Leadership

What is leadership? Jim Collins, author of one of my favorite books, Good to Great, has a great article on this very topic. According to Collins, it is really a battle between managing and leading.

Collins believes leading is done by vision and mission while managing is done in reaction to situations. I used to think Collins had disdain for the entire idea of management; he does not. As a matter of fact, Collins believes leaders must manage at times too. He writes, "Those who seek to lead but fail to manage will become either irrelevant or dangerous, not only to their organizations, but to society." Peter Drucker once wrote that the very best leaders are, first, managers. What do they mean?

What Drucker was talking about was not leaving out the questions. When we lead we tend to drive forward with little time for questions. Drucker and Collins remind us that questions are important in leadership, and if questions are important, than so too are answers because every question has an answer.

Drucker's ideas all centered on this idea of results, and in order to get results one had to first ask the right questions. Collins believes this drive for answers and results was not just a drive for "a means to an end" but much more. Collins writes of Drucker, "And as much as he wrote about institutions and society, I believe that he cared most deeply about the individual." This is the key to leadership. Management, as an idea, tends to leave this passion for the individual out.

As we examine leadership and management in the field of education, we do so from what I thought was a different perspective - changing the world. What I found inside the words of Jim Collins and the thoughts of Peter Drucker were similar thoughts, ones that surprised me. I do not know why I was surprised, as men of stature, like Collins and Drucker, are leaders because of their passion to change the world in which they live. When confronted with leaders like these my question is always the same: why have they impacted the world while others have not? Collins has an answer for that very question; he writes that "There are two ways to change the world: the pen (the use of ideas) and the sword (the use of power). Drucker chose the pen, and thereby rewired the brains of thousands who carry the sword. Those who choose the pen have an advantage over those who wield the sword: the written word never dies."

And, that is another example of leadership. Leadership is rooted in these concepts of vision, mission and ideas. It is the idea that is molded and shaped into a vision and given feet as a mission that moves an organization forward to change its market and shape the landscape of the world. That is leadership, and it is very different than management.

Good Questions

I've been collecting good questions lately. Below, I share with you some of the better ones I have collected... so far.

If quitters never win, and winners never quit, who came up with, "Quit while you're ahead"?

Why is it called a TV set if you only get one?

Are you the kind of friend that you would want to have as a friend?

If you try to fail, and succeed, which have you done?

Would you rather have less work to do, or more work you actually enjoy doing?

Are you more worried about doing things right, or doing the right things?

North Adams, MA

Here is a nice picture of downtown North Adams, Massachusetts. This was the big city for me as a kid. I went to high school in this city and began college here as well. I have not been back in a long long time. Finding this picture brings back many good memories of my high school years.

I remember meeting my parents on Main Street after school in the cold winter. I remember hot coffee and Dunkin Donuts after basketball with friends. I remember Jack's Hot Dog Stand and the best hot dogs. I remember playing baseball on Noel Field. I remember enjoying my four years at Drury High School,. I still actually wear an old high school shirt around occasionally. I remember Friday night basketball at the YMCA. I remember Saturday football games and homecoming parades. North Adams will always have a place in my heart, and even though I am far away these days, I still think of her often and plan to visit again soon.

Westminster Football

Process and Product

Process and product: these are two terms we use at Westminster a lot these days. We believe the process is actually more important than the product most of the time. What do we mean?

We believe how we do the things we do matters greatly in the lives of our students. The product is part of our thoughts, but it does not dominate our thoughts. Whether it be athletics, drama, band, debate or class, the process is examined in great detail along with the product, and both must be done in an excellent Christ-centered way.

Athletics is a great example. In the paper this morning is yet another story about another coach who bent the rules in order to win. We, at Westminster, want to practice, prepare and play to win, but not at the expense of the process. Because we care deeply about the process, the wins (the product) might take a little longer to achieve, but they will come. And, our students will understand that it is not only about the wins, but it is equally about the work, the lessons, the team and the game.

We, as a society, have allowed the wins to dominate the games we play, and have forgotten that the games are only games and are for lessons in life as well. When our focus is only on the product (the wins) we will miss all the lessons and the joy that come with playing the games. Process and product: both are always in our thoughts at Westminster because both are important to us, and both are necessary in producing students who will grow and mature into the next great leaders of our day. This is what the Lord is doing at Westminster!

Education and Culture

When we think of education we should think of culture. Culture is the full range of learned human behavior patterns. The term was first applied by English Anthropologist Edward B. Tylor in his book, Primitive Culture. In his book, Tylor stated that “culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man [kind] as a member of society.” Many will agree that culture is a powerful human tool for survival, but it is also in constant flux. Many believe that culture is a fragile phenomenon that exists only in our minds.

When examining various resources regarding culture, the consensus is that culture is a mental map of the world, and it influences decisions and behaviors.

According to Dennis O’Neil, it is also thought to have three layers. O”Neil states that the first and most obvious layer is the cultural traditions that distinguish your own personal shared society. Children born in northern Italy, for example, are raised to speak Italian; that is the shared language of that personal shared society. The second layer of culture is considered a subculture of the first. It consists of shared cultural traits retained from past experiences. In my case, my grandfather came to America when he was 16 years old and retained many cultural traits from northern Italy. These greatly influenced his decisions and his behaviors.

The third layer of cultural consists, O’Neil writes, of cultural universals which are learned behavior patterns that are shared by all human beings in one way or another. Examples of these cultural behavior patterns are verbal communication, age and gender, parenting, and the concept of privacy. The problem with culture for the Christian today is that there has been and still is a shift occurring in this third level of culture. Make no mistake, this shift will influence our children and be seen in them. The family structure, the concept of good and bad, and humor, to name but a few, all have changed greatly, and these changes, in turn, are all being accepted as normal behaviors today. What does Christian education then have to do with culture?

Back to our definition of culture, the complex whole that is culture consists of knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man [kind]; all are greatly influenced by education because most occur in education. I have gone to great lengths to explain the power that education wields; now I am positing that Christian education can influence the cultural whole for Christ.

Knowledge is acquired through education, and law, morals, custom, and all other habits and capabilities are acquired in an environment built for the acquisition of learned behavior. With this knowledge of culture, it is even more important that those of us in Christ spend much time in prayer when considering education and culture. Culture is a powerful tool, but it is greatly influenced by education. Education will cut through the layers of culture because culture forms when we teach and model “human behavior patterns” like the Christian worldview to our students.

At Westminster, we work hard to ensure that the culture your children are in every day is Christ-centered and leading to the cross in order that they, in turn may impact culture for Christ. The task is not impossible, but, instead, it is probable when we understand culture and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit. May God be glorified.