Leadership Principle #2

August 13, 2010

Leadership Principle #2 – Own your part of the problem

Have you ever played the “Blame Game?” Not me! Wasn’t my fault! We live in a culture that seems to expect us to play the game don’t we? We have learned to blame it on the environment we grew up in, or we blame the people we work with. We’ve learned to blame our parents, our children, even our genetic make-up. There seems to be no lack of blame to go around. I dare say everyone here has played the game at one time or the other.

I remember a time very vividly. I was 7 years old and living in Barkeyville, PA. at the time. My father pastored the local Church of God and we lived in the parsonage right across the street. It was a typical parsonage about 300 years old, ready to fall apart and surrounded by a cemetery on three sides. What a wonderful environment for a child to grow up in. 

On top of being a pastor, my dad was working several jobs to keep our household afloat. One of his jobs was driving a school bus. Well, one bright Saturday morning my best friend came over to the house and we decided to take our BB guns and go out to the woods and shoot some tin cans. We didn’t quite make it to the woods. As we walked out the door of the house there stood a bright shiny yellow bus with dozens of sparkling glass windows. Billy pulled up first and shot a window. Man when that BB hit the window it created the most awesome pattern of shattered glass. So I decided to try my hand at it. By the time we were done. Every window in that bus had a beautiful spider-web pattern in it. It didn’t sink in, until every window was shattered, that this may not have been such a good idea.

When my dad got home a few hours later, I think the temperature of Barkeyville went up 25 degrees. I swear I saw smoke rolling out his ears. He looked at me and said, “Who did this?” I said “Billy made me. He started it.” Needless to say, blaming him didn’t get me off the hook.

It seems to be a tendency of the human condition to blame someone else doesn’t it? When things don’t go as we expected, or we find ourselves in a mess, we try to find a way of casting blame. Unfortunately, this game is as old as the world itself. Adam started it in Gen 3:12 “The man said, "The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” Here is a little tip, for married men; don’t try this at home! You may be tempted to blame your wife for your bad behavior, but it never seems to work out when you do.

One of the things that impressed me most about Nehemiah was his willingness to admit he was a part of the problem. While Nehemiah reflected on the problems Israel faced, he remembered the instructions God gave to Moses, “If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations…” (Neh 1:8) Here is what impresses me. Nehemiah would be the one who would finally lead this discouraged and beaten people back to a place of restoration and wholeness. But before he could lead them, he had to lead himself. Nehemiah took time to reflect on his own poor behavior and how he had become a part of the problem.

I find it fascinating that Nehemiah, who was removed from the problem by time and distance, took it personal. He didn’t sin personally. He didn’t even live in Israel. Yet, he realized that if he wasn’t a part of the solution, he was by default a part of the problem.

The principle is simple; when you know the right thing to do, even if you did no wrong, and don’t attempt to make a situation right, you are complicit in the wrong action. That concept may not be very popular, but it is proper.

In the corporate world, CEO’s, leaders and managers of every kind have been complicit in the sins of the corporation and allowed good people to be hurt by the system. Knowing the system to be wrong or broken, many turn a blind eye and say, “It wasn’t my idea. It was passed down from the top. Besides, we have been operating this way for years and no one has tried to change it.”

In my world, the world of the church, it seems to be even worse. Outdated functional structures and systems, antiquated expectations and self-motivated leaders continue to perpetuate the problem. While these systems and leadership styles may have worked well in the 20’s or 30’s, they appear to remain the standard for daily business. Yet, the Church, at least in America, seems to be sliding into oblivion having less and less essential value in the culture.

 Nehemiah’s state of mind was simple but profound. He owned the problem as his own. In his prayer he admitted that he was a part of the problem and sought God’s forgiveness. It would have been easy for Nehemiah, to take the memory of God’s words to Moses and use them as a justification to stay where he was. After all, they made their own beds... Fortunately for us, he showed us a better way.

Being a good leader in the midst of chaos requires an ability to own the fact that you may be part of the problem. One thing is for sure; you can never lead people beyond where you have journeyed yourself.

Posted 8/13/2010 in Stephen Gray | 0 Comments - Add Comment