Monday, January 17, 2011

A Level 5 Leader?

January 17, 2011
Scripture Passage That Caught my attention today: Luke 17:1-10 After Jesus had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. 2 A centurion there had a slave whom he valued highly, and who was ill and close to death. 3 When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave. 4 When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy of having you do this for him, 5 for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us.” 6 And Jesus went with them, but when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; 7 therefore I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed. 8 For I also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and the slave does it.” 9 When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, he said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” 10 When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.

Observation:
The Centurion was a humble leader.

Application:
I’ve begun listening to the audio book by Jim Collins entitled: “Good to Great.” One facet of the book deals with leadership, particularly what he calls “level 5 leaders.” Most of the level 5 leaders he describes are people I’ve never heard of before and, somewhat intentionally so. Generally speaking, they do not focus the bulk of their energies trying to draw attention to themselves.. By contrast, I have heard of some of the lesser “level 4” leaders. As but one example, he mentions Lee Iacocca who is often perceived to be a great leader (and in many ways was), but who ultimately started focusing his attention on branding his own name while the company he was hired to run began to decline.

We may not know enough about the Centurion in the story above to know whether Jim Collins would categorize him as a level 5 leader or not. But we do know that he didn’t take himself too seriously, that he respected others, and that he wasn’t afraid to ask for help when he needed it. And that’s a good example for all of us to keep in mind.

Prayer: Lord, thanks for the surprising corners from which good examples emerge. Help us to learn from them. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

(Scripture Readings today included: Genesis 42-43, Psalm 5, and Luke 17)

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