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 

Three New "R's" for Success

This past week I caught a portion of a radio interview with Arthur Alexander, an economist at Georgetown University, who stated that Japan will recover quickly from the recent devastating earthquake and tsunami. The reason, he said, is because Japan has three things that are built into advanced modern economies: Redundancy, Resilience, and Robustness.  As Susan and I rode down the highway, we reflected on how important these three R’s are for success in any organization.

Redundancy

We usually think of a redundancy as something that is superfluous or unnecessary. In fact, the first definition in Dictionary.com supports that concept: “superfluous repetition or overlapping.” Look farther down, however, and see another meaning: “the provision of additional or duplicate systems, equipment, etc., that function in case an operating part or system fails, as in a spacecraft.” Redundancy, in this light, is preparing for an emergency to ensure the seamless continuation of production even if essential parts or players are unexpectedly removed.

Many businesses do themselves a huge disfavor by trying to avoid redundancies in an effort to reduce operating costs and increase profit margins. Whenever a major merger takes place, for example, redundant jobs are eliminated in an effort to streamline personnel costs. In difficult economic times, tenured workers (who, admittedly, usually have higher salaries and benefits) are offered early retirement incentives without taking into consideration the brain trust of experience they represent and without making sure someone else knows everything they knew before they leave. When the only person who knows how to do the job is suddenly unavailable, momentum is lost or production in that area comes to a screeching halt until the person returns or someone new learns to do the job.

Redundancy in your business or organization is not just a matter of having two people who do the same job. It is more a matter of contingency preparation. Redundancy might include such things as mentoring and preparing young leaders for succession. It could also be something as simple as keeping good backups of your essential files and correspondence. Redundancy, as Dr. Alexander pointed out, can be a good thing.

Resilience

Again, Dictionary.com comes to our aid in defining resilience:

“1. the power or ability to return to the original form, position, etc., after being bent, compressed, or stretched; elasticity.

2. ability to recover readily from illness, depression, adversity, or the like; buoyancy.”

The opposite of resilience is resistance or rigidity. When managers take an attitude of “ours is not to reason why, ours is but to do and die,” they usually lead people on  a destructive path of resistance or resignation. (These are two R’s you probably would want to avoid!)

Resilience is the ability to deal with unexpected change and adapt to the new reality.  You build resilience by introducing change in increments and developing an ethos of embracing change for the better. In resilient organizations, frontline workers actually will introduce needed change.

Robustness

Robustness is associated with good health. Dictionary.com, what do you say? “Strong and healthy; hardy; vigorous.”

A robust organization will not suffer from a prolonged depressed morale. Even robust organizations will have setbacks when crises hit. The difference is, a robust organization will have built the resilience needed to recover and bounce back quickly. A sick organization, on the other hand, will have built up more resistance and rigidity that ultimately leads to another “R”: Rigor mortis.

To have a healthy and hardy organization, you need healthy and hardy personnel. Robustness is not only related to physical well-being. It also assumes emotional, spiritual, and psychological health. To be robust, the organization needs to build an ethos of its members caring for each other. That means coworkers looking out for each other. It also means supervisors taking a genuine interest in the welfare of their personnel. People throughout a robust organization will demonstrate their confidence that they are regarded as more than just expendable resources.

Hint to the Leader

Regardless of your position, you can help develop redundancy, resilience and robustness in the people who look to you for leadership. What can you do right now to start building the three R’s into your organization?

Hint to the Follower

The difference between building resistance or resilience starts with a personal decision. Decide right now to be part of the solution and not part of the problem. Look for ways to make things better and find an appropriate way to share your thoughts with others.  

© Copyright Dr. Larry Gay, March 2011

"Lessons on Leadership and Followership"

http://mylead360.blogspot.com/

How do you spell "Success?"

"I want that guy out of here in 60 days!" The angry CEO made it clear he did not like the lower level manager, not necessarily because of poor job performance, he simply did not like the guy.

A major part of the problem, however, was the fact that from the beginning there was no standard of performance or clear expectation of how the manager would do his job. So he had rocked along for several months doing what he thought was a pretty good job. Then, "Wham!" Out of the blue he was blindsided with the fact that he had not been meeting the CE0's expectations and there was no opportunity to rectify the problem.

Sometimes even following a clearly written job description is not enough to guarantee successful job performance. Job descriptions often describe typical tasks that are to be performed while failing to define the most important item of all, which is how will success be defined?

Remember the old antacid commercial: "How do you spell relief?" Smiling men and women declared, "I spell relief R-O-L-A-I-D-S." They knew exactly what to do to get the desired outcome of relief from the pain of heartburn.

So how do you spell SUCCESS? A team can get along fabulously well, with no conflicts, everyone respecting each other and enjoying working together while they are effectively accomplishing absolutely NOTHING for the company. They might rate themselves an A+ team in spite of the fact that they have zero tangible results. They can even come up with a score card rating themselves on their performance while measuring the wrong things.

To head off this train wreck before it leaves the track, be sure the train is on the right track! Make sure you both spell SUCCESS the same way!

Hint to both the Leader and the Follower:
Make sure the job description not only includes tasks to be completed, but also the main objective to be accomplished through this position.

Make sure you both know how you will measure success and agree on how and when success will be evaluated.

Hint to the Leader:
Clarify what steps will be taken if success is not acheived. The first corrrective action should be to help the follower improve performance, increase their effectiveness and contribute more positively to the company's objectives. Don't just fire under-performers without first investing in them to help them become peak-performers.

Hint to the Follower:
Ask how you are doing and if you are making a positive contribution to the company's objectives. If you have not received a performance review in over a year, ask for one. Let your boss know you want honest feedback so you can give the job your best effort. Show that you care for the company and want to help it be successful. To do that, you need to know how to spell SUCCESS.

(c) 2011 Dr. LarryN. Gay http://mylead360.blogspot.com/

     "Lessons on Leadership and Follwership"