It's Not What You Know It's How You See It

Quotes:

“Where there is no vision, the people perish.” —Proverbs 29:18

“Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.” —Warren Bennis

“A leader is a dealer in hope.” —Napoleon Bonaparte

“A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” —John Maxwell

“To command is to serve, nothing more and nothing less.” —Andre Malraux

“He who has never learned to obey cannot be a good commander.” —Aristotle

“A great person attracts great people and knows how to hold them together.”—Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

“Leadership is influence.” —John C. Maxwell

“Great leaders are not defined by the absence of weakness, but rather by the presence of clear strengths.” —John Zenger

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” —John Quincy Adams

Luke 19:1-10

Jesus exemplifies leadership for us. He is a perfect example for us to follow and pattern after.

He came to seek and save the lost and so should we.

But this begs the question? How effective are we at winning the lost?

The answer to this may directly be related to this sermons title:

It’s Not What You Know, It’s How You See It.

Leadership is less about what you know and more about how you see it.

Let me explain.

In every situation in life there are “facts” of that situation.

And at the same time there are the “facts” as we see them.

Let me give you a real-world example from when I was a Crew Chief in Desert Storm.

On 1 February 1991 major elements of the 97th deployed to RAF Fairford, United Kingdom, forming the 806th Bombardment Wing (Provisional). At Fairford, the Wing participated as part of the expeditionary unit during Operation Desert Storm, executing multiple B-52 strike missions over Iraq and Kuwait. The wing conducted over 60 conventional bombing sorties. Tragically, the only B-52 lost during the Gulf War was from Eaker AFB. It was not shot down but went down in the Indian Ocean due to a mechanical failure. Aircraft and personnel returned to Eaker AFB by mid-1991.

We had 9 B52G Bombers that were not from Eaker AF Base, Blytheville Ar. We had flown up to KI Sawyer in the UP to get them as ours were not equipped with the latest Strat-Radar mods. Once was a Can-Bird (to cannibalize parts from) to keep the other 8 operational. We flew 4 bombing missions a day (9 hours to target & 9 back for a gurgling 18 hours). We also had to have to taxi spares in case any of the primary 4 failed to make their mission. We also had to have one engine running in the chocks to back up the 2 taxi spares. We dropped 51 750 pounders and cluster bombs. Our targets were power plants, fuel depots, etc. and largely Red Guard units in the field. All of the crew’s mission success rates were not the same. Some had very poor rates and mine was one of the ones that were in the 90 percentile.

Why?

The “facts” were the same for each of the crews and they were:

We opened a base that had been closed for 20 some years.

Bombers that were 30 plus years old.

Dirty and not well maintained.

The ramp was small, aged and in less than ideal condition.

We did not have all the tools at our disposal we normally had access to.

Working out abandoned buildings.

Sleeping in a gym cot to cot as many as could be fitted. Your cot was your personal space.

We had 9 crews (1 for each bomber); since all the “Facts” were the same, why were some crews mission success rate so much lower than others?

Because it’s Not What You Know, It’s How You See it.

The “facts” were the same; we all had the same training, knowledge, and hours upon hours of study; however, how each crew saw the “facts” were different.

I knew that if my Bomber didn’t make its mission, then Americans and our Allies would literally die. Therefore, I pushed and lead my crew to do what had to be done to make ever mission possible; mainly by helping them to understand that if we didn’t fly folks on our side would die.

Context made the difference. It wasn’t the training that made me a successful leader during Desert Storm as it was the Context.

The Context was: knowing, if we didn’t fly then folks on our side would die.

Read the hand-out:

“A newspaper is better than a magazine. A seashore is a better place than a street. At first it is better to run than to walk. You may have to try several times. It takes some skill, but it is easy to learn. Even young children can enjoy it. Once successful, complications are minimal. Birds seldom get too close; Rain however, soaks in very fast. Too many people doing the same thing can also cause problems. One needs lots of room, if there are no complications it can be very peaceful. A rock will serve as an anchor. If things break loose from it, however, you will not get a second change.”