Top Gun (Or Perhaps-Make-Fun-Of) Leaders

I think we would all like to be Maverick from the movie, Top Gun. He does after all seem so cool, and he does get that hot girl!

I previously posted a blog entry on seven differences between good and bad leaders. This is a subject that continues to be on my mind as I learn what a follower of Christ would do. It is ironic how we learn from those we wish not to be like – we can almost learn as much from them as we do our most dedicated of mentors in our lives.

I keep a constant eye on Michael Hyatt’s blog (the Chairman of Thomas Nelson Publishers, the largest Christian publishing company in the country), and he recently posted an entry on keeping an organization’s top talent. You might think this was the goal of every company, but then again you might be surprised by how many good employees leave a company, sometimes choosing unemployment as opposed to having employment.

via

I will never forget the instance when a leader I know told me (someone who I did greatly respect), “I am too busy to help that individual. I have my own business to take care of it. You can deal with it – so do it!” I was trying to have a supervisor step in so the client was not lost, but losing a smaller client apparently did not matter to this individual. I am firm believer that you must practice what you preach. Do not claim to have an open door policy if you really never have one. I believe there is often a paradox between those claiming to have some type of leadership philosophy when their example would suggest otherwise, living the life of a double-standard or what many have referred to as an “Indian-giver,” perhaps the worst of names one could be called on the elementary playground. I am okay if one does not have an open door policy as long as they do not claim to. In others, do not claim to be something you are if you in fact in reality are not whatever you claim. As the old saying, do not talk the talk if you cannot walk the walk.

In my experience, I have seen members of an organization perform at their best when they are comfortable with their leader to talk about anything. If you cannot approach a leader confidently and openly, then passion is lost. Morale is down. And you kiss hard work as it walks out the door.

I have seen and noticed several leaders who have thousands hanging at his or her every word, but they never acknowledge that their followers exist. They do not talk to them because they can only socialize with the higher circles of infrastructure or reputation.

Three instances come to mind with two of my mentors. One is the Vice President of an elite organization of business professionals here in Birmingham, Alabama. I was referred to his contact information by a mutual acquaintance in the nonprofit world – never once did he turn me away by pretending he was better than me. Quite the opposite, he gave me homework assignments to better seek and build my relationship with the Lord until he decided I was not going away. I did not understand why he had me do what I do, but I still respected him enough to do it. Another mentor serves as the President of a coalition that serves to assist orphan nonprofits through training, seminars, and national conference. I actually got an email from him asking if I wanted to serve through an unpaid internship. As a recent Masters graduate, I almost laughed at the idea of doing another unpaid internship, but then God blessed my work and my relationship with this amazing individual and organization. While I have paid my dues with both these mentors, they never ever once turned me away because they were too busy. They realize they are human and humble servants of God and therefore act like it.

Thirdly, I will never forget the image of Senior Pastor David Platt at the Church of Brook Hills and author of his recent New York best-selling book, Radical. (I hope he does not mind me using him as an example here). While tuning up the band with usual Sunday worship songs, he fell to his knees with his face as low as he could press to the ground, truly and reverently glorifying God where all of us should be with our face to the ground. When on the ground and at the lowest the points in our lives (where only God can rescue us), the only place we can go from there is up. I have also seen and understood that David never turns anyone away that wants to speak with him. He has a line after all his sermons with three services a Sunday, and each time I have visited he has always spoken to everyone until the last person left. Now these three men represent true Mavericks in a sense of the word. They are successful because the Lord honors what they do for Him. I do not know about you, but that is the kind of leader I want to be.

I want those who follow me to feel comfortable and to always feel that I have an open door policy – never feeling that I see myself as higher than them, that I do not have time claiming to be too busy, or that I think I am better than them. I do not lead because I have a badge to do so. I lead because of the person I am in Christ. I will respect, obey, and follow the authority I serve under whether I agree with them or not, but when I arrive, I will remember to be the leader through Christ that perhaps they could not be.