One of the best parts of the first day of the Summit for me was getting to spend some time with our next blogger, Mark Miller. Mark is a razor-sharp marketplace leader who began his career as an hourly worker at a Chick-fil-A and is now their vice president for training and development. He recently teamed up with Ken Blanchard to write The Secret: What Great Leaders Know and Do. This book takes an in-depth look at the leadership learnings and practices of Chick-fil-A and is being translated into 17 different languages.
Within five minutes of talking with Mark and watching him interact with our Online Experience Team, I was captivated by his wisdom, humility, energy, and warmth. His engagement with us has been a great encouragement, and I can’t wait for some quiet moments after the Summit when I can use Mark’s response to Rev. Flake’s session as a guide for some serious reflection and focused self-leadership. Save this blog post to your computer before you forget, because Mark’s thoughtful questions are leadership gold.
Here’s Mark’s response to the Rev. Floyd Flake’s session:
As Rev. Flake began his session this afternoon, I was amazed by his resume. Think about it … pastor for 30 years, 11 years in Congress, university president, married for 32 years with four children … WOW! I knew that I could learn a lot from this guy!
I was not disappointed. Although I didn’t get as many answers as I had hoped for, what I did get will probably prove far more valuable in the long run.
Rather than answers, I walked away from Session 3 with several profound questions. For me, this Summit talk will yield fruit in direct proportion to the time and energy I invest to answering these questions.
Rev. Floyd said, “If people see you as selfless, they may follow you. If they see you as self serving, there’s no way.” So my first question is not a new one. It’s one I ask on a regular basis.
Am I a serving leader or a self-serving leader?
Why am I leading? Is it God’s plan for my life or an agenda that is self-generated? Bill Hybels challenged all of us at a previous Summit to “make your calling sure.” If our calling is sure, if we are convinced that God wants us to lead, this should help us keep our focus on serving rather than on being served.
The next question is about facing reality. Rev. Flake challenged me this afternoon with his statement, “You will not be in your position forever.” If I embrace this reality, the question becomes…
How would my day-to-day leadership be different if I accepted the impermanence of my leadership?
Would I make different decisions? Would it change how I look at my organization? Would I relate to those around in another way? Would I reallocate how I invest my time? Would I make leadership development a higher priority?
For me, the answer to many of these questions is YES, which means I’ll need some quiet time to sort through this one.
If these first few questions don’t speak to you, consider this…
Rev. Flake indicated, in his point about transactional leadership, that there comes a time when the leader needs to make a decision. All the input is in; we’ve talked and discussed and debated. So the question is:
What decisions is it time for me to make as the leader?
Just one more question … I was challenged when Rev. Flake talked about the opposition to their first building. He said, “If we hadn’t built the first building, the community would not have changed.” So, here’s my last question…
What is my “first building”?
Stated differently, “What is the hard task, which if I don’t get it done, will block the path to the vision forever?”
At the end of Rev. Flake’s session, I was reminded that leaders ask and answer different questions. Thanks Rev. Flake for raising our leadership through the questions you stirred within us!
Now, how about you? Which of these questions resonates the most for you and how would you answer it?
