I recently heard a preacher who spoke to us about the importance of being willing to sacrifice what we have for the good of others. They stressed that the act of self-sacrifice not only blessed those who benefited from the sacrifice, but also the one who made the sacrifice in the first place, because there is blessing that comes from above when someone is willing to put themselves aside in the service of a greater good. This was reinforced the very next day when I was speaking with one of my children who really needed to talk through some things. While this may sound very trivial, the sacrifice that I had to make was ice cream! If you’ve read my blog for any time at all you know that ice cream is one of my favorite things in the world and at the very moment when the impromptu conversation began, I was heading to the kitchen for a bowl of deliciousness. Instead, I changed my plans and tried to be the listening ear which was needed. The preacher I heard had said, “Sometimes you must give up your lunch.” For me, “Sometimes I must give up my ice cream.” It’s the same principle. Often the needs of others are far more important than what we want or what we have.
A few months ago, I tuned in to a message that had been given at one of my favorite churches in the country. They were going through a church-wide campaign to “destufficate” their lives, selling the extra stuff in their homes and storage units in order to donate every penny to help those less fortunate. They were doing exactly what I described above in that they have decided that having their stuff is less important than helping others. They were putting others first.
Okay. You’re wondering where I’m going with this. Here it is. As leaders, we must put others ahead of our personal agenda and preferences. If we want our organizations and the people we serve to prosper, as selfless and servant leaders we must be willing to look for the greater good and do what’s needed, even if sometimes that means that we don’t get what we want. The greater good is just that – greater. When we model this behavior, there is another fantastic benefit that comes – our people start to do the same thing. They begin to let go of their preferences and start to behave with the greater good in mind. Many times leaders are in a position where they know that they must move their people from point A to point B, but there is resistance to the change effort. Let’s face it, people want their own way. Change, even positive change, is very difficult for them to accept. However, continual change is necessary for the organization that wants to remain relevant, or even continue to survive, whether we like it or not. What it takes is for the people of an organization to put themselves aside, but as I stated, it must be modeled by the leader first. If a leader isn’t willing to put their preferences aside, there is no way the people will. People virtually always follow their leader’s example.
So leader, get ready for change, because it starts with us.
Lead well.