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Rodin notes that his own leadership experiences and the leadership he’s witnessed in my years of consulting point to a different kind of leadership. In speaking of Jesus’ incarnation, Paul says, “(Jesus) made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant” (Philippians 2:7). It is not a leadership of power and control, but a leadership of powerlessness and humility in which the suffering servant of God, Jesus Christ, is made manifest.
God’s anointed are servants first, last and always. And they have only one passion: to know and do God’s will that he might have the glory.
Leadership pioneer Robert Greenleaf (author of Servant Leadership) reminds us that the difference between a true servant-leader who is servant first and a leader-servant who seeks leadership first lies in the growth of the people who serve under him or her. The test question is, “Do those served grow as persons; do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants?”
Steward leaders empower their people, give away authority, value and involve others, seek the best in and from their people, and constantly lift others up, push others into the limelight and reward those they lead—all so that God’s will may be done in a more powerful way. They seek no glory for themselves, but find great joy in seeing others prosper.
Leadership must be concerned with the whole person and God’s intent is for us to do the work of the kingdom within and through the community of believers. This is the journey of transformation from which we develop the heart of the steward leader.
Secular leadership experts are waking to the fact that the key to leadership effectiveness is self-awareness. Before God can do a great work in an organization, that work must be done first in the heart of the leader. As steward leaders we must be engaged in a constant process of self-evaluation and repentance. For this reason the greatest tool for effective steward leaders is a mirror (insert post on most powerful leadership tool) and a group of friends to be sure they are looking into it with clarity and focus.
When we place the complex and demanding role of a godly leader next to an honest self-awareness of our sinfulness and incompetence, we are thrown wholly on the grace of God and his faithfulness if we are ever to lead anyone anywhere.
It doesn’t matter if the world knows, or sees or understands, the only applause we are meant to seek is that of nail-scarred hands. Our job is to take the blame for mistakes made by those under our leadership and to deflect the praise by redirecting it to those most responsible for our success. God asks only one thing of steward leaders: that we seek with all our hearts to know his will and respond obediently and joyfully.
Leaders who are at peace with themselves can lead others with humility and grace. Leaders who find meaning in both their weaknesses and the wonder of God’s work within them can provide balance, honesty and integrity to the organizations they serve.
It is in the area of resources and the environment that we struggle the most to retain our true calling as stewards and not owners. Our restored relationship with creation calls us to be stewards of God’s creation and all the material possessions that we have, placing them and all of God’s beloved creation in the service of one kingdom of Christ.
In Leading People from the Middle, Whitworth University president Bill Robinson states that “our behavior changes to the extent that our beliefs, attitudes, intentions, experience and environment propel the change.” Leadership studies—both faith-based and secular—are focusing much attention on the inner being of the leader as a key component to leadership success. The world (and the church) is waking up to the reality that inner character influences a person’s effectiveness as a leader.
Leaders are measured by reaching goals, achieving growth and improving the bottom line, so we must fight for an acceptance of being over doing. This is an internal fight as much as an organizational fight, and it is one we must win at both levels if we are to be true to our calling as steward leaders. We understand that in order to walk the path of the steward leader, we must love before we can serve, follow before we can lead, submit before we can succeed.
Once we believe that we control our relationship with God, we have been had. We begin to worship out of guilt. We become legalistic about our devotional time. When we read Scripture, we do it impatiently, always looking for a key verse that we can use productively. Gone is the joy of worship, the intimacy of devotional time in the presence of the Spirit and the meditation on Scripture just for the sake of communing with the Word of God. The shift from the joyful and free response of the steward to the burdened response of the owner is subtle.
On the cover of the book is a picture of a soaring bald eagle. Eagles have both a majestic and a humble presence in the skies. In the same way, Steward Leaders are both free to soar and also created for a distinct purpose within God’s wonderful creation. Free and purposeful. Humble and majestic. What a beautiful symbol.
Servant Leadership, as espoused by its framer, Robert Greenleaf, is a philosophy of leadership that many have attempted to quantify into lists of characteristics that range from four to eleven, depending on who you read. These include:
(1) Altruistic calling: the decision to serve others above self
(2) Emotional healing: a readiness to listen and to respond to bring about emotional/spiritual recovery
(3) Wisdom: an awareness of one’s surroundings and an ability to see the convergence of multiple factors
(4) Persuasive mapping: seeing the grand vistas and inspiring others to journey toward them
(5) Organizational stewardship: care of the organization and its assets to build the greater good
According to Greenleaf, servant leadership “begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead.”
Rodin’s focus in this book is on the person of the steward leader in relationship. How the steward leader leads will vary significantly according to individual personality and giftedness, and the environment, organizational culture, specific challenges and vision into which he or she is called to lead. Most importantly, this leadership is influenced by the work of the Holy Spirit in the heart of the steward leader and his or her responsiveness to that leading in every situation. The steward leader does not derive her identity from being a leader, even being a steward leader, but solely from being a godly and faithful steward.
The steward leader model stands apart in three ways. Other theories start with acts of leadership deemed to be effective and try to work back to find common traits and characteristics. They have a common view that the leader moves people toward the goal of personal happiness with the hope and belief that people—and leaders—can actually know what makes them happy and can pursue it without harming their neighbor.
In contrast, the steward leader approach is based on the transformation that takes place in the heart of the leader as a faithful and godly steward, and works from this inner transformation (which is ongoing) to the outward impact when a godly steward is called to lead. This inward-outward direction and the emphasis of being over doing set the steward leader apart from this array of secular leadership theories.
We are transformed as spouses, parents, church members and neighbors all the while that we are also transformed as leaders. When leadership books focus only on the latter, they do not give us as rich a picture of the godly leader as we need.
Rodin stayed away from the terms leadership and stewardship. As soon as we add the “ship”, we shift our focus from the “who” to the “how” and “what.” Too many faith-based leadership studies miss this vital step. They move from the calling of a leader to the work of a leader without considering the preparation of the heart of a leader. Jesus came to be the Lord of our life, not our example of good leadership. What Rodin cautions against is seeing in Jesus a model for right behavior instead of seeing the author and finisher of our faith. Jesus did not come to show us how to live so we might adjust our behavior to be more like him; he came to give us new life that is radically different from anything we know.
There are four levels of relationship that we are called to steward:
(1) With God
For the godly steward, the call to lead must be simultaneously a call to greater depth in our relationship with God. Yet so often the opposite occurs. As the demands of the job pile up, our time and focus on this life-giving relationship diminish.
(2) With Ourselves
We overcome self-reliance with submission, not with more doing. The key for us here is that stagnancy is a symptom of our doing, not our lack of doing. The more we seek to do, the more we fail to be. Oswald Sanders looks at it from another angle, noting that when we ignore our stewardship of our relationship with God, it is we who have created the distance we feel: “Both Scripture and experience teach us that it is we, not God, who determine the degree of intimacy with Him that we enjoy. We are at this moment as close to God as we really choose to be.”
(3) With Others
Steward leaders who are truly free will neither underestimate the impact their behaviors and values have on shaping culture nor overestimate their own importance to its preservation and development after they leave. This is an important balance to maintain if we are to be stewards of our organizations at this first level. Confidence and humility are not inversely related; they are not opposite ends of a continuum. The theological basis for coupling humility and confidence is clear. In humility we acknowledge our gifts are from God. We have nothing to brag about. But our gifts are from God. What can give more confidence that that! The best tool leaders can have always at hand is a full-length mirror. Not for self-admiration but for self-examination. In it we look for signs of self-confidence crowding out God-confidence. A bookmark reminds of this vital truth, “It doesn’t matter if the world knows, or sees or understands, the only applause we are meant to seek is that of nail-scarred hands.”
A steward leader helps his people hear God’s vision for them, articulates it in the community and plans to achieve it effectively. However, the steward leader also ensures that the ministry he or she serves is a listening community, always ready and open to hear a word of correction, adjustment and change. As such, the people, too, become stewards of the vision.
(4) With God’s Creation
We must consider God’s creation in four aspects if we are to continue our commitment to transformation as godly stewards: our time, our skills, our resources and the created world in which we live. God still says to us, “I love you and you love me. Love one another. Care for my creation.” Time is a gift from God to be developed, nourished and cherished. What would it mean if we took seriously the value of every second of time?
As steward leaders we must not fall back into old patterns of ownership and control. If money does not possess us, those who have it and can offer it to us will have no control over us. If we are first stewards of God’s earth, then as steward leaders we will find countless ways to lead our organizations in the care of that earth.
More than at any other level, this fourth one is where our kingdom-building tendencies tempt us the most. The root of this temptation is our desire for control. Simply put, nurture is other-centered while control is wholly self-serving. This is a struggle for lordship!
Steward leaders develop strategic plans in a context of what is achievable given a God-pleasing use of time. They pray hard to keep any vestige of pride and ambition from the planning process. If there was ever a time for a leader to say the prayer, “It’s not mine; it’s yours,” it is during the strategic planning process.
Marshaling the right people to do the right jobs with the right resources to achieve the right goals at the right time is one of the highest callings of the steward leader. If we are being transformed into godly stewards at all four levels, we should expect to lead with consistency. Involve your people, seek accountability and develop the value of consistency as central to your mission.
Here are different disciplines you can employ as a Steward Leader:
Level One Discipline: Praying for a Restoration of a Thirst for Intimacy
Every day of the life of a steward leader must begin with a thirst for intimacy with God.
Level Two Discipline: Daily Affirmation of Our Self-Image
The daily discipline at this second level is the recognition of our need to be healed—healed of our self-confidence, our thirst for ownership, our excuses, our discontentment and our distraction.
Level Three Discipline: Seeing Our Neighbors as God Sees Them
At this third level, we must seek daily a change in our vision. We must pray that God will give us eyes to see and hearts to embrace the people in our world as God sees them and loves them.
Level Four Discipline: Daily Submitting Every Aspect of Our Lives to the Lordship of Christ
This is my one incessant prayer to God, hour by hour, day upon day:
Rodin finishes the book with what he calls the Steward Leader’s Prayer: “It’s yours. I am not fighting this battle for you, God. It’s your battle, and you are fighting it for me. It is all yours, and I want whatever you have for me in this situation. It is not my organization, it is yours. So I depend on your Spirit to show me what to do. These are not my people. I chose them and organized their efforts, but they do not belong to me. So this day is yours; I am yours; these people are yours; the resources are yours. The challenges we face are yours, as is anything we hope to accomplish. It’s yours, God. It is not mine.”