Mid-Course Leadership Corrections

I’ve just finished reading Jim Collins’s book Good to Great. It’s a business book, but the applications for churches are worth chewing on.

Collins, whose previous book Built to Last brought the concept of BHAGs “Big Hairy Audacious Goals” onto the agendas of countless corporate planning meetings, has managed that all too-rare accomplishment for an author: a sequel that’s better than the original.

While Built to Last documented the things that make a strong company’s greatness endure, Good to Great (HarperBusiness, 2001) describes what it takes to transform a mediocre organization into one that’s truly outstanding. Collins and his team researched the entire Fortune 500 to find the companies whose earnings once mirrored the general market but then improved to consistently outperform the stock market. To be considered “great,” a company’s stock had to earn more than triple the general stock market for 15 consecutive years. And the companies could not be in hot growth industries.

There were only eleven such companies that had experienced such turnarounds, including Walgreen’s, Wells Fargo, Fannie Mae, Circuit City, and Gillette. The book identifies the elements that were common to all of these “good to great” companies.

One surprising thing is what’s NOT a significant factor. The research debunks, for instance, the value of the celebrity, superstar CEO. The leaders of “good to great” companies weren’t charismatic media darlings; instead they demonstrated a combination of characteristics that Christians would consider patently biblical. In fact, as I read Collins’s description of “Level 5” leaders (those who build long-term greatness), I couldn’t help but jot in the margins the corresponding biblical concepts. For instance …

“Level 5 leaders embody a paradoxical mix of personal humility and professional will. They are ambitious, to be sure, but ambitious first and foremost for the company, not themselves.” (Sounds reminiscent of “Seek ye first the kingdom of God … “)

“Level 5 leaders set up their successors for even greater success in the next generation, whereas egocentric Level 4 leaders often achieve personal success but set up their successors for failure. (Echoes of John the Baptist: “He must increase, but I must decrease.”)

“Level 5 leaders display a workmanlike diligence—more plow horse than show horse. (Jesus said, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”)

Later in the book, a whole chapter is spent on “the Hedgehog concept,” which is basically clarifying what you are positioned to do better than anyone else in the world. The biblical concepts of spiritual gifts and divine calling aren’t cited, but every Christian can find them between the lines.

Perhaps the most significant effect of the book, however, is the encouragement it offers that normal organizations, even with a history of mediocrity, can become great and have a lasting impact. And this is usually accomplished by outwardly unremarkable people who work with personal humility but great determination, over time, by (to put it in Christian jargon) discerning their unique calling as a body. It’s the mid-course corrections that make the difference.

Your Personal Upgrades:

What improvements to your leadership have you incorporated AFTER you’d already been in leadership for a while?

The theme of the Summer edition of Leadership is “The Long-Term Pastor,” and one of the keys of effectiveness in long-term ministry is staying sharp and continuing to improve.

What’s an example of one way you’ve done that in the time you’ve been in ministry?

What mid-course corrections or innovations have you implemented? This could be a new personal discipline, a new ministry skill, a fresh approach to some aspect of church life … anything that you’ve upgraded on the fly.

If you’d like to contribute to this feature, please describe the change you made (in 200 words) and e-mail it to LeWeekly@leadershipjournal.net. We’ll look forward to reading them all and printing a representative selection.

To reply to this newsletter, write Newsletter@LeadershipJournal.net