| 2 Samuel 5:2 In the past, while Saul was king over us, you (David) were the one who led Israel on their military campaigns. And the LORD said to you, "You will shepherd my people Israel, and you will become their ruler." The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. |
Finding some reference to a shepherd's qualities in a secular book on leadership today would certainly be an anomaly. Most would tend to reserve the acts of shepherding to the church or even to just a pastor. Many would say that shepherding is for the spiritual world, not for the trenches of the business world or even the political arena.
However, look at our text today from 2 Samuel. It certainly reflects an “ordination” of a “political leader” as a shepherd of the Lord.
Business Leaders as Shepherds
Interestingly, many if not most references to shepherding apply to the leaders of all people groups, not just those under the care of the priests or religious leaders. Many years ago, this came to my attention during a phone call between myself and key leaders in the company I owned. A few weeks before this phone call, I had been studying the book of John in my quiet time and had spent time pondering our scripture reference from John.
The phone call that I am referring to happened a few weeks later while I was on vacation. It is worthy to note that when I go on vacation, I seldom called the office. Right or wrong, I believe that if a company cannot run without me for a week or two, then I am not a very good leader. I told my key leaders not to call me unless the place was burning down--and they didn’t call. I was blessed by key leaders who took that as a challenge. They did a great job, and I enjoyed my time away far more as a result.
There was that one time, though, that I broke my rule. For some reason, I know not why, I just felt the need to call in on one of my vacations. So I did and found myself talking with one of my key leaders. I asked how things were going, and he said "OK." There was a slight hitch in the way he said OK, though, so I prodded a bit. I remember him telling me a little as possible, trying not to ruin my vacation. After we talked a bit, I asked to be transferred to another key leader. I repeated my greeting and received the same hitch in the response. This was repeated with a third key leader. In each case, the more I talked, the better they felt. Each call ended with a really good goodbye.
A Leader's Voice
I never did get the details of all the problems, nor did I provide a profound solution to their problems. It was not until I hung up from the third leader that I came to realize that the sound of my voice made a positive impact with each leader. The moment I sensed the depth of that fact, the passage from John came alive in my business life. From that day on, I felt a new sense of what being a shepherd leader feels like. And from that day on, I pondered my shepherding responsibility toward my unbelieving employees.
It is here that I must admit another weakness of mine. My voice does not always bring peace to people. In fact, when I am in the midst of debate, my voice level rises. I do not intend for it to do so, and many times I don’t even realize it--but it does. In certain situations I need help to lower my voice to the level of others involved. It is interesting that the same key leaders who heard me raise my voice in the past were comforted by that same voice during the phone call.
What impact does the sound of your voice have on those you lead? Is it reassuring, or does it add to the tension? One way to enhance your leadership is to ponder the impact of your voice. Take note of how it sounds and at what level. Be assured that there are sheep who get out of line and need to hear some passion in your voice level. But ponder both sides of this tool God gave you.
Our voices should improve our leadership, not hold it back.
However, look at our text today from 2 Samuel. It certainly reflects an “ordination” of a “political leader” as a shepherd of the Lord.
Business Leaders as Shepherds
 | |||
| The shepherd example applies to business leaders too. |
The phone call that I am referring to happened a few weeks later while I was on vacation. It is worthy to note that when I go on vacation, I seldom called the office. Right or wrong, I believe that if a company cannot run without me for a week or two, then I am not a very good leader. I told my key leaders not to call me unless the place was burning down--and they didn’t call. I was blessed by key leaders who took that as a challenge. They did a great job, and I enjoyed my time away far more as a result.
There was that one time, though, that I broke my rule. For some reason, I know not why, I just felt the need to call in on one of my vacations. So I did and found myself talking with one of my key leaders. I asked how things were going, and he said "OK." There was a slight hitch in the way he said OK, though, so I prodded a bit. I remember him telling me a little as possible, trying not to ruin my vacation. After we talked a bit, I asked to be transferred to another key leader. I repeated my greeting and received the same hitch in the response. This was repeated with a third key leader. In each case, the more I talked, the better they felt. Each call ended with a really good goodbye.
A Leader's Voice
I never did get the details of all the problems, nor did I provide a profound solution to their problems. It was not until I hung up from the third leader that I came to realize that the sound of my voice made a positive impact with each leader. The moment I sensed the depth of that fact, the passage from John came alive in my business life. From that day on, I felt a new sense of what being a shepherd leader feels like. And from that day on, I pondered my shepherding responsibility toward my unbelieving employees.
It is here that I must admit another weakness of mine. My voice does not always bring peace to people. In fact, when I am in the midst of debate, my voice level rises. I do not intend for it to do so, and many times I don’t even realize it--but it does. In certain situations I need help to lower my voice to the level of others involved. It is interesting that the same key leaders who heard me raise my voice in the past were comforted by that same voice during the phone call.
What impact does the sound of your voice have on those you lead? Is it reassuring, or does it add to the tension? One way to enhance your leadership is to ponder the impact of your voice. Take note of how it sounds and at what level. Be assured that there are sheep who get out of line and need to hear some passion in your voice level. But ponder both sides of this tool God gave you.
Our voices should improve our leadership, not hold it back.
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