Leading in times of crisis Daniel 2
Beginning
I thought it my duty to serve on the WG School board. My children would be schooled there and I have an investment in the community that is multigenerational, so I put my name in the hat and ran and eventually served for 5 years on the board.
Nothing really happened for the first four years and then just before I was elected school board president everything fell apart. Our superintendent of schools was under tremendous pressure from the community to resign, the administration was leaderless; the school was in real trouble. At many of the board meetings TV crews were on hand to report the trouble.
When all the smoke cleared, the political wounds healed and the emotional trauma was sorted out we had a new administration in place and within a few years the school district was in the best shape it had ever been on several levels. We weathered the storm and turned things around. This was one of my first lessons in crisis leadership.
Another experience that taught me about crisis leadership was when I was called as pastor of a church that had been without singular leadership for a generation and every man Jack in the area had rushed to fill the power vacuum. I told them after moderating a couple of their business meetings that I would wear a referee shirt and blow a whistle at the rest of their business meetings.
I learned a lot about leadership during those times of crisis.
Crisis leadership requires our best kind of leadership and only in these times of stress do we develop into the complete leader that God has destined each of us to become.
In our story today Daniel is in one of those difficult situations and his leadership ability is a model for us to learn from.
Background--Daniel 2:1-12
Nebuchadnezzar had a troubling dream and it scared him. He called all the advisors together for a meeting. He demanded they interpret the dream for him and that they do it not knowing what the dream was. He added to their situation by warning them that if they didn’t come up with an interpretation he was going to kill the lot.
Well as they scattered to their respective places the word spread in the advisory community that a red alert—code blue was in effect.
Daniel was a remnant member of the advisor community and would be swept up in the net for execution if no interpretation was forthcoming. Daniel conferred with his three Hebrew associates encouraging them to prayer. Daniel then waited for God to reveal the dream and save the lives of the advisors.
God answered his prayer, gave him a replay of the dream and the interpretation. He went to the king with the interpretation and averted disaster.
Burden: Life free from testing is not part of the human condition. You will be tested and how you lead in times of crisis is the real evaluation of your leadership
Basic Truth: It takes a real life crisis to test your leadership
Burning Question What should faithful leaders do in times of crisis?
Seek to understand before being understood 14-15
14When Arioch, the commander of the king’s guard, had gone out to put to death the wise men of Babylon, Daniel spoke to him with wisdom and tact. 15He asked the king’s officer, “Why did the king issue such a harsh decree?” Arioch then explained the matter to Daniel.
A lesser leader would have been primarily concerned at the unfairness of this situation. Not Daniel. He turned his entire attention to listening and understanding. Daniel did not allow his personality or his safety to be his biggest concern. He sought to understand the situation above all.
Leaders who lead through crises focus on one thing at a time. There will be time later to be understood.
Sea captains are known as strong leaders. When in battle on the sea or with the sea they make decisions based on their experience, training and intuition. They care little for understanding, they demand action. They know time will judge their careers by the ships that they did not loose and the battles they win. They will explain things later.
John Wayne said in the movie The Undefeated after he had been questioned by some young soldier, “I’ve done more explaining to you than I have in a long time.” In the movie he was used to leading and not explaining.
Life Applications:
#1. There will be times when you will be misunderstood as you lead. Being second guessed is part of the job description of a leader.
#2. When you lead in crisis turn your focus completely to understanding the problem.
TS: You will not always be understood as you lead, but that is not why you lead.
Next we will focus on a strategy that will help you understand the problem even better.
Leading through crisis demands we focus on the root not the fruit
16At this, Daniel went in to the king and asked for time, so that he might interpret the dream for him.
The root of the problem was in the king’s heart. In all honesty the deepest roots of this situation began with God. Daniel went to the king and asked for time to seek out God’s help.
It is hard to focus on the root of the problem when the fruit is falling all around you and hitting you on the head, but the ultimate solution lies in the root.
How do you solve the world wide terror crisis we are all living with? The Palestinians and the Israeli’s are proving that an eye for an eye makes a lot of blind people and does not end hostilities.
I love the story of the church that put in a new baptistery. When first filled it ran over and flooded the church. The elders established study groups to find a way to get the water out of the church. They bought better mops and offered classes in efficient and effective mopping strategies. They had mopping meetings and formed small mopping groups. Finally after months of wet church floors they decided to buy everyone rubber boots. What was the root of the problem? Turn off the water!
Life applications:
#1. When you lead and a crisis erupts find a way to look past the water on the floor and see why it is there.
#2. If you are trying to lead a family through a crisis family system studies are good, but first find out why the problem is out of control and stop it.
#3. If your career is in crisis don’t spend your time and energy dealing with the fall out of the situation before you dig into the problem.
TS: Usually when these first two steps are taken a solution presents itself. When you have an answer you are only beginning to solve the problem.
Crisis leadership demands careful and concise communication
17Then Daniel returned to his house and explained the matter to his friends Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah.
Daniel realized the need to seed the solution in the hearts of as many as he could. He was careful to keep everyone around him on the same page.
There is a temptation here to run forward with the solution and fix the problem before we communicate clearly with those who need to know.
The leadership team here at Evergreen has given careful consideration to this problem over the years and work very hard on communicating with the church. We have made some major blunders in the past, but I personally believe we are doing much better.
We have a rule we use every week here. It says—“If you want to communicate with the church seek to say it five times in five different ways.”
Life Application:
#1. When in crisis, especially at the beginning, spend more time listening and communicating than acting.
#2. If your home is in crisis you have to start by talking.
#3. If you are leading a business, firm or institution through a crisis learn the value of communicating.
TS: There is one primary way through crisis that supercedes all.
Pray above all else 18-23
18He urged them to plead for mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that he and his friends might not be executed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. 19During the night the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a vision.
Great leaders don’t waste their time and energy on things that they have no control over, but focus on positive activity.
God was in control of this crisis and it was to in Him that the solution would have to originate.
Life Applications:
#1. Pray that God would send the solution to the crisis
#2. Pray that you will be faithful to apply His solution
TS: After you have sought understanding and looked to the root of the problem, communicated as well as you know how to do and finally put it in the hands of God there is only one thing left to do.
Give faith a chance
27Daniel replied, (To the king) “No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, 28but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries.
What do I want you to know?
There is a God in heaven
What do I want you to do?
Put Him in the very center of your crisis
