Sometimes you have a minute to make a difference, sometimes you have a few seconds to make a difference. If you are lucky, you have an hour or maybe a day or two to make a difference.
Time crunches in on you when a disaster like the terrorist attacks of September 11 strikes. At that time, leadership emerges. Whether it is your greatest hour or your worst is up to you.
In every age, there comes a time when a leader must come forward to meet the needs of the hour. Therefore, there is no potential leader who does not have the opportunity to make a positive difference in society. Tragically, there are times when a leader does not rise to the hour.
The following are seven leadership practices seen in times of crisis:
1. Stand up and be seen
Justice must not only be done but must be seen to be done. The same goes for leadership. This is not the time to lock yourself away in strategy sessions. It is time to be visible.
2. Embrace brutal optimism
In the end, the best leaders combine two countervailing messages. Jim Collins, a management thinker and the author of Good to Great, sometimes describes this as the “Churchill paradox.”
On the one hand was the Prime Minister’s grim promise of “blood, toil, tears, and sweat” in the near term. On the other was his upbeat certainty that England would prevail “however long and hard the road may be.”
3. Stick to the facts
Nothing is scarier than a leader who offers reassurances that fly in the face of the facts. Few believed Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill when he cheerfully predicted a quick economic recovery, nor did Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson inspire trust when he speculated that the first anthrax victim got the disease by drinking from a stream.
4. Tell a story in a statement
Abraham Lincoln’s story in 1861:
“The Union stands for liberty, secession would destroy the Union, and therefore secession is a threat to liberty.”
Winston Churchill’s story in 1942:
“This is not the end; it is not even the beginning of the end, though it is perhaps the end of the beginning.”
George W. Bush’s story in 2001:
“They may not come to justice, but we will bring justice to them.”
5. The bottom line comes second.
We should not have to tell you what comes first. “The most important thing is to have people know that they’re secure and cared about – that they’re not just cogs,” says Dee Soder, an advisor to top executives and the founder of the CEO Perspective Group in New York City.
6. Link the ordinary to the extraordinary.
In the wake of events, employees are apt to ask themselves searching questions about their careers and priorities.
With national security at stake, the thought goes, how important can my little job be? Probably not as important as the work of firefighters and Army Rangers, granted. However, creative leaders find ways to connect the humdrum of people’s jobs with the larger causes on their minds.
7. Do not overreach
You have done everything right, you have earned your leadership merit badge, and now your people are giving you a standing ovation. Next piece of advice: They are not really cheering for you. They are cheering for themselves – and for the group’s ability to unite and persevere under threat. Lose sight of that, and you violate the delicate compact between leaders and led.
I think as you reflect on these seven practices, it’ll help you to be a better leader to other people who are depending on you to walk slowly through the crowd and make a difference.
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John Maxwell grew up in the 1950s in the small Midwestern city of Circleville, Ohio. John's earliest childhood memory is of knowing that he would someday be a pastor. He professed faith in Christ at the age of three, and reaffirmed that commitment when he was 13. At age 17, John began preparing for the ministry. He attended Circleville Bible College, earning his bachelor's degree in 1969. In June of that same year, he married his sweetheart, Margaret, and moved to tiny Hillham, Indiana, where he began his first pastorate.
While serving in his second church, Maxwell began to study the correlation between leadership effectiveness and ministry effectiveness. On July 4, 1976, while preaching at a service commemorating America's bicentennial, John sensed that God was calling him into a ministry to pastors. Within days after that event, pastors began to contact him, asking for his assistance in nurturing their churches. Over the next four years, on an informal basis, John helped scores of fellow pastors. Then, in 1980, he was asked to become Executive Director of Evangelism for the Wesleyan denomination.
Though his time at Wesleyan headquarters was productive, John soon realized that his deeper desire was to help pastors from numerous denominations. He knew that desire would be unfulfilled if he were to stay at denominational headquarters. As a result, in 1981 John accepted the call to return to the pastorate, this time at Skyline Wesleyan Church in the San Diego, California area. But he did so with the church's blessing to pursue his vision. The Skyline congregation allowed him to continue mentoring and assisting pastors even as he led them to new levels.
In 1985, as he continued to equip and encourage other pastors, John took the next crucial step in leadership development. He founded a new company called INJOY and created the INJOY Life Club, featuring a monthly tape for leaders. The fledging operation, established in the corner of a garage, was soon bursting at the seams. The INJOY Life Club tapes were received with great enthusiasm, and the number of subscriptions quickly increased from hundreds to thousands. Simultaneously, the demand for other resources and seminars exploded. Pastors from coast to coast were responding, and their desire for help was even greater than John had anticipated.
As the years passed, INJOY began demanding more and more of John's time. In 1995, he resigned from his position as senior pastor at Skyline following a very fruitful 14-year tenure. The church had tripled in size and its lay ministry involvement had increased ten-fold. Dr. Maxwell is in great demand today as a speaker. Through his bestselling books, audio and video resources, and major conferences, he communicates directly with more than one million people every year. He is frequently asked to speak for organizations such as Promise Keepers and Focus on the Family, but his greatest joy and desire is to help pastors become better leaders.
Because the need for leadership development knows no borders, John established EQUIP, a non-profit organization which trains leaders in urban communities, academic institutions, and within international organizations. EQUIP is also spearheading a movement which has enlisted more than one million pastoral prayer partners who covenant to pray specifically for those who shepherd God's flock.
John continues to seek new opportunities to help churches and church leaders. He knows that one thing is constant: the only hope for the world is salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ, who gives life abundantly.