Good or Great?
What makes the difference?
Jim Collins, Author of Built to Last, a great book on leadership, addressed pastors at an event a few years ago. In his address, he identified the five defining elements that separate good companies from great ones. (and good leaders from great leaders) First, the leader is able to be an individual. (Paul was an individual, but so was Judas). Second, the leader is a team player. (Moses definitely had a heart for his people and was a team player, but you could probably make an argument that Goliath did also.) Third, the leader knows how to manage people. (Moses knew how to manage people, but so did Jim Jones in Ghana.) Fourth, the leader has vision. (Noah had vision, but so did Hitler.)
So, what is the factor that takes the leader to a whole new level? Selflessness! Out of 1,400 companies researched in his study, Collins concluded only 11 were headed by someone with real selflessness and “future preference.” To be a selfless leader, you must prefer the future to the present and care about people whose futures you may never even see. You must prefer other people and their future to yourself.
For us, we must care about the future of God’s Kingdom. As Paul said, we must prefer God’s eternal crown to today’s selfish glory, in other words, to what we want.
The only way we are going to be able to do this is to realize it’s not about us. It’s all about Him. We can have faith because of Him.
Today’s generations are characterized by selfishness. Self indulgence, self-centeredness, instant gratification, preferring the present to the future, putting ourselves above our parents, above our children, and ahead of our future.
Has anybody heard of Tom Brokow’s book, The Greatest Generation?
It is about the heroism and selflessness of the builder generation. (These are people born before 1946.) In America, for example, their values and work ethics built the nation economically and morally. They were a generation whose mindset was not, “What have you done for me lately?”
But, “What can I do for you?”
This was a generation that did not know instant gratification, but instead, worked with (to use Winston Churchill’s words) blood, sweat, toil and tears, in order to see what they could attain. This attitude lasted until approximately 1964 when the values of the Boomer generation started permeating society.
This former generation was marked by people willing to give their very lives for the greater good.
Who sacrificed for you? Who prayed for you? Who exemplified selflessness?
We too can change our worlds. We don’t know what the future holds. But we must take those steps of faith because we know we have a powerful God and He is faithful to accomplish His plan.
I’ll leave you with a few more questions:
What is worth giving your life to?
Michael Jordan has given his life to Basketball.
How about : Save the Whales?
What is worth our lives?
Food for thought.
Blessings,
Thora
