The Heart of a Great Leader
Phyllis Hendry is the President and CEO of Lead Like Jesus. She has partnered with Convene to create a webinar entitled The Heart of a Great Leader. This talk is the first in a four part series on how our thinking as leaders impacts our views on leadership, people, and work.
Finding Opportunities to Flourish
The Wall Street Journal reports that honeybees continue to die at increasing rates (Tennelle Tracy, 14 May 2015, p.A3). Let's juxtapose this against a story in The Economist (9 May 2015, p.30) about Bolivia's loss of 250 miles of Pacific Ocean coastland in 1904. Now let's ask what these two stories on different continents hold in common. Both represent overwhelming problems, but problems that are not within our current line of sight. Bee deaths have stumped scientists so far and pose a grave threat that will affect everyone. Unless we are beekeepers, however, or the price of pollinated products or honey rises out of our reach, we don't perceive it. Bolivians suffer the most from lack of a coastline because it costs more to ship to an already poor country that can't purchase nearly as many goods as, say, Brazilians can. Unless we are trying to export to Bolivia or actually reside there, we can't feel the constriction.
These stories share one more item in common, something entrepreneurs can see if they choose to look. Both present opportunity--opportunity that can foster flourishing for humans and all that God created.
Let's start with Bolivia. An entrepreneur likely can't persuade Chile to give some coastline back. Yet, with the advent of 3D printing, some of what has to be shipped by boat, and then by train and truck, could now be produced on demand and on site, driving cost way down. Sniff the wind and you can smell possibility.
Honeybees pose a different sort of problem that point to other types of possibility. Steve Forbes editorializes on what and what should not be alarming about honeybee deaths, essentially reminding us that doing nothing and protesting that something should be done are basically the same ineffective response. Neither reduces cost, increases production, inoculates bees against predatory mites, or lengthens a Queen's egg-laying life. Someone committed to problem solving -- perhaps a partnership by an entrepreneuring company in combination with a research university and ready-to-adapt beekeepers is going to find a way--something disruptive or innovative. Possibilities abound for those in a position to find and act upon them.
Many of the businesses represented by readers of this blog came into existence because someone sniffed out a possibility and acted. All too often those entrepreneurial chapters fade into the background as successors try to ride on the rails the founders laid down. Only so much more good can be done by tweaking and upgrading. Only a little more margin can be eked out. Only so much more transformation can be nudged into being. What is needed is continued pioneering, continued possibility sniffing.
Sure, it has to be done in sustainable ways, without breaking the companies whose cash flow margins make it possible to pursue a concept toward a new profit-bearing enterprise. But that is not an excuse to stop dreaming, nor to do nothing.
And that is the bigger problem -- the company whose CEO, board and senior managers do not have the time and space to explore the possibilities.
Apprentice Learning
“Outer learning” is learning about, while “inner learning” is learning from. The former is academic, the latter apprentice learning. In terms of our spiritual journey, this is what Jesus wants. Academic learning may produce theologians who know about God, but only apprentice learning will produce people who actually come to know God: i.e., disciples. (Fr. Anthony Gittins)
I advocate that this same principle applies to our professional and personal lives as well. I look in the mirror and am overwhelmed at how much time I devote to “outer learning” — learning ABOUT people and things. While my knowledge certainly increases, there is still a distance. I realize that I am not fully engaged or completely invested. I am holding back. I am not ALL-IN.
Similarly, as leaders with the function of serving and influencing others, do we simply satisfy ourselves with learning ABOUT our employees, customers, associates, children? Or do we go deeper and learn FROM them.
If we consider “inner learning” and learning FROM people and things, I sense and experience transformation and connection. By definition, the learning is internalized and altering. And the results are different!
As Proud Entrepreneurs We Have The Opportunity To Share
We business types are proud to be described as entrepreneurial. According to Peter Drucker, entrepreneurship is about taking risk. The entrepreneur is willing to put his or her career and financial security on the line and take risks in the name of an idea, spending time as well as capital on an uncertain venture. Most of us would agree with that definition and most of us have had the opportunity to experience the “highs” of success and the “lows” of failures from the risks and ideas we have pursued.
As Christian business owners, what are we called to do with the wisdom and experience gained through these successes and failures? The Bible is filled with passages that give us direction on that question:
"Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God." (Hebrews 13:16)
"One who is taught the word must share all good things with the one who teaches." (Galatians 6:6)
Knowledge of God’s plan for our business talent and experience directs us to the question, "How can I help others develop their entrepreneurial capability?"
Peter Greer, President of Hope International and a speaker at the 2015 Convene Leadership Summit, continues to challenge all business leaders to share their entire entrepreneurial gift and experience with others. In his recent book with co-author Chris Horst, Entrepreneurship for Human Flourishing, we see that free enterprise and entrepreneurship are integral to advancing human flourishing around the world. And it is the most effective way to overcome poverty and hunger.
Jeff Rutt, a member of our Convene team, founded HOPE International in 1997 motivated by a church mission trip to the Ukraine where he recognized that the charity food programs were not being successful–the people needed a “hand-up” instead of “handouts.” Jeff has always been bold in his business and life pursuits. He bought the 200 acre family dairy farm from his father when he was 16 years of age. He and wife Susan operated the farm for 10 years, and after a decade of hard work and 100 hour weeks in dairy farming, Jeff decided to change careers. "I looked for something with lower risk and fewer hours" Jeff says with a straight face. "So I got into home building."
For the past 8 years Keystone Custom Homes has been the highest ranked builder in the mid-atlantic region. The 2015 sales goal for Keystone is 400+ new units. Whether farming, building, or founding Hope International, Jeff Rutt has always been an Entrepreneur who seizes The Opportunity