Laughter
My best friend from college serves on a board with a local man that is a mentor of mine. They met at the board meeting last week and exchanged "who do you know in Columbus" and my name came up. This mentor of mine told my fraternity brother that he was worried about me because I was so serious.
That troubles me. Troubles me a great deal. It actually breaks my heart.
I heard last week that a 3 year old kid (i love little kids) giggles somewhere around 500 times a day. The average 40 year old laughs just 19 times in a day.
500 giggles to 19 laughs. 500 to 19. A blowout of epic proportions. The kid wins.
Is it any wonder Jesus said He wants us to come to Him as a child (rather than a 40 year old)?
We take this life (I confess, I do) way too seriously. We worry about things we cannot control. We fret over a stock market or interest rates or our boss who is indifferent. Is it any wonder we rarely laugh?
Laugh. Giggle. Stop taking yourself so seriously. Loosen up.
Soar!
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Danger of Power Misused
Quite by coincidence after my post on power, an article appeared in the new issue of Fortune on United Healthcare and it's CEO. UnitedHealth is a hugely successful company. It was run by a man that grew it from $600 million in revenues to over $70 billion. The stock compounded at 30% a year during his 15 years far outsurpassing the returns of the market.
The CEO's status grew during those 15 years and he became the "face of healthcare" in America. By the end of 2005, his personal net worth exceeded $2 billion - a staggering amount of money that was all given to him via stock options. The article talks about how he abused power and how, as his status grew, so did the company's problem with curtailing him.
"A great CEO becomes dangerous over time. If you are incredibly successful as CEO, you have tremendous power (there is the word...power) within the company, over the board, and everybody's telling you that you are invincible. And then you become the risk to the extent that your own arrogance becomes the problem" said Goldman Sachs' analyst Matthew Borsch.
"Everyone telling you that you are invincible..." ---- remember how power is "intoxicating"?
McGuire never thought it was enough. He tracked the slightest movements of the stock. At the beginning of 1999, McGuire was already rich. He netted almost $49 million from stock sales and was sitting on options worth another $22 million. But he wasn't satisfied. As he began negotiations for a new contract with his board at the height of the tech bubble, McGuire fumed about all the dot-com twentysomething billionaires from their stakes in companies that hadn't made a dime. He was being recognized as one of the most successful CEO's in the country and he was asking to paid accordingly.
He demanded a new option grant of 2 million shares and the board agreed to give him 1 million options. Even has he unloaded shares every year or two (he netted $469 million from stock sales), the board gave him millions of new options.
As the story unfolded, it turns out that McGuire "backdated" his stock options to coincide with the annual low-point in the stock. If the board awarded him options at $50 and the stock fell to $40, he backdated those options as if they were given to him at $40. Of course, he claims he did no wrong but the odds of his timing those options were 1 in 200 million. The one director that he got approval from had a conflict of interest as he served as McGuire's investment manager.
McGuire, once the strongest man in all of healthcare and builder of a hugely successful company, lost his job and his reputation over his greed.
It is an amazing story - a classic story of greed gone too far. It wasn't enough that he built and ran an incredible company. It wasn't enough that he was viewed as the most powerful CEO in healthcare. It wasn't enough that when he walked into a room, he was clearly the most powerful man in the room. it wasn't enough that he was worth about $100 million and made $10 million more a year.
No, what stuck in this guy's craw was that in the dot-com boom, some young tech guys were suddenly billionaires and he didn't think it was fair. Once he was the most powerful man in the room, he did everything he could to leverage his power to make himself even more powerful. A billion wasn't enough, he reached for $2 billion. That last handful in the candy jar cost this man his job and a lifetime's reputation as a great CEO. Like the country music band Montgomery Gentry's song "Gone" - "Gone like a freight train, gone like yesterday....gone."
He leveraged to try to protect his power and grow his power rather than trying to use his incredible power to help others. It cost him everything. Gone.
Soar!
Quite by coincidence after my post on power, an article appeared in the new issue of Fortune on United Healthcare and it's CEO. UnitedHealth is a hugely successful company. It was run by a man that grew it from $600 million in revenues to over $70 billion. The stock compounded at 30% a year during his 15 years far outsurpassing the returns of the market.
The CEO's status grew during those 15 years and he became the "face of healthcare" in America. By the end of 2005, his personal net worth exceeded $2 billion - a staggering amount of money that was all given to him via stock options. The article talks about how he abused power and how, as his status grew, so did the company's problem with curtailing him.
"A great CEO becomes dangerous over time. If you are incredibly successful as CEO, you have tremendous power (there is the word...power) within the company, over the board, and everybody's telling you that you are invincible. And then you become the risk to the extent that your own arrogance becomes the problem" said Goldman Sachs' analyst Matthew Borsch.
"Everyone telling you that you are invincible..." ---- remember how power is "intoxicating"?
McGuire never thought it was enough. He tracked the slightest movements of the stock. At the beginning of 1999, McGuire was already rich. He netted almost $49 million from stock sales and was sitting on options worth another $22 million. But he wasn't satisfied. As he began negotiations for a new contract with his board at the height of the tech bubble, McGuire fumed about all the dot-com twentysomething billionaires from their stakes in companies that hadn't made a dime. He was being recognized as one of the most successful CEO's in the country and he was asking to paid accordingly.
He demanded a new option grant of 2 million shares and the board agreed to give him 1 million options. Even has he unloaded shares every year or two (he netted $469 million from stock sales), the board gave him millions of new options.
As the story unfolded, it turns out that McGuire "backdated" his stock options to coincide with the annual low-point in the stock. If the board awarded him options at $50 and the stock fell to $40, he backdated those options as if they were given to him at $40. Of course, he claims he did no wrong but the odds of his timing those options were 1 in 200 million. The one director that he got approval from had a conflict of interest as he served as McGuire's investment manager.
McGuire, once the strongest man in all of healthcare and builder of a hugely successful company, lost his job and his reputation over his greed.
It is an amazing story - a classic story of greed gone too far. It wasn't enough that he built and ran an incredible company. It wasn't enough that he was viewed as the most powerful CEO in healthcare. It wasn't enough that when he walked into a room, he was clearly the most powerful man in the room. it wasn't enough that he was worth about $100 million and made $10 million more a year.
No, what stuck in this guy's craw was that in the dot-com boom, some young tech guys were suddenly billionaires and he didn't think it was fair. Once he was the most powerful man in the room, he did everything he could to leverage his power to make himself even more powerful. A billion wasn't enough, he reached for $2 billion. That last handful in the candy jar cost this man his job and a lifetime's reputation as a great CEO. Like the country music band Montgomery Gentry's song "Gone" - "Gone like a freight train, gone like yesterday....gone."
He leveraged to try to protect his power and grow his power rather than trying to use his incredible power to help others. It cost him everything. Gone.
Soar!
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Servant Leader
I am in the middle of discussions with a group of managers about servant leadership. One of these managers has had a hard time gaining control of the group that he manages. He has tried a lot of things but the one thing he has never attempted in the 2+ years he has been in place is the go after the heart of the people in his office. Going after the heart...a foreign concept to him.
He sat in my office on Friday and was completely defeated. He has tried everything he can think of but nothing is working. He said he wanted to hear what I thought servant leadership meant (because I had mentioned that to him) and then he would tell me what he thought it meant. I said, "Go ahead and tell me what you think it means". He said, "When I hear servant leader, I think you are telling me that I will have 13 bosses and it will be my job to please them all even when their interests are very different."
I told him that servant leadership to me meant that he comes to work every single day looking for ways to help the people that work for him be the very best they can be. It means he leads with "what is it you need me to do to help make you better?" It means that he sits and listens to his people. Rather than chit chatting about golf, the weather or what you did this weekend, he turns the conversation on his people and gets them to open up. "What are you worried about, what are you excited about, what is it I can do to clear the path for you on an issue, where do you want to be in 3-5-7 years, what are your dreams, what do you aspire to become?"
If a manager asked these kind of questions and really listened, he would take the first step toward the heart of the people entrusted to him. As for 13 bosses - in a way, he is correct. The boss is only as good as the people working for him. If the people feel like the man has no interest in their heart, there is a permanent divide in the relationship. Then, when things get tough, the people won't go to bat for the manager. "He doesn't truly care about me, I'm not sticking my neck to help him." Yet, the servant leader who truly "gets" this and truly moves toward his people's heart will begin to develop a core trust between him and his people. Once a leader adopts this model and proves his intentions are selfless - the trust is built and his people would walk through plate glass for him.
Servant leader means dying to self in some ways and using the power bestowed to you to leverage for the benefit of others. I asked this man, "Imagine your boss. What if he adopted this behavior? What if he said, "you know what, i'm starting all over and I am going to come to work every day trying to make the 20 managers that report to me into the very best managers in the business. If I can make just one of them so very good that he takes my job, then I will have succeeded beyond my wildest dreams. My job is to work with them, fight with them, train them, expose them to other great managers, share each others' successes, learn from each other's failings and let them know above all else, I deeply care about them as a human being."
"What if the divisional manager treated you that way? How different would you feel about your job next week if he shared this with you on Monday morning? You don't seem like you have much passion for what you do now - what if your boss had a passion for helping you become a truly excellent manager? How would that change the way you feel about your job?"
He looked at me and said, "I get it - I get what you are saying."
Rather than coming to work every day trying to keep my boss happy and his boss happy - what if I instead turned all my focus to making the people that work for me happy? Instead of looking up the chain of command, what if I turned my attention and starting looking down the chain of command?
That, to me, is servant leadership. Being willing to give every single ounce of energy I have to make someone else better - especially all those entrusted to us. Not making me better, not getting my next promotion but helping making someone else better. That is a servant and our Lord Jesus set the mark for us. Praise Him!
Soar!
I am in the middle of discussions with a group of managers about servant leadership. One of these managers has had a hard time gaining control of the group that he manages. He has tried a lot of things but the one thing he has never attempted in the 2+ years he has been in place is the go after the heart of the people in his office. Going after the heart...a foreign concept to him.
He sat in my office on Friday and was completely defeated. He has tried everything he can think of but nothing is working. He said he wanted to hear what I thought servant leadership meant (because I had mentioned that to him) and then he would tell me what he thought it meant. I said, "Go ahead and tell me what you think it means". He said, "When I hear servant leader, I think you are telling me that I will have 13 bosses and it will be my job to please them all even when their interests are very different."
I told him that servant leadership to me meant that he comes to work every single day looking for ways to help the people that work for him be the very best they can be. It means he leads with "what is it you need me to do to help make you better?" It means that he sits and listens to his people. Rather than chit chatting about golf, the weather or what you did this weekend, he turns the conversation on his people and gets them to open up. "What are you worried about, what are you excited about, what is it I can do to clear the path for you on an issue, where do you want to be in 3-5-7 years, what are your dreams, what do you aspire to become?"
If a manager asked these kind of questions and really listened, he would take the first step toward the heart of the people entrusted to him. As for 13 bosses - in a way, he is correct. The boss is only as good as the people working for him. If the people feel like the man has no interest in their heart, there is a permanent divide in the relationship. Then, when things get tough, the people won't go to bat for the manager. "He doesn't truly care about me, I'm not sticking my neck to help him." Yet, the servant leader who truly "gets" this and truly moves toward his people's heart will begin to develop a core trust between him and his people. Once a leader adopts this model and proves his intentions are selfless - the trust is built and his people would walk through plate glass for him.
Servant leader means dying to self in some ways and using the power bestowed to you to leverage for the benefit of others. I asked this man, "Imagine your boss. What if he adopted this behavior? What if he said, "you know what, i'm starting all over and I am going to come to work every day trying to make the 20 managers that report to me into the very best managers in the business. If I can make just one of them so very good that he takes my job, then I will have succeeded beyond my wildest dreams. My job is to work with them, fight with them, train them, expose them to other great managers, share each others' successes, learn from each other's failings and let them know above all else, I deeply care about them as a human being."
"What if the divisional manager treated you that way? How different would you feel about your job next week if he shared this with you on Monday morning? You don't seem like you have much passion for what you do now - what if your boss had a passion for helping you become a truly excellent manager? How would that change the way you feel about your job?"
He looked at me and said, "I get it - I get what you are saying."
Rather than coming to work every day trying to keep my boss happy and his boss happy - what if I instead turned all my focus to making the people that work for me happy? Instead of looking up the chain of command, what if I turned my attention and starting looking down the chain of command?
That, to me, is servant leadership. Being willing to give every single ounce of energy I have to make someone else better - especially all those entrusted to us. Not making me better, not getting my next promotion but helping making someone else better. That is a servant and our Lord Jesus set the mark for us. Praise Him!
Soar!
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
Power
Andy Stanley has 2 great messages on his website www.northpoint.org on the topic of power. The first is dated 3/18 and is called "Intoxicating". I recommend you listen to them or watch them streaming on his site.
Power is bestowed on all of us. The setup for this sermon is the exchange between Christ and Pilate. Pilate is saying to Jesus "They want me to kill you and I have the power to do so". Jesus says to him, "The only reason you have power is that I gave it to you."
All power is given and we all possess some of it in some way. Be it power simply over our kids, "Go get the garbarge cans", the little league team we coach, our spouse, the department we are in charge of, the church we serve as Pastor or the company we serve as CEO. We all have some form of power and we will all lose this power at some point. It is given and it is temporary. If you sell your business and pocket millions - you have power but since no one has figured out how to take the money with them, the money is temporary. When we shift our focus to protecting and leveraging our power for more power, the trouble starts. We have all been victims of the abuse of power - we've all seen how others misuse it.
I had a boss one time that was bestowed a ton of power at a very early age. It was clearly (in hindsight) given to him too early and too much was given to him. He abused the power. He hoarded it. He never wanted others to grow and prosper less their star rise and he lose some of his power. He worked hard to position himself so it would be obvious that he was the best choice for the next promotion and he postured so those in competition with him were painted in a way that took them out of the running. It worked. He got the #2 job and was in line for #1. But it was how he possessed the power that ultimately led to his rapidly losing all the power he had. He alienated those under him and when push came to shove, he had no foundation of support.
The way to have power as a legacy is to give it away - to not care who gets the credit. The servant can never be greater than the master. If the master gives it away, he will leave a legacy that lasts long after he is gone. This is the "servant leader" model but I now understand it better than I ever have once I grasped what Andy was saying about power. I think of this in terms of this boss. What if he had adopted the power give away model? What if set out to make all of us that work for him the best we could possibly be? What if his job had been to train and equip one or more of us to wind up taking his job? How loyal would we have been to him? We would have walked through plate glass for him and ultimately, he would have possessed even more power (but, since his heart would have been different, he wouldn't have cared).
Power is given to each of it and it will be taken away. We have it for a short time. The call is what will we do with it. Will we use it to empower and bless others not caring if we ever get credit? Or will we clutch it, protect it, leverage it, manipulate it so that we can gain even more power? Give it away. It will come back to us ten-fold.
Soar!
Andy Stanley has 2 great messages on his website www.northpoint.org on the topic of power. The first is dated 3/18 and is called "Intoxicating". I recommend you listen to them or watch them streaming on his site.
Power is bestowed on all of us. The setup for this sermon is the exchange between Christ and Pilate. Pilate is saying to Jesus "They want me to kill you and I have the power to do so". Jesus says to him, "The only reason you have power is that I gave it to you."
All power is given and we all possess some of it in some way. Be it power simply over our kids, "Go get the garbarge cans", the little league team we coach, our spouse, the department we are in charge of, the church we serve as Pastor or the company we serve as CEO. We all have some form of power and we will all lose this power at some point. It is given and it is temporary. If you sell your business and pocket millions - you have power but since no one has figured out how to take the money with them, the money is temporary. When we shift our focus to protecting and leveraging our power for more power, the trouble starts. We have all been victims of the abuse of power - we've all seen how others misuse it.
I had a boss one time that was bestowed a ton of power at a very early age. It was clearly (in hindsight) given to him too early and too much was given to him. He abused the power. He hoarded it. He never wanted others to grow and prosper less their star rise and he lose some of his power. He worked hard to position himself so it would be obvious that he was the best choice for the next promotion and he postured so those in competition with him were painted in a way that took them out of the running. It worked. He got the #2 job and was in line for #1. But it was how he possessed the power that ultimately led to his rapidly losing all the power he had. He alienated those under him and when push came to shove, he had no foundation of support.
The way to have power as a legacy is to give it away - to not care who gets the credit. The servant can never be greater than the master. If the master gives it away, he will leave a legacy that lasts long after he is gone. This is the "servant leader" model but I now understand it better than I ever have once I grasped what Andy was saying about power. I think of this in terms of this boss. What if he had adopted the power give away model? What if set out to make all of us that work for him the best we could possibly be? What if his job had been to train and equip one or more of us to wind up taking his job? How loyal would we have been to him? We would have walked through plate glass for him and ultimately, he would have possessed even more power (but, since his heart would have been different, he wouldn't have cared).
Power is given to each of it and it will be taken away. We have it for a short time. The call is what will we do with it. Will we use it to empower and bless others not caring if we ever get credit? Or will we clutch it, protect it, leverage it, manipulate it so that we can gain even more power? Give it away. It will come back to us ten-fold.
Soar!
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Relevant?
I am reading an excellent book on leadership and read something last night that I wanted to share with you. It really spoke to me about the institution of the church and maybe some of the issues I've been feeling. See how this grabs you…
"I believe each of us has a rubber band with one end attached to our backside and the other nailed firmly to the wall of tradition. Even when we want to change, and do change, we tend to relax and the rubber band snaps us back into our comfort zones."
"If we don't learn to live with change, we have to realize we may not be around very long. General Shinseki understood this very well. Two years before 9/11, the army decided to transform itself - leaving behind the armor-heavy structures designed to fight the Soviets to become lighter, more flexible and more rapidly deployable. Of course, the army is one of the most tradition-bound organizations around and General Shinseki faced a barrage of resistance and criticism. Be he had a clear warning for the officers who objected to the transformation process. "If you don't like change, you're going to like irrelevance even less, the army must change because the nation cannot afford to have an army that is irrelevant."
"Businesses (I'll add Churches) that can't change don't just become irrelevant, they become extinct. Tradition has two sides - one good and one bad. Don't let traditions become your company's (church's) tarpit. Honor them but know when to let go."
"We are in world of permanent white water. There aren't any sections of slow water. We're not moving from pool to pool. We have to constantly navigate and reorient ourselves."
----------------
The church has to stay relevant. We swim in rapid waters. Life moves very fast. There is no room for coasting. The church has to reach out where it has never reached before. It has to realize that men aren't what they used to be. Life changes. Interests change. The old model is old for a reason - it no longer is effective. There has to be new, fresh, innovative approaches to reach folks. Why are so many of the booming churches casual, serving Starbucks in the lobby and showing movie clips? Because it reaches folks. Is it what we are all comfortable with? No. But it reaches folks and isn't that goal in the first place?
There is a reason that 9 out of 10 folks in Montana/Wyoming, etc have never attended church - the church that has been delivered to them hasn't been relevant. We feel pretty good in the South because our churches are large. Yet, I wonder if we took Wynnbrook or Cascade or St. Luke and plopped it down in Colorado Springs if it would be so large? Churches in the South have the benefit of location, location, location and a population that has engrained in them the duty of attending church. That tradition could very well die with this generation if the Southern church cannot revive and become relevant.
I believe one of the reasons Bill Shorey stuggled at Morningside is because they de-emphasised the pipe organ, stopped Sunday night services and changed some of the "tradition" of Morningside. His messages were right on target. Many new, strong believers joined the church. Many lost were led to the Lord and the church paid off its debt and the budget grew by 50%. Yet, the traditionalists couldn't stand it. He (to some of them) "ruined" their church. He changed their traditions. He seemingly took away all that mattered - pipe organs, fried chicken, Sunday night services. Bill's attempts to make that church "relevant" failed because the traditionalists didn't want to change. I am afraid they will rapidly move back onto the path of irrelevance. Yes, they'll get their traditions back.
Usually after a Pastor leaves or Headmaster or Coach or CEO leaves - you replace him with the opposite. You couldn't replace Jimmy Blanchard with another visionary, preacher/ motivator, slap you on back, dynamic man. He'd never match up. So, you replace Jimmy with a conservative, more quiet, more serious, traditional banker. So, Morningside will get their traditions back because likely, they will hire a traditional pastor. He'll be good on visitations, great with the older folks, love the pipe organ and the fried chicken and his messages will be "nice". They'll slide back into irrelevance - the path they were on before Bill arrived. My prayer for them is that Bill was a pioneer (those are the ones that get the arrows in their butts) and that perhaps God used him to light enough of a fire that the church will say "we're not going back". I fear it will happen the other way.
Why are so many men embracing the message of Wild at Heart? Because it digs back up what has been silted over in our souls by duty, tradition, being nice, trying hard not to sin, pancake breakfasts and life groups. These are the things that dull a man's soul. These are the things that tell a man his heart really is rotten. That he is simply a "sinner saved by grace". The inward pull of a man for ----- m o r e ---- there has to be something more to all of this ---- that pull is there for a reason. God put it there. If all church is about is simply being nice, most men want no part of that. If church is about what it truly means to be a man - to have integrity, to know how and when to fight for what you believe, in how to lend our strength to our women, in how to raise up our sons, in knowing there is an enemy, in knowing that we do have a good heart and there is so much more than remaining at "I am simply a lowly sinner saved by grace" ----- if church can be about all that, then it can remain relevant.
-----------------
Without realizing it, the author of this leadership book has changed his bank by using the culture of the heart. He doesn't realize (I don't think) but he has gone after the heart. He totally turned this bank upside down and had them throw out all they thought about banking - threw out conventional wisdom. His primary goal was to make work about being apart of something far grander than just banking - "it is unfulfilling to work for a company you can't feel passionate about". He captivated his people with a vision of being the "world's greatest bank". "With passion, work can be a heroic quest - we're out to change the world."
I ask you, what is the church's heroic quest? The reason so many church's are irrelevant and dying is that they have no notion of the grand story, no notion of inspiring their people to take up a sword in the heroic quest. No call to men to be heros. The church prefers men to be nice. Passion means "boundless enthusiasm for your vision". Boundless means "no boundaries". That make the church very nervous. The church prefers boundaries. The church prefers dutiful men over men with passion.
I think to remain relevant we have to take a serious look at all the conventional wisdom and follow God where He may lead us - even into places that are uncomfortable.
Soar!
I am reading an excellent book on leadership and read something last night that I wanted to share with you. It really spoke to me about the institution of the church and maybe some of the issues I've been feeling. See how this grabs you…
"I believe each of us has a rubber band with one end attached to our backside and the other nailed firmly to the wall of tradition. Even when we want to change, and do change, we tend to relax and the rubber band snaps us back into our comfort zones."
"If we don't learn to live with change, we have to realize we may not be around very long. General Shinseki understood this very well. Two years before 9/11, the army decided to transform itself - leaving behind the armor-heavy structures designed to fight the Soviets to become lighter, more flexible and more rapidly deployable. Of course, the army is one of the most tradition-bound organizations around and General Shinseki faced a barrage of resistance and criticism. Be he had a clear warning for the officers who objected to the transformation process. "If you don't like change, you're going to like irrelevance even less, the army must change because the nation cannot afford to have an army that is irrelevant."
"Businesses (I'll add Churches) that can't change don't just become irrelevant, they become extinct. Tradition has two sides - one good and one bad. Don't let traditions become your company's (church's) tarpit. Honor them but know when to let go."
"We are in world of permanent white water. There aren't any sections of slow water. We're not moving from pool to pool. We have to constantly navigate and reorient ourselves."
----------------
The church has to stay relevant. We swim in rapid waters. Life moves very fast. There is no room for coasting. The church has to reach out where it has never reached before. It has to realize that men aren't what they used to be. Life changes. Interests change. The old model is old for a reason - it no longer is effective. There has to be new, fresh, innovative approaches to reach folks. Why are so many of the booming churches casual, serving Starbucks in the lobby and showing movie clips? Because it reaches folks. Is it what we are all comfortable with? No. But it reaches folks and isn't that goal in the first place?
There is a reason that 9 out of 10 folks in Montana/Wyoming, etc have never attended church - the church that has been delivered to them hasn't been relevant. We feel pretty good in the South because our churches are large. Yet, I wonder if we took Wynnbrook or Cascade or St. Luke and plopped it down in Colorado Springs if it would be so large? Churches in the South have the benefit of location, location, location and a population that has engrained in them the duty of attending church. That tradition could very well die with this generation if the Southern church cannot revive and become relevant.
I believe one of the reasons Bill Shorey stuggled at Morningside is because they de-emphasised the pipe organ, stopped Sunday night services and changed some of the "tradition" of Morningside. His messages were right on target. Many new, strong believers joined the church. Many lost were led to the Lord and the church paid off its debt and the budget grew by 50%. Yet, the traditionalists couldn't stand it. He (to some of them) "ruined" their church. He changed their traditions. He seemingly took away all that mattered - pipe organs, fried chicken, Sunday night services. Bill's attempts to make that church "relevant" failed because the traditionalists didn't want to change. I am afraid they will rapidly move back onto the path of irrelevance. Yes, they'll get their traditions back.
Usually after a Pastor leaves or Headmaster or Coach or CEO leaves - you replace him with the opposite. You couldn't replace Jimmy Blanchard with another visionary, preacher/ motivator, slap you on back, dynamic man. He'd never match up. So, you replace Jimmy with a conservative, more quiet, more serious, traditional banker. So, Morningside will get their traditions back because likely, they will hire a traditional pastor. He'll be good on visitations, great with the older folks, love the pipe organ and the fried chicken and his messages will be "nice". They'll slide back into irrelevance - the path they were on before Bill arrived. My prayer for them is that Bill was a pioneer (those are the ones that get the arrows in their butts) and that perhaps God used him to light enough of a fire that the church will say "we're not going back". I fear it will happen the other way.
Why are so many men embracing the message of Wild at Heart? Because it digs back up what has been silted over in our souls by duty, tradition, being nice, trying hard not to sin, pancake breakfasts and life groups. These are the things that dull a man's soul. These are the things that tell a man his heart really is rotten. That he is simply a "sinner saved by grace". The inward pull of a man for ----- m o r e ---- there has to be something more to all of this ---- that pull is there for a reason. God put it there. If all church is about is simply being nice, most men want no part of that. If church is about what it truly means to be a man - to have integrity, to know how and when to fight for what you believe, in how to lend our strength to our women, in how to raise up our sons, in knowing there is an enemy, in knowing that we do have a good heart and there is so much more than remaining at "I am simply a lowly sinner saved by grace" ----- if church can be about all that, then it can remain relevant.
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Without realizing it, the author of this leadership book has changed his bank by using the culture of the heart. He doesn't realize (I don't think) but he has gone after the heart. He totally turned this bank upside down and had them throw out all they thought about banking - threw out conventional wisdom. His primary goal was to make work about being apart of something far grander than just banking - "it is unfulfilling to work for a company you can't feel passionate about". He captivated his people with a vision of being the "world's greatest bank". "With passion, work can be a heroic quest - we're out to change the world."
I ask you, what is the church's heroic quest? The reason so many church's are irrelevant and dying is that they have no notion of the grand story, no notion of inspiring their people to take up a sword in the heroic quest. No call to men to be heros. The church prefers men to be nice. Passion means "boundless enthusiasm for your vision". Boundless means "no boundaries". That make the church very nervous. The church prefers boundaries. The church prefers dutiful men over men with passion.
I think to remain relevant we have to take a serious look at all the conventional wisdom and follow God where He may lead us - even into places that are uncomfortable.
Soar!
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