{"id":41562,"date":"2025-04-09T17:28:38","date_gmt":"2025-04-10T00:28:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=41562"},"modified":"2025-04-09T17:28:38","modified_gmt":"2025-04-10T00:28:38","slug":"jubal-created-music-tubal-cain-made-tools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/jubal-created-music-tubal-cain-made-tools\/","title":{"rendered":"Jubal Created Music. Tubal-cain Made Tools."},"content":{"rendered":"

This week, I read The Sound of Leadership<\/em> by Jules Glanzer.[1]<\/a> 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 \u201ca harmonious sound of imagining and creating the future.\u201d[2]<\/a> Glanzer\u2019s focus is on \u201cGod-honoring, kingdom-seeking, biblically rooted leadership\u201d grounded in the words Listen, See, Learn, Do, and Love<\/em>.[3]<\/a><\/p>\n

Sticking with the music theme, I will highlight a few sharp<\/em> ideas that I would like my own leadership to exemplify. I will also critique a section that fell flat<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Glanzer\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Decency Is What Your Grandmother Taught You<\/strong>[4]<\/a><\/p>\n

Glanzer described two leadership traits that David Brooks describes as eulogy virtues<\/em>\u2014those that are talked about at your funeral.[5]<\/a> 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]<\/a> 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 \u201csimply spending time with those involved . . . provided the validation that each voice desired.\u201d[7]<\/a> I want to be a leader that listens first and encourages people to be heard.<\/p>\n

A second trait that resonated with me was his description of gratitude, generosity, and graciousness as basic attitudes of effective leadership.[8]<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

Listen first. Serve with gratitude, generosity, and graciousness. These are traits of decency<\/em>, the moral behavior guided by fairness, empathy, and justice.[9]<\/a> Graciousness is not something innate to me. I would do well to pattern my service after what I saw in my grandmother.<\/p>\n

Marketplace Leadership<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Sound of Leadership<\/em> falls flat<\/em> in limiting the application of these leadership principles to Christendom. Glanzer introduces a term marketplace leadership<\/em> to define the opposite of God-honoring, kingdom-seeking, biblically rooted leadership.[10]<\/a> 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<\/em>, I doubt I would have found myself on the wrong side of his teaching.[11]<\/a><\/p>\n

Glanzer defines four leadership motivations: self-driven, principle-driven, purpose-driven, and kingdom-driven, concluding that \u201ckingdom leadership is the motivation that brings joy to the Father.\u201d[12]<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

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]<\/a> 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<\/em> focusing on values, motives, thoughts, and affections is not either\/or.[14]<\/a> Why can\u2019t a leader do both?<\/p>\n

The world needs more God-honoring, kingdom-seeking, biblically rooted leaders in the marketplace.<\/p>\n

What about Jubal?<\/strong><\/p>\n

All of this talk of music reminded me of Genesis 4.<\/p>\n

19<\/sup>Lamech married two women. The first was named Adah, and the second was Zillah.\u00a020<\/sup>Adah gave birth to Jabal, who was the first of those who raise livestock and live in tents.\u00a021<\/sup>His brother\u2019s name was Jubal, the first of all who play the harp and flute.\u00a022<\/sup>Lamech\u2019s 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.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Jubal invented the harp and the flute. That was his purpose. He was created to create<\/em>, 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!<\/em><\/p>\n

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]<\/a> Yet, if Jubal didn\u2019t do his part, the analogy of music would be nonsense.<\/p>\n

Jubal was created for music. Tubal-cain was created to work with metal. What am I created to do?<\/p>\n

\n

[1]<\/a> Jules Glanzer, The Sound of Leadership: Kingdom Notes to Fine Tune Your Life and Influence<\/em> (Plano, TX: Invite Press, 2023).<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Jules Glanzer, The Sound of Leadership<\/em>, xxiv.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Jules Glanzer, The Sound of Leadership<\/em>, 2.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> This quote is from Morgan Freeman playing Judge Leonard White in the movie The Bonfire of the Vanities<\/em>. My cousin used the quote in eulogizing my grandmother. \u201cThe Bonfire of the Vanities (1990) – Morgan Freeman as Judge Leonard White – IMDb,\u201d accessed April 8, 2025, https:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0099165\/characters\/\/.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> David Brooks, \u201cOpinion | The Moral Bucket List,\u201d The New York Times<\/em>, 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<\/em>.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Jules Glanzer, The Sound of Leadership<\/em>, 20.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Jules Glanzer, The Sound of Leadership<\/em>, 18-19.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Jules Glanzer, The Sound of Leadership<\/em>, 60-63.<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> Dictionary.com<\/em>, s.v. \u201cdecency,\u201d accessed April 8, 2025, https:\/\/www.dictionary.com\/browse\/common-decency.<\/p>\n

[10]<\/a> Jules Glanzer, The Sound of Leadership<\/em>, 93.<\/p>\n

[11]<\/a> 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\/.<\/p>\n

[12]<\/a> Jules Glanzer, The Sound of Leadership<\/em>, 93.<\/p>\n

[13]<\/a> Jules Glanzer, The Sound of Leadership<\/em>, 118.<\/p>\n

[14]<\/a> Jules Glanzer, The Sound of Leadership<\/em>, 97,13.<\/p>\n

[15]<\/a> J ules Glanzer, The Sound of Leadership<\/em>, xxiv.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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