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Exceptional Leadership
by
Major Raymond Finger
Presented at 20 Year Officer Development Conference, 23 August
2007
In a genuine attempt to drive the mission of the Army
throughout this territory, 12 years ago Commissioner Norman
Howe introduced Future Search; at that time Lt-Colonel
Alan Walker was Secretary for Programme and Major Christine
Hewitt was Territorial Director of Corps Growth.
Around that time Christine Hewitt wrote Lessons on
Leadership that were sent to Corps Officer every month and
you might remember these were stored in a lever arch folder.
Mission clusters were formed in every division where it was
expected that peer to peer learning would take place around
the Lessons on Leadership and the statement being repeated
was, “everything rises or falls on leadership.”
It has become more apparent to me since that time that, the
growing emphasis on Officer leadership development, has had a
tendency to overshadow other important aspects of personal and
even spiritual development. There may be a number of reasons
for that, for example, our fascination with large church
modelling, Willow Creek, Saddleback, Hills Christian Life
Centre Sydney. The growing secular leadership development
industry with seminars, conferences and a publishing industry
that could probably survive on leadership books alone.
Add to that the enormous change in corporate and professional
standards within the Army in recent years, to improve finance
systems, information technology, human resources, risk
management and corporate affairs, all of which has demanded a
new level of leadership and management.
The reason I tell you this, is because from where I sit today,
the emphasis on leadership has become skewed, and rather than
it being understood as something that creates a climate for
change, advancement and improvement in any given appointment,
it is interpreted as positional.
In other words, some will never see themselves as leaders
until they arrive at a position they think is
“leadership.”
INFLUENCE
I
think very few would disagree with John Maxwell’s proposition
that, leadership is first and foremost, influence.
That being the case, then there may very well need to be a
significant paradigm shift in the way we understand
leadership, and I want to say that leadership has absolutely
nothing to do with position, and everything to do with
influence.
Dr. John Haggai, founder and director of the Haggai Institute
for Advanced Leadership Training says,
“A leader is a person who knows where they are
going and is able to persuade others to go with them.”
Now I can persuade any one to go along with me, if I hold a
gun to their head, manipulate them, and even threaten with an
appointment change, but that is not influence, that’s power.
Would it surprise you to know that, with the position I
currently occupy, I have never before had an appointment with
more power and responsibility, but neither have I ever had an
appointment with less influence than I do now.
You ask me if I want the position or influence, and I would
take influence any day.
Leadership is evident when people are prepared to follow, when
clearly, they have a choice not to follow, and that’s the
point.
Let’s think about this for a moment, you have completed around
20 years of Officership, you are senior Officers, you became
senior Officers and statesmen the day you were promoted to the
rank of Major.
So let’s talk a little about something many maybe reluctant to
discuss, but which is a reality that affects a number of our
colleagues.
The mid Officership period is a critical moment in the
experience for many Officers; when they look back at where
they have been, and look forward to the future, and for some,
feel the pain of unfulfilled hopes and dreams for themselves
or for their partner.
As a consequence, they can loose traction, become discouraged,
demotivated even cynical, bitter and then simply decide to sit
out the rest of their Officership and wait for retirement, all
the time feeling unfulfilled, dissatisfied, often disgruntled,
and sadly, more often than not it shows.
Here is a reality worth considering, we have 480 active
commissioned Officers and 13 executive leadership positions if
you include divisional/regional leadership, training principal
and cabinet. Using that arithmetic, if position is what we
seek, then there are going to be a bucket of people extremely
disappointed.
Let me tell you that younger Officers look to senior Officers
in order to know what Officership looks like and you can
decide for yourself, what is the picture and image they get
from looking at you?
A
week ago last Friday I attended the funeral of Lt-Colonel
Milford McPherson (retired) who was the training principal
during my cadetship. At that time I had no idea what it was to
be an Officer, but I studied him in his unguarded moments, the
way he carried himself, the way he wore his uniform, the form
of his address, the language and phraseology he used when he
spoke, his hand gestures, the books he quoted, the holiness he
taught, his character, his countenance, his life philosophy,
his values, his attitudes and his passions. In so many ways,
Milford McPherson’s officership shaped my officership, and
provided for me a set of values that a long time ago became
mine.
When you first heard the call of God on your life to become an
Officer, I do not believe for one moment that any one in this
room saw ministry in terms of a position.
You believed God had called you to bring people to Jesus, to
help them grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus
Christ and to serve the needs of people throughout the
community.
In the early years of an Officers life, it is always about
Jesus and people, but as the years pass by, for some, it is
less about the people and more about the position.
In these mid years of your Officer experience, I want you to
reclaim the calling of your youth, its vitality and vigour and
to make a mark despite the appointment you have today
or those that come to you in the future.
You have been called by God into this extraordinary ministry
of reconciliation and therefore if my presentation today has a
title, it is this:
BE
EXCEPTIONAL
My counsel is that you refuse to allow an appointment to
determine your significance, or your value. Your effectiveness
as an Officer leader is not dependant upon a position.
1982 Ben Kingley won the best actor Academy Award for his role
as Gandhi in the film of the same name. In that year;
the movie won 9 Academy Awards.
Gandhi
demonstrates all of those characteristics of leadership that
you and I have known about for years, vision, passion,
influence, resolve, but Gandhi was also exceptional.
A simple,
uncomplicated man who lived his truth, in fact it was Mahatma
Gandhi who said;
Be the change
you wish to see in the world
The notion of being exceptional is not faddish, but is
a principle that Jesus taught for all Christians, not just
leaders. He said:
“ You are the light of the world. A city on a
hilltop cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp
and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and
it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way,
let your light shine before men, that they may see your good
deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
(Matthew 5:14-16, N.I.V.)
Here is how Peterson writes it:
“Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a
light stand – shine!”
QUESTIONS
˛
What do you think I am talking about when I invite you to, be
exceptional?
˛
Is being exceptional beyond our capacity?
˛
What prevents us from being exceptional?
THE FRED FACTOR
From time to time you may hear people speak about the Fred
Factor,
it’s a book written by Mark Sanborn and tells the true story
about Fred who approaches his boring job as a postman with
enthusiasm and keeps energetically searching for ways to add
value for those he serves.
Read Chapter One, The First Fred, pages 1-5
RAVING FANS
Ken Blanchard in his book, Raving
Fans
tells stories about fictitious people who deliver exceptional
service.
In one example he tells of a customer who went to a mega
retail bookstore and asked the shop assistant for a particular
title, in checking the computer database, was told that they
were out of stock.
The shop assistant told him that, on her way to work that
morning she had passed the small bookstore two blocks away and
they had the book displayed in their window. She asked him,
how long he planned to be in the store and when he told her,
“10 minutes”, she said, “if you don’t mind waiting an extra
five minutes, she would go to the small bookstore two blocks
away and get a copy for him and he would only pay their stores
discounted price.
When the customer returned to the shop assistant 15 minutes
later, the book was ready and waiting for him and into the
bargain, it had been gift-wrapped.
That is what it means to be exceptional.
ILLUSTRATION
Three years ago while in Western Australia, Major John Vale,
Secretary for Programme was in the division and Aylene and I
took him and his wife Adele to dinner at Monte Fiore, an
Italian restaurant in Mount Lawley. On the way to the
restaurant, I was telling John about the book Raving Fans.
When we arrived at the restaurant, we were seated, given menus
and ordered drinks. I asked our favourite headwaiter Damien
for an Iced Tea, he came back and told me they were out of
iced tea, but said, “Give me a minute,” and I saw him leave
the restaurant and come back 5 minutes latter with a plastic
bag containing several bottles of iced tea. Not only did he
serve me iced tea, but he also gave me a bottle to take home.
That is exceptional service and every time Aylene and I went
out to dinner, can you guess which restaurant we went too?
Was the restaurant the best value for money
restaurant in Perth, probably not, did it have the best
ambience of any other, probably not, but from that time on we
went for the service and were disappointed if Damien was no
working on the night we went.
It is not the appointment that defines us, but it is the
exceptional nature of what we do, how we serve
and more importantly who we are. The appointment, any
appointment gives us the platform to be exceptional and; as
Jesus says; “shine.”
LEAD BY EXAMPLE
Leo Brooks Commandant of the West Point Military Academy was
asked the question, “with all that you teach at WestPoint,
what do you emphasize most?” and without hesitation his answer
was;
“Lead by example”
This is only serves to confirm my point, that we:- shine,
that we, be the change, that Gandhi spoke about, that
we, live the difference, that we be the difference
and that we, be exceptional.
I
wonder if it would surprise you to know that the most
consistent reason given for people not wanting to become an
Officer, is, Officers.
You see, you and I are not selling a product that can be
returned if it doesn’t work. We are helping transition people
into a faith experience, whether that is spiritual faith or
faith in themselves enough to move on in their lives.
Apart from any skills we may have, all we have really got, is
credibility and integrity, that makes us believable,
trustworthy, reliable and enables people to have sufficient
confidence in us, that they are prepared to listen to us, in
order to make a difference in their life.
CHOICE
Being exceptional is all about, choice; to my mind it
is about choosing to make a difference by choosing
to be the difference.
Sanborn says; “Nobody can
prevent you from being exceptional.” Pge. 9
My guess is, the most influential people in your life have
been exceptional people rather than executive
people, and that is what you should be, that’s what you should
strive to be, and that’s how you should always want to be
remembered; as being, EXEPTIONAL.
Being exceptional is a choice you make every day, because your
personal and spiritual integrity rests on your willingness to
be your God given best.
I
want to encourage you to look to the future and choose to be
exceptional in who you be, and the way you serve your
appointment.
Father of the Reformation Brother Martin Luther scrubbed
floors, cleaned toilets and served food and saw these tasks as
a gift of love to his brother Monks.
EXCEPTIONAL.
As a cadet Samuel Logan Brengle scrubbed pots and pans in the
kitchen and was said to have done these tasks joyfully, to the
Glory of God. EXCEPTIONAL.
I
want to finish with a Scripture from Colossians 3:17 from the
Living Bible.
“Let every detail in your lives—words, actions,
whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking
God the Father every step of the way.”
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