In leadership the greatest gap exists between knowing and doing. That is, people have training but don’t put it into practice.
How did you spend summertime as a child? Perhaps you have memories of vacationing with your family, playing baseball or softball, attending summer camps, or swimming at the pool or lake.
Eight-year old Khadim spends his days at a brick kiln, working to pay off a small debt inherited from his deceased parents. However, he is charged room and board in excess of his wages so that regardless of how hard he labors, the debt is sure to grow.
From dawn until dusk, Khadim lugs around heavy clay bricks. First, he totes them out of the kiln so that they can bake in the hot sun, and he then carries them back into the kiln once they’ve dried. He tries to keep pace with his adult co-laborers, but he is only a boy and often falls behind, drawing angry shouts from his overseer. By evening his tiny limbs ache, and he collapses into bed (a dirty, tattered floor mat) only to repeat the cycle the following day. This is his life.
Khadim carries bricks—all day, every day. The arrival of summer does not alter his routine; it merely intensifies the miserable conditions of his slave labor.
Transformational Leaders
William Wilberforce, his conscience troubled by the Khadim’s of his day, devoted his life to abolishing slavery in the British Empire. Through his efforts, the slave trade was outlawed and an estimated 800,000 slaves were set free. The question is: how did he do it?
1) He Allowed Himself To Be Transformed
As a young Member of Parliament, Wilberforce was preoccupied with his political reputation, standard of living, and social status. However, during his time in office, he encountered stories about slavery that tugged at his heart. Rather than brushing aside the feelings, he resolved to take action in order to reform his culture.
2) He Found and Connected with Others Who Had a Common Purpose
Wilberforce linked up with like-minded Britons in combating slavery, and he and several other abolitionists moved together to Clapham Common, a neighborhood in southwest London. Given their close proximity, the group’s quest to end slavery was an ever-present topic of conversation. Being in the same area of town allowed the reformers to encourage one another in their efforts to raise public awareness.
3) He Tapped into His Creativity to Persuade Others
At first, public opinion was decidedly against Wilberforce and his fellow abolitionists. Several prominent public figures, such as Admiral Lord Nelson, spoke out in defense of the institution of slavery. To turn the tide of public sentiment, Wilberforce and his partners came up with a number of “launchers” or devices intended to spark conversation about the abolition of slavery.
For instance, one of Wilberforce’s friends, Josiah Wedgewood, created a medallion depicting a kneeling, shackled male slave above the inscription: “Am I not a man and a brother?” The abolitionists then initiated an advocacy campaign, leveraging Wedgewood’s position in manufacturing to place the medallion on everything from bracelets to dinnerware to artwork.
4) He Paid a Great Price to Transform His Culture
Beginning in 1787 Wilberforce spearheaded the political movement to end slavery in the British Empire. Twenty years later, he won a monumental victory when Parliament voted to outlaw the slave trade. However, the Slave Trade Act of 1807 did not affect the condition of those already in slavery. Wilberforce would persist another 26 years in opposing slavery until finally, in 1833, Parliament voted to abolish slavery throughout the entirety of the United Kingdom. Three days later Wilberforce passed away.
Application
In leadership the greatest gap exists between knowing and doing. That is, people have training but don’t put it into practice. Bridging that gap results in productivity and people development.
However, in leadership the greatest challenge involves moving from doing to changing. In crossing that chasm, leaders transform a culture. What aspects of your culture would you like to see change? Who else do you know with a similar passion? What small, initial step could you take to make a transformative difference in the area of culture that you feel needs to be reformed?
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.