BACK IN THE BOX: Servant and Steward Leadership

Treasure on earth.

There is a passage in Matthew where Jesus teaches us to build up the kingdom of heaven and not any one person’s ego. Jesus says, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasure on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasure in heaven...For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21, ESV).

John Ortberg gives an example of his childhood lesson. He played Monopoly with his grandmother, and when he finally became good enough to win, he felt great. But the lesson is, after the game ends, all of the properties, upgrades, and money are won; it all goes back into the box (Blanchard, 2012). That is what Jesus is teaching us in Matthew chapter six. If we build a reputation here, investing in status, power, and material comforts, it will all go to waste.

There is an important lesson here for leaders: not to be self-centered or self-serving but to serve. Rodin (2011) writes about the importance of decreasing ourselves so that Christ may increase. In doing so, he is saying that it is essential for leaders to surrender to Christ’s authority, power, and influence instead of exerting our influence over others. Leadership is a gift from God that can be given and taken away. God is looking for leaders who are humble, teachable, and of good character. However, God also removes the gift of leadership when leaders lose sight of what is essential, like King Saul, the first king of Israel. Jesus came to teach us how to be good leaders by serving us, but he also taught us to be good stewards. Servants do what they are instructed; a steward takes possession and responsibility for whatever is in their charge. The steward is responsible for growing and developing who is under their authority and then giving it back to the owner. As leaders, we are called to be good stewards, growing and developing new leaders.

How does stewardship fit in your description of leadership?

References

Blanchard, K. (2012, December 30). Lead Like Jesus. YouTube. https://web.archive.org/web/20190819042616/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6RifrWYHrk

English Standard Version Bible. (2023). Olive Tree Bible Study Tools.

Rodin, R. S. (2011). Becoming a Steward Leader of No Reputation. Stewardship Ministries. https://stewardship.adventist.org/page684

Ethical Intelligence (EI)

Girl feeding dog.

You have heard of the Intelligence Quotient (IQ), Emotional Quotient (EQ), Social Quotient (SQ), and Adversity Quotient (AQ), but today, I want to discuss the ethical side of things, and I am going to refer to it as Ethical Intelligence or EI. Ethical intelligence (EI) is necessary for organizations to be sustainable and impactful in societies today. Wickham and O'Donoghue define EI as competent decision-making skills, ethical maturity, and the different intelligence types (2012, p. 12). The intelligence types include cognitive, moral, social, and emotional. Each of these brings additional attributes to complete an individual and an organization. Wickham and O'Donoghue also communicate the importance of organizations' need to develop human talent and capital.

When the staff is valued and developed, they are happy to get involved, and once involved, they again feel value and inspiration to carry out the values and ethics of the organization (Kogan, 2013). Each organization should develop methods to measure their compliance, teach it to the staff, and use it as a guide for doing business. Lantos and College (2002) share the importance of putting Christian values in the workplace. The "GOLDEN RULE" in Matthew is not just a Sunday School lesson for children but a motto to use with staff, customers, and stakeholders. Notre Dame Deloitte Center for Ethical Leadership (2017) shared that EI is consistency, transparency, and trust that enables an organization to build a reputation. People remember the organizations that take an ethical and moral stand and support them because of it. I have seen organizations destroyed because of a lack of ethical intelligence, and others who follow the principles discussed succeed.

How does ethical intelligence guide your organization?

Reference:

Kogan, P. (2013, November 15). Author Insights: Engaging employees in building an ethical culture. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69F7sWHi2XI

Lantos, G. P., & College, S. (2002). Dialogue I: Christians in Non-Christian Arenas. JBIB. https://cbfa-jbib.org/index.php/jbib/article/view/361/362

Notre Dame Deloitte Center for Ethical Leadership. (2017, February 6). What is the secret to creating an ethical culture? YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWxSgONt_iA

Wickham, M., & O’Donoghue, W. (2012). Developing an Ethical Organization: Exploring the role of ethical intelligence. Organization Development Journal, 30(2), 9–29.

Three Scriptures That Prove You're A Leader

Everyone can be a leader if you work at it. As we learned the previous week “Leadership is… about one life influencing another.” —John C. Maxwell. Influence is the key to leadership. The believer or Christian has leadership potential built into them. The believer has more potential in leadership than a non-believer. Let me show you through the Word of God.

• Built-in leadership ability: Genesis 1:27, So God created human beings in his own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. Everyone on earth is created in the image and likeness of the Most High. Ambition, focus, determination, education, and optimism can only get you so far, but the believer in Christ can fully tap into this divine ability. You are created to live, think, and be like God and that means to lead like Him too.

• Operations: Acts 17:28 says, “For in him we live and move and exist…’” In the Holy Spirit, we live, move, and exit. How we operate should not be out of our own thoughts or ability but it is out of the leading, power, character, and fruit of the Holy Spirit. Our leadership operation is a direct result of tuning into and following the voice of the Spirit. This can be harnessed by reading the Word and prayer.

• New Creation: Ephesians 2:10 NLT: “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.” You are not the old you but re-created as a masterpiece in Christ Jesus. Jesus is every day making you more and more into His image and His character so that we will be all He has created us to be.

God is calling you and challenging you to step into growth to be the leader He created you to be.

2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come."

Three Attributes that DON'T Make You A Leader

What makes a leader?

For a long time when people said the word leadership what they meant was management or a business person, a politician, someone in the high-ranking echelon of society. But what is leadership and can anyone be a leader? Let me share with you three attributes today that don’t make you a leader.

A Title

A title doesn’t make you a leader. If you are a manager, President, CEO, etc at your work you might be a leader by default but that title doesn’t mean you will be good at being a leader. Everyone knows someone who worked their way into management at a company but had no more reason to be there than a turtle on a fence post. At the same time, all of us know managers who we believe to be good managers and possibly even leaders. Again a title doesn’t make you a real or successful leader.

Education

More or higher education does not make a person a leader. There are plenty of people out there with master's degrees and PHD who have no more skill being a leader than the Man in the Moon. Education is a tool. What you do with it or how you apply it is called wisdom. Having knowledge or wisdom can be a great asset to the leader but that doesn't not make you a leader.

Entrepreneur

“At its most basic level, entrepreneurship refers to an individual or a small group of partners who strike out on an original path to create a new business. An aspiring entrepreneur actively seeks a particular business venture and it is the entrepreneur who assumes the greatest amount of risk associated with the project. As such, this person also stands to benefit most if the project is a success.”-https://online.stanford.edu/what-is-entrepreneurship

However, an entrepreneur is not necessarily a leader or a good leader. They might be creative, imaginative, or know how the market works but leadership aspires to something else entirely.

A title doesn’t make you a leader; education doesn’t, experience doesn’t, and being an entrepreneur doesn’t. “Leadership is not about titles, positions, or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another.” —John C. Maxwell. Next week we will take a look at Biblically what gives the Christian the ability and power to be a great leader.

Veena. “What Is Entrepreneurship? | Stanford Online.” Stanford Online, 6 Sept. 2023, online.stanford.edu/what-is-entrepreneurship.