You might be wondering - why would you read a secular book on business/leadership? You're not in business, and shouldn't the Bible be the guide to leadership for the church? You are absolutely correct. But reading a secular book on business leadership can be applicable to a pastor for the following reasons. First, good leadership is based on biblical principles. God is the ultimate leader. When we follow His principles, we will lead well in the church, at home and at our workplace. Second, non-Christians can lead well too. This is a form of common grace. If non-Christians follow God's principles, they too can be blessed with the fruit of God's blessing in this life. Third, as long as you are discerning, you can benefit from non-Christians who apply God's principles to life well. Christians aren't the only ones who can apply God's principles. In fact, Christians can lead poorly when they don't follow God's principles. They can be poor communicators and make bad decisions despite knowing God's principles for leadership. So in reading this book, I sought to learn how to apply biblical leadership principles better.
With that in mind, the book evaluated for profit companies and found 11 which had good yet unspectacular histories but then skyrocketed to over 15 years of sustained stock market profitability that crushed their competitors in their field. Jim Collins and his research team evaluated these 11 companies to figure out why and how they transformed themselves from good companies to great ones.
The research led to the following conclusions. First, the key decision was who. Get the right people on the bus and the wrong people off the bus. The right people were humble, disciplined, ambitious not for self but for the company, driven and diligent.
Second, once you get the right people on your team, then figure out what to do and where to go. The way you do this is by confronting the brutal facts of reality. Create a culture where people can speak the truth and dialogue vehemently while at the same time retain faith in the long term direction. Also, you need to make sure that you stay disciplined in thought, adhering to a simple, consistent system and learn to say no. Too often groups lose direction because they can't say no to the good things that are not crucial.
Lastly, when you put disciplined people and have disciplined thought, it will produce disciplined actions which result in a culture of discipline and sustained excellence. This will look rather ordinary, a series of simple good decisions that build upon each other and create momentum, rather than any one huge turning point.
This book had so many good observations about leading groups. It was amazingly helpful.
I loved this quote - "No matter how much you have achieved, you will always be merely good relative to what you can become. Greatness is an inherently dynamic process, not an end point. The moment you think of yourself as great, your slide toward mediocrity will have already begun."
If you translate that to a biblical perspective - No matter how long you've been a Christian, you will always be a wretched sinner compared to the holy greatness of God. Spiritual maturity is an inherently dynamic process (transformation / sanctification), not an end point (until we die). The moment you think of yourself as mature (or better than others), your slide toward immaturity will have already begun. This is what I like to refer to as holy discontentment.
I love talking to the wise elder men that God has gifted me with over the years. Not one of them has ever said - I know what I'm doing; I'm older than you; We've done it that way for years; or otherwise referenced their age or experience as a badge of spiritual "greatness" or a trump card to end discussion. They always listen to me carefully and evaluate our discussion humbly. When they reference their past, they use specific examples to apply to the current situation.
They exemplify the principles contained in this book. It's amazing how biblical this book was - though the language was in business not biblical terms.
I hope that I will never reach a point that I think I am old enough, mature enough or better than others but will always strive to be more holy, more biblical and more wise. I hope that God's glorious holy standards will always show me my sins, my faults and my failures and that the Gospel will always be my identity, my motivation and my joy.
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