When Success Works Against Leaders

Leaders have a strong drive to succeed.  They tend to be results oriented and want to place a check mark next to “goal completed.”  Leaders also persevere through failure.  President Abraham Lincoln faced several failures in his lifetime, such as losing political campaigns, a failed business and bankruptcy, before he became President of the United States.  How people respond to failures is part of the process of building a great leader.

But, what about success?  There shouldn’t be any negatives to success.  Right!?!  That is what the leader has been striving for, so it should be “all good.”  Well, there is also a downside to success.  I am currently reading a book, Spiritual Leadership, by Henry Blackaby.  The illustration he shares is a great lesson on leadership and the need for awareness with success.  The example is based on a church, but can applied to any organization.  Here is Blackaby’s illustration:

“But sometimes success becomes the leader’s greatest enemy.  Consider the following scenario:  suppose a congregation is concerned that it is not reaching people in the surrounding community.  Church leaders call for members to spend the next two months earnestly praying and seeking God’s guidance on how to evangelize people in their neighborhood.  Much of the regular church programing is shifted to prayer meetings where people pray together in homes throughout the week.  After two months the members gather to report what God said to them.

Someone points out that a large public park near the church had never been used for church ministry.  Another church member senses God leading their church to hold a public Sunday service on the upcoming Labor Day weekend.  The congregation senses that perhaps God is leading them to hold it in the nearby park.  Then a church leader excitedly suggests offering a free barbeque lunch in the park after the service.  Someone else knows a Christian band that might play a concert in the park that afternoon.  A woman who works a a printing shop has been wondering how God might use her job for God’s kingdom.  Now she senses God wants her to design an invitation that can be sent to every home in the neighborhood inviting them to the service, barbeque, and concert.  The whole congregation is abuzz with excitement as it becomes clear Christ is guiding his church.

That Sunday hundreds of people from the community attend the service.  People stay for the concert and rave about the free barbeque.  The following Sunday, more than one hundred new visitors attend the church.  Everyone realizes the service in the park was the most successful ministry the church has ever undertaken.

The dilemma:  what does the church do next Labor Day Sunday?  You know what would happen.  The service in the park would immediately become an annual event!  Why?  Because it was successful!  But why was it successful?  Was it because the church discovered the secret to reaching people in their neighborhood was offering free food or outdoor services?  No.  The key was the church sought God’s guidance.  They did what God led them to do, and God blessed their efforts.  But here’s a second question:  would the church spend as much time praying about the second annual Labor Day service as they did for the first one?  Of course not.  And why?  Because they wouldn’t feel the need now that they knew what “worked.”  Another annual event would be added to the church’s calendar that was already cluttered with annual events from successful events from days gone by.  Long after people forgot how and why the first outdoor service was initiated, the faithful folks would be setting up barbeque grills and passing out flyers for the thirty-seventh annual Labor Day service.  When new members ask longtime members why the church holds an annual service in the park, the veteran congregants simply shrug their shoulders and say, ‘I don’t know.  We’ve always done it that way.'”

How many of you have heard, “I don’t know.  We have always done it that way.”?  When you hear this statement, take it as a warning sign.  A leader’s activities are directed by purpose.  Have you taken time to reflect on WHY you are doing what you do?  Are you just doing the status-quo because it has worked in the past?  If you consider yourself a spiritual leader, have you asked for God’s guidance?

Schedule time to reflect.  It is just as important as scheduling time for priority meetings.