Stalnecker Leadership By Design

Become the Leader You Were Created to Be
1. Auflage 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5439-1233-3
Verlag: BookBaby
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)

E-Book, Englisch, 200 Seiten

Leadership is often defined based on life experience, background, education, or culture. What looks like leadership to one may look like dictatorship to another. Some would say that leaders are always 'type A', while others believe in a passive approach. In many ways, this is why learning to lead or regaining the ability to lead is so difficult. We are trying to hit a target that we can name but cannot see. Leadership by Design was written to challenge definitions of leadership that are tied to a job description or personality type but miss the philosophy that moves the leader forward when those things change. We don't do leadership; we are leaders! We were created to make a difference in the lives of those around us regardless of occupation or temperament by living to take them from where they are to where they need to be. If you are not leading according to your unique talents, abilities, and opportunities, you are not living the life you were created to live. It's time to get up and begin moving forward. It's time to understand Leadership by Design!

Autoren/Hrsg.

Stalnecker, Jeremy

Leseproben

Chapter 2

The Need for Leadership

“The most dangerous leadership myth is that leaders are born-that there is a genetic factor to leadership. That’s nonsense; in fact, the opposite is true. Leaders are made rather than born.” 4

- Warren Bennis

“Leaders aren’t born, they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work. And that’s the price we’ll have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal.”5

- Vince Lombardi

As any parent of small children will tell you, there comes a point in your life when you realize you know more about cartoon characters and video games than you do anything of actual significance. Ask me the plot of the last three Batman cartoon episodes, and I can give you a complete rundown. Ask me about the current economic situation in the United States, and I’ll have to get back to you.

My wife and I went on a date a few weeks ago to watch a movie and get something to eat. As we were waiting for the movie to begin, it occurred to me that the last time I attended a movie not produced by Disney was over ten years ago! I guess at some point you just kind of accept that you’ll never again do the things you did before kids. Things like shower without people walking in on you, or getting out of the house without three hours of planning! And while I like books about dogs and dragons and other things that can be described in sentences of six words or less, I get excited when the subject matter is a bit deeper.

Recently, my second-grade son brought home a book about the sinking of the Titanic. It was a simple book written with small children in mind, but at least it was about a real event. While I’ve never been a student of the Titanic, the movie or the actual event, I enjoyed learning more about it and trying to explain to a seven-year-old how something so tragic could happen. As adults, we learn to accept catastrophe and death as a part of life. We don’t like it, but we accept it. My son, however, could not get his mind around the fact that a boat the size of the Titanic could sink and that so many people had died. Talking about this with him caused me to wonder, again, how something of this magnitude could happen. I stayed up one night past my self-imposed 10 p.m. bedtime and did some research to try and understand.

It really is a fascinating story. As you look at the known facts surrounding the sinking of this amazing ship, one thing becomes clear: what caused the sinking of the Titanic was not an iceberg. The Titanic sunk and 1,503 people lost their lives6 because of a lack of leadership.

Here are some interesting facts about the ship and the events surrounding its sinking:

There were 6 different ice warnings received by the Titanic on the day of the collision.7

Despite the ice warnings, the ship was traveling 22.5 knots, just 0.5 knots from its maximum speed.8

There were only enough lifeboats for one third of the ship’s total capacity.9

A lifeboat drill scheduled for earlier the day the ship sank was canceled for an unknown reason.10

Two other ships were close enough to rescue survivors but ignored the calls for help.11

These stunning circumstances paint a picture of a tragedy that could have been alleviated or avoided altogether if those in charge had demonstrated better leadership. None of this is to suggest that one person was responsible, only that no one person took responsibility for the situation as it unfolded. This is why the story of the Titanic has captured people’s imaginations for so long and why my seven-year-old son couldn’t understand that it was possible.

As I mentioned in the first chapter, it’s amazing how much we can learn from the past. Events like this can teach some incredible truths if we are willing to learn them. One of the major lessons from the sinking of the Titanic is that leadership is the difference between a successful luxury cruise and the type of catastrophe by which all others are judged. This, incidentally, is just as true in every other area of life as it is in the world of cruise lines. A lack of personal leadership will lead to a shipwrecked life. A lack of relational leadership will lead to relational brokenness. A lack of business leadership will lead to failure. Nothing of significance will ever happen without leadership.

If success is based on leadership, why is so much in our world broken? The question we have to ask is, “Where are all of the leaders?” There can only be one answer: the demand for leadership is greater than the supply of those who are able or willing to lead. I am often told by those who opt out of leadership that someone else will lead if they don’t. They say this to relieve themselves of the responsibility of leadership. The truth is that although there are many who claim to be leaders and fill positions of leadership, real leaders, people who really understand leadership, are few and far between. And we wonder why our world is falling apart around us.

Since it’s so easy to miss things I’m not directly involved in, I wondered if a lack of leadership is an issue dealt in other areas as well. I often tell those who come through our programs that if even a percentage of the nearly 23 million veterans in America began to lead, our communities and our country would be different. Maybe the reason I feel this way is that I live exclusively in the veteran world. What are people saying about leadership in other places?

Political Leadership

You don’t have to look far to find an opinion on leadership, or the lack thereof, in politics. Having just come through the presidential election of 2016, every show and news article seems to be about our politicians and how they lead or will lead. We even refer to politicians as leaders, calling the President of the United States the leader of the free world.

Knowing that success or failure in any endeavor is largely based on leadership, it is difficult not to conclude that we have some problems. Our world is in absolute chaos, our economy is uncertain, and our liberties continue to erode. I know how all of this makes me feel, but what about other people?

The recent “Survey on the Global Agenda” by Shiza Shahid, returned some interesting statistics:

86% of respondents believe there is a global leadership crisis.

Only 55% of respondents have confidence in leaders of non-profit and charitable organizations to advocate for the marginalized and under-represented.

56% of respondents do not have confidence in religious leaders to address global problems.

58% of respondents do not have confidence in government leaders to not abuse their position of authority and power.12

All of these are astounding, but the first one taken by itself is incredible: 86% of respondents from countries around the globe feel that there is a global leadership crisis. Clearly, we need qualified, passionate, clear minded leaders to guide the political process and work to bring order and stability to our world.

Business Leadership

In the last ten years Americans have become accustomed to seeing businesses fail that were once cornerstones of the American economy. We have seen government bailouts and other economic controls instituted in an effort to keep these companies around. Unemployment has risen to levels not seen in half a century, and many who are not unemployed find themselves underemployed instead—working but barely making ends meet.

Every time one of these businesses closes its doors, the experts begin to deconstruct their decline. Many factors contributed to the struggles of these companies, but one factor remains consistent. On some level the leader or leaders either created the environment that led to failure or failed to recognize they were in such an environment. In his article “Businesses Don’t Fail, Leaders Do,” leadership adviser and author Mike Hyatt asserts that the greatest challenge facing businesses is not the economy, but rather those in leadership positions who are either unwilling or unqualified to lead.13 As the landscape of business continues to change, we must once again ask the question, “Where are all the leaders?”

Church Leadership

Unfortunately, the outlook is not much better for the church. I am a firm believer that the local church is God’s plan for spreading the message of the Bible as well as providing an example of that truth lived out. Increasingly, though, neither of these is happening. As the church in America continues to experience an overall decline in attendance as well as a loss of social and cultural influence, and organizations such as the Pew Research Center declares that the U.S. public is becoming less religious,14 one must ask why. President and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources, Thom Rainer, who has studied church growth and decline for more than 25 years, says this: “Stated simply, the most common factor in declining churches is an inward focus.”15 He continues by explaining that the church in America has become so focused on maintaining the status...