One of the books I read recently was Jim Collins’ bestselling management book, “Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap, and Others Don’t.” The phenomenal bestseller came out seven years ago and yet it still sells over 300,000 copies a year. It showcased 11 companies that transformed from average to amazing, or simply put, from good to great. Collins and his research team sought to pinpoint the principles that led them to greatness. These principles are not just applicable to companies but also to our personal lives, to our families and even to our church.
I find it very interesting that Collins pointed out that the first factor to become good to great is a Level 5 Leadership. Now, what is a Level 5 Leader? How do we become one? Bear with me please as I explain the details. According to “Good to Great,” Level 1 Leader is defined as a “Highly Capable Individual,” a person who “Makes productive contributions through talent, knowledge, skills, and good work habits.” A Level 2 Leader is a “Contributing Team Member,” who “Contributes individual capabilities to the achievement of group objectives and works effectively with others in a group setting.” A Level 3 Leader is a “Competent Manager,” who “Organizes people and resources toward the effective and efficient pursuit of predetermined objectives.” A Level 4 Leader is an “Effective Leader,” who “Catalyzes commitment to and vigorous pursuit of a clear and compelling vision, stimulating higher performance standards.” Now, most of the leadership talks I heard focused on this level of leadership, that to be a great leader, he must be a visionary. A great leader is a tough leader, one with a strong personality or charisma. That’s our usual concept of leadership. Power leadership. That’s why even in our families, we say that the father must be a tough, strong leader of the family. For us, to apologize to our spouse or to our children for our shortcomings for example is a sign of weakness. We would not admit our weaknesses. Yes, as the leader of the family, the father has the last say, the final decision. But, we feel listening to the opinion of our spouses is not an option. For our kids to voice out their opinion against our decision is simply not acceptable. That’s our image of a strong leader. Actually, it’s more overbearing than strong. I admit that’s also my personal image of a father. Well, bless her heart, my wife is submissive. But I know that Ellen time and again has struggled with my idea of leadership at home. And, if we are honest, I believe that there are people here also who share the same situation.
But that’s not the peak of leadership! According to “Good to Great,” “We were surprised, shocked really, to discover the type of leadership required for turning a good company into a great one. Compared to high-profile leaders with big personalities who make headlines and become celebrities, the good-to-great leaders… are a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will.” What is amazing is that we don’t have to go through levels 1 to 4 in order to reach level 5. When we deal with our attitude, we jump to level 5 from whatever level we are in. Thus, the Level 5 Leader is the leader who accomplishes so much because he does not care who gets the credit. It’s the leader who cares more for the organization than for himself or for his image. It’s the leader who asks what he can do for the company rather than what the company can do for him. In short, Level 5 Leadership is servant-leadership.
Just imagine! Jim Collins and his good-to-great research team devoted a total of 15,000 hours of effort, studied 6,000 articles, generated more than 2,000 pages of interview transcripts of CEOs and created 384 million bytes of computer data… just to come up with a conclusion that the Bible have taught throughout the centuries. The Bible is still the best source for leadership principles. The concept of servant-leadership is taught in the word of God all along. The Bible teaches us that SERVING is a HIGH CALLING. The way up is down. We lead by serving. We serve by leading.
Turn with me to the Gospel according to Mark chapter 10. In the previous chapter, the disciples were arguing about who was the greatest among them. Jesus had to tell them, “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.”[1] Yet it seems, just like us, they never learn. In fact, while our Lord Jesus was predicting His death, all of them were thinking how to position themselves. Our passage tells us, “Again he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him. ‘We are going up to Jerusalem,’ he said, ‘and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles, who will mock him and spit on him, flog him and kill him. Three days later he will rise.’”[2] Note the next verse: “Then [Circle the conjunction “Then”.] James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to him. ‘Teacher,’ they said, ‘we want you to do for us whatever we ask.’ ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ he asked. They replied, ‘Let one of us sit at your right and the other at your left in your glory.’”[3] After the Lord talked about His Passion THEN James and John asked Him to position them as VIPs in His kingdom. How dense can they get? It appears they were not even listening to the Lord. They have their own agenda. In fact, in Matthew 20, we read that it was actually their mother who made the request to Jesus on their behalf. They didn’t even have the guts to tell Jesus personally.
We read in verse 41 that “When the ten heard about this, they became indignant with James and John.” They got angry not because what James and John requested was wrong. They got angry because James and John had asked first. They had beaten them to the punch. Each of them thought they deserve the position more than James and John. Power leadership! That’s what they wanted.
After warning them about suffering, “Jesus called them together and said, ‘You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you.’”[4] Note the last four words: “Not so with you.” The world wants power at all costs. Not so with you. People want to get the upper hand, no matter what. Not so with you. People in authority abuse their power. Not so with you. They claim, “What are we in power for?” Not so with you. There are those who are so hungry for power that they step on others, they use people, they manipulate others and they do anything and everything just to get ahead. Not so with you. There are people who grab the credit even for those things they haven’t done. Not so with you. There are people who are so conscious of their reputation, of what people would say, that they would choose what is popular rather than what is right. Not so with you.
We have a higher calling. It is a humble calling. But it is nonetheless a high calling. Jesus emphasized again, “Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.”[5] Someone called this, “Upside down leadership.” Serving leads to greatness. Someone wrote, “While there is nothing wrong with aspiring to greatness, we must be careful how we define ‘greatness’ and why we want to achieve it.” People thought that when one becomes great, you earn the right to be served. But according to Jesus, to be truly great, you must serve. Serving is not a means to lead. Serving is the end itself. People thought that serving is a way to manipulate people so that someday you end up leading them. Yes, leading can be a means to serve. I am not saying that we have to remain in the rank and file. We can even rise to the top. But our goal is to serve, not to lead. And it is not just serve for a season and then someday you would be served. It’s a calling for life.
How does it look like in our lives? In our workplace, for example, we excel in our work. We avoid credit grabbing. We give credit to whom credit is due, especially when the work is a team effort. When they really have a bright idea, we point it out. One principle that worked for me is that if others give the same idea that I have, I credit them for the idea. Now, when we really deserve the credit, we don’t boast about it or keep on calling attention to it. When somebody else gets promoted, we rejoice with the person even if we think we should be the one promoted. When we are promoted, we don’t gloat over those who were not promoted. We encourage them by calling attention to their excellent work. We just keep serving. We just continue to do our job and even beyond our call of duty. We also help others excel. There are supervisors who are threatened when their subordinates do a great job. They were so insecure that they seek to undermine what people under them have done. That is not serving. When we serve, we lift others up. Their success is our success also. Philippians 2:3-4 tell us, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.” I know a Christian businessman who would even help the employee he fired get back on his feet. He would even assist the employee so that he could start his own business or find another job. That is serving beyond the call of duty. That is servant leadership.
In our married life for example, husbands are called to serve their wives. Husbands are called to sacrifice for their spouses. The leader of the family is called to serve the family. In The Message version of Ephesians 5:25-26 we read this: “Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church—a love marked by giving, not getting… Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her… And that is how husbands ought to love their wives.” A love marked by giving and not by getting. That is a love that seeks to serve and not to be served. Though I know it’s hard, one thing I learned is that sacrifice is giving up what you want for something she wants. So, there are times we have to give up our favorite TV show or our “siesta”[6] time to bring her to the grocery. Of course, giving her grocery money is another thing. That’s tough, I know. There are times I find it hard to do myself. But that is how God called us to serve our wives.
Brothers and sisters, serving is a high calling. Though it is humbling, it is not humiliating. The Lord knows what He is asking us to do. In Mark 10:45, He emphasized, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Indeed, serving is a high calling. For it is a calling to live like the Lord.
Let us pray…
[1]Mark 9:35. All Bible verses are from The Holy Bible: New International Version, electronic ed. (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1996, c1984), unless otherwise noted.
[2]10:32b-34.
[3]10:35-37.
[4]10:42-43a
[5]10:43b-44.
[6]In English, “rest.”
