Is that task beneath you?

Mike Bonem March 23, 2018

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Several years ago, a front page headline in the local paper caught my attention: “Yells of Approval for A&M President.” At the time, Texas A&M was experiencing great success academically and athletically. My cynical reaction was, Of course, everyone loves the leader when they’re winning.

I continued reading because I was curious to see what else the president, R. Bowen Loftin, was doing to earn such praise. One particular vignette caught my attention:

Part of the spectacle of an Aggies [football] game at home is the pregame parade around the field by the mounted cavalry of the university’s famed Corps of Cadets. By nature, horses leave a mess in their wake, and Loftin has made it a habit to run onto the field after they have passed and help the students scoop it up. Some members of his inner circle have tried to discourage him, despite the fact that he is loudly applauded by the crowd. It is not, they tell him, a job befitting the president. “This IS the job of the president,” is his response. (Houston Chronicle, December 8, 2012)

For anyone in a position of leadership, this raises some interesting questions: What is your job? What tasks are beneath you? Who or what has shaped your philosophy of leadership? 

Everyone has a philosophy of leadership. They may or may not have thought about it, but it drives how they make decisions and how they lead. 

I realize that there are many successful models of leadership that reflect widely varying philosophies. Even among pastors, there seem to be many effective approaches. 

But we should all look to the one model that matters most. He’s the one who said, “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave” (Matthew 20:26).

Paul reminds that this great leader, “Being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing” (Philippians 2:6). He is the One who descended from heaven to be born in a stable, something that was certainly not befitting His divinity. 

Perhaps we should be ready to scoop some poop.

Photo source: istock 

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Mike Bonem is an author, consultant, speaker, church leader, businessperson, husband and father. He has an MBA from Harvard Business School and a breadth of experience in ministry and business, including 11 years as an executive pastor, consulting with Fortune 100 companies, and leading a start-up business. This article was first published on MikeBonem.com. Used with permission. Learn More »

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