Written a decade ago, the original Lead Like Jesus book begins with this statement, which we believe is still true today.

Our experiences and learnings in the last ten years have continued to remind us that the most important thing in leadership is the leader; the most important part of the leader is his or her heart; and the most important connection to a leader’s heart is God.

Most leadership resources focus on management techniques, competencies, strategies, and tactics while ignoring the most important part of leadership—the leaders themselves. At Lead Like Jesus, we believe that real, lasting change starts on the inside. When a leader chooses to allow Jesus to transform him or her from the inside out, that choice will have an effect on everyone and everything that leader influences. We are clear: you can’t lead like Jesus without Jesus!

A tremendous benefit happens in the lives of people who lead like Jesus: freedom. Jesus is the only one who offers a model of leadership that’s built on freedom and complete security in Him and His power at work within us. While the world continues to throw solutions at us that are built on self-empowerment, self- reliance, competition, peer pressure, and performance, leading like Jesus frees us to reach heights of influence we never would be able to reach on our own. When we are free from pride and fear, free to humbly accept feedback and admit our mistakes, and strong enough to overlook offenses and forgive the errors of others, we can lead people and help them reach their full potential.

Still, in the perspective of some leaders, leading like Jesus is “soft” or impractical; for this reason, many leaders continue to bypass it. The results of this way of thinking are clear: continued struggles, dissatisfied employees, frustrated leaders, broken families, split churches, and chaotic, poorly performing teams and organizations.

Try to imagine leaders who lead like Jesus. Leaders who love those they influence so much that they help them get from where they are to where God would have them go. Leaders who hold people accountable, encourage them daily, confront challenges, and bring authenticity, character, and integrity to every interaction. Leaders who want to guide others on the same path. Imagine a world full of those leaders!

There is no need to search further. We have the perfect leadership role model in Jesus. We simply need to follow Him and allow Him to work in us and through us.

Even though we have been declaring for many years that Jesus is the greatest leadership role model of all time, we have not realized the full extent of the

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leadership gifts He offers us. Jesus is not only the greatest servant leader but also the greatest visionary, the greatest team builder, the greatest team motivator, and the greatest change agent of all time. In fact, we cannot think of any attribute of leadership that Jesus did not model for everyone as He trained His disciples. Now, more than two thousand years later, Jesus still has more followers than any leader the world has ever had.

We have also learned—or relearned—that leading like Jesus is love-based leadership. In fact, God intends the primary outcome of our leadership and influence to be showing people Jesus’ love. Leading like Jesus is essentially a matter of the heart. It is also the highest thought of the head, it is the principal work of the hands, and it is both expressed through and replenished by the habits.

The formula Everything – Love = Nothing is not of our making. It is the irrefutable law of the kingdom of God, perfectly fulfilled by Jesus. It is also the defining characteristic of the leadership model of Jesus: leading like Jesus means loving like Jesus.

These timeless words of the apostle Paul have much to say to those who are leaders and teachers, who influence the lives of others:

If we speak with the tongues of men and angels, but do not have love (as our purpose), we have become noisy gongs or clanging cymbals. If we have the gifts of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge (about how to lead people); and if we have all faith (in our leadership), so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, we are nothing. And if (we engage in selfish acts of self- promotions and) we give all our possessions to feed the poor and if we surrender our bodies to be burned, but do not have love, it profits us nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:1–3, paraphrased)

In this book we will dig deeper into what it means to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” and to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:37–39). We will explore how our formal and informal influence on others can encourage them to develop a closer relationship with God and help them see the love He has for them—the love so beautifully demonstrated through His Son, Jesus.

Included are the following new or expanded lessons we’ve learned during the past ten years:

• If a leader’s heart and motives are not right, all the brightest thinking and most skilled leadership cannot progress beyond the limits of artful, self- serving exploitation and manipulation.

• The Being Habits and the Doing Habits of Jesus provide practical ways to put into action the desire to lead like Jesus.

• Connecting powerful personal testimonies with biblical truths brings added relevance and authenticity to the Lead Like Jesus message for people of different generations and cultures.

• Leadership is about change: initiating change, responding to change, guiding

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the process of change, reinforcing change, and modeling change for others. • To lead like Jesus calls for engagement in an interactive personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.

Ken and Phil are excited that Phyllis Hendry, our dear friend, our sister in Jesus, and the president/CEO of the Lead Like Jesus ministry, is joining us as a coauthor. Her passion for the Lead Like Jesus message and her personal experience of the power of love and leadership greatly enrich this book.

Our prayer is that this book will strengthen your relationship with Jesus and that you will accept Him not only as your Lord and Savior but also as your leadership role model. As you are transformed, people around you will be influenced and drawn to the same model whether they are leading a business, a nonprofit organization, a community initiative, a church, or a family.

No matter how difficult your leadership role may seem, remember what Jesus said: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Jesus’ invitation is still open. And it is open to you.

We invite you to become part of the movement so that someday everyone, everywhere, will be impacted by someone who leads like Jesus.

On the journey with you, KEN BLANCHARD PHIL HODGES PHYLLIS HENDRY

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PART I

A BIBLICAL PERSPECTIVE ON LEADERSHIP

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Colossians 3:15–17

People often see leadership based on an “It’s all about me” approach. In all kinds of organizations and institutions, the rewards of money, recognition, and power increase as an individual moves up the hierarchy. Self-promotion (pride) and self- protection (fear) dominate today’s leadership style. Many leaders act as if the sheep are there only for the benefit of the shepherd. In personal relationships, leadership based on mutual respect, loving care, self-sacrifice, and openness is often undermined when pride, fear, and indifference replace intimacy with isolation. That’s the bad news.

The good news is that there is a better way. This alternative approach to leadership is driven by four basic beliefs that have become central to our ministry:

• Leadership happens anytime we influence the thinking, behavior, or development of another person.

• Jesus is the greatest leadership role model of all time. • Servant leadership is the only approach to leadership that Jesus validates for His followers.

• Effective leadership begins on the inside, with our hearts.

As you explore these four beliefs, we hope you will gain an entirely different perspective on leadership. May you come to see leadership as a journey that begins with your own transformation and progresses to your leading another person, then to leading a small number of people, and finally to leading an organization. May you also see that leadership is the alignment of four essential domains: the heart,

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the head, the hands, and the habits. Let’s get started!

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1

ARE YOU A LEADER?

Jesus called [his disciples] together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.”

Mark 10:42–44

In our Lead Like Jesus workshops, we often ask, “How many of you think of yourselves as a leader?” We are amazed that only about 20 to 25 percent of the people raise their hands, even though our audiences are always predominantly made up of managers and supervisors at every level of a business, an educational institution, a government agency, or a faith-based organization. The reason most people don’t raise their hands is they assume that leadership has to do with a workplace position or title. Many people feel they are not high up enough on the organizational chart to say that they are leaders.

We always follow up our first question by asking people to think about the person who has had the most significant impact on their lives, the person who has played a major role in who they are today as human beings. Then we ask, “How many of you named a manager or a supervisor you’ve worked for over the years?” Hardly a hand goes up. Then we ask, “How many of you identified your father, your mother, a grandmother or grandfather, aunt, uncle, or friend?” Almost every hand in the room goes up. Why is that? Because in reality, every human being is a leader in some part of his or her life—because leadership is an influence process. We believe that anytime you seek to influence the thinking, behavior, or development of someone in your personal or professional life, you are taking on the role of a leader.

As a result, the only way to avoid leadership is to isolate yourself from the outside world.

Leadership can be as intimate as speaking words of guidance and encouragement to a loved one or as formal as passing instructions along extended lines of communication in an organization. Leadership can be nurturing character and self-worth in children and promoting greater intimacy and fulfillment in personal relationships, or it can involve distributing resources in an organization to reach a specific goal or accomplish a given task.

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Thus, there are two types of leadership: life role leadership and organizational leadership.

As a spouse, parent, family member, friend, or citizen, you have multiple life role leadership opportunities every day. What leadership role could be more important than these? Consider some examples:

• a husband and wife who seek mutual agreement on day-to-day finances • a mother who teaches her toddler how to eat with a spoon • a son who provides aging parents with advice and guidance about living arrangements

• a person who risks alienation when confronting a friend about a moral failure • a citizen who helps find housing for the homeless

Different from life role leadership, organizational leadership usually comes with an official position or title that empowers you to serve the perceived needs of an organization. Again, examples might help:

• a corporate executive who rejects offers of insider information that would give his company a competitive edge

• a middle school teacher who excites curiosity in her students • a rehabilitation nurse who patiently handles a stroke victim’s anger • a pastor who comforts a grieving member of his church • a high school football coach who focuses more on molding his players’ character than on winning games

A key difference between life role leadership and organizational leadership involves the permanence of the relationships involved. Life role leaders function in enduring relationships as parents, spouses, siblings, friends, and citizens; duty and obligation cannot be easily relinquished or discarded.

Organizational leaders, on the other hand, operate for a season in an environment of temporary relationships and fairly constant change. People can come and go very quickly for all sorts of reasons. This lack of stability in organizations often breeds a degree of reserve and qualified commitment evident in competitive office politics.

Most of the significant leadership that shapes our lives does not come from leaders with titles on an organizational chart; it comes from leaders in life role relationships. It is instructive to note that in the early church, a candidate’s life role leadership was a prerequisite for assuming organizational leadership. In 1 Timothy 3:1–7 we read this:

Here is a trustworthy saying: Whoever aspires to be an overseer desires a noble task. Now the overseer is to be above reproach, faithful to his wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage

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his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?) He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap.

One person who exemplified servant leadership in Jesus’ life was His mother, Mary: “I am the Lord’s servant. . . . May your word to me be fulfilled” (Luke 1:38). She passed on to her Son a legacy of obedience, submission, faith, and service. Mary epitomized the essence of a servant heart. In her life role as a mother, she was positioned to have strategic influence on the life and spirit of her Child. The relationship between mother and Son—between a soul already tested and found willing and a Soul to be nurtured, between a spiritual teacher and a Student—was part of God’s plan to prepare Jesus for leadership.

PAUSE AND REFLECT

Take a moment to think about the people who have most influenced your thinking, your behavior, and your life path. As you recall their names and faces, you will realize that leadership titles and positions of organizational authority are only part of the leadership landscape—and usually not the most significant part.

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2

THE GREATEST LEADERSHIP ROLE MODEL OF ALL TIME

“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 10:45

The reality is, all of us are leaders. So, as you lead, who is your role model? We feel the greatest leadership role model of all time is Jesus.

When we tell people this, we get a lot of raised eyebrows. People want to ask what evidence we have—and we’re glad when they do.

A few years ago at a Lead Like Jesus teleconference broadcast from Atlanta, Georgia, Ken asked his cohost, the well-known pastor and author John Ortberg, “Why would you travel all the way across the country from your home church in Menlo Park, California, to teach people that Jesus is the greatest leadership role model of all time?”

Ortberg, a gifted storyteller, smiled at the audience and said, “Let’s assume for a moment that two thousand years ago you were a gambler. I know a number of you don’t like gambling, but bear with me for a moment. Let me ask you, who would you have bet your money on to last: the Roman Empire and the Roman army, or a little Jewish rabbi with twelve inexperienced followers?” Everyone smiled as John went on to say, “Isn’t it interesting that all these years later we are still naming kids Matthew, James, Sarah, and Mary, and we call our dogs Nero and Caesar? I rest my case.”

While John got a big laugh, his point was well taken. Clearly, Jesus’ leadership was effective: His church exists today; the Roman Empire doesn’t. Put differently, the important thing about leadership is not what happens when the leader is present, but what happens when the leader is not there. As a parent, it’s not too difficult to get your children to do what you want them to do when you’re hovering over them. But what do they do when you’re not there? A business leader deals with the same issue. You can’t micromanage your people’s every move, much less their every thought or idea. So great business leaders today empower their people to bring their brains to work and make good decisions on their own. When given this opportunity, those people tend to be fully engaged in their work.

Initial proof that Jesus is the greatest leadership role model of all time came to

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Ken when he was asked to be on Robert Schuller’s Hour of Power after The One Minute Manager was released in the early 1980s. Ken recalls that when Reverend Schuller interviewed him, he asked, “Do you know who the greatest One Minute Manager of all time was?”

Ken gave him a blank stare. Then Schuller said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” “Really?” said Ken, never having thought of Jesus as a great leadership role

model. “Absolutely,” said Reverend Schuller. “After all, He was very clear about

goals. Isn’t that your first secret—One Minute Goal Setting?” “Yes,” Ken responded. Schuller then smiled and said, “You and Tom Peters didn’t invent management

by wandering around. Jesus did. He wandered from one village to another. If He caught someone doing something right, He would praise or heal that person. Isn’t that your second secret—One Minute Praising?”

“Yes,” said Ken. “Finally,” said Schuller, “if people stepped out of line, Jesus wasn’t afraid to

redirect their efforts. After all, He threw the money lenders out of the temple. Isn’t that what your One Minute Reprimand is all about?”

Ken laughed, realizing Schuller had a point. This reality was reinforced when Ken learned that Bill Hybels, founding pastor

of Willow Creek Community Church, was teaching the leaders on his staff Situational Leadership®,1 a concept Ken had first developed in the late 1960s with Paul Hersey. When Ken asked Bill why he chose Situational Leadership, Bill was quick to say that Jesus was the greatest situational leader of all time, using “different strokes for different folks” depending on the situation. When, for instance, Jesus first took on His disciples as “fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19 ESV) and sent them out, He provided some specific instructions about where to stay, what to wear, and what to do. But the disciples grew and matured over time: soon they weren’t enthusiastic beginners who needed specific direction, and Jesus changed His style accordingly. At the end of His ministry on earth, Jesus was able to issue to His disciples this general directive: “Go and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19).

As Ken and Phil began to study the Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John —as well as the book of Acts, they became fascinated with how Jesus transformed twelve ordinary and unlikely people into the first generation of leaders of a movement that continues to affect the course of world history some two thousand years later. In fact, Ken and Phil soon realized that every idea and truth about leadership they had ever taught or written came from the Bible and was evident in how Jesus led His disciples.

Followers of Jesus have more in Jesus than just a spiritual leader; we have a practical model of effective leadership for all organizations, for all people, for all situations.

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PAUSE AND REFLECT

Have you ever thought of Jesus as a great leadership role model? If not, why not?

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JESUS THE SERVANT

“Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations.”

Matthew 12:18

Having accepted that Jesus is the greatest leadership role model of all time, consider now some specifics about His leadership approach. The best description of Jesus’ leadership is found in Matthew 20. John and James’s mother had gone to Jesus and essentially asked if, in heaven, one of her sons could sit at His left hand and the other one at His right hand. She obviously thought leadership was all about the hierarchy. After Jesus told her that her request was not for Him to grant, He approached the other ten disciples, who were miffed because this mother had asked for those places of honor before they themselves did!

Jesus called [his disciples] together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25–28)

We added the emphasis on Not so with you in that verse. Why? Because Jesus’ call to servant leadership is clear and unequivocal. His words leave no room for plan B. He placed no restrictions or limitations of time, place, or situation that would allow us to exempt ourselves from heeding His command. For followers of Jesus, servant leadership is not an option; servant leadership is a mandate. Our servant leadership is to be a living statement of who we are in Jesus, an identity evident in how we treat one another and how we demonstrate the love of Jesus to the whole world. If this kind of leadership sounds like serious business with profound implications, it is.

The exciting part of leading like Jesus is that He never sends us into any situation alone or with a plan that is flawed or sure to fail. Jeremiah 29:11–14 tells us:

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“I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the LORD.

Whatever subject He addressed—and in Matthew 20 it is leadership—Jesus spoke about what is right and effective. We can trust that His Word is an expression of His unconditional and sacrificial love poured out for our eternal well- being. As followers of Jesus, then, we can trust Him and His instructions to us regardless of our circumstances. We can also freely ask Him to give us wisdom in all things, including our leadership roles. James 1:2–8 reminds us that Jesus wants to be intimately involved in all aspects of our lives:

When all kinds of trials and temptations crowd into your lives my brothers, don’t resent them as intruders, but welcome them as friends! Realise that they come to test your faith and to produce in you the quality of endurance. But let the process go on until that endurance is fully developed, and you will find you have become men of mature character with the right sort of independence. And if, in the process, any of you does not know how to meet any particular problem he has only to ask God—who gives generously to all men without making them feel foolish or guilty—and he may be quite sure that the necessary wisdom will be given him. But he must ask in sincere faith without secret doubts as to whether he really wants God’s help or not. The man who trusts God, but with inward reservations, is like a wave of the sea, carried forward by the wind one moment and driven back the next. That sort of man cannot hope to receive anything from God, and the life of a man of divided loyalty will reveal instability at every turn. (PHILLIPS)

A friend of ours once had a counselor who kept reminding him, “Your intelligence has gotten you into this.” You see, in a variety of situations our friend thought he was smart enough to figure it out on his own, but he wasn’t. Furthermore, he was trying to gain the approval of various audiences, including some that had conflicting views of what he ought to be doing and how he ought to be living his life. As a result he ended up pleasing no one. He had yet to learn that he had but One as his audience, and that One is God.

In addition to being the only audience that matters, God is also the director of our lives. God will guide us to do exactly the right thing—if we let Him. Our hope is that you will let Him direct you, guide you, and teach you to lead.

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4

IS JESUS A RELEVANT ROLE MODEL FOR US TODAY?

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

Hebrews 13:8

A common barrier to embracing Jesus as a leadership role model is skepticism about the relevance of His teaching to specific twenty-first-century leadership situations. In many ways, we are in the same kind of situation that Peter was when Jesus asked him to take some highly unusual and unorthodox steps as he conducted his fishing business. Here was the situation as described in Luke 5:1–11:

One day as Jesus was preaching on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, great crowds pressed in on him to listen to the word of God. He noticed two empty boats at the water’s edge, for the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. Stepping into one of the boats, Jesus asked Simon [Peter], its owner, to push it out into the water. So he sat in the boat and taught the crowds from there.

When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Now go out where it is deeper, and let down your nets to catch some fish.”

“Master,” Simon replied, “we worked hard all last night and didn’t catch a thing. But if you say so, I’ll let the nets down again.” And this time their nets were so full of fish they began to tear! A shout for help brought their partners in the other boat, and soon both boats were filled with fish and on the verge of sinking.

When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, “Oh, Lord, please leave me—I’m too much of a sinner to be around you.” For he was awestruck by the number of fish they had caught, as were the others with him. His partners, James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were also amazed.

Jesus replied to Simon, “Don’t be afraid! From now on you’ll be fishing for people!” And as soon as they landed, they left everything and followed Jesus. (NLT)

What do you think was going through Peter’s mind when he replied, “Master, we have been fishing all night and we haven’t caught a thing”? It sounds as if Peter might have been thinking something along these lines: I’ve listened to Jesus

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address the crowds and speak with great power and wisdom. I really respect His knowledge of God’s Word and His skill as a teacher. But now He has asked me to do something that goes totally against my own knowledge and instincts about how to run my fishing business. Jesus doesn’t know fishing; I know fish and fishing. That’s my business, and what Jesus asks is not practical. Besides, doing what He says will probably be a waste of time and energy—and my workers are going to wonder if I have lost my mind!

However, Peter’s skepticism did not prevent him from taking the step of faith —the step of obedience—because the instructions had come from Jesus. Because Peter exercised his faith in this way, he experienced miraculous results, but he was overwhelmed by the gap he perceived between himself and what Jesus would require of him.

Jesus sought to calm Peter’s doubts and fears, and then He invited Peter to come and be transformed for a higher purpose. And Jesus is issuing the same call to us. Jesus knows fish, and He also knows your business, whether it is in the service of an organization or in a life role.

So consider applying the same criteria to Jesus’ knowledge, experience, and success that you would to the hiring of a business consultant. Take a few minutes to think about Jesus’ earthly ministry. Would you hire Jesus as your leadership consultant for your life role leadership or organizational leadership positions? Reflect on the following leadership challenges you might be facing and then ask yourself, “Does Jesus have any practical knowledge or relevant experience dealing with leadership issues like these that I face every day?”

• working or living with and caring for imperfect people • training, developing, and delegating • being under constant scrutiny by competitors • continually having your commitment and integrity tested • handling opposition, criticism, and rejection • facing conflicting demands from friends and foes • being tempted by instant gratification, recognition, and misuse of power • facing serious personnel issues, including turnover and betrayal • communicating effectively in a multicultural environment • challenging the status quo and established hierarchy to bring about change • trying to communicate a radically new vision of the future • calling attention to poor leadership, even at great personal risk • putting career or relationships on the line to serve a higher purpose

Chances are, you answered yes about every situation. Why? Because Jesus absolutely did face every situation you face. The book of Hebrews says this of Jesus:

Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. . . . We do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize

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with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (2:18; 4:15–16)

In addition to His leadership experience, Jesus knew from years of personal experience the challenges of daily life and work. Although Jesus was God, He was not ashamed to do a man’s work. He spent the first thirty years of His life on earth as a working man: He was a carpenter in Nazareth. Jesus knows the difficulty of making ends meet. He knows the frustration of ill-mannered clients who won’t pay their bills. He knows the pressure of meeting deadlines and pleasing customers. He knows the challenges of living in an ordinary home and being part of a big family. He knows the problems that beset us in the everyday world.1

Now think about how Jesus would do your job differently than the way you are doing it. As the following scriptures suggest, Jesus wants to do His work in you and through you.

• “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).

• “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16).

• “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Colossians 3:17).

PAUSE AND REFLECT

If you are skeptical about adopting Jesus as your leadership role model, write down your reasons. What about Jesus is causing you to doubt leading as He leads? And what about you is causing you to hold back?

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5

A TRANSFORMATIONAL JOURNEY THAT BEGINS ON THE INSIDE

“Live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God.”

Colossians 1:10

So you have recognized the ways you are a leader: leadership happens anytime we influence the thinking, behavior, or development of another person. And, aware of Jesus’ rich life experience in general and His expert leadership experience in particular, you are willing to follow Him as your leadership role model. The early disciples needed to make that same decision when Jesus extended to them this invitation: “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19 ESV). Jesus’ simple statement here clearly communicated right at the start that following Him would mean becoming a different person. As they followed Jesus, He would transform them: Jesus would nurture, grow, and refine them. In other words, leading like Jesus is a transformational journey. This transformational journey begins with the willingness to do whatever Jesus commands, with a heart surrendered to doing His will, and with the commitment to lead the way He leads.

Transformation happens—for good or bad, to one degree or another—as we interact with people. Your sovereign God will of course oversee that transformation for your good and His glory, and people you lead will be tools He uses in that transformational process. So let’s look at who we are leading. As the diagram below illustrates, examining yourself is the first step: this exercise is at the core of leading like Jesus in all of your spheres of influence. You can’t lead like Jesus until you accept the fact that only Jesus can lead you. Jesus attested to this truth when He said in John 5:19: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.” Think about it: we hear this principle of starting with self every time we hear a safety demonstration on an airplane. The flight attendant tells us to put on our own oxygen masks before we place a mask on someone else. This principle applies in leadership too. Let’s look carefully at our spheres of influence.

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SELF We believe that leaders who desire to lead like Jesus must first examine themselves by answering these two questions:

1. Whose am I? 2. Who am I?

Your answer to Whose am I? defines the ultimate authority and primary audience for your life. Your ultimate authority and most important audience is the one you trust and look to above all else. Your decision about whose you are changes everything. If you choose to follow Jesus, you are no longer your own. You are not living to please yourself or other people. Instead, Jesus is the only authority and only audience for every life decision you make.

PAUSE AND REFLECT

Jesus is the perfect example of living for God and for Him alone. After Jesus was baptized but before He began His season of leadership on earth, He was led into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan. There, the evil one tempted Jesus to turn from God’s will and instead give in to self- gratification (turning stones into bread), public recognition (jumping off the temple), and the misuse of His power (ruling over all the kingdoms of

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the world). Each time, Jesus stood strong: He demonstrated submission to His Father and complete commitment to His Father’s way. Jesus knew whose He was: “Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God” (John 13:3). Jesus came from love and knew He would return to love, so He was secure in whose He was.

Knowing whose you are can help you stand strong in your ministry and is foundational to leading like Jesus. Knowing you belong to God gives you the incredible freedom of completely trusting your life to Him. Will you trust God with your life?

The answer to Who am I?—the second question that prompts healthy self- examination—defines your identity and life purpose. We are told in Ephesians 2:10 that we are “God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works.” You were born with a God-given purpose and plan for your life, and you were created perfectly to fulfill that purpose. Your core identity is rooted in the forgiving, saving, and redeeming work Jesus did on your behalf when He hung on the cross. In 2 Corinthians 5:21, we learn that “God made [Jesus] who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” Scripture is full of descriptors of your identity: “dearly loved” (Colossians 3:12), forgiven (Romans 4:7), chosen (John 15:19), “a royal priesthood” (1 Peter 2:9), the apple of God’s eye (Psalm 17:8), “the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14), heirs with Jesus (Romans 8:17), friends (John 15:14), and many more. Jesus clearly showed His commitment to His life purpose in Luke 19:10 when He said, “The Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

PAUSE AND REFLECT

In what ways would your leadership be different if you truly believed that you are the person God says you are?

Choosing God as your ultimate authority and audience as well as choosing to believe your identity as described in Scripture results in a transformation of your perspective. Your answers to Whose am I? and Who am I? will change how you see everything, and you will lead others from that new point of view.

LEADING ANOTHER

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After leaving the wilderness—after standing on God’s Word and resisting Satan’s temptations—Jesus called into service those He would lead for the next three years, and He poured His life into training His disciples. Your first test of leading like Jesus will be leading another person. This person may be someone you work with every day, or it may be your child. The desired outcome is a relationship built on trust. Remember in Matthew 14 when Peter jumped out of the boat and began walking on water to join Jesus?

But when [Peter] saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. “Save me, Lord!” he shouted.

Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. “You have so little faith,” Jesus said. “Why did you doubt me?” (vv. 30–31 NLT)

Jesus spent three years building a culture of trust with His disciples, including Peter. So when this bold and impulsive follower started to drown, he called out to Jesus for help.

In our life role relationships, trust is the stream by which vulnerability, caring, commitment, and grace flow between parents and children, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, friends and fellow citizens. Trust is extended first by loving hearts committed to serve and support one another, and trust grows with promises kept, encouragement and appreciation expressed, support and acceptance offered, repentance and apologies received, and reconciliation and restoration established. Yet the stream of trust has a fragile ecological balance: once it is polluted, it will take time and effort to restore it.

The always present power to restore intimacy and broken trust is love. Without love we are nothing and we gain nothing. Read the following words from the apostle Paul, and ponder the cleansing and healing properties of love:

If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (1 Corinthians 13:1–7)

PAUSE AND REFLECT

• List three ways you nurture trust as you lead.

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• List two things you do that put at risk people’s trust in your leadership. • Think of a time when you lost trust in someone who was leading you.

How did you feel? How long did you feel that way? When did you forgive the person—and why?

LEADING OTHERS The ability to develop and sustain the trust of the people you lead produces community. Jesus modeled this perfectly in John 13:13–14:

“You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet.”

Jesus created a community by empowering His followers to serve and then trusting them to do exactly that. Effective leaders realize they are to be good stewards of the energy and efforts of those they lead; they honor the power of diversity and acknowledge the power of teamwork. As the saying goes, “None of us is as smart as all of us.” Jesus sent out His disciples to minister in teams of two (Mark 6:7). In doing so, Jesus empowered them to act on His behalf in support of one another as they accomplished the work He had trained them to do.

Without trust, these relationships cannot be developed, and community will never happen. Individuals in a group will not empower one another to accomplish an assigned task if they do not trust each other. A leader’s failure to empower others is one of the key reasons some teams are ineffective.

Family leadership can be really challenging, especially when the leader’s efforts and aspirations to serve the best interests of others directly conflict with the leader’s own priorities and immediate demands. For example, a father could be running late for work but must stop to make the most of a teachable moment when he hears his daughter ridicule her little brother. The most rewarding results of family leadership are apt to be the subtle fashioning of loving relationships and the slow development of personal character.

Finally, to be good stewards of the efforts of those committed to work with them, effective leaders must honor the power of diversity and acknowledge the power of teamwork.

PAUSE AND REFLECT

How do you think the people you lead at work and at home would describe your leadership in the following situations?

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• a time of crisis • a time of failure • a time of victory • a time of plenty • a time of want

Do you think you would like what you would hear? What weaknesses do you think might be identified—and what might you do to strengthen those traits?

LEADING AN ORGANIZATION The quality of a leader’s influence on a broader organizational level depends on the transformed perspective, trust, and community attained in the leader’s first three spheres of influence (self, one person, a small group). Leading like Jesus in an organization creates a new culture that affects all relationships and every result. When people know the leader cares about them and wants to help them grow, a new culture of trust and community develops, resulting in both high performance and great human satisfaction.

By valuing both relationships and results, Jesus created a culture for an effective organization. In His own life, He aligned Himself with the purpose His Father had for Him. Then, in the Great Commandment and the Great Commission, Jesus clearly identified the purpose He had for His followers and their organizations. He equipped His disciples for their work in the first three spheres of influence, and then He sent His Holy Spirit to guide them at the organizational leadership level, a process we see in the book of Acts.

When Jesus called the disciples, He said: “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19 ESV). And at the end of His ministry, He said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit” (Matthew 28:18–19).

Jesus passed the baton to us. Wherever we live or work, whether we are influencing at home, at church, or in an organization, our paramount task as leaders is to create a culture that reflects Jesus’ core value: love. This kind of love shepherds people and organizations from where they are to where God would have them go—and that process usually is not easy!

Leading like Jesus requires leaders to be shepherds and servants, who value each person as an integral part of the organization. These leaders adopt as their core values the principles and practices of Jesus and incorporate those in the organization’s training, policies, and systems. When a challenge comes, leaders

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examine their self-leadership before investigating possible organizational weaknesses.

Joni and Friends, a Christian ministry for people with disabilities and their families, is a perfect example of an organization whose culture has been changed by people who lead like Jesus. Company leaders had no idea what kind of long- term impact this way of leading would have on the organization. What started out as the leadership team’s onetime opportunity to learn to lead like Jesus has become an ongoing approach to business that now involves all levels of the organization. Today, Joni and Friends incorporates the concepts of leading like Jesus into every aspect of its operations, including the interview process, new employee training and orientation, and even its conflict resolution policy.

“Leading like Jesus is the cornerstone of our culture,” explains Doug Mazza, president and COO of Joni and Friends. “It affects everything we do.”

The impact of Lead Like Jesus transformed the organization’s culture. “New employees come on board at Joni and Friends, and they are stunned,” explains Joni Eareckson Tada, founder and CEO. “They’re amazed that we offer Jesus-centered leadership training. It’s so unique for any place of business. In every situation, we want our employees to Exalt God Only, and I think leading like Jesus has really helped us infuse that in our culture.”

A word of warning: we often think outside the home when we think of an organization. Frankly, no organization is as important as your home. Our life role relationships are based on loyalty and commitment for a lifetime. We can fall into the trap of relying too much on both the resilience of these relationships and our ability to regain lost ground, lost intimacy, and lost love. Life role relationships require daily renewal and nurture; we never know when or how they will end. People in a culture that leads like Jesus will keep their “I love you’s” up to date.

Now that we have introduced how to lead in your spheres of influence, let’s proceed to the second aspect of leading like Jesus, which provides the framework for the rest of this book: to learn about the four domains of leadership and live out what we learn.

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6

THE FOUR DOMAINS OF LEADING LIKE JESUS

My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

Colossians 2:2–3

The first aspect of leading like Jesus is understanding that such leadership is a transformational journey. The second aspect of leading like Jesus involves aligning our hearts, heads, hands, and habits. When these four leadership domains are aligned, our perspective is changed, we gain people’s trust, communities develop, and the organization’s culture is transformed. When these areas are out of alignment, our work is unfocused, relationships are broken, communities dissolve, and the organization’s culture is unhealthy and unproductive. The books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Acts all offer rich examples of how Jesus functioned in each of these four domains with all of them in alignment.

HEART Leadership is first a spiritual matter of the heart. Whenever you have an opportunity to influence other people’s thinking and behavior, you first need to decide whether to act out of self-interest or to benefit those you are leading. Simply put, the heart question is this: Are you a serving leader or a self-serving leader?

Whether He was teaching with words (calling His disciples to serve in Matthew 20:25–28) or with actions (washing the disciples’ feet in John 13:3–5), Jesus clearly and consistently modeled leadership as service. Identifying the subtleties of our hearts and the veils of justification we place over self-serving motives requires brutal honesty. As John Ortberg wrote in The Life You’ve Always Wanted, “The capacity of the human for duplicity is staggering.”1

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HEAD The journey to leading like Jesus starts in the heart as you consider your motivation. This intent then travels to the internal domain of the head, where you examine your beliefs and theories about leading and motivating people. All great leaders have a specific leadership philosophy that defines how they see not only their roles but also their relationships to those they seek to influence. Throughout His season of earthly leadership, Jesus taught and emphasized His point of view. As Jesus said in Mark 10:45, “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many” (NLT).

HANDS You show what is in your heart and head in what you do with your hands: your motivations and beliefs about leadership affect your actions. If you have a serving heart, you will help others reach their greatest potential by establishing clear goals, observing their performance, and following up by praising progress and redirecting any inappropriate behavior.

Jesus poured Himself into His disciples for three years so that when He left His earthly ministry and returned to heaven, they would be fully able to carry out His vision. The principles of establishing clear goals and measuring performance are common concepts for all types of organizations—and are just as relevant and effective in life role leadership relationships. In a family, these principles apply to everything from establishing values and defining guidelines for behavior to describing for a preoccupied teenager what a clean room looks like.

HABITS Your habits are those activities you do in order to stay on track with God and others. Jesus modeled two types of habits for us: Being Habits and Doing Habits. As a leader committed to leading like Jesus, you must make time to replenish your energy and refocus your perspective. Jesus did this through His five Being Habits: solitude, prayer, study of God’s Word, the application of Scripture to real life, and supportive relationships—all of which are rooted in and fueled by accepting and abiding in God’s love. Jesus expressed obedience to His Father and shared the Father’s love for His disciples through His Doing Habits of grace, forgiveness, encouragement, and community.

Since the Being Habits reinforce the good intentions and character of your heart, they will come after the section titled “The Heart of a Great Leader” in this book. Since the Doing Habits reinforce the hands aspect of leading like Jesus, they will be described following the section titled “The Hands of a Great Leader.” As leaders desiring to lead like Jesus, we are encouraged to engage in both the Being

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Habits and the Doing Habits.

ARE YOU WILLING TO LEAD LIKE JESUS?

If you understand that leading like Jesus is a transformational journey and if you learn to lead like Jesus in your heart, head, hands, and habits, your leadership will be radically transformed and its impact magnified. We confidently make this claim not because of any brilliance on our part, but because of the One who is at the center of this effort: Jesus.

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PART II

THE HEART OF A GREAT LEADER

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

Proverbs 4:23

Most leadership books and seminars focus on the leader’s behavior, style, and methods. They attempt to change leaders from the outside. Yet, as we have taught people to lead like Jesus, we have found that leadership improves when there is first a change on the inside: leadership is primarily a heart issue. We believe that if we don’t get our hearts right, we simply won’t ever lead like Jesus.

What does your heart have to do with leadership? Everything! In the heart is your why. Within your heart lies the reason you do what you do; your heart is home to your intention and motivation. It is the core of who you are.

Romans 10:10 helps us understand: “It is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” It is therefore in your heart that your beliefs about Jesus are stored, and your belief that He is God’s Son and your Savior changes everything. As a favorite statement by A. W. Tozer reminds us, “What you believe about God is the most important thing about you.”1

What we believe about God affects how we deal with life and its challenges, as illustrated in a phone call Phyllis received at the Lead Like Jesus home office. The caller, named Debbie, explained that she worked as a bookkeeper at her church. The night before, she and her husband had been invited to dinner at the home of her boss and his wife.

Debbie said that at one point during dinner, her boss had said, “We’re hiring a new church administrator, and he will be doing your job.”

Debbie said to Phyllis, “I’m so angry! I’ve seen other people treated this way at my church. It isn’t right, and it isn’t fair.” She was devastated and furious. She wanted to lash out and give the elders a piece of her mind. Then she asked Phyllis to pray with her.

Phyllis said, “Before we pray, Debbie, may I ask you some questions?” “Sure,” said Debbie. “Is God good?” “Yes.” “Do you believe He has a plan and purpose for your life?”

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“I did believe that.” “Do you believe anyone or anything can change God’s plan for you?” “No.” “Does God love you?” “Yes.” “Do you believe God will use everything in our lives—that He will use even

this—for His glory and our good just as He promised? Do you believe you can trust Him with all the details of your life?”

“Yes.” “Okay. Let’s pray.” Have you, like Debbie, faced a challenge so big that you had to go back to the

core of what you believe about God? Those beliefs are stored in your heart, and they shape you and every relationship in your life.

PAUSE AND REFLECT

As you reflect on Debbie’s story, how would you answer her questions today?

• Is God good? • Do you believe He has a good plan and purpose for your life? • Do you believe anyone or anything can change God’s plan for you? • Do you believe God loves you? • Do you believe God will use everything in your life for His glory and

your good just as He promised? • Can you trust Him with all the details of your life?

As Scripture confirms, the beliefs in your heart set in motion your why. In Scripture we learn that the heart is so important in our leadership because love is stored in the heart (1 Peter 1:22). We also forgive one another from the heart (Matthew 18:35); words are banked in our hearts (Luke 6:45); Scripture is stored in our hearts (Psalm 119:11); and it is with the heart that we seek and find God (Jeremiah 29:13). The heart includes the will, determination, and soul. It is the seat of all desires; it is the essence of who we are. No wonder we are told to guard our hearts above all else (Proverbs 4:23).

When leaders want to change, they usually focus on their behavior—but behavior can’t change until the heart changes. Think about your last resolution to diet or exercise. You focused on your behavior: This time I’m gonna do it! But nothing changed until you focused on why you wanted to make this change. Whatever the specific situation, remembering what motivates you can result in a

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change of behavior. A changed heart means a changed leader. Consider this real-life example. Steve

Cartin is both a dental practice consultant and a pastor. Initially, he came to Lead Like Jesus for help with his small church in rural South Carolina, but God had more planned for him. As Steve put it, “Learning to lead like Jesus started changing my ministry; then it changed my business; then it changed my relationship with my wife and my relationships with my adult children. By changing me, leading like Jesus changed everything I touch.”

The truth is, leading like Jesus begins with the heart.

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7

WHAT DOES LEADING LIKE JESUS LOOK LIKE?

Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ”

Matthew 22:37–39

What does leading like Jesus look like? In a word, love—but not the soft and easy kind of love that allows those you lead to do whatever they want, neglects strategic thinking, and fails to focus on results. Of course not! That kind of leadership would be easy, but hardly effective. In contrast, leading like Jesus—leading with love—is very difficult. It requires that you love those you influence so much that you help them move from who they are to who God wants them to be, and that process can be painful. Not often seen in the media, the love we are talking about becomes the core value of your life. It influences everything you say and do as a leader and enables you to stand up when everything else falls down around you.

The greatest description of what love looks like is found in 1 Corinthians 13:4– 7, which we shared earlier. This beautiful passage describes God’s love and reminds us of what love does and does not do. As leaders who desire to lead like Jesus, we—like Jesus—need the core value of love to be the why, how, and what of all we do.

As a Jesus-like leader, you acknowledge as you lead that God created every person, that He loves them as much as He loves you, and that He has great plans for their lives. As a leader, you need to pour yourself into your relationships with other people just as Jesus did with the disciples. Jesus loved them, served them, and thereby helped them develop into the people God called them to be.

LOVE-BASED LEADERSHIP IN ACTION Leading like Jesus means that relationships and results are intertwined. It means being committed to both developing others and achieving results in a way that honors God and reflects your core beliefs about whose you are and who you are.

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We know many business leaders who lead like Jesus in their everyday work lives. One of the first who comes to mind is James Blanchard (no relation to Ken). Throughout his career, Jimmy never saw any separation between faith and work or between being a servant and being a leader. He chose the Bible as his favorite leadership handbook and Jesus as his role model.

For thirty-four years, Jimmy served as chief executive officer of Synovus, a financial services company based in Columbus, Georgia. During his tenure, the company experienced its greatest growth and prosperity. Perhaps even more significant to this discussion, for several years in a row, Synovus was named by Fortune magazine as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For in America.” Jimmy is a business guy—a great visionary and skilled strategist who never takes his eyes off the numbers—but he loves people and enjoys helping them grow and develop.

Jimmy always led by serving. “We run our company this way simply because it’s right, because every person who works here has great worth and deserves to be treated so,” he said. “Our company is built on these values. They define who we are.”

In 2005 US Banker magazine named Jimmy one of America’s “Twenty-Five Most Influential People in Financial Services.” He has won numerous awards but believes his greatest award is being married to his wife, Sis, and enjoying their three children and eight grandchildren. Throughout his career, Jimmy has created great relationships and enjoyed great results. God has honored Jimmy for leading and serving from his core value of love.

Jimmy likes to ask people to read 1 Corinthians 13:4–7 and put their names in place of the word love in the passage. He often suggests with a smile, “If you notice tightness in your throat in an area, maybe that one needs some work.” Jimmy’s story is a great example of a business leader living out his faith in corporate America.

A MOTHER’S SELFLESS LOVE Our next story is an example of a life role leader, a single mom named Karen, who showed incredible tenacity in loving a son who was hard to love. She established boundaries and expectations that were good for him and important for his life, but even as a little boy, Thom pushed the envelope. As he grew, Thom tried everything —he ran away, dropped out of school, lived on the street, and used illegal drugs.

During those years, Karen knew that God loved her son more than she did and that He h