Sometimes leadership means doing the opposite of a status quo.
Consider this simple example. I run two factories. I was manager of the first for about three years. Then the manager of the second factory retired and I was given his operations as well. Both factories are within the same compound.
Soon afterwards, I checked the office of the retired manager. There on his desk was a gleaming service bell, the kind you see in hotel reception desks.
Curious, I pressed the bell. TING!
One staff rose from a nearby cubicle and dutifully went to me. It was soon evident that my predecessor used the bell to summon someone to his office so he can issue instructions or hand over some documents.
“What am I? A king?” I thought.
So I told that staff to remove the bell. That was the first and last time I ever used it. I like to think that this simple act spoke volumes more than if I were to give a flowery inaugural speech.
I have the habit of going to people, not telling them to go to me. I am a big believer of servant leadership and it is more of deeds, not words.
For example, HR would leave a document on my desk for my signature. After I signed it, I would hand-carry the document to the HR office. This also allowed me some walking exercise and small talk with the troops.
Later, I learned one angle of how I got the second factory. Its operations head noticed my practice and when his boss (the manager of that second factory) was retiring, he lobbied that I take over.
Leadership goes like that: many times you have to go against the flow. Jesus modeled reversals too:
Instead of telling people to go to Him, He went to people.
Instead of demanding to be served, He is servant of all.
Instead of having someone wash His feet, He washed His disciples’ feet.
And the biggest reversal of all:
Instead of us striving for a good life to earn our way to heaven, Jesus died a horrible death at the Cross so that we, by grace through faith, receive eternal life.
Yes, leadership means that we do the reverse of an accepted paradigm or protocol.
So the next time you see a service bell, try not to fall in love with it. Love people instead and the rest will follow.
April 13, 2022
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