From One Degree to Another

Phil Auxier's Blog

Connect

Weekend Prep (1) – Godly Leaders…

by

This coming Lord’s Day, we will be looking at Hebrews 13:17 and its call for people in the church to relate to their leaders.  Too many pastors in evangelicalism use this verse to beat up people.  I heard one pastor say that this verse means that the church is to obey her leaders “no ifs, ands or buts.”  The only problem is that this verse comes with a context and language.  For instance, in highlighting the work of these leaders as “oversight of souls”, the readers of Hebrews are mindful that this is an entire congregation job, as well (Hebrews 3:12-13, Hebrews 12:15)  So, leaders aren’t to be obeyed or given a free pass on sin, having a hard heart, being proud, arrogant, or teaching false doctrine.  But, they are to lead so persuasively with their lives and teaching that people would want to put their trust and confidence in them.

Along these lines, then, I am LOVING Tom Schreiner’s message at a recent SBTS chapel.  It’s entitled, Shepherding God’s Flock from Acts 20:17-38.  Around the 15:15 mark, here’s what he said:

“Pastors and teachers, I’m speaking to myself here too, we can become deeply unspiritual and selfish even while preaching on the importance of being godly.  We must remember that everything that happens in the church and in the ministry is for our sanctification as well, as pastors, it’s for our holiness.  I think there’s an amazing tool of the devil here:  We can teach people how God uses trials to sanctify them and to make them holy and we can forget, amazingly, that the trials we’re receiving in our own church are meant for our holiness and our sanctification.  Instead, we can begin to view the difficult people in our churches–and they’re there–we can begin to view them as opponents instead of loving them, instead of recognizing that God’s using them to make us more like Jesus…we may forget that we are sinners who need forgiveness everyday and we may inadvertently hold our people to a standard that we don’t match ourselves.  We can become bitter about our flock, instead of loving them.  We can get together and criticize our sheep, instead of caring for them.  So, we need the grace of God everyday, don’t we?  We need the Holy Spirit to love our flock the way God wants us to do so.  We need to be quick to confess our own sins and our own shortcomings as pastors.  We too stand in need of the wonderful grace of God.”

This is the kind of leader that is to be obeyed and submitted to in Hebrews 13:17.  More to come on that response tomorrow…

Leadership Email: Diagnosis Is Needed

by

Here’s my leadership email to Reno County Leaders on Monday, October 29:

I had a child wake up croupy this morning.  You know what that means, since I’m not an M.D….a trip to the doctor.  Diagnosis is needed.  For the next few weeks, we are going to explore diagnosing the situation again.  It’s a key part of the KLC Competencies.  I’m lifting some of this content from a document that’s available online: The Competencies For Civic Leadership. 
Under DIAGNOSE SITUATION, we read:
“What does it mean to diagnose situations for the purpose of exercising effective leadership on difficult civic challenges?  And why is it the first of the KLC Competencies?”
“If you are trying to intervene to make progress on a tough issue, it is critical you understand what you are intervening into.  And our experience and observation is that the biggest single mistake people make in trying to exercise leadership on civic challenges is in misdiagnosing the situation.  Chuck Krider, a longtime godfather of Kansas economic policy, put it this way: ‘Problem identification is key.  If you don’t identify the right problems, then you are working on the wrong thing!  What are you going to work on?  What are you going to do?  To set good objectives and goals, you have to understand the problem.’”
We’ll stop there for today.  Hopefully you feel the importance of this.  Maybe begin our journey in reacquainting yourself with diagnosing the situation by thinking of a difficult challenge you’re facing.  Like a diamond with multi-faceted beauty, your challenge probably has multi-faceted problems and solutions.  Think of how you typically have responded.  What other things might you need to consider.  This is how we begin to diagnose.  We recognize a problem and notice the gap between where it leaves us and where we’d like to be. But, more on that next time…
I hope you’re encouraged in the difficult and needed work you are giving to our community.  With you in the trenches of leadership…

Leadership Email: Suspect #1

by

Here’s the email I wrote to leaders in Reno County on Monday, 10/22/12:

I love Sherlock Holmes stuff.  Everything from the old BBC series starring Jeremy Brett to the new BBC series starring Benedict Cumberbatchto even the new CBS series Elementary starring Lucy Liu draw my attention in quickly.  One particular episode stuck out to me (it’s called the Naval Treaty).  Holmes believes to have solved it, but when questioned about whom he suspects, he pauses and says, “I suspect myself, for coming to conclusions too rapidly.”  In recent weeks in leadership emails, we’ve discussed taking care of ourselves and, most recently, identifying triggers.  I find that one consistent problem in my leadership is actually me.  The leadership principles of the KLC say that Leadership starts with you and must engage others.  My weaknesses and rushing to conclusions too easily stand in the way of my most productive acts of leadership.  I’m guessing that may be the case for some of you.  So, my simple request today is to manage self and realize that as you do, you’re positioning yourself to be the most effective leader you can be.  That’s where we all want to be.  Today, then, examine yourself.  And, after making the necessary corrections, step out to engage others and see if we don’t make a difference in those issues we care about so deeply.
With you in this adventure…

Leadership Email – Trigger

by

Here’s the email I sent to leaders in our community this past Monday:

Last week, we thought about football, acts of leadership and managing self.  This week, I want to think about managing self by “knowing your strengths, vulnerabilities and triggers.”  What led me to think about this was a meeting I was in organizing a board meeting in our community and something was said that “triggered” a response from an individual.  I didn’t think anything of it, but this person came to me later apologizing for how their reaction had affected the meeting.  I reassured them that I didn’t think it was an issue, but it did get me thinking about leadership and responses in our community.
I wonder how many acts of leadership are hijacked in our community because we don’t know our triggers and manage ourselves.  Again, an illustration from my life was how a major trigger for me was when we would seem to be making progress on an issue and one person would say, “Let me play the devil’s advocate.”  I would get very irritated at this and sometimes even quip back, “Remember whose team you’re on when you advocate something the devil would like us to think about.”  I thought this was clever and especially loaded to get my way in the church context I work in.  The only problem was it didn’t help our leadership team make progress on the issues we care about.  My inability to manage myself and deal with my trigger(s) was hindering my leadership capabilities.  Thankfully, I’ve been able to make some progress on this issue by admitting it’s a trigger to those I serve with and, having reassurance that we are united on purpose, have been able to see the benefit of “having the other side of an issue presented.” 
So, what is that trigger for you?  Name it.  Admit it to those you serve with.  And, begin to manage yourself by realizing that you are a most effective leader when your triggers are acknowledged.  Hoping that you see much benefit in this approach this week…

Leadership Email: RGIII, Managing Self and the Leader

by

Here’s my email to leaders in Reno County from Monday, 10/8/12:

I was searching for some inspiration this morning on how to best encourage all the fabulous leaders in Reno County and was mindlessly hearing SportsCenter recap the NFL happenings (specifically the Washington Redskins game), when I heard it: “For RGIII to be the leader he needs to be on the field, he’s going to have to learn to manage himself better.”  Oddly familiar isn’t it?  There are many things that are consistently on our minds as leaders.  One of the core leadership principles is that “It starts with you and must engage others.”  Further, in the leadership competencies we have this idea of managing self.  Now, sure, we would expect that a highly touted quarterback making millions would need to manage himself to best serve the organization.  For him, this means knowing when to put down his head and plow into a cornerback or when to hand the ball off or throw it away.  But, our leadership opportunities are just as serious and vital to our progress in this community.

If we really believe that leadership is an activity in which it starts with us and must engage others, then being aware of ourselves, managing ourselves, will indeed have ramifications in our leadership in this community.  Let me remind you of some of the aspects of managing self:

  • Know your strengths, vulnerabilities and triggers
  • Know the story others tell about you
  • Choose among competing values
  • Get used to uncertainty and conflict
  • Experiment beyond your comfort zone
  • Take care of yourself

Managing self is important to our acts of leadership.  Today, then, just like an NFL quarterback, learn to manage yourself and see if we don’t make progress on this issues we care about so deeply.

Leadership Email – Diagnosing the Problem of Yourself…

by

Here’s my weekly email to leaders in Reno County from October 1:

Greeting Fellow Leaders of Reno County and Happy October.

I love the resources provided from the Kansas Leadership Center.  I just opened my snail mail box on Friday to find a postcard from them entitled “Take Care of Yourself.”  I want to include its contents here for those of you who might not get the mailings.
TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF
A resource for Managing Self created by Kansas Leadership Center alumni
“Leadership is risky.  You stand a better chance of succeeding when you’re at your best.”  This resource is designed to help you engage in civic leadership more effectively.  It is based on experiences shared by KLC alumni in a September 5, 2012 “On the Balcony” conference call, hosted by KLC President & CEO Ed O’Malley.
WHAT DOES TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF MEAN?
·         Recognizing when you need to take care of yourself.
·         Finding what balances you.  Personal projects, quiet time for self, physical activity.
·         Having kindness and compassion for yourself and the work you’re doing.
WHY IS TAKING CARE OF YOURSELF NECESSARY FOR YOUR LEADERSHIP?
·         When we neglect to take care of ourselves, we can’t bring our best selves to work.  If we can’t bring our best selves, we’re less likely able to engage in leadership effectively.
THREE WAYS TO TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF:
1.       Take quiet time for yourself: Prayer, reflection, meditation.
2.       Care for your physical needs: get enough sleep and exercise regularly.
3.       Ask for what you want or need.
WHY DON’T WE TAKE CARE OF OURSELVES MORE?
·         Competing values.  We choose to make managing work and family more important than taking care of ourselves.
·         It’s risky.  We fear job loss, income loss, and the perception that we’re selfish.
·         Caring for ourselves is not valued enough culturally.
WARNING SIGNS THAT INDICATE YOU NEED TO TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF:
·         You become restless, irritable and discontent.
·         You can no longer meet people where they are.
·         You start forgetting things.
·         You become physically sick.
·         You take things personally that were meant as constructive criticism.
I know I’ve bombarded you with a lot to think about here, but mull it over and consider how you might better take care of yourself and make progress as an effective leader.
Until next time…

Leadership Email – Building Bridges

by

Each Monday I write an email for leaders in Reno County.  Here’s the one I wrote on Monday, 9/24/12 entitled “Building Bridges”.

Well, it’s nearly done.  Every day on my morning commute through Hutch Rush Hour, I glance at that interchange at 30th and K-61 and it even got a nice write up in Monday’s paper.  The Pedestrian Bridge is nearly done.  Bridges are important.  They connect things.  They bring two opposing sides together in a safe way.  Bridges help us get across obstacles.  They encourage our overcoming impasse.  They are certainly needed in our physical world.
This is also true in our acts of leadership.  On the one hand, leadership takes courage.  It’s risky.  Leadership means we sometimes have to push out into hard and uncharted territory.  But, on the other hand, we have to opportunity to diagnose situations and, in purposeful engagement, see progress at any time and in any place.  One question in the KLC Quick Guide encouraging us to energize others asks, “How do we build bridges between the factions?”  Great question indeed.  We often look at factions very differently.  A question I’ve asked in my mind before is, “How can I work around the faction without a bridge?”  But, like we’ve seen, bridges are important.  Bridges will help us make more progress.  Bridges will give us a bigger and often better result in the long run.
So, as our community prepares to open another physical bridge, let it be a reminder that we have the opportunity to lead and energize others, building bridges not walls.  Let’s step into this kind of leadership, then, and see if it doesn’t help us make progress on the issues we care about the most.  

Leadership Email – Band-Aids & Cancer

by

Here’s the article I wrote for Reno County Leaders on Monday:

Happy Post-Fair Monday, Fellow Reno County Leaders…

We’ve all heard that phrase, “Don’t put a band-aid on a cancer.”  And we know what it means, don’t we?  It means don’t try to solve problems in ways that are ineffective.  This got me thinking recently about how quick I am to forget to distinguish between technical and adaptive challenges.  I tend to think that most problems I encounter can be solved with a simple solution.  But, the true reality for those of us who deal with people is that most of the problems we are working to solve are more adaptive in nature. 
To clearly spell this out, I’m helped by how the KLC, in its Leadership Lexicon, defines Adaptive Challenges or Adaptive Work: “problems that resist easy solutions and in which new learning is needed, often causing an examination of the context of a situation and the individuals involved including the way things typically work and the way we work.  Contrasted with technical problems in which known remedies and expertise can be applied.”  Often, in our work as leaders, there are elements blended in our leadership.  Part of the solution may very well be technical, but there is a huge adaptive element that must be considered. 
Part of our acts of leadership, then, especially in diagnosing a situation, must be distinguishing between the technical and adaptive elements and even exploring the adaptive interpretations that emerge.  Band aids don’t fix cancer.  And, your trying to solve all the leadership challenges you face with known remedies and expertise doesn’t work either.  Step into leadership by seeing those adaptive challenges for what they are, exercising leadership by applying wise solutions to these.  And just see if the effect isn’t more progress on these issues you care about so deeply. 
Have a great week.
Oh, and if you’d like to dig deeper, here’s a journal article from the KLC which defines Adaptive Work.

Leadership Email – Leadership & Coaching (Football)

by

Here’s my email to Leaders in Reno County from Monday, September 10…
I’ve been alluding in recent weeks to the latest journal of the Kansas Leadership Center.  One article in this issue might be especially relevant to us (especially this time of year): The Leadership Example of Bill Snyder.  Whether we cheer for K-State or not, we can all find relevant leadership applications in the life of this amazing leader.  I thought this summary from Mary Hale Tolar, who directs the School of Leadership Studies in Manhattan, was especially enlightening: “Coach Snyder’s belief in hard work and incremental improvement perhaps ring most true for me.  Exercising leadership consists of helping followers clarify their individual and collective goals, enrolling followers in a collective vision, and then doing the work necessary to improve.  He believes larger goals must be broken down into intermediate goals that are believable and achievable.  Exercising leadership takes hard work, a plan, ability to assess and adjust the plan, all in a pursuit of a goal – a purpose worth the effort.” 
Let this summary be your motivation today to do the hard work of leadership.  It is hard work but has amazing benefits to make progress on issues we care about.  Diagnose a situation, intervene skillfully, and energize others through it and see if it doesn’t help us make our community a better, healthier place.   

Tuesday Leadership Lesson – HeartSpeak and HardSpeak

by

Last week we discussed how speaking from the heart is so needed to carefully draw others into our underlying motivation.  While this is important in intervening skillfully, for this to truly energize others, our heartspeaking must sometimes include hardspeaking, specifically, speaking to loss.

Again, the latest Journal of the Kansas Leadership Center proved helpful, when they say on p.106:
“‘We must do something’ always solves more problems than ‘something must be done.’   In building a trustworthy process, we have to be transparent about what motivates us, but we also need to be transparent about what we may be asking others to sacrifice for the cause of progress.  Speaking to Loss is a part of that process.  Always remember to acknowledge the possible losses of members of the factions – the people on the other side of an issue.”
Isn’t it usually the case that we are so motivated around our purpose that we are blind to how this may affect others?  Speaking to loss helps us rope in the strays, it helps us bring others to the table, it considers how our purpose and direction affects others and helps us energize them by being honest about what this might mean for us to make progress on those issues we care about so deeply.   Speak from the heart, yes.  But sometimes, we need to say the hard thing to build passport and create a process that those on the other side can appreciate.  As we do this, we will undoubtedly be more effective.  Leadership is risky. 
Hopefully giving you encouragement in your risky acts of leadership…