Building below the Waterline: Shoring Up the Foundations of Leadership

by Gordon MacDonald

Overview

How can you become a more effective leader? By building a strong spiritual foundation from the ground up! Writing as a friend and mentor, MacDonald draws from biblical truth and life experience to help you grow in all areas of leadership, including cultivating spiritual formation, encouraging restoration and renewal, and dealing with difficult people. Hardcover.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781598567304
Publisher:	Hendrickson Publishers, Incorporated
Publication date:	05/01/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	250
File size:	443 KB

Read an Excerpt

Building Below the Waterline

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By Gordon MacDonald

Hendrickson Publishers Marketing, LLC

Copyright © 2011 Gordon MacDonald
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-59856-730-4

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CHAPTER 1

FINDING YOUR CENTER

The soul's center is God. When it has reached God with all the capacity of its being and the strength of its operation and inclination, it will have attained to its final and deepest center in God.

ST. JOHN OF THE CROSS

There was a time when I would have been jealous for leadership; today, I find it sobering. I have passed the point of aspiring to leadership. It is a privilege to be a leader, but the price is great.

A leader has to watch every word he or she says and quickly learns that you can't go through life without a few critics, some well deserved. Occasionally, leaders have a rough time knowing who's a genuine friend, and there are serious time limitations on pursuing healthy relationships. There's pressure on friends and family, and at times most leaders, I suspect, ask, "Who needs all this?"

On the other hand, everything I've been privileged to be part of has been the result of a choice to respond to God's call to leadership. So I'm not whining about the pressure.

It comes back to God's anointing. My wife, Gail, and I are constantly aware that God has called us to do something. Every morning, we take time to ask God, "What is the purpose of this in our lives?" I no longer entertain the notion that whatever I'm supposed to do has to be great, but I do feel strongly a sense of call and obligation. Besides the Lord's anointing, what other traits must the Christian leader possess?

Four Traits of a Christian Leader

The first trait of a leader is the ability to communicate vision. The leader is the custodian of a vision. Some of us communicate the vision through our gift of speaking, but others have done it differently. D. E. Hoste, for example, Hudson Taylor's successor at China Inland Mission, was an administrator, and his leadership was accomplished in the office and at the committee table. His wisdom and ability to persuade convinced people that he was filled with the Holy Spirit and worthy to be followed.

The second trait of a Christian leader is sensitivity to people. First and foremost, a leader must hear what people are saying. Peter Drucker says communication doesn't happen with the speaker but with the hearers. As a speaker, I've got to understand the way you think. How do you perceive information? Churchill knew the English people, so he was sensitive to the right word forms that would capture their attention—he knew what would inspire them and make them mad enough at the enemy to keep persevering despite incredible hardship.

A third trait a leader must possess is the ability to assess situations. Being sensitive also means developing the ability to look at situations and decode what's going on. I think God has given me a gift in this area. It's instinctive for me to walk into a room and quickly sense who is in charge, or for that matter, to quickly realize that no one is in charge. That's an important skill in church situations.

The fourth trait is keen self-knowledge. Sensitive leaders need to know themselves. If we don't know ourselves and what shaped us, what neutralizes us, and what our limits are, we invite disaster. Many men and women in leadership positions are insecure. Some struggle with large unresolved areas from the past. Unless the past can be resolved, it often becomes an Achilles' heel in leadership.

Let me give an example. I came into the ministry as an insecure person, specifically needing affirmation. I needed for people to like me, and I equated applause with affirmation. I've had to transition from being a driven person to being a called person.

The resolution to know oneself begins through daily self-examination against God's righteousness and the discovery of sinful motives. Second, it's going back in your past to ask: What has formed me? What am I looking for in life? What didn't I get that I needed?

The Value of a Mentor

A valuable resource to help with this is a mentor. A mentor provides affirmation, so you don't have to look for it in artificial ways. Second, a mentor provides correction. In seminary I sat under the teaching of Ray Buker. For another course, I was to present a position paper in a Christian education debate, so I cut two classes I had with Dr. Buker that day to work on it. That night, after I read the paper and everyone had left, Buker came up and said, "Gordon, that was a good paper you read. Unfortunately, it wasn't a great one. Would you like to know why it wasn't a great one?"

I said, "I'm not sure, but ..."

"It was not great because you sacrificed the routine to write it."

That was one of those open-window moments where I recognized a real life principle. Sacrificing the routine is not what makes one effective. Dr. Buker was trying to point out that most of us go through life for the peaks, rather than realizing that life is often lived in the valleys and on the hillsides. I never forgot that lesson.

When I was an athlete, I lost a very important race because I didn't listen to my coach. Afterward, he said to me, "You have all the promise of being a man who's going to go through life learning things the hard way."

I walked off the field that day thinking, That's the last lesson I'm going to learn the hard way. I'm going to learn by other people's hard ways. That principle has stuck with me. I began to observe others' failures and humiliation, and then I would ask myself, Where would I be apt to make that same error?

Many leaders operate at a level where they can go for a long time without anybody calling them to account, and as a result, they get so busy helping other people that their perceptions drift. A mentor comes along, asks the hard questions, makes the stiff confrontation, and the leader suddenly realizes, How could I not have seen this?

Your Spiritual Center

We isolate both the positive and that which we must discard. We could all use our backgrounds as an excuse to say, "This is why I am like this, so take me the way I am." But as leaders, we can't afford that kind of self-pity. This is hard work, and it's a lifelong process. I could go back to being a driven man pretty quickly if I didn't maintain a spiritual center.

I'm convinced from my reading of the mystics that our perception of reality revolves around a spiritual center. That center quickly becomes almost inoperative if it's not maintained through constant spiritual discipline. Almost all Christian leaders believe that doctrinally, but few believe it experientially enough to carve out one or two hours a day to maintain their spiritual center.

What results is an accumulation of knowledge without wisdom. You get leaders who operate on charisma instead of spiritual power. And it takes spiritual power to make the clear break with the world's values, as a spiritual leader must. I don't mean to sound pious, but as I get older I realize this truth more and more. We can't maintain the pace unless we pray, study Scripture, and read heavy doses of the classical spiritual literature.

On the other hand, when we lead from within, our own resources are channeled and multiplied from that very powerful spiritual center where transformation happens.

FOR FURTHER REFLECTION

1. How sensitive are you to other people and situations? What impact has this had on your development as a leader? What steps could you take to develop this type of sensitivity?

2. What mentors have you encountered in your life up to this point? Think back on coaches, spiritual directors, and other leaders who have shaped your thinking and habits. What were the key lessons they imparted?

3. How much time do you set aside for spiritual reflection and prayer? How could you adjust your schedule to increase this time?

CHAPTER 2

SIX WORDS TO LIVE BY

Present to God ... present to people.

CHARLES DE FOUCAULD

I am romanced by the simple phrase by which Charles de Foucauld (1858–1916) chose to define his life: "Present to God ... present to people." In the morass of mission statements and pithy slogans designed to identify the passions of organizations, churches, and individuals, I think I like this one best.

Being present reminds me of the experience my wife and I once had while on a walk in a Swiss alpine valley. We had come upon a farmer and his dog who were rounding up a large herd of brown cows (the ones with the huge bells around their necks). The farmer would point to a spot out on the edge of the herd. The dog would race in that direction, then suddenly stop to look back to get a second command. The farmer would sweep his hand to the right or left, and the dog, now furiously barking, would drive the cows wherever the farmer was willing them to go.

Then the dog would tear back to the farmer's side, sit, breathing hard, and look up waiting—almost impatiently—for the farmer's next order. For some reason, that picture of a dog who is so present to his master—ready to respond—shows me what it must mean to fit Foucauld's definition of life.

Present to God

I can be present to God by making sure that I am quiet enough to hear some of the kinds of whispering that Elijah heard on the mountain. By being sensitive to the kinds of directives that Philip heard when he was directed to the chariot of the Ethiopian. By being awake enough to discern the same voice that spoke to Paul one night when he was told not to be afraid, to keep on speaking, not to be silent, "for I am with you ... and I have many people in this city" (Acts 18:10). By being present to God's love, to God's rebukes, to God's revelations of himself.

Oswald Chambers writes, "Do not have as your motive the desire to be known as a praying [person]. Get an inner chamber in which to pray where no one knows you are praying, shut the door, and talk to God in secret. Have no other motive than to know your Father in heaven."

Present to People

Is this harder or easier than being present to God? I find it easy to be present—doesn't everyone?—to attractive people, advantaged people, visionary people, intelligent people, likeable people. I love being present to people who like me and find me witty and charming. My grandchildren fit this category.

But present to people who are weak, poor, sick, grumpy, unreliable, unthankful, and disrespectful? That's another story. My instinct is, all too often, to be absent to them. And it's here that my character and call get challenged every day. Sometimes I win; often I lose in this being present business. Because being present to people means that I must listen extra carefully, listen, and then respond. And that can be inconvenient and too taxing.

So I like Foucauld's phrase that reduces complex issues and busy schedules to six simple words. We call that an elevator story—something said in a matter of seconds that defines a whole life.

FOR FURTHER REFLECTION

1. Do you have a personal mission statement? If not, create one. Can you condense it to just six words?

2. In addition to the ways listed, how are you present to God?

3. Do you find it easy or hard to be present to people? How can you become more actively present to those around you?

CHAPTER 3

CULTIVATING THE SOUL

Spirit of the living God, be the Gardener of my soul ... Clear away the dead growth of the past, break up the hard clods of custom and routine, stir in the rich compost of vision and challenge. Bury deep in my soul the implanted Word, cultivate and tend my heart, until new life buds and opens and flowers.

RICHARD FOSTER

Thirty years ago, Gail and I purchased an old farm and called it Peace Ledge. During the 1800s, the land's valuable timber had been clear-cut and transformed into pasture where enormous workhorses could be bred and raised. Then, around 1900, the farm went belly-up, was abandoned, and, after seventy years, became a forest again.

Occasionally, Gail and I select a small piece of this woodland and clear it. We eliminate unhealthy trees. We rip out the kind of ground vegetation that makes for fire danger. And we dig away the ubiquitous boulders (the gift of ancient glaciers) that might create havoc with the blades of our tractor mower.

Gail and I enjoy our accomplishments—for a little while—until our eyes begin to spot more work begging attention in adjoining areas we hadn't considered before. This refreshing of our land is a lifelong task. And when we die, our descendents, presumably, will continue the job.

For me, this outdoor labor mirrors the discipline of spiritual formation, for just as one cultivates the land, so one must regularly, systematically even, cultivate the deepest parts of the interior life where God is most likely to whisper (not shout) the everlasting promises into one's life.

Spiritual formation involves cutting, weeding, digging, raking, and planting—not with a chainsaw or shovel, of course, but through the work of worship, reflection, prayer, study, and a score of other soul-oriented activities described in books by Richard Foster, Dallas Willard, and Henri Nouwen, to name a few.

When a piece of our land is renewed, Gail and I are always surprised at the beauty that occurs almost overnight. Wildflowers bloom; forest animals visit; good trees mature. The virtues of creation just seem to appear. And when the soul is similarly attended to, there appear the virtues of godly character.

Frankly, I don't think a lot of men and women in leadership know this. I mean really know it. What drives my opinion are these impressions.

First, the primary subject matter of most training and motivational conferences on leadership: vision, clever, well-researched programs, and growing large, successful institutions. Admittedly good stuff. But missing is the recognition that soul cultivation goes before institution building. How do you grow large, healthy, and authentic churches (the current rage) without growing the soul of a leader, which sustains the effort over the long haul?

A second impression: the dreadful casualty list of men and women who do not make it to a tenth anniversary in Christian ministry. Burnout, failure, and disillusionment are exacting a terrible toll. I'm amazed how many leaders just disappear, just drop off the edge.

A third: the constant conversations I have with younger men and women. They confide that they are spiritually dry, unmotivated, despairing, and wondering what to do about it.

And maybe there's a fourth: I never forget how close—how really close—I myself came to missing the cut. Though my own defining moment of personal crisis came years ago, the memory is always fresh.

Forming the Soul's Core

St. Paul's words to Timothy are too easily ignored in this high-pitched, high-casualty leadership lifestyle of ours: "Train yourself to be godly ... godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come" (1 Tim. 4:7–8). I smell spiritual formation in these remarks.

The forming of the soul that it might be a dwelling place for God is the primary work of the Christian leader. This is not an add-on, an option, or a third-level priority. Without this core activity, one almost guarantees that he or she will not last in leadership for a lifetime, or that what work is accomplished will become less and less reflective of God's honor and God's purposes.

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from Building Below the Waterline by Gordon MacDonald. Copyright © 2011 Gordon MacDonald. Excerpted by permission of Hendrickson Publishers Marketing, LLC.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Contents

Copyright Page,
Introduction,
Part One: The Inner Life of a Leader,
Finding Your Center,
Six Words to Live By,
Cultivating the Soul,
What I Want to Be When I Grow Up,
Mapping Your Inner World,
Searching Your Motivations,
Extreme Faith,
The Root of Leadership,
Monday Morning Restoration,
The Private Times of a Public Leader,
Knee-Driven Ministry,
Part Two: The Outer Life of a Leader,
The Power of Public Prayer,
The 3:00 A.M. Phone Call,
When Things Get Ugly,
Saying the Hard Stuff,
DNF: Did Not Finish,
Soul Deep,
How a Mighty Church Falls,
The Right Way to Handle Church Conflict,
Sometimes You Just Need to Disappear,
Ten Conditions for Church Growth,
Ministry's Sweet Spot,
Pastor's Progress,
When It's Time to Leave,
Afterword,