11 ‘o clock Tick Tock
I don’t recommend being in Las Vegas on a Friday night. Overall, Vegas is a dumpster fire wrapped in a train wreck.
That is, unless, you are in Las Vegas with your best friends, to see [arguably] the best band in the world, U2, at the best venue currently in the world: The Sphere. Google it, and you’ll see what 2.4 Billion dollars will get you. The Sphere and U2 is a spine-tingling convergence of audio, visual, songwriting, artistry, spirituality, camaraderie, architecture, and unity that was, dare I say, sublime.
Sublime. Dr. Clark referred to sublime as “reaching towards something that would point us towards something bigger.” The sublime leads you and I to a place of wonder. The sublime is an encounter that leaves you with no words to explain it.
That Friday night in Las Vegas moved me to tears, to prayer, to worship, and to awe. It was sublime.
Music (and all that is connected to it visually and emotionally) has a way of doing that and making me feel that way, which is why I “resonated” with Glanzer and “The Sound of Leadership” in such a deep way. It was a right time, right place book for me, especially because of the musical notes it embedded, and the volume of questions it posed. One could not go a page or two in Glanzer without encountering a question to wrestle with and work out.
- Would I be OK selling ice cream? (Glanzer, pg. 6 in reference to the assertion: “If you want to make everyone happy, sell ice cream.”)
- As a leader, whose voice(s) are the most important to me? (pg. 12)
- Can I communicate transparency while maintaining confidentiality? (pg. 14)
- Can I honor the past while forging a new vision for the future? (pg. 14)
- Where have I been a hindrance to others carrying out their responsibilities? (pg. 18)
- Am I getting enough times of solitude and silence in order to listen to the Voice of One? (pg. 33)
- How can I keep teaching people to “long for the endless immensity of the sea?” (pg. 57)
- What defining moments (events and incidents) have shaped who I am as a leader? (pg. 103)
In leadership, especially that of the “undefended leader” (Simon Walker), the humility to not have all the answers, and the ability to ask good questions is vitally important. In musical parlance, questions are the way forward in discerning, listening, responding and harmonizing the sound of leadership.
Bono, of the band U2 said it this way in the 1980 song 11 ‘o clock Tick Tock:
“We thought we had the answers. It was the questions we had wrong.”
Perhaps this is why Bono’s life and influence, along with his band mates from the Northside of Dublin, has been so profound and widespread. Perhaps this is why so many, like myself, resonate with the music of U2. They readily admit that they thought they had the right answers, that their questions may have been wrong, and therefore, their supposedly right answers were perhaps wrong as well.
This all sounds an awful (or better yet, awe-full) lot like humility to me.
Glanzer referenced a number of questions he asks of his team, one of which is: “What is one thing you would like me to do differently?” (Glanzer, 18). Leadership, which is often equated with bravado, self-centeredness, and pride, must, I repeat, must flow from humility. The art of asking good questions and NOT always having the answers, is a mark of humility.
I wonder what role that of humbly responding to criticism plays in the sound of leadership? Glanzer speaks about harmonizing voices (ie; people that are serving together on a team towards a preferred future), but what about dissenting voices? I am very interested in hearing more from Glanzer (perhaps on our Zoom call) about decisions he made that garnered criticism, and how he handled those questions, comments, concerns, and, perhaps even, hostility towards his leadership. I am also interested in asking him about “the one decision that received no criticism and had 100 percent support [that] ended up as arguably the worst decision of my entire tenure” (Glanzer, 16).
Questions.
Even in our recent Cohort Zoom, in discussing the war in the Middle East, we collectively didn’t have many (if any) answers. We just had a lot of questions. What’s going on? Why is this taking place? Who does this involve, really? The day before my wife and I left for Las Vegas I received a call from a church staff member. He was on speaker phone with three other staff members in their office. They wanted to ask me about the rising conflict in Israel.
Who or what is Hamas? What side should we be on? What are they fighting about? What does the Bible say about all this?
Questions.
I, humbly speaking, did not have many good answers, and frankly bumbled through the ones did I offer. In the end, I said, “Guys, I have been to the Middle East (ie: Israel, Jordan, Egypt) a number of times and I STILL don’t fully understand what’s going on? But, let’s try to figure it out. And let’s commit ourselves to praying and asking more questions.”
Questions.
On Friday, October 13 (yes, Friday the 13th) I was amongst 18,000 people in the Las Vegas Sphere – on the very day that Hamas leaders called for a “Global Day of Jihad.” I was moved emotionally as U2’s frontman Bono sang the 1991 song ONE which asked many more (and better) questions of humanity:
About the Author
John Fehlen
John Fehlen is currently the Lead Pastor of West Salem Foursquare Church. Prior to that he served at churches in Washington and California. A graduate of Life Pacific University in San Dimas, CA in Pastoral Ministry, and Vanguard University in Costa Mesa, CA with a Masters in Leadership and Spirituality. He and his wife Denise have four grown children and four grandchildren. John is the author of "Don't Give Up: Encouragement for Weary Souls in Challenging Times," a book for pastoral leaders, a children's book called "The Way I See You," and the forthcoming "Leave A Mark: The Jouney of Intentional Parenting." You can connect with John on Instagram (@johnfehlen) as well as at johnfehlen.substack.com.7 responses to “11 ‘o clock Tick Tock”
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Ah, U2. I’d always hoped my children would have appreciated that band as much as my wife and I do/did. Speaking of U2, I’m sure you’ve seen Bono’s conversation with Eugene Peterson, or listened to Mike Cosper’s fairly recent interview with Bono in late 2022.
However, I’m curious how you would answer the questions you presented: “Would I be OK selling ice cream? (Glanzer, pg. 6 in reference to the assertion: “If you want to make everyone happy, sell ice cream.”)” and “As a leader, whose voice(s) are the most important to me? (pg. 12)” So…if you weren’t leaning into your calling and making the difficult decisions you are making week in and week out, what would be your version of the “ice cream” you would be tempted to fall back on if things weren’t going well? Feel free to not answer that question, of course. Also, what voices are most important to you, at present? Who in your opinion has done a decent and recent job of presenting a helpful framework for viewing the exercise of leadership (or pastoral leadership)?
I love that you landed on humility and manifesting humility by not having all the answers. I find humility to be a tricky one – as soon as I think I have learned a thing or two about it I find myself right back where I started, prideful (sometimes even prideful about how humble I’ve become – ouch!). How would you teach your church or counsel someone to grow in humility?
Hi John, Thank you for bringing up sublime!
“Sublime. Dr. Clark referred to sublime as “reaching towards something that would point us towards something bigger.” The sublime leads you and I to a place of wonder. The sublime is an encounter that leaves you with no words to explain it.” Though I didn’t use that word in my post it was the experience of something greater that music and sound has to offer that intrigued me. I have been overwhelmed with all the questions I have raised for myself over the last few weeks of reading. So those sublime moments are very important as they can also offer space to set them down and just be in wonder and awe. Having said that, thank you for the list of questions that you pulled from Glazner. From your list is their one particular question that seems most important to sit with? I asked myself the same question and my answer surprised me!
Hi, John,
Loved your post…. There is a reason why musicians sell out stadiums, why music makes its way into our daily lives, why our church services begin and end with music. It moves the soul in ways words can’t. For me, Glanzer again validated the importance of leadership and its deep motivational underpinnings as he likened it to sound and music. It was an easier read, but affirmed so much in the way of why we do what we do in ministerial leadership.
John,
I wonder if your blog post was the first time in history that someone accused Bono of humility? 🙂
As a lifelong fan, I think there is deep humility there in the backstage that doesn’t often show up on his frontstage persona.
That show was indeed sublime. It was a fun weekend. But, as often happens when I attend concerts of bands that have deep impact on me, I came away with a lot of thoughts and challenges about my life. Good music will do that to you.
And your post reminded me of some of Glazer’s greatest hits in the book. One that was really powerful was the question he asked his subordinates: “What is one thing you would like me to do differently?”
Have you asked that question of your staff? If you have what have they said? If not what do you think they would say?
My dear brother John, your blog posts are…sublime! They are so rich and compel readers to stop and ponder on what’s going on inside you and the world! Whoa! Thank you sir John! Here’s a few questions to ponder on that most likely do not have an immediate answer. You and your wife were away and your staff was aware of it. And even though it was an important question, what does it say about the depth of your staff knowing you were spending time with your wife and yet they were compelled to call you to ask you that question? What does it also say about your friendship with them? Finally, what did that call reveal about John’s leadership that has not been talked about in a long time or if ever?
I love U2! My question for you John is why do you think it happens that decisions who get 100% of the vote could end up being all round and those that get so much push back are right? Why can’t it sometimes be easy, this leadership thing:)