Learning from Leaders #2

One of my favorite advertisements is a picture of a businessman standing on the street staring up in amazement as “question marks” fall from the sky. These “questions” rain down and are piling up on the ground. The tag says, “Questions are everywhere, insights are not!”

I have always believed that good things can happen if we ask the right questions…the right people. Whether you are wondering about direction, struggling with grand challenges, making big decisions or searching for godly advice, help is often one good question away. It’s another way of looking at Jesus’ famous “you have not because you ask not” statement.

Our GOD is well able to do “exceedingly, abundantly beyond all we ask or think”…but we must ask it and think it first! There is a vital link between prayer, asking questions, pondering insights, strategic planning and implementation success. In our world of busyness and copycat planning, too often the decisions we make have negative “unintended consequences.” This simply wouldn’t be the norm if we took the time to pursue and process some counsel from other leaders.

The following is a list of some of the “Life Lessons” I’ve learned from watching and interviewing other leaders. This learning was not merely gaining knowledge, but helped me “translate knowing what to do into doing what you know.”

1. “Rational Inquiry” – “Ask, seek…knock.” We should “seek understanding as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasure” (Pr 2:4). Valuing God’s word and wise input from others is essential. I learned this mostly from leaders I’ve read about, and from experiencing the negative consequences resulting from not understanding or neglecting this (Read about it in my previous blog).

2. “Receiving” – Godly leaders have a commitment to lifelong learning and genuine humility. They are not proud, but love the truth, hunger for revelation and seek wisdom other than their own. Leaders should desire to listen and learn. A teachable spirit is a hallmark of authenticity, and a key part of any leader’s commitment to be effective (not original)…and faithful (rather than relevant).

3. “Reading” – Leaders are readers! Whether reading about or talking to them, you quickly learn that reading has had the greatest consistent influence on their lives. In the information age, when we are short on knowledge and long on opinion; the outcome of instant/total information is inflation…more available, less valuable. Therefore it is essential to avail yourself of the insights only found in the Bible and good books, for they definitely prove to have the “most value per words spoken/written.”

4. “Revelation of Priorities” – Values ooze from a leader’s pores and affect the atmosphere around them. The tangible fruit of this brings clarity of, commitment to and communication of “the things that matter most”. With all the emphasis on vision and values these days, it seems the necessity and power of priorities is often overlooked. When near a good leader, you will be influenced by what’s supremely meaningful while receiving a revelation and refocusing of priorities.

5. “Realizing Instrumentality” – God chooses, anoints and uses men and women. HE builds His Church through diverse gifts and personalities. 2 Cor. 4:7 is the Divine means of life changing, history making ministry. Great leaders know they are instrumental prior to any methodology, and therefore see individuals as primary, not methods or programs. I learned this early in my ministry life, and have been shocked to discover how man leaders today don’t understand or practice this.

6. “Responsible Initiative and Integration” – To start, transition or connect anything can be both a daunting and difficult task. And the consequences of irresponsible leadership in new ventures or significant transitions can be devastating.

Many leaders hastily plow forward as the proverbial “bull in a china shop” after making a decision. Still others, through fear or apathy, simply procrastinate or even worse capitulate to the prevailing spirit of indifference. The result being, they do/decide nothing…even when action is desperately needed. More common, however, are those leaders who recognize something must be done and become so bogged down in details that they delay decisions until it’s too late.

While it is certainly true that many mistakes are made due to ignorance or desired perfection (too little or too much information), the greatest foibles are usually the direct result of hasty or delayed decision-making. As a leader, timing can be everything, especially if it provides for patience to discover pertinent insights or confidence to act intelligently when actions are called for. Accurately discerning timing, contextualizing decisions, connecting with the right people relationally and good communication are all parts of initiating and integrating effectively.


Please take the time to write your own list of “Life Lessons” learned from other leaders or great books…and read Pr 2 and 3…both will prove worth-while now and invaluable in the days ahead…

Learning from Leaders

“On Rational Inquiry”

One of the most influential things in my life has been the input I’ve received directly from other leaders. Words alone cannot express the inestimable value of their wisdom and perspective on my leadership processing and problem solving. This “treasured advice” however, rarely comes without a determined effort to seek out and interview “other leaders.” I have made a habit of asking leaders for face time to question them intently of what they’ve learned by experience, as well as their insights in the things that matter most to me. Their advice, hard-won in the difficulties of life and cauldron of leadership have been proven by time and lasting fruit, and are a vital resource for navigating our own journeys and challenges. I believe that a lack of "rational inquiry" by leaders today is the cause of much grievance and a catalyst for organizational dysfunction.

When I say “rational inquiry,” I am speaking of a deliberate, thoughtful seeking of knowledge through asking questions and pondering/discussing the input received. It requires a personal humility, love of truth and an accurate understanding of the importance of leadership modeling and the effects of a leader’s decisions and actions on others (for good or ill). This means that for Christian leaders, “your life and organization are not your own.” They are a stewardship before The Almighty and serve as a vehicle to provide blessing, witness and “generational transfer” for the glory of GOD. This requires living a real interdependence with God’s word and others that fuels the transfer of truth through Biblical principles, reproducible models and reciprocal relationships.

The absence of “rational inquiry” is at best, an ignorance that haunts new generation leaders and curses them to repeat the mistakes of the past. At its worst, it is a personal (or organizational) arrogance fostering historic amnesia (and detachment of ideas and actions from context and consequences) resulting in an inability to produce “fruit that remains.” I have seen firsthand how this phenomenon may promote personality driven, non-principled or self-serving decisions that lack both needed perspective and Biblical precedent.

For a number of years, my wife and I have been shocked by the lack of rational inquiry in many leaders we’ve come across. Whether young or old, in crisis management or strategic planning…with individual leaders and corporate boards, it is mind blowing how few leaders (and teams) take the time, make the effort or even see the value in drawing from others outside their “inner circle.”

The greatest disappointments we have experienced (The Buhler’s) have been the pain of watching those we know or love suffer the consequences of receiving no or poor counsel. To clarify, it is always poor counsel to only listen to the harmonious voices that echo your own views, propensities and desires. It is a common trap for leaders to narrow the group involved in thinking about (plans, discussions and decisions) organizational issues as they grow more important or difficult. Too often, this narrowing is because if you dissent, you are not invited back; but regardless, what you should do is broaden the circle to include diverse perspectives as more critical decisions are being made.

Our GOD is well able to do “exceedingly, abundantly beyond all we ask or think”…but we must ask it and think it first! There is a vital link between prayer, asking questions, pondering input, strategic planning and implementation success. In our world of busyness and copycat planning, too often the decisions we make have negative “unintended consequences.” This simply wouldn’t be the norm if we took the time to pursue and process some counsel from other leaders.

How often I have wished someone would simply ask…or bemoaned the stiff-arm they give when rejecting offered input.

Where’s the fear of God, the quest for wisdom and revelation…the Socratic energy…the personal humility and hunger…to seek out experienced and diverse input to our situation or possibilities? Thousands of years ago, the smartest man in the world (who was stellar in monumental screw-ups also) said, “Without counsel, plans go awry, but in the multitude of counselors…plans are established” (Pr 15:22).

When I seek out and inquire insights from other leaders, I am blessed with valuable tools for the Lord to use in my leadership and decision-making opportunities. Although I am limited in my intellect and personal experiences, these can be broadened and informed more fully if I simply ask and listen. Here, I learn…for they have perspectives I don’t have…they possess information I need…their reactions to experiences I did not have…and they shared these things with me. They help me understand what I do not know, and what I desperately need to consider and figure out. They gave me perspective…because they’ve lived in a world that I am only slightly acquainted with…and they teach me about that world.

“Listen to counsel, and receive instruction, that you may be wise…there are many plans in a man’s heart, Nevertheless, the Lord’s counsel – that will stand!” (Pr 19:20-12).

Dear friends, ask more questions…better questions, and seek out some wise, godly counselors for input on big decisions, strategic planning and the “things that matter most!” That would be “smart.”