"Speirs, Get in There!" Some Thoughts on Leadership
Earlier this month I had an opportunity to spend some time speaking with some school leaders from around the diocese. I was supposed to give a talk on creating a culture of conversion at our schools, which is a topic near and dear to me. But as the day of the talk drew closer I found myself being drawn in two very disparate directions with what I wanted to do with my allotted time.
My thoughts eventually coalesced into a simple equation. To create a culture of conversion you need two things:
1. People who have experienced conversion and value it as a pearl of great price
2. People who want to do whatever they can to lead those in their spheres of influence to the joy and freedom of conversion
As I noodled on a method for articulating my equation, I tried to come up with something concrete to give to the leaders in both categories.
Knowing full well that God alone can effect conversion -- and not wanting to take for granted that my audience had or had not every experienced such a thing -- I figured my best bet was to give as much of my allotted 45 minutes to a powerful time of Eucharistic Adoration. So, I recruited help from some buddies with setting up a prayerful setting and putting together powerful music. And I think we were able to facilitate a very powerful time of prayer and encountering the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament.
As for number two, that took a little bit more reflection and preparation. I've never received any formal leadership training. But ever since high school I just seem to find myself in leadership positions. Maybe it's because I'm a people pleaser and can't say 'no' -- or maybe I'm just more hoodwink-able than the next guy... who's to say.
Nevertheless, eight or so years into leading ministry programs, I've had some opportunities to think about effective leadership and to learn a great deal from life's greatest teacher: failure. Like most leaders I look back at some of my early forays with no little shuddering. There have been successes along the way too. These are the fruit of the Holy Spirt to be sure, but they are also the fruit of a handful of formative exemplars: my dad, my grandfather, my high school band director, and a few mentors/professors in college.
I think as we all develop our own leadership style it tends to be a blend of personality and of the men and women whose leadership we most admire. For me those external influences are:
- My dad's desire to get things done the right way, investing patiently without a hint of discouragement
- My grandfather's unflagging optimism, joy and good-natured love for those around him
- My band director's indefatigable passion for excellence by maximizing every individual's potential
- My college mentors' humility and joyful passion for seeking and delighting in the good, the true and the beautiful
On top of those influences, there are two others of note. One is Andy Stanley, the mega-church evangelical pastor. Stanley has a terrific podcast series on leadership that I've learned tons from. I highly recommend it.
The other is a more surprising source. It's a book that HBO turned into mini-series called Band of Brothers. Based on renowned World War II historian Stephen Ambrose's tremendous book, the series follows Easy Company of 101st Airborne from basic training to the end of the European War. The series is very true to the actual events and is incredibly well done. It serves as a profound study in human nature -- its frailty, its resilience, its need for meaning, understanding, beauty and love.
Another theme is leadership and there are many memorable examples of it -- both good and bad. The main character throughout the series is Major Richard "Dick" Winters, whose selfless, engaging, confident, optimistic but realistic leadership style has come to be my gold standard. There are a couple more books by and about Winters that are both excellent and very much worth the time.
It was not Winters though that inspired my reflections on leadership for talk to the school folks -- or for this blog post. Rather it was a lesser-known character from the series named Lieutenant Ronald Speirs. Speirs is a fringe character through most of the early episodes; we hear stories about him but don't really get to know him. Then all of the sudden he's thrust into the limelight.
In episode seven, Major Winters has sent Easy Company out of the cover of the woods to re-take a town during the Battle of the Bulge. The Company's head at that point is Lieutenant Dyke. Under the pressure of leading the assault Dyke freezes and his men are pinned down in a hayfield getting picked off one by one by snipers. His men demand that he act and give direction but he is literally paralyzed by his uncertainty and fear. Winters diagnoses the problem at once and yells "Speirs, get in there!"
What happens next is a highlight real of effective leadership. Speirs races onto the battlefield, takes charge, ascertains the details of the situation, gives clear and concise directions, and then races ahead of the mean to lead them in the assault. Watching the men turn from being sitting ducks, paralyzed by their leader's fear and inaction, into brave soldiers willing to risk life and limb for the mission is as black and white a juxtaposition of effective versus ineffective leadership you could ever hope to see.
I related that scene and then simply outlined these principles given to me by the heroic example of Lieutenant Speirs. Effective Leaders...
- Know the mission
- Articulate the mission clearly and concisely
- Exemplify the mission to their team
- Develop deep trust with their team
- Encourage their team with unswerving positivity
- Hold their team accountable with charity
Too often leaders -- myself included, sadly -- tend to apologize for their leadership role; a byproduct of that is that the mission tends to get watered down and democratized until it's hardly recognizable. I know that in my own life, whether I'm leading or following, it almost always goes so much better if the leader is willing to get out in front and truly lead -- not arrogantly or dictatorially, but confidently and unapologetically.
One of the precursors then, is that leaders truly believe in the mission. We've all been in situations where a group is asked to do something and from the outset it's clear that no one wants to do it. That's a no win situation. To bring it back to ministry, if we're going to be effective leaders we have to be 100% committed to the vision of how we're going to carry out the mission if we want to have any chance of effectively leading.
I think it's clear that some people are more naturally disposed to lead than others -- those people that walk into a crowded room and all of the conversation just naturally turns to them. But I also know from experience that, like anything, good leadership is a choice. It is a skillset and a group of muscles that needs forming, honing and strengthening. That work takes intentionality, discipline, and a certain vulnerability, but it is entirely necessary. Most of us are going to have strengths in one or two of the six principles. The truly excellent leader, like Major Winters, has dedicated a great deal of time and energy to building himself into a complete leader that can do all six.
Are good leaders born or formed? In the end, does it matter? Good leaders put in the time and effort to succeed.
[If you haven't watched the Band of Brothers series before, be forewarned: it has more than a little violence, the language you'd expect from a real-to-life war movie, and one entirely unnecessary bedroom scene. If you can stomach those aspects, it is highly worth it.]
Comments