The Servant-Steward's Handbook

The Servant-Steward's Handbook

The Servant-Steward's Handbook is now available on Amazon in Kindle and paperback formats.

Many of the concepts that have appeared in this blog over the past few years have been updated and are now gathered into one collection with even more practical suggestions  to help leaders effectively supervise the people in your organization. We hope this handbook becomes a handy desk reference or textbook for training supervisors in business or ministry settings. 

Thanks to Max Greiner, Jr. for graciously granting permission to use the photo of his "Divine Servant" sculpture on the cover of the book. The setting with high-rise office buildings in the background perfectly illustrates the concept of servant-stewardship in the 21st Century. Christians in the marketplace today often feel we are swimming upstream, against the flow. At the same time, it appears to me that most people really want their supervisors to act like Christians without actually having to be followers of Jesus. Having the same attitude that Jesus had when He took the form of a slave is not a popular concept, but it is the way He expects us to act. (Mt.20:25-28; Jn.13:1-19; Ph.2:3-11) 

And if we act like that, we might be as conspicuous as a near-naked CEO washing the feet of a worker in downtown Atlanta, Dallas, or New York. Others will notice and it will make a difference in how they respond and perform.  

Don’t Confuse Me with the Facts

 

“How many times shall I make you swear that you speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD?” …And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?”

(King Ahab, before he rejected the counsel of Micaiah and was defeated and killed at Ramoth-gilead by the king of Syria.
[1 Kings 22:16-18, ESV])

 

In her confirmation hearings before the U.S. Senate, Attorney General nominee Loretta Lynch was asked if she would be willing to say no to the president. Concern was expressed over comments by the outgoing Attorney General, Eric Holder, referring to himself as “the president's wingman.” 

 

Lynch responded, “I think I have to be willing to tell not just my friends but colleagues 'no' if the law requires it. That would include the president of the United States." When asked how she would be different than her predecessor, she said, "I will be myself. Loretta Lynch."

 

Are you looking for a man or a “yes man”?

 

Great leaders do not just take yes for an answer.  Some disagreement and low-level conflict can lead to better consensus decisions.  The best leaders encourage dialogue and welcome challenges to their decisions when there might truly be a better idea. Then, once the decision is made, they can reasonably expect their followers to follow through with commitment.  

 

While attending the annual convention meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention in 1987, I was introduced to a liaison from the Catholic Church. Our mutual friend had recently been named to a position of leadership for what was then the FMB. As he tried to equate that position to his own organization’s structure, he commented that a bishop once told him, “Once you become a bishop, it marks the last time two things will ever happen. It’s the last time you will ever be served a bad meal and it’s the last time anyone will ever tell you the truth.”  

 

Sadly, the farther up the chain of leadership one moves, the more difficult it becomes for subordinates to feel free to share bad news or facts that contradict the leader’s stated position. Often, leaders say they want to know what is really going on out there in the trenches or on the frontline, but they express their preconceived conclusions in such a way that others receive the message, “Don’t confuse me with the facts.”

 

I have a button on my desk with that inscription. It hangs in front of a yellow Tweety Bird pen holder, a gift from my sons years ago. Together, the button and Tweety remind me of at least five things outlined in the hints below.

 

Hints to the Leader and to the Follower:

1)  Remember to Stop, Look and LISTEN to others first, before expressing your own opinions (better yet, before FORMING my own opinions).

 2)  Don’t draw conclusions too quickly.

 3)  Don’t think too highly of your own opinions.

 4)  Stay open to the possibility of altering, changing or perhaps even ditching what you thought was a “final” conclusion.

 5)  Don’t take yourself too seriously.

 
 

 

(For more hints, see also the earlier article “Leaders Need Three I’s”  (http://mylead360.blogspot.com/2010/01/leaders-need-three-is.html).

 

© Dr. Larry N. Gay, January 2015

http://mylead360.blogspot.com 

Spring Cleaning for Business

            Spring cleaning is a time to clean out and throw away any old stuff that is no longer useful to make room for new stuff. Your business or organization needs a regular “spring cleaning.”  Every department should look for things not to do. Ask yourselves, “What are we currently doing that we should stop doing?”  You cannot keep adding new processes, procedures, or practices and also keep the status quo of old processes, procedures and practices going at their same rate… UNLESS, of course, you also add new personnel along with the new products or services you want to offer. Most managers will say, “This is all we have to work with. Make it work.”

Make the best use of what you have

            I love a scene from the movie Apollo 13.  The crew is in a critical situation with a damaged spacecraft trying to return to earth and needs to connect the air purification system from the Lunar Landing Module to the Command Module. The problem is, the ventilation hardware of the two systems does not match up. [Several technicians come onto a conference room at ground control and dump boxes containing the same equipment and tools that the astronauts have with them onto a table.] The technician then says to the engineering team, “OK, Listen up folks! We've got to find a way to make this [square CSM LiOH canister] fit into the hole for this [round LEM canister]  ... using nothing but that. Now let’s get to work!” 
            Somehow, they figured out a way to make it work using only what the crew had on board and they brought the crew safely back to earth.

Aim for higher performance

            The leadership team was sitting around the table looking at our job responsibilities and wondering how we could get to the next level of leadership and productivity. At one point, I asked the team, “What is your dream job?” As we went around the room, each team member affirmed that he had the best job in the region. “Alright,” I said. “But surely each of you has something in your list of responsibilities that you would rather not have to do—something that drags you down or you dread having to do, but is necessary because of the job. How could your job be even better?”

            One teammate said, “Yeah. I absolutely hate having to write new job requests and job descriptions. I hate having to write all this stuff in the second person to someone I have never met and in such a way as to make the job appealing and with good grammar and good form.”

            Immediately, another teammate said, “Really? Oh, I just love doing that!”

            To which the first guy said, “Well, here then. You can have ‘em!” He reached down and grabbed a stack of requests that he flopped on the table in front of his teammate.

            His teammate responded, “Great! Now I won’t have to spend nearly as much time rewriting and correcting your requests. Just tell me what you want and I’ll write the request from scratch.” 

            Both of them said something like, “Oh, what a relief it is!” That afternoon we shifted a few more responsibilities around the room until everyone felt we had gotten to our maximum potential, given the tasks we had to perform as a team. That day we began to be a high performance team.

Look for things not to do

            Consider the stated values of the organization. What do we say is most important to us? Is there anything we currently do that might actually be contrary to these values? Next, look at all the processes, procedures, policies and practices in every department to see how these effectively contribute to the company’s objectives and support the company’s values. Some of these might have served a very good purpose in the past, but have now outlasted their benefit.  Evaluate your products and consider if any of these has become less than productive. An unproductive product is not just oxymoronic—it is a drain on valuable resources that could be applied to more productive ones.

Consider the best use of personnel

            After completing your spring cleaning of products, processes, procedures, policies and practices, now consider the personnel. Ask yourself, “Do we have the right people in the right places doing the right things?” The “right things” includes what is right to contribute to the company’s success and it also includes what this individual is best suited to do. Often you will have exactly the right combination of people working together, but at less than their maximum effectiveness because some of them are not doing the right jobs to maximize their contribution. So what if their job description says they ought to be doing _____? Yeah, so what?! Don’t let a job description handcuff you and the organization and keep you from reaching your maximum productivity. Job descriptions are merely guidelines on paper and paper can be wadded up and recycled. SO WHAT  if one person in a job has a different job description from another person in a similar role? SO WHAT! Your goal is not to serve a job description. Your goal is to be successful. Eliminate barriers and facilitate people being all they are meant to be. The result will be increased productivity.

Think outside the box

            Spring cleaning also means rearranging, moving things around and getting a new look. Every time a team member leaves or a new team member comes on board, you need to consider if some responsibilities need to shift around the team. THEN, come back and write appropriate job descriptions that actually describe what the individual is supposed to be doing. Think outside the box. Again, don’t let antiquated job descriptions force your personnel into boxes of lower productivity.

Hint to the Leader

            So… are you ready to do some spring cleaning?

Products

Processes

Procedures

Policies

Practices

Personnel

Hint to the Follower

            Don’t be afraid of change. Spring cleaning can be hard work, but it has the potential of actually making things better.

© Copyright Dr. Larry Gay, April 2011

"Lessons on Leadership and Followership"

http://mylead360.blogspot.com/

React to the Crisis or Respond to the Opportunity

            There is a difference between reacting and responding. We initially react to an emergency or crisis in an automatic self-protection mode. Responding, on the other hand, is intentional and requires thought, preparation and training. 

In an emergency the people closest to the event initially react to the circumstance. For example, when a gunshot is fired unexpectedly close to you, you might immediately be startled and crouch down or let out an exclamation or run in the opposite direction. A friend from the past who had been a prisoner of war and suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome would do all three in reaction to any sudden loud noise, even years after he was released. He would yell out “Hit it!” and jump to the ground or under a table faster than you could turn to see where the voice came from. That reaction was automatic in his case. Some would call that a conditioned response, but it was in fact an involuntary reaction.  

            My wife’s first reaction to seeing a spider is to run and call out, “Larry, come quick!”  That is also an automatic reaction. I suspect she does that even if I am not in the house at the time.  

            When we call 911 for help in an emergency, the first people to arrive on the scene to provide help are called “first responders,” not first reactors. The first reactors were already present and are probably victims of the emergency. Even if they were only witnesses to the event, they are likely to have been traumatized by what they saw or heard. Calling 911 was the first planned response, although even that might often be an emotional reaction. I don’t know what to do, so I panic and call 911. A lot of calls to 911, like a lot of visits to the emergency room at the hospital, really do not require emergency medical personnel.  Many calls for emergency help could be handled by people already on the scene if they were prepared to respond and not just react. First Aid and CPR training are designed to help people take control of the situation and respond in spite of their natural tendency to react by getting out of harm’s way or running from responsibility.

Respond Responsibly

To respond is to act responsibly. In fact, the words respond and responsible have the same Latin root word. My first reaction to a crisis will probably not be the best response. Reactions tend to be emotional while responses are more controlled.

React	vs	Respond
–      Emotional –      Spontaneous –      Unplanned –      Unprepared –      Uncontrolled (at least initially) –      Allows the other actor to be in control –      Victim		–      A choice –      Measured –      Planned –      Prepared –      Controlled –      Takes control and responsibility for own actions

Where do YOU Draw the Bottom Line?

            In the current economic downturn, most businesses have reacted to the crisis by drawing the bottom line too soon. Their reaction to the crisis has been to downsize and reduce costs by eliminating numbers of employees in an attempt to make their balance sheets look more positive for stockholders. With a good “bottom line” the corporate executive can look good and perhaps even be rewarded with a bonus from the savings.  

            An alternative would be to count the human cost in the bottom line and consider the stewardship responsibility these businesses have for their employees and to the community they should be serving.  As stewards of these resources, businesses should be looking for ways to not only keep the employees they have, but even how to add more jobs. What if the executives in an organization decided to forgo any bonuses and all the employees agreed to take a 10 percent cut in pay so no one would lose their job? What if, the executives looked at their own salaries and determined to downsize their own lifestyles to make resources available to add more employees and thereby increase the productivity of the business?   

            That sounds unrealistic, doesn’t it? Even so, as a leader you have been given a stewardship responsibility for the people you lead. Your personnel are not an expendable resource.  When your employees see that you actually care about them as people, that you are looking at the new opportunities to respond and not just react to the circumstances and that you are trying to work with them to find appropriate responses, what do you think their response will be?

Hints for Leaders:

A crisis can become a new opportunity if leaders take time to respond responsibly. What opportunity is this unexpected situation presenting? How should you respond? How can you lead your people to seize the moment, take responsibility and act as responders and not just reactors? Be careful not to spend so much time, energy and resources preparing for future scenarios that you miss the opportunity to adjust to unforeseen circumstances.

Hint for Followers:

How have you reacted to the most recent crises in your environment? How could you respond differently from your initial reaction?  What opportunities might be presenting themselves for change, growth or improvement? What responsibility do you have as a result of this opportunity? 

© Dr. Larry N. Gay, August 2010

http://mylead360.blogspot.com/  

P.S.
Consider the stories of Sarah (Genesis 18:1-15) and Mary (Luke 1:26-38). Both received astonishing news by a messenger from God. Both would give birth to a son. Both reacted initially with incredulity because this would be beyond the normal realm of logic—Sarah, because she was too old and beyond normal child-bearing years; and Mary, because she was unwed and had never had sexual relations with a man.  The comparison ends there, however. Sarah continued in her reactionary attitude with an emotional (perhaps even sarcastic) laugh expressing her doubt. Mary had a different response. "I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." (Luke 1:38) 

WOW! What different responses!

The Stewardship Factor

 (Fifth in a series on Aligning for Productivity)

"It is required of stewards that one be found trustworthy."

(The Apostle Paul, First Epistle to the Corinthians 4:2)

"Leaders may start by pursuing their own vision, but they begin to see that their own personal vision is part of something larger."

 (Peter Senge, The Fifth Discipline, p.352)

During major organizational changes, we spend a lot of time and energy trying to "bring people along," help them to "get on board," or "buy into the vision." We might even talk about wanting everyone to "own" the vision. While such efforts might be well-intentioned, they might also be expending unnecessary energy toward an unreachable goal. In fact, no one really "owns" the organization's vision. We are not owners of the vision; we are merely stewards.

Stew·ard (noun)  [stoo´ ərd]

2. property manager – somebody who manages somebody else's property, finances, or household.

(Encarta Dictionary)

For the organizational vision to be realized, leaders must recognize their stewardship responsibilities. The most effective leaders are good stewards of both the vision and the people they lead. Leaders who exhibit an attitude of stewardship can make a significant difference in the general attitude or morale of the people they lead.

Consider the difference between two types of leaders. At least twice in my career I have worked with a supervisor/leader who personalized everything: "my team, my staff, my people, my project—my, my, my!" Each of these leaders was insecure and felt threatened by anyone who took any personal initiative beyond the bounds of their specific written job descriptions. When any subordinate received any word of praise from a constituent, they would take such a compliment to be a threat to them as if someone were going to take away their position of authority. Each of these supervisors eventually had some serious crises in their leadership because of their insecurities and inability to let go of things that really were not theirs to hold on to.

I also have had the privilege of working with some very excellent and effective leaders in my career. These men did not feel threatened when they heard someone compliment a subordinate. In fact, they expressed joy and appreciation for such comments. On one occasion, early in my career, my supervisor called me into his office and asked me to close the door. I could not imagine what I had done to deserve a reprimand and I could think of no other reason for him to call me in. "I just received a phone call about you," he said. "It was a constituent telling me what a good job they thought you were doing." He went on to say he considered a compliment to anyone on his team to be a compliment to the whole team. So he felt complimented too!  "And by the way," he ended, "keep up the good work!"

Now, which of these do you think inspired me to contribute more effectively to the organization for which I worked?

In my experience, effective leaders who are good stewards learn to talk more in the first person plural and less in the first personal singular. They use a lot more "we, our and ours" and lot less "I, my and mine."  Such a stewardship attitude builds loyalty and commitment. It inspires people to more effective followership. And effective followership is a requirement for effective leadership.

Effective stewards also avoid talking about "they, their or them" when communicating vision, direction, policies or principles. Even though stewards are not owners, they do have an obligation to represent the interests of the owner.  Stewards are regarded as trustworthy to act on behalf of the owner with all the authority of the owner. Regardless of whether the steward has actively participated in the formulation of policy, procedure or direction, they will communicate with confidence what we must do to reach our goals in pursuit of our vision. (I suppose that starts to sound like taking ownership, doesn't it?)

The organization can realize its vision only to the extent that individuals connect and contribute to the corporate vision with their personal visions. Rather than spending time and energy trying to make people feel ownership for the organization's vision, leaders should help the people they lead find greater affinity and alignment of their individual sense of calling and personal values with the belief system of the organization as defined by its vision, purpose and values. If we can see that our personal sense of purpose, calling and vision are being realized by contributing to the corporate vision and purpose, then we will begin to feel that the corporate vision is, indeed, our own.  The closer the alignment between individuals' personal sense of calling, purpose and vision with the belief system of the organization, the more they will believe in what the organization is striving for. The more they believe in it, the harder they will work to make it succeed. 

The truth of the matter is, your organization cannot reach its maximum potential without every member's participation.  Being honest with personnel to say, "we need your support to reach this vision," can go a long way toward gaining followership once the leaders have demonstrated their own personal trustworthiness as good stewards.

Leadership Hints

• It is appropriate to use the first person singular when you are taking responsibility for an action (e.g., "I made that decision.") Otherwise, and especially when giving credit, use the plural (e.g., "Our team did a great job!")
• Evaluate how you use inclusive language and how your form of communication conveys your underlying values.
• Help your followers evaluate how their personal vision and values are realized through meeting the organizational vision and values. This can be done as a part of regular performance evaluations.

Followership Hints

• Followers are stewards, too. While you might not feel you have influence over the entire organization, you have been given some measure of responsibility for a portion of the organization's success. Treat that portion as if it were your own, because it is!

© Dr. Larry N. Gay, April 2010

http://mylead360.blogspot.com/ "Lessons on Leadership and Followership"