Jubal Created Music. Tubal-cain Made Tools.
This week, I read The Sound of Leadership by Jules Glanzer.[1] The book draws primarily from his experiences as a pastor, seminary dean, and Christian college president rather than from studies or external sources. He uses a musical theme to describe the elements of leadership, calling many voices into “a harmonious sound of imagining and creating the future.”[2] Glanzer’s focus is on “God-honoring, kingdom-seeking, biblically rooted leadership” grounded in the words Listen, See, Learn, Do, and Love.[3]
Sticking with the music theme, I will highlight a few sharp ideas that I would like my own leadership to exemplify. I will also critique a section that fell flat.
Glanzer’s academic background shows up in a well-written and organized book with clear points and logical flow. Each chapter is introduced with a couple of verses and a couple of quotes, preparing my mind for the topic to come. The chapter ends with questions that motivate self-reflection.
Decency Is What Your Grandmother Taught You[4]
Glanzer described two leadership traits that David Brooks describes as eulogy virtues—those that are talked about at your funeral.[5] The first is a listen-first posture. Glanzer began his tenure as a college president not with a list of aspirations or promises but with four open-ended questions asked of each of his reports. The specific questions changed in subsequent years, but the posture remained the same. Glanzer notes that the loudest or most passionate voices are not always right, and that leadership requires discernment of the voices.[6] Nevertheless, he recognizes the importance of ensuring that all voices are heard, not just those on his leadership team. In working through a crisis with a variety of perspectives and needs, he noted that “simply spending time with those involved . . . provided the validation that each voice desired.”[7] I want to be a leader that listens first and encourages people to be heard.
A second trait that resonated with me was his description of gratitude, generosity, and graciousness as basic attitudes of effective leadership.[8] Gratitude is an attitude that happens when we value people. It expresses appreciation for group contributions rather than claim personal achievement. It is being thankful rather than feeling entitled. Gratitude leads to generosity, which begins with the recognition that everything belongs to God. Graciousness is an attitude that demonstrates a commitment to the value of everyone. These three Gs are not likely to show up when I am task-oriented and in a hurry.
Listen first. Serve with gratitude, generosity, and graciousness. These are traits of decency, the moral behavior guided by fairness, empathy, and justice.[9] Graciousness is not something innate to me. I would do well to pattern my service after what I saw in my grandmother.
Marketplace Leadership
The Sound of Leadership falls flat in limiting the application of these leadership principles to Christendom. Glanzer introduces a term marketplace leadership to define the opposite of God-honoring, kingdom-seeking, biblically rooted leadership.[10] As a God-honoring, kingdom-seeking, biblically rooted leader in a secular workplace, I found the distinction off-putting. Had he used the term worldly, I doubt I would have found myself on the wrong side of his teaching.[11]
Glanzer defines four leadership motivations: self-driven, principle-driven, purpose-driven, and kingdom-driven, concluding that “kingdom leadership is the motivation that brings joy to the Father.”[12] This statement implies that a focus on upholding the values or mission of an organization falls short of an ideal defined by Matthew 6:10. Setting aside the possibility that a secular organization can have morally pure objectives, the position calls into question why my church has bothered to articulate our values of radical hospitality, uncommon humility, and sacrificial generosity.
I do not honestly believe that the author intends to drive a wedge between my leadership in the marketplace and my role as a church elder. In fairness, Glanzer uses secular examples to describe the magnum opus of a leader.[13] The majority of God-honoring, kingdom-seeking, biblically rooted leaders exercise their gifting in a secular setting. The leadership activities of setting goals, writing policies, and establishing controls versus focusing on values, motives, thoughts, and affections is not either/or.[14] Why can’t a leader do both?
The world needs more God-honoring, kingdom-seeking, biblically rooted leaders in the marketplace.
What about Jubal?
All of this talk of music reminded me of Genesis 4.
19Lamech married two women. The first was named Adah, and the second was Zillah. 20Adah gave birth to Jabal, who was the first of those who raise livestock and live in tents. 21His brother’s name was Jubal, the first of all who play the harp and flute. 22Lamech’s other wife, Zillah, gave birth to a son named Tubal-cain. He became an expert in forging tools of bronze and iron. Tubal-cain had a sister named Naamah.
Jabal was the first rancher and lived in a tent. Jubal invented music. Tubal-cain was a metalsmith. I wish the writer told us more about Naamah.
Jubal invented the harp and the flute. That was his purpose. He was created to create, to add depth and harmony to the voices around him. I can imagine the wonder that his family expressed when their worship of God had a soundtrack. Wow! We never sounded this good! Praise God with the harp and the flute!
The music analogy works well. Leadership is an acoustical art, enabling a group to work in harmony together as they pursue a preferred future.[15] Yet, if Jubal didn’t do his part, the analogy of music would be nonsense.
Jubal was created for music. Tubal-cain was created to work with metal. What am I created to do?
[1] Jules Glanzer, The Sound of Leadership: Kingdom Notes to Fine Tune Your Life and Influence (Plano, TX: Invite Press, 2023).
[2] Jules Glanzer, The Sound of Leadership, xxiv.
[3] Jules Glanzer, The Sound of Leadership, 2.
[4] This quote is from Morgan Freeman playing Judge Leonard White in the movie The Bonfire of the Vanities. My cousin used the quote in eulogizing my grandmother. “The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990) – Morgan Freeman as Judge Leonard White – IMDb,” accessed April 8, 2025, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099165/characters//.
[5] David Brooks, “Opinion | The Moral Bucket List,” The New York Times, April 11, 2015, sec. Opinion, https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/12/opinion/sunday/david-brooks-the-moral-bucket-list.html. Eve Poole introduced me to this terminology in her book Leadersmithing.
[6] Jules Glanzer, The Sound of Leadership, 20.
[7] Jules Glanzer, The Sound of Leadership, 18-19.
[8] Jules Glanzer, The Sound of Leadership, 60-63.
[9] Dictionary.com, s.v. “decency,” accessed April 8, 2025, https://www.dictionary.com/browse/common-decency.
[10] Jules Glanzer, The Sound of Leadership, 93.
[11] Worldly leadership is used in religious, spiritual, or ethical conversations. Marketplace leadership is used in business, economics, and leadership development settings. OpenAI, “Response to prompt about the contextual difference between worldly leadership and marketplace leadership”, ChatGPT, April 9, 2025, https://chatgpt.com/.
[12] Jules Glanzer, The Sound of Leadership, 93.
[13] Jules Glanzer, The Sound of Leadership, 118.
[14] Jules Glanzer, The Sound of Leadership, 97,13.
[15] J ules Glanzer, The Sound of Leadership, xxiv.
About the Author
Rich
7 responses to “Jubal Created Music. Tubal-cain Made Tools.”
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Rich, great post. I’d love to hear more about your grandma.
I read page 97 different than you (perhaps it’s because I’m not in the marketplace). I think Glanzer’s point isn’t that goals, policies, or controls are bad. Instead, I think he’s talking about motivations. He sees a danger in working from outside-in. Outside-in being starting with goals, policies, controls and ending with values, motives, and thoughts. Instead, he sees kingdom leadership as inside-out and inverts the sets. What do you think?
I debated raising my concerns about the chapter, particularly when Dr. Clark mentioned that the author will join us next week. The two sides of my internal debate are that I really don’t think Glanzer means to divide or offend, and I only have what is written on the pages. One purpose of this writing forum is to practice our critical thinking skills, so here is an opportunity.
I have a close friend who is a pastor and author. One of his books was regrettable and cringe-worthy, offending many readers. He has learned the value of getting a wide audience to read drafts in order to prevent sending unintended messages.
To your point, even the secular world recognizes the criticality of leading with strong character. I intended to make that point and had a cross-reference to Poole’s book. I can make a reference to Rock and say that my stage was too crowded to get all of the ideas written. Inside-out, leading as a God-honoring, kingdom-seeking, biblically rooted person benefits any organization. It is the answer to my question. It is what I am created to be.
I’m sympathetic towards your view on “marketplace leadership,” Rich, and I share the expectation that Glanzer likely doesn’t intend to drive a dualistic wedge between sacred and secular.
In my opinion, the relevance is not in *where* the work is being done but *how*. The good news of Jesus transforms not just our churches and the layperson’s Sunday, but also how we practice business, healthcare, education, and, as in your case, engineering. I thank the Lord for placing you where he has!
I would be quite happy if the topic of word choice doesn’t come up Monday! I also doubt that I am the only reader to pause. My AI session found a similar concern of the implied sacred-secular divide, though I didn’t find many book reviews aside from those at georgefox.edu.
This is an opportunity to practice critical thinking without waving the banner of BCD (blame, complain, and defend). Dr. Clark has encouraged us to risk thinking out loud. I highly value the views of this cohort and would welcome coaching if my words are unfair or misplaced. That is the collaborative learning I signed up for.
Thanks, Joff.
Rich, I appreciate your overview of the book and your reflections on Marketplace Leadership! I completely agree that our world could benefit greatly from more God-honoring, kingdom-seeking, and biblically rooted leadership in the marketplace. I’ve also observed that when the church grows comfortable, it often shifts its focus to serving itself rather than reaching out to those beyond its walls. With that in mind, I’m curious- using Jules’s “Sound of Leadership” methods, how do you feel the church could enhance its efforts in connecting with nonbelievers?
Hi, Ivan-
Good question. I will land on Chapter 10, Choosing Your Genre. Glanzer uses the example of determining his desired legacy. We all make that choice, whether consciously or unconsciously. A healthy church is made up of many members with different backgrounds, abilities, and gifts.[1] This variety will draw some to pursue a legacy of evangelizing unbelievers. Others will pursue a legacy of making disciples, keeping everyone organized, making spaces more effective for ministry, and the like.
If we stick with the music theme, then a healthy church will have all voices singing from the same song sheet and all instruments keeping the same tempo. Beautiful harmony happens when the variety of instruments and voices work together. When a church turns inward, it is as if the entire string section of the orchestra stops playing. This is not how the orchestra is meant to play the music written by the Voice of One.
[1] 1 Corinthians 12:12-31.
Rich, I couldn’t agree with you more. “Beautiful harmony happens when the variety of instruments and voices work together.” An orchestra has different instruments, with various shapes and sizes. A choir has different voices: soprano, alto, tenor, and bass. There is beauty in the diversity that we, as human beings, possess. When we learn how to work together, the chaos of our differences can turn into the beautiful sound of an orchestra. I believe that if leadership is poor, it is very challenging to achieve this, but with the right leadership- someone who can guide the orchestra- something beautiful can emerge from our differences.