 |
| © Suravid | Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos |
Recently I read an article by Rajeev Peshawaria entitled,
“Who Defines Good Leadership?” (Peshawaria is the CEO of the Iclif Leadership
and Governance Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.) The author contended that
being an effective leader requires the leader “develop laser-sharp clarity
about your purpose, a better future that you want to create based on the values
you believe your company should embrace.” He then goes on to list a variety of
historically effective leaders.
Peshawaria throws a curve to the standard leadership article
when he asks, “Who should decide if a leader’s purpose creates the best future
and what values should guide that purpose?” In short, the question is, “What
makes a good leader?”
For example, Peshawaria claims, “In my leadership programs
and seminars, people will ask if Hitler and Osama bin Laden were good and
effective leaders. If we assess leadership only from the point of view of
motivating people toward a desired end, then both men were extremely effective
leaders. But were they good leaders?”
It occurs to me that some of the problem might be in the way
we loosely throw around the word “good.” We use “good” to describe pleasurable
chocolate cake, effective employees, dynamic movies, and so forth. But what if
“good” means something else? What if it means, as the ancients thought,
something that is beneficial, wholesome, pure? Putting the question that way
changes the dynamic. Was Hitler a good leader? He effectively motivated people,
but his desired end was abhorrent.
Returning to an original definition of “good” means that
asking whether or not someone is a “good leader” is really rooted in whether or
not they are a “good person.” A “good person” will make a “good leader”
(remember that effectiveness is a separate question!).
Back to Peshawaria’s question: “Who defines good
leadership?” For Christians, our answer is as follows: “The same as who defines
goodness.”
Remember a similar exchange from the Gospels? A rich young
man came to Jesus and said, “Good Teacher…” Jesus responded, “Why do you call
me good? There is none good but God.” Jesus’ response was subtle: “If you truly
see me as good, then what are you seeing?” There is none good but God. God is
revealed in Jesus. Therefore, goodness is revealed in Jesus.
Who defines good leadership? Jesus. In Jesus we see the
revelation of a new way of being human and thus a new way of being a leader.
This way of being is based on the in-breaking Kingdom of God that is contrary
to the rulers and empires and corporations of this world. The power of that way
of being comes from the presence and activity of the Holy Spirit rather than
from accumulated might, wealth, position, or other tools of seduction and
intimidation.
Essentially, a good leader looks like someone who has
learned and received life from Jesus. We have a lot of leadership models and a
lot of leadership theories - “Of the making of many books there is no end”
(Ecclesiastes 12:12).
