Some of you may have read a post I submitted a few weeks ago entitled The Gas Cap Dilemma. If you haven’t you may want to check it out to give you context for Part Deux.
Fast forward from C3 to Arise (Willow Creek Arts Conference). Me, Lee, Ken and Karla were headed back to the airport in our rental car and we stopped to fill it up with gas. Wanting to be a servant leader I said “I’ll take care of this” and I jumped out of the car and my very first thought was, “I wonder what type of gas cap cover this car has?” I smiled a big smile when I saw it was the kind you just push in and then it pops open… “Ah Ha! You won’t fool me again”… I said with great pride.
So I pop open the gas cap cover and proceed through the motions to pay at the pump. I take note of the little picture diagram of which way the card is to slide in and out and proceed accordingly. I tried once, twice, three times and it kept telling me to insert the card again. So I did, but on the fourth try I saw a message that said, “Pump now locked, you must go inside”. What?
My frustration level at this point started to rise, but I just took a deep breath and went into the store and up to the cashier. I tried to explain to the cashier what had happened and he looked at me like I was crazy. He began to explain to me what to do but I soon learned that English was not his native language. My frustration increased as he talked and I couldn’t understand and all my peeps where waiting in the car and the flight time grew closer and closer. In frustration I finally looked at the man and said, “I do not understand what you are saying!”. His look toward me then turned from that of someone who is looking at someone crazy to someone who needs to be pitied. He then spoke slower and louder and used hand motions then said, “just slide it through again”.
So, I turned and walked out of the store… my head on fire… and went back to the pump. I slid my card once, twice, three times and again on the fourth I saw the message “Pump now locked, you must go inside”. What!?!
At this point my good friend Lee gets out of the car and walks over to me and says, “let me see your card”. He takes my card… turns it the opposite direction of how I had it… slides it into the slot and the gas pump instantly indicates it’s ready to give us some gas.
At that point I went to a place where the words deflated, depressed, crestfallen, hurt, sad, embarrassed… don’t even begin to describe how I felt. What an idiot I am. I’m the leader? I’m the one the makes the tough decisions? I’m in charge?
Over the last few weeks I’ve reflected on this a few times (or a million). Knowing in my head that there was a lesson to learn… wondering why can’t I learn lessons by myself instead of in front of people… especially the ones I lead??? I mean, come on…
Well, besides the obvious attack on my pride, I think I’ve started to see one of the things I needed to learn.
Being a leader doesn’t mean you have all the answers… it means that you play a roll on a team and it takes ALL the parts of that team for the team to be successful. Even as the leader, my scope of understanding and my range of vision has a limit. I have to rely on the people on my team to pick me up when I can’t see what I need to see. Each person on my team needs to feel the freedom to challenge my process and even “turn the card around” and show me how I’m wrong. I need to be humble enough AND grateful enough to appreciate the fact that someone on my team had the initiative to challenge the process and make things better.
Obviously there is a right way and right time for someone on the team to challenge the leader. And a real leader defines those ways and times clearly AND creates an atmosphere for it to happen. In the end, when this type of team unity exists, greater things are accomplished and no one stands out in front to garner pride filled praise… the accomplishment is seen… and in the context of ministry or in the life of a believer… that good work generates praise for our Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16).
