Be the Leader...

I had the opportunity yesterday to hear Simon Sinek and see him face-to-face.  I had seen his TED talk on "Starting with Why?" but never thought I'd spend more than an hour of my day waiting in line to get a signed copy of his latest book.  Yet, I did stand in line for about 30 minutes to buy the book and then spent another 45 minutes waiting for his signature.  A great benefit of that time was the networking that occurred. 

The woman behind me in the purchase line works with the senior communities of The United Methodist Homes of New Jersey.  Her story was one of losing her long-time job in sales with a manufacturing company, then finding an opportunity with UMHNJ.  She ended her story with "I feel like I'm where I was supposed to be all along."  We talked about how both of our career paths had brought us to the places we now find ourselves and what Sinek had just told us in the general session about leadership not being measured on a daily basis, but only over time.

Standing in the second line with a CEO and board member from a continuing care community of Quaker heritage, I Iistened with great interest as they described how they used consensus and silence, true values of their faith heritage, in their board meetings and decision-making.  Intrigued by their style of governance and wishing that I could experience board leadership of that type, I caught myself reflecting on a statement that Sinek made during his presentation that "We've all sat in meetings and thought, I'll never get this time back."  I've been in way too many church meetings like that.

In front of me was a young man who was representing a construction company that specialized in senior communities.  He described how his grandfather inspired him to move from building office buildings to applying universal design principles in housing for seniors.  He spoke with great passion about this purpose that he had discovered for his life and vocation.  With three copies of the book in his hand, he asked Sinek to dedicate one to him and the two others to members of the team with whom he worked.  I heard him tell Sinek how much he appreciated his comments that leaders are not responsible for the results, but are responsible for the people who make the results.

My night ended in conversation with someone who said she was moved to tears during Sinek's presentation - not because something specific he said touched her, but because she wanted to so badly be in a setting where the type of leadership he described was evident.  "Leaders set the environment. Leaders go first, and make it safe for others to follow." - from Leaders Eat Last, the book I waited so long to have signed.

How different would our churches (and our world) be if we were the types of leaders who strive first to create a safe place for others to share their stories, tell us about their needs, and know that we are fully present in listening to and hearing them?  Of course, leadership can't stop with the listening, but requires commitment and action, often in challenging and demanding ways.  How willing are we to be demonatrate this type of leadership?