Leadership Lessons from Christmas
It doesn’t matter, skeptic, doubter, or believer, the Christmas Story contains useful leadership lessons.
Connect:
Leaders connect. Who can’t connect with a baby?
If leadership is all about people then connecting is essential. When I asked Henry Mintzberg for his favorite word of advice, he said one word, “Connect.”
Vulnerability:
Vulnerability is dangerous but necessary to connect. Vulnerability welcomes in.
I’m often tempted to pull away and protect myself. Isolation and silence are my preferred protection-strategies. Have you seen isolated leaders?
But, protection-mode slows everything and blocks relationship. Jettison protection – embrace vulnerability. Of course it’s dangerous. Leading is risky.
Control:
Control creates artificial, stagnant, imitation relationships. Run to the mess. Go so far as making the mess.
Messy:
The arrival of Jesus was messy. Animals and a stable aren’t optimal.
Embrace the mess; don’t wait for perfection. Every path forward has reasons it won’t work, reasons to wait.
All you’ll do is mess with ducks, if you wait till all your ducks are in a row.
Anger:
The arrival of Jesus infuriated some. Do something that ticks someone off.
If everyone loves what you do, you aren’t doing much.
First and toward:
Christmas is Jesus moving first and leaning toward. Jump in and do something. Step toward challenges not away.
What leadership lessons do you learn from religious holidays you celebrate?
I think the most important lessons that I have taken from religious holidays, whether we are talking about family, church or organizations is that it is very hard to get everyone on the same page and moving forward.
Everyone sees things through the lenses of their experience and life story. We should never assume that we are all walking the same walk, or even always on the same journey with the same agenda items in mind.
Our model of servant leadership at its best, Jesus, could only get most of the guys convinced when things got tight. And even then He still only get through to 11 of the 12.
Indeed. Leadership is messy, but very necessary.
Thanks for sharing your insights. I can see real value in your comment, especially in diverse environments.
How many times have I assumed when I should have explored?? Cheers!
Leadership is a total, selfless sacrifice for the world (at least in our case the one around us). There is only give, no take. This is over simplified and maybe not very eloquent but works over & over again.
Hi Robert, focus on what you give not what you get. A great challenge for leaders. Best to you
Dear Dan,
I appreciate the point- when everyone loves what you do, you are not doing much. It is so true. People who wants to satisfy everyone, satisfy none. They are in dole-drum situation where they try to find out what works. Similarly, I think the leaders who try to satisfy everyone, could turn into manipulator. Today, there is struggle between becoming leaders and manipulators. And fact is that, in a short run, manipulators win.
Yesterday night I went to Duomo Church in Milan and attended the mass. It was so peaceful and Godly experience for me. I could connect with myself and people. I learned wisdom. I believe religious holiday are good occasions to connect people with themselves, people and to realize God.At this occasion, people plan in advance, invite heavenly feelings, discourage envy and jealousy. Religious gathering is a wonderful gift to mankind if taken in right intention. It connects our feeling to right cause. It encourage us to do better. It realizes us the meaning of being human.
Thank you Ajay.
I hadn’t thought about the connection between people pleasing and manipulating. I can see how it can happen. As always, thank you for your insights. I’m taking this one with me, today. Cheers!
Merry Christmas Dan ! I get a lot daily from your input, and I do share as you know. Larry
Thanks For stopping in Larry. Always a pleasure and thanks for sharing. Merry Christmas!
Faith
Joseph sustained his faith in Mary. He trusted her every word. She +was+ still a virgin. Pregnant; but still a virgin.
And he was taking her back to his home town; and it was already packed with people without hard-to-believe tales about Angels called Gabriel, divine conception, … Joseph cared more for his team (Mary) than he did for what others thought; he trusted the word of his team in the face of isolation and ridicule.
The Inn-Keeper
He was a man with an eye on corporate responsibility. Or was it more than that? Did he charge Mary and Joseph to use his stable? There’s no mention of that in my Bible; he just made sure there was somewhere for a pregnant woman and her husband to stay the night. There was little risk of the mass media trashing his “brand” if he didn’t help them; he just “did the right thing at the right time in the right way”.
Herod and the Romans
Now there were people who knew how to conduct a census. Modern equivalent might be to have people show up at the hospital they were born in, or the place they took the oath and gained citizenship; any found anywhere else could be rounded up and classified: sent to the right place or escorted out the country. Of course, populations were smaller then.
Gabriel
Boy did he have a great communications team: Mary; shepherds; wise men; that message really did get heard. And he informed their “word of mouth” to get the message out further.
Nicholas (before he was Saint)
Now, for a Greek in what is now Turkey, he did a great job. Again, he put himself last and others first. Like the Inn-keeper he had no “brand” to protect. He was,indirectly, building the brand of Christianity (not to mention Coca-Cola); but his focus was on the brand of goodness: helping people: like those out there around the world in this year’s 48 hours worth of Christmas days who are working in ER/A&E, transport, electricity and other jobs that keep people healthy, alive and happy.
So let’s focus on Nicholas before he was a Saint, and only a few hundred years after Jesus was born; we don’t get so many people around like him any more; and yet, without him and others like him, would there ever have been Pilgrim Fathers (& Mothers & Children)?
Hi Ben, Thanks for sharing your insights from the Christmas story. Love it!
Lessons…at the middle of it all we are all human, we love those close to us, we fear differences, we fail to see what lies common between us and learn from the differences in between. bless you Dan, Dale and your family, you put an extra Xmas in my life.
Richard
Hi Richard, Blessings to you and the three ladies in your life! Thanks for stopping in to spread Christmas Cheer!
Reblogged this on David A. Vudragovich and commented:
It does not matter how many ducks you have in a row if they are not your ducks!
But yes, leading involves rocking the boat & getting out there.
thanks for the story!