Leadership in the Face of Fear

"Watch me," he told them. "Follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do. When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, then from all around the camp blow yours and shout, 'For the Lord and for Gideon." Judges 7:17,18

I remember the first fight that I ever got into. I was in fifth grade and can only say that it did not go my way. First off, her name was Nicole. I know, I know, I got beat up by a girl, but the first thing you must know is that she was like 6', 220 in fifth grade, and secondly, I never fought back. Dad has always warned me about what would happen to me if I hit a girl, so I just stood there in the corner of the playground at Sandstone Elementary in Billings, MT and took my pummeling for the penalty of losing her mechanical pencil she loaned me. The fight ended when I finally blurted out that I would buy her a new one. Weeks later I found out she actually liked me....women have a funny way of expressing interest sometimes.

I had been afraid. She had warned me earlier in the day that she would be waiting for me. I thought about telling a teacher, but embarrassment kept me from saying anything. I certainly wasn't going to tell my other guy friends. So I made my way out the back doors that I usually left, hoping that somehow she wouldn't be there, scared to death, feeling impending doom. She was there.

Have you ever felt like that? Maybe it wasn't a freakishly large girl, but rather a task that you had to or a speech you had to give. What it was, it's gnawing at your gut, leaving you feeling overwhelmed, under prepared, facing certain doom.

Early this week I was re-reading some portions in Judges that I've been thinking about in regards to the difference leadership makes in others. As I read through the account of Gideon, I tried to identify, not so much with Gideon, but the other 300 men he was leading. The account reminds me of another character leading 300 men, Leonidas, though this account ends differently.

Imagine that you're part of a 32,000 man army, getting ready to do battle with the Midianites. This wasn't clean 'war-movie' battle either, this would be a stab or be stabbed battle, with spears flying and blood everywhere. Where people get mixed up and the next fatal blow could come unforeseen from behind. Oh yeah, you're facing an army of 135,000 in front of you. You're outnumbered 4 - 1.

Then, just when you thought that was bad, Gideon says that anyone who is afraid can leave, and 22,000 of your fellow soldiers go home. Did you hear him right? He's going to let 22,000 men leave his already badly outnumbered army. You're outnumbered 13.5 - 1.

Then Gideon takes you all down to the water for a drink, and you and 299 other guys drink the water lifting it to your mouths. You're not animals you know. Suddenly everyone else is sent home, and it's you and those same 299 guys that Gideon is going into battle with. You're outnumbered 450 - 1.

Those kinds of odds are enough to send the bravest men running for the hills. But that's not what happens. What happens is God delivers the Midianites into the hands of Gideon, and an army of 300 defeats an army of 135,000 and sends them running for the hills mingled with the cries of "for the Lord and for Gideon."

Gideon wasn't perfect. He himself struggled with inadequacy, struggled with confidence to make such a maneuver. But once God put his head straight, he never looked back. Apparently neither did the 300 men following him. Clearly the Lord taught a lesson to the Israelites about where true might comes from, but He clearly also worked through Gideon, and his men who had confidence in him. God raises up earthly leaders to accomplish his goals and lead his men.

Are you the kind of leader that inspires your men and women to trust God no matter the odds? Do they trust you? Do the trust the vision God has given you? Like Gideon's army some will be too afraid, some will not be suited or prepared, but if God has given you a vision, He will accomplish it for you and through you, no matter the odds.

Millennial's Defined

Apologies for the delay. Over the last two months we've been traveling and working through some changes with setting up house in Greenwood. The blog fell to the back of the list. Not an excuse, just an explanation.

Dates vary, but if you were born after 1978 you are considered to be a millennial. If you were born before this time, than chances are you work with, or perhaps manage millennial employees. To the baby-boomer generation millennial employees seem to be high-maintenance, needy employees, while to the millennial, the baby-boomer seems to be stuck in their ways, and frankly, 'old fashioned'.

Regardless of what the generations think of each other, the reality is that a generational hand-off is coming. The world is facing the largest retirement boom in the next ten years, and that little 'brat' down in sales will probably be running a company some day, but will it be your company? Only if you can face a few truths.

1. The era of going to work for GM for 30 years is over. Today, Millennial age workers are more mobile than ever in the history of the world, and that mobility includes their employment. Once you hire someone, it's not a slam dunk. The recruitment process continues to keep that employee with your company. It's cheaper to keep a happy employee, than continually hire new ones to replace the ones you are not satisfying.

2.  Filling your leadership pipeline is not purely an issue of experience. Experience and wisdom are clearly linked, but people often equate experience with solid leadership, and experience has proven many times to be a poor indicator of leadership. If you're going to have a leadership pipeline that will meet your needs, it won't come from simply keeping employees, but INTENTIONALLY developing them for those roles in the future. Oh, and guess what, intentional development is one of those things that will help you keep your employees, because millennial workers don't just want it, they demand it, and they will find another company or organization to get it.

Here's the deal. Religious workers aren't any different. I heard recently a statistic that 80 percent of pastoral trained workers will not be working in their field of training in five years. On the missions side of things, I can sit here and easily outnumber my fingers with the number of 30 somethings that I know who have left mission agencies for one reason or another and have either left altogether, or gone to a different agency.

The reality is that mission agencies have to do a good job of managing and leading our people. God may call people to missions, but it's less often that we hear that He's called them to an organization, and there are more organizations out there than ever. If a millennial feels that their impact is muted with one organization, or that they aren't progressing forward, they can, and will leave.

So here are three suggestions for leading millennials in missions or business.

1.  Communicate - They are the Facebook generation. A recent poll of 1000 millennials found that 60% expected to hear from their boss once a day. A top reason that 90% did not expect to be with their organization in 10 years was because of a 'lack of communication.'

2. Win their favor, but don't cross the line from advocate to friend. - Millennials will have many friends, but only one boss. The chief reasons millennials will stay at a company is also the chief reason they leave.....the boss. People most often stay for somebody, or leave because of somebody. This also goes back to communication because millennials expect their boss to be close and in the know, but their boss, not their buddy.

3.  Millennials need several things to work on. - Believe it or not it's estimated the millennials are 10X better multi-taskers than the previous generation. Forcing a millennial to work in the same manner as you do will drive them nuts. They are impatient, but quick learners. They will take orders well, but don't care for mindless busy work. They are team oriented and don't see themselves as independent agents.

These are some practical tips for that are pretty well documented all over the internet and generally agreed upon. As a mission agency, we are working to be better at leading and developing our younger employees, because they will be OMS in the future.

Hopefully we will have some things to announce in the near future. I will be taking this blog from a 'leadership' orientation, back towards a ministry orientation and would like to transition is as a tool for regular updates on what we're up to beyond just the Emerging Leadership Initiative. More to come!!

Jonathan