Local businessmen, pastor find cloak of leadership a better fit when they aim to Lead like Jesus
Michelle Strutzenberger
Greg Anderson has taken Jesus Christ as a role model for leadership within his organization.

“I’ve come to understand that Jesus was the greatest leader of all time,” says Greg. “Jesus modeled servant leadership. He modeled a leadership style we can all follow.”

Now when he’s faced with a tough decision to make within his organization he often asks himself a simple question. “What would Jesus do?”

“It may sound trite,” says Greg in a telephone interview. “But when you’re ultimately serving God, and, of course, you’re serving people, to help them accomplish their goals, that’s the question to ask. What would Jesus do? How would he do it? I think that’s a case of leading from the heart rather than concern for the bottom line. What’s best for the long-term? What’s the right decision?”

The concept is directly opposite to most secular styles of leadership.

“The world has for their motivation power, recognition, wealth,” says Greg. “Jesus modeled humility. Jesus modeled serving. You know, for three years his poured his life into those 12 disciples’ lives. Jesus didn’t arrive on the scene and say, ‘I’m here. I’m the one. I’m going to tell you how to do it and when. No, he took fishermen, he took tax collectors. He took a ragtag group of people and he poured his life into them. And he didn’t start at the organizational level. But he started by spending time with the Father, who was the one he was ultimately serving.”

Greg says he knows what it’s like as a business person to feel lost as a leader. Five years ago a friend helped him see that he was making the transition from a ‘doer to a leader.’ Uncertain of what this all entailed, he went on a kind of personal quest, seeking to define leadership and answer related questions, such as how can one be most effective as a leader.

This same friend recommended Leadership by the Book, by Ken Blanchard, which outlines the whole concept of Jesus as a role model for leaders.

After meeting with Ken Blanchard and others excited about servant leadership, Greg was more than ready to adopt the concept for his own life and business.

Greg now leads seminars challenging leaders to look to Jesus as a role model. Last year he met with five executive directors from organizations in Peterborough. These directors still continue to meet, to keep one another accountable.

Tim Coles, one of the mentioned directors, leads Kawartha Youth For Christ. He says applying the Lead like Jesus principles has totally changed how the ministry operates.

He notes that three strategic changes have been made as a result of adopting the Lead Like Jesus principles. First, the objectives of both the staff-members and the ministry as a whole are now taken into full account.

“We have our objectives overall, our vision, our mission. But then the staff come in and they have their personal objectives within the ministry,” says Tim. Now the ministry focuses on realizing the goals of both the overall ministry and the individual people who serve there.

“We’ve also given everyone the freedom to fail,” says Tim. They actually had a staff meeting on failure, he adds with a chuckle. “Our view is that there won’t be any risk taking if people don’t feel they have the freedom to fail.” Since this licence, has been given, he says a lot more risk-taking has gone on, with significant results.

The concept of situational leadership has also changed how new staff are orientated. Rather than just throwing the new people into their roles immediately, Tim begins by providing one-on-one instruction for some time, followed by a period of ‘coaching’ and then delegation. “A lot of organizations go straight to delegation before people are ready,” says Tim. “But this method gives people the tools to work more effectively.”

As he’s facilitated various seminars, Greg has seen others significantly impacted by the movement as well. Recently he led a seminar in Mississauga. The executive pastor of a fairly large church in the area says he’s changing his whole style of leadership as a result of hearing Greg speak and reading the related book, The Servant Leader.

“What an amazing discovery to realize that after over twenty-five years in full-time ministry, I am not too old to become a more effective leader.” the pastor writes in an e-mail. “Our church has grown significantly in the last three years. This has necessitated a change in organizational structure and operational methodology. Leading in the "old way" has proven to be ineffective and counterproductive.”

The pastor continues: “A number of months ago, I felt prompted to examine the leadership quotient of our ministry team. I was not prepared to discover that a major adjustment was needed in my personal understanding of Biblical leadership. During this time a new friend gave me the book The Servant Leader. It has served as an effective tool in refining and adapting my gift of leadership into a servant-oriented model. Blanchard and Hodges provided for me invaluable metrics to evaluate my thoughts, actions, and spiritual formation. With the express purpose and motivation of bringing exaltation to God, and significance to others, the cloak of leadership fits so much better.”

Greg plans to continue facilitating Lead Like Jesus seminars, God willing, and may be reached at 705-740-9466 Ext. 224 for more information.