{"id":27335,"date":"2021-03-10T09:18:56","date_gmt":"2021-03-10T17:18:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=27335"},"modified":"2021-03-10T09:18:56","modified_gmt":"2021-03-10T17:18:56","slug":"foundations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/foundations\/","title":{"rendered":"Foundations"},"content":{"rendered":"

The book The Undefended Leader<\/em> was written by Simon P. Walker as a product of a course he developed and taught at Wycliffe Hall at Oxford University. He is an ordained Anglican Vicar, professor and an executive coach. His book is made up of three smaller books, Leading out of Who You Are, Leading with Nothing to Lose <\/em>and Leading with Everything to Give. <\/em>The author explores how our childhood ego\u2019s impact us as leaders and how the only way to overcome them is to become undefended. According to Walker, leaders are molded throughout life. In this molding process a leader\u2019s character is tested. The primary battle is an internal one. The external battles are opportunities to reinforce the wins and losses that have been fought internally. The goal and purpose of the internal battles is freedom. Freedom from a thirst for power, freedom from the need to control and freedom from the need to dominate. Walkers intent is to teach others how to be \u201cfree within themselves.\u201d[1]<\/a><\/p>\n

There is a story of a firehouse that was built with the latest technology and architecture. It was state of the art, made from the best materials. People went out of their way to see this marvel. A few short months after it was finished, to everyone\u2019s surprise it began to show signs of trouble. At first it was just a few cracks in the walls. Then some of the doors began to stick. Soon after, windows became misaligned and portions of the roof began to sag. Finally the entire building was condemned. Eventually the authorities discovered that there was a crack of considerable length in the foundation that had not been noticed during the inspection. Looking further, they found deep below the surface an underground river that was slowly washing away the ground below the firehouse. Sadly, though the firehouse looked normal from the surface, the flaws and issues below the surface caused the building to crumble.[2]<\/a> Foundations can be both physical and emotional.<\/p>\n

The entire world has watched in astonishment as prominent leaders within Christendom, as well as those within the political world, have spiraled down in destruction. Many of these leaders were highly gifted and people of influence. Despite their talents and skills there was obviously something deep inside that put them at risk. According to Samuel Rima the author of Leading from the Inside Out <\/em>\u201cthe primary culprit in virtually every case has been a flaw in the failed leader\u2019s foundation.\u201d[3]<\/a> Whether it is in a leader or in a building, the foundation matters. A flaw in a leader\u2019s foundation eventually leads to compromise if it goes undetected and unrepaired. Compromise over time leads to destruction. We have seen throughout history that character flaws can end in tragedy. The damage done is not only to the leader. The ripple effect can be devastating to those left in the wake.<\/p>\n

I am reminded of a song based on Matthew 7:24-27 that I learned in Sunday School as a child.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe wise man built his house upon the rock
\nThe wise man built his house upon the rock
\nThe wise man built his house upon the rock
\nAnd the rains came tumbling down<\/p>\n

The rains came down and the floods came up
\nThe rains came down and the floods came up
\nThe rains came down and the floods came up
\nAnd the house on the rock stood firm<\/p>\n

The foolish man built his house upon the sand
\nThe foolish man built his house upon the sand
\nThe foolish man built his house upon the sand
\nAnd the rains came tumbling down<\/p>\n

The rains came down and the floods came up
\nThe rains came down and the floods came up
\nThe rains came down and the floods came up
\nAnd the house on the sand went smash\u201d[4]<\/a><\/p>\n

I entered both leadership and ministry without giving much attention to my childhood wounds and character flaws. Like many others, I accepted this as the price of growing up. I knew the wounds and flaws existed but felt I could work around them. One of the hardest lessons I have learned is that charisma and talent may take you to the top, but it is character that will keep you there. Foundations matter; even the smallest crack can eventually over time cause havoc, not only to yourself but to those around you. The internal battles we fight – though not enjoyable – are the only way to get truly free. Free from ourselves and the damage we can cause.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Simon P. Walker, The Undefended Leader<\/em>, (Carisle, Piquant Editions, 2010), 13.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Samuel D. Rima, Leading from the Inside Out: The Art of Self-Leadership<\/em>, (Grand Rapids, Baker Book, 2000), 15.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Samuel D. Rima, Leading from the Inside Out, 16<\/em><\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> https:\/\/library.timelesstruths.org\/music\/The_Wise_Man_and_the_Foolish_Man\/<\/p>\n

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The book The Undefended Leader was written by Simon P. Walker as a product of a course he developed and taught at Wycliffe Hall at Oxford University. He is an ordained Anglican Vicar, professor and an executive coach. His book is made up of three smaller books, Leading out of Who You Are, Leading with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":135,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1968,1722,1723],"class_list":["post-27335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dmin-lgp-10","tag-simon-walker","tag-the-undefended-leader","cohort-lgp10"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/135"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27335"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27335\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27336,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27335\/revisions\/27336"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}