What (Christian) leadership looks like
In his book The Motive, Pat Lencioni helpfully demonstrates that we all have two competing motives within ourselves for why we seek leadership positions or roles. The first views leadership as a reward for all the hard work, sacrifice, and stress that has gone into securing the position. The second sees it as an opportunity to serve. Lencioni argues that when we see leadership as a reward (the first motive), we will do the things that we want to do—the things that we enjoy doing—and we will avoid the things that we don’t want to do. But when we see leadership as an opportunity to serve (the second motive), we will do those things that the ministry (or business, institution, or group) needs us to do; we will seek to serve the ministry’s needs rather than focusing on what we enjoy most or are best at.
Lencioni’s observations should challenge each of us to consider why we desire positions of leadership. Are we seeking these positions for what we can get out of them for ourselves? Or are we seeking them for what we can give to them? What is our motive? Interestingly enough, Jesus, as the Head of the church (Col. 1:18), describes His own motive for ministry in terms of giving rather than getting. He came, He says, “not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).
Even when considered from a secular point of view, Jesus is the greatest leader ever to walk the face of the earth. Starting with twelve men, largely poor and uneducated, Jesus built the church into a worldwide enterprise involving almost 2.5 billion people today. He has something to teach all of us, no matter whether we are Christians or not, about what good leadership looks like. When Jesus says that His own leadership was characterized by giving rather than getting, therefore, we should all sit up and take notice.
But this is especially true for those of us who are Christians. Our calling as believers is, as Jesus Himself says, to deny ourselves and to take up our crosses and follow Him (Matt. 16:24). He is “the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). We must “follow in his steps” (1 Pet. 2:21) and follow earthly leaders only insofar as they themselves “follow Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1; John 12:26). This means, quite simply, that Christian leadership should always look Christ-like. It should cast a Christ-like shadow and leave a Christ-like impression on those who are under its influence. And because Jesus’s leadership focused on giving rather than getting, ours should too.
But what does that actually mean? Pat Lencioni argues that every ministry (or business or group) has certain tasks that must be performed and certain responsibilities that must be fulfilled by its leaders. These are tasks and responsibilities that no one else can do. The ministry needs its leaders to tackle these things; and, if they don’t, the ministry will—humanly speaking—falter and possibly even fail altogether. But if the leaders are willing to do these things, the ministry will—again, humanly speaking—thrive.
Lencioni goes on to list 5 main areas that leaders must give attention to and that their ministries (or businesses) need them to give attention to. I have assigned my own titles to these areas of responsibility. But while the titles are of my own making, the substance behind them largely comes from Lencioni. I have also added a sixth area that is not in Lencioni, at least not explicitly. It is wholly of my own making too, for better or for worse.
How can we be Christ-like leaders who give ourselves away for the good of the ministry (or business)? We can do so by adopting these 6 roles, whether or not we want to or are good at them. It really doesn’t matter whether we are good at these things or not or whether we enjoy doing them or not. The enterprise we serve needs us to perform these roles. Leaders, therefore, must embrace these 6 titles and accomplish these 6 roles:
- Chief Reminding Officer (CRO)—The leader of any enterprise should be the chief cheerleader for that enterprise. He or she must constantly remind people of the ministry’s (or business’s) mission, vision, and goals. He or she ought to encourage others when they grow weary or are overwhelmed (1 Thess. 5:11) and not let them lose a sense of urgency in fulfilling the mission, vision, and goals. Life is busy and filled with many responsibilities. The leader doesn’t let people forget or lose sight of what needs to be done (see 2 Tim. 4:2).
- Chief Pain Officer (CPO)—I am sure that I could have come up with a more alluring title for this one, but I chose this particular title because it clearly communicates the point I am trying to make. The leader is the one who takes responsibility to have the difficult conversations with people and who tells them the things that they may not want to hear but need to. The leader speaks the truth—which is always what is best but not always what is easiest. Obviously, it is important to make sure that this truth-speaking is done “in love” (Eph. 4:15). We must always have the individual’s best interest in mind, not our own. If someone is under-performing, it is never in his or her best interest to allow them to continue under-performing. The leader addresses this issue and initiates the difficult conversations for the good of the individual and for the good of the enterprise.
- Chief Meeting-Execution Officer (CMEO)—Leaders also take responsibility for ensuring that meetings are helpful and that everyone knows that they are important and why. If the leader is disengaged or disinterested during a meeting, how can he or she expect others to be locked-in and invested in what is going on? We lead by example. Jesus knew this, and that’s why He didn’t send someone in His place. He came. He entered into our existence, so that we might all follow after Him.
- Chief Management Officer (CMO)—Leaders take responsibility to make sure that people are functioning to the best of their abilities, that they are doing their jobs well, and that they are using their gifts to the fullest extent possible. In other words, leaders don’t just work in the business or ministry. They work on it as well. They realize that what we do matters, to be sure, but they also realize that the way we do what we do matters just as much. As the apostle Paul reminds us, we are to do all things in such a way as to make God look significant and weighty to the watching world (1 Cor. 10:31). Leaders make sure that people know their expectations extend not just to results but to how we get those results as well. When someone buys a new franchise from McDonalds, for instance, they are required to attend “Hamburger University,” where they are taught the detailed expectations about what it means to run a McDonald’s restaurant. These details include where to buy the french fries, the kind of oil to cook them in, the temperature at which they are to be cooked, and how long they must remain in the oil and sit under the heat lamp. The process is incredibly detailed, and the expectations are incredibly clear. That is what leaders do.
- Chief Team-Building Officer (CTBO)—But leaders also take responsibility for the team as a whole and make sure that the team is working well together and is fulfilling the mission. Many things can derail a team (see Pat Lencioni’s The Five Dysfunctions of a Team for more on this topic). But it is the leader’s responsibility to keep the team from these things. That requires availability, accessibility, authenticity, even-handedness, patience, accountability, integrity, and a lot of grace. Surely this is part of what the apostle Paul has in mind when he says that leaders in the church ought to “manage [their] own household well” (1 Tim. 3:4, 12). If leaders cannot manage a small team well, then what makes us think they are qualified to manage one that is larger and more complex?
- Chief Tone-Setting Officer (CTSO)—The last thing I will say here is that leaders are those who take responsibility to set the tone for each day. They refuse to be defeated or even to sound defeated. They do not give in to whining and complaining. They do not throw others under the bus but take the blame themselves for whatever has happened. Afterall, it is on their watch that these things have happened. When things go wrong—and they eventually will—leaders take the blame for failing to manage others well or for not having those difficult conversations. Like Moses (and Jesus), leaders offer themselves up in the place of those they serve (Ex. 32:32; Mark 10:45). They put their own blood on the ground first, and, in doing so, they set the tone for the enterprise and encourage everyone to pull together in the same direction in order to accomplish something bigger than any one of them could accomplish on their own.