Today\u2019s leadership lesson is brought to you by not one, but two, very old books.<\/p>\n
I enjoyed the challenge of this week\u2019s assignment, perhaps a little too much. I went down a bit of a nerdy rabbit hole[1]<\/a> and ended up skimming through four books before sitting down to write. I had to stop myself from picking up a fifth even though its title is quite intriguing: A General History of the Pyrates<\/em> published in 1724.<\/p>\n In the end I chose to weave together two very different books because they speak to the same leadership lesson: consistency.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s begin with a look at the Book of Common Prayer, originally published in 1549.[2]<\/a> The work of creating a Protestant liturgy and then compiling the various elements of the BCP is credited to Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury. A British church leader during the Reformation, Cranmer\u2019s concern was to make faith and faith practices accessible to normal people who had jobs and families and everyday concerns. Christian faith was no longer a realm to be managed and mediated by priests who could order their lives around seven fixed times of daily prayer. Prayer had to work for busy working people, so Cranmer instituted the observance of two prayer times: Morning Prayer and Evensong. Cranmer was also concerned that normal people had access and were encouraged to read through the entirety of scripture. Thus, he structured a Bible reading calendar such that nearly the whole Old Testament is read through once each year and the New Testament twice.[3]<\/a><\/p>\n We begin to see there is immense overlap between faith practice and leadership lessons. Luckily, I\u2019m writing to a roomful of Christian leaders, so I can talk about both. If you\u2019re like me, you learned early on in your Christian journey to spend regular time in prayer and Bible study. In my case, and I\u2019m guessing yours as well, those practices have grown and morphed over the years. Perhaps, like me, you have even used the Book of Common Prayer in your personal or corporate times of worship. In some seasons these faith practices yield beautiful fruit; other seasons they feel dryer and it may become a struggle to maintain an intimate connection with God. But through it all, when we just keep showing up in prayer and in the Word, the consistency of meeting with God does something transformative in us.<\/p>\n What does all this have to do with leadership? I see the same principle at work. We\u2019ve learned about being undefended, RARE, non-anxious leaders aware of our biases and working to untangle wicked problems. We\u2019ve also all lived enough life to know that we\u2019re not going to knock it out of the park every day, in every leadership decision we make. There are going to be fruitful periods and periods of struggle. But by consistently showing up and leading out of who we are we will make progress over time. We will lead our organizations, teams, and businesses forward. After all, slow and steady wins the race.<\/p>\n That brings me to my second book, like I promised in the beginning of this post. You\u2019ll recognize the story of The Tortoise and the Hare, but I\u2019m citing the French version by Jean de la Fontaine which was published in his sixth book of fables in 1668.[4]<\/a> In leadership it is all too easy to become resentful or intimidated when another leader or organization sprints ahead like the hare in the well-known fable. It\u2019s all too easy to question ourselves when our own journey looks different, perhaps more tortoise-like.<\/p>\n I am reminded of something that Eve Poole talks about on numerous platforms and that is the idea of templating. She advises leaders to identify areas of weakness and intentionally invest in growing in these areas.[5]<\/a> This has become my personal tortoise-like approach to growing as a leader and reaching my goals in ministry. One area of growth at a time. Pick one thing and intentionally improve my skills. Move forward. Consistently.<\/p>\n Because sometimes the simplest lessons are the best.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [1]<\/a> Here\u2019s where the rabbit trail started, if you\u2019re interested<\/a>.<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> The Book of Common Prayer<\/em>.\u00a0London, 1549.<\/p>\n [3]<\/a> Timothy Keller, Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God (London: Hodder and Stoughton Ldt. 2014) 241<\/p>\n [4]<\/a> Jean de la Fontaine, Le\u00a0livre VI des\u00a0<\/strong>Fables de La Fontaine<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(1668<\/a>)<\/p>\n [5]<\/a> Eve Poole, Leadersmithing TedX.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Today\u2019s leadership lesson is brought to you by not one, but two, very old books. I enjoyed the challenge of this week\u2019s assignment, perhaps a little too much. I went down a bit of a nerdy rabbit hole[1] and ended up skimming through four books before sitting down to write. 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