Leadership Heroes!

Choose Your Role models carefully…

Heroes are a force, from the original superhero Superman, to the Fantastic Four, to the current television hit titled, well, Heroes. Ordinary people discover they possess special powers: the ability to travel through time, to heal, to see into the future, and perhaps to save the world! And when they become our heroes, they change us, too.

In nearly a decade of coaching, I’ve slowly discovered the powerful role heroes play in the lives of everyday leaders.

Most leaders I talk with can name a few people they consider to be heroes. These heroes exert unique power in the lives of the leaders who admire them. In the real world, ordinary people have the power to inspire leaders toward their heroic example. In his research on authentic leadership, Boas Shamir of Hebrew University in Israel found that leaders who spend time reflecting on persons they admire “start to define or re-define themselves through their role models.” Truly, what we consider we become.

Since 2000, I’ve asked hundreds of leaders from all over North America, “Who are your heroes?” In fact, I begin every coaching relationship with the question because the responses are so revealing. Heroes are found in likely and unlikely places: family trees and family Bibles, history books and summer novels, mythic stories and first-hand encounters.

Speeding Bullet Points

Walking alongside the people I have coached, I’ve noticed the impact heroes have. In fact, I’ve made three observations about the role of heroes in the lives of leaders. Now that you have considered your own heroes, you might benefit from these observations.

The first observation is the ease or difficulty with which a leader can name his/her heroes. What about you? Were you able to quickly access your heroes? Maybe the first one came without much effort and the others took some pondering. Or perhaps you had to really think about it and even then had a hard time putting the hero label on someone. Or maybe, for whatever reason, you couldn’t name anyone who serves as a hero in your life.

Before reading further, take a few minutes to consider your own personal heroes.

When it comes to naming one’s heroes, I’ve noticed a distinct pattern: the progress a leader makes in moving toward his goals is directly correlated with the degree of speed and certainty with which he can name his heroes. The pattern is most obvious in the negative: I’ve never coached leader who is unable to name a hero and who also makes substantial progress toward real goals.

Jesse is a leader of a small enterprise on the coast of North Carolina. When I asked about his heroes, he was speechless. After a while, he pushed back on the question, saying he thought it improper to grant someone hero status.

I allowed that if he found the word hero problematic, he could simply share the names of persons he admired and modeled his life after. He still resisted. Finally, he shared that there was nobody he sought to emulate and that he led his life according to what seemed right at the time, not some set of admirable qualities or role models.

I’ve known Jesse for almost five years now and his leadership journey is marked by inconsistency, fits and starts, and quite a bit of struggle. He fits the pattern of leaders who lack heroes and struggle to make real progress.

There could be a host of reasons for this pattern, but my chief theory is that having heroes demonstrates a mature level of self-reflection and self-awareness. Heroes don’t fuel the leadership journey; they are evidence that the leader has fuel. In simple terms, leaders with heroes have thought about what kind of person they want to be, while those who don’t have heroes lack a certain degree of self-awareness. Such awareness is necessary for a person to fully engage the leadership role and stay committed to the leadership journey.

Locomotive powered

The second observation I’ve made about heroes has to do with the source and impact. There are four basic categories of heroes: Familiar, Famous, Faith, and Fictional. For each type I have noticed a pattern of power and peril. They may have positive influence on the journey of the admirer, or the drawbacks associated with that type may offer a bad example.

Look back at your Personal Heroes Inventory. Think about the category in which each hero fits best. If you struggled with coming up with your heroes, you may want to use the categories to jumpstart your thinking.

Recently I talked with a very successful pastor in Manhattan who shared that his two biggest heroes are his grandfather and Winston Churchill. His example underscores the importance of balance in hero types. I have noticed that leaders who have heroes from two or more categories seem to avoid many of the perils associated with those types, while leaders whose heroes all come from a single category typically suffer the peril associated with that category.

Multiple types of heroes seem to balance out one another and provide a fuller spectrum of what it means to be a leader, thus having a stronger, more positive impact in the leader’s life. The pastor from Manhattan, with Family and Famous types represented in his hero mix, has the best of both worlds: an intimate portrait of a well-lived life (grandfather) and a “reach for the stars” hero who reminds him of the seismic impact a leader can have. The result is a leader with a sense of destiny who lives each day with determination.

Powerpuff, girl

So what good are heroes? And, more specifically, what do they give those of us who are on the leadership journey? My third observation is that heroes show leaders definite areas for personal growth. This happens in two ways.

First, a hero often embodies a quality or ability the leader doesn’t possess (yet). For instance, Carl is a vice president in the petroleum industry. He often backs down from confrontation and avoids conflicts he ought to engage.

One of Carl’s heroes is William Wallace, the Scottish rebel made famous by Mel Gibson in the movie Braveheart. Wallace’s courage of conviction and willingness to fight with passion inspire Carl to do the same. Carl’s sentiment is “Wallace is my hero because I want to be more like him. I think if I were, I’d be more successful.”

Look at your personal heroes list again. Do your heroes embody traits you already have and want to make work better in your life? Or are you drawn to your heroes because they possess what you lack? Knowing what draws you to admire a hero can help increase the impact the hero has in your leadership journey.

A second function of a hero is to demonstrate a successful expression of a quality or ability the leader already possesses to some degree. For instance, Jill is a manager who naturally leans toward a style of leadership that is inclusive and collaborative. She’s found a lot of success with this style and is proud that she doesn’t have to be “pushy” in order to get what she wants. She also has no ambition to climb the corporate ladder or seek positional leadership.

She names as one of her heroes Juror #8, Henry Fonda’s character in 12 Angry Men, a person who demonstrated the ability to influence through nuance and indirect persuasion and who is not in a formal leadership role. In Jill’s case, she is not looking to initiate a heroic trait, but to heighten that expression in her life.

Join the Justice League

Now that you’ve considered your heroes and noticed three ways your heroes impact your leadership journey, what’s your next step? I’d suggest four common actions for getting the most from your heroes.

1. Share your heroes with someone. Talk with your spouse or a coach or a friend. Share who your heroes are and what you admire about your heroes.
2. Spend some time with your heroes. Keep your heroes in front of you in order to remind you to follow their example. Depending on the type of heroes in your life, this might involve a phone call, going through some old photos, adding a new screensaver to your desktop, or moving Braveheart to the top of your Netflix queue.
3. Conduct a hero audit on your leadership. List the qualities and characteristics you most admire in your heroes and then give yourself a grade for each of these qualities in your own life. Do you demonstrate the boldness of Patton and the courage of Joan of Arc in your career? How Honest-Abe are you with your coworkers? How much Job-like patience are you demonstrating with your children?
4. Consider your own hero status. For someone, somewhere, at sometime you will be a hero. Or will you? Will your grandkids be inspired by the stories they hear about you? Live and lead well today and you leave a heroic gift for those who follow.

Chad Hall an author and church planter, is an executive coach and trainer with SAS Institute Inc. in Cary, North Carolina.

Copyright © 2008 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal.Click here for reprint information on Leadership Journal.

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Anti Hero

A few years ago I attended a large ministry conference that included breakout sessions featuring a variety of speakers and “experts” on all things related to ministry and leadership. At one point during the conference, I was waiting in the lobby when one of the speakers (we’ll call him Mr. Jensen) walked by, surrounded by at least 25 groupies who hung on this man’s every word, nodding their agreement. I actually like this man’s writing and philosophy, but was struck by the groupie mentality. A friend who was with me observed, “You know, I like what Jensen says, but God save us from the Jensenites.”

Sadly, I’ve seen that “Jensenites” are becoming the rule rather than the exception. I’ve heard dozens of pastors speak breathlessly and reverently about their ministerial and spiritual heroes, reading their books and their blogs, listening to their podcasts, following them at conferences, hoping just to get a glimpse of them or to touch their robe so they can receive some magical leadership or teaching power that will result in overwhelming ministry success and their own fame.

It’s like comedian Steve Martin said long ago in a standup routine: “Repeat after me: ‘I will be different. I will be unique.'”

It’s no different today than it was in the first century, when Paul noted in his first letter to the Corinthians that the Christ-followers there were dividing themselves over who they followed. “I follow Paul,” said some, while others countered, “I follow Apollos.”

Today it’s the same story, just a different millennium: “I am of Hybels.” “I am of Warren.” “I am of Maxwell.” “I am of Stanley.” “I am of Moore.” “I am of Groeschel.” “I am of McLaren.” “I am of Driscoll.”

Others play the same game, but go back a few centuries, as if attaching yourself to an older (or dead) personality is somehow more spiritual: “I am of Calvin.” “I am of Arminius.” “I am of Augustine.” Or impress others with their intellect: “I am of Irenaeus.” “I am of Tertullian.” “I am of Clement of Rome.”

“Stop it!” Paul says, in essence, in 1 Corinthians 3:5. “What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe – as the Lord has assigned to each his task.”

I have nothing against any of the leaders I mentioned above. They are doing what God has called and gifted and assigned them to do, and they have all made a significant impact for the Kingdom. Many of them are worthy mentors and models. But they are also just servants, just like each of us who follows Christ. My problem is not with the celebrities, but with the groupies who have made them such.

These groupies try to become clones of their heroes, instead of becoming who God has made them and ministering in a uniquely personal way that no celebrity could ever attain. Instead of claiming their standing in Christ and asking what He wants of their leadership in their unique situation, they settle for a trinkety-bracelet approach to ministry: “What Would Hybels Do?”

I have a friend who goes to an Anglican church because, as she put it, “I kinda like the personality taken out of my church experience.” What a contrast to the celebrity mindset so prevalent in our culture.

Believe it or not, ministry celebrities do not hold mystical powers or keys to success. All of them stumbled repeatedly in their journeys, and continue to struggle with the temptations common to every man and woman, except that now, they also have to deal with the trappings of celebrity and cult followings. Each was assigned by God to till the soil in one corner of the Kingdom and faithfully invest the talents entrusted to him or her. Are we doing the same? Or are we so busy mining tips for success in the latest book by our favorite author that we ignore our own calling?

Who do you follow? Is it Paul, or Apollos, or some other megachurch pastor or missional prophet? This may come as a surprise, but I believe that it is actually much easier to imitate your hero than to be yourself: to claim your own identity and calling; to wrestle with your own brokenness; and to struggle minute-by-minute with God to figure out what is the best way to lead in your context.

For just one season, forget the celebrities. Get in touch with God’s unique design for your life and ministry. In the words of Fernando Ortega and Anne Graham Lotz: “Just give me Jesus.”

—Angie Ward is a church leader and ministry coach in Durham, North Carolina.

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Pow! Biff! feedback!

It’s nice to read an article about the likes of Hybels and Stanley that isn’t knocking these outstanding pastors. Angie rightly recognizes that these leaders aren’t looking for cult followings, and she puts the blame for the groupie-like activity on… the groupies. But then she illustrates how difficult it is to beak away from Jensenite behavior when she quotes “the words of Fernando Ortega and Anne Graham Lotz…” Why not quote the Father: “You shall have no other gods before me.” Or Jesus: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”

One of my heroes is the little known August Spangenburg. He was the 18th century Moravian bishop who asked John Wesley, just off a stormy boat ride across the Atlantic, if he knew Jesus. When Wesley said he knew that Jesus died for the sins of the whole world, Spangenburg said something like, “Yes, but do you know that he died for your sins?” Wesley didn’t become a Spangenburg groupie; but the Moravian’s question sent him in pursuit of Jesus… until he found him. If only all of us could minister so simply and yet so effectively.—Posted by: Christian David

Yep, Angie Ward is my newest hero! 😉 —Posted by: Scott

I was recently asked who my heroes were. I had to name two women, both of whom I have only met once. They are my ministry heroes. Their lives modeled Christ in a way that I can follow, in my own capacity.—Posted by: Kara

There is nothing wrong, if the person is healthy and growing Christian, in admiring a person who has attained a certain stature in the faith. When you think Billy Graham, what comes to your mind? I agree that at times there are churches that seem to be more about the pastor’s ego and not about the gospel, but those are the exception and not the rule.—Posted by: Carl Holmes

For those who doubt such hero worship exists, all one has to do is note the drop in worship attendance when the senior pastor goes on vacation or study leave. In every church I have been a part of, from large mega-churches to small solo pastor churches (where I currently serve), this has been the case.—Posted by: Doug Resler

We should not worship heroes—Jesus excepted. But her polemic may reflect something ugly. I have not many heroes, but I have them. Who can know Jackie Robinson’s story and not admire his heroism? Not me. I’m made of emotional stuff. Heroism touches me. But Jackie Robinson is not a ministry hero, at least not in the sense that Ms. Ward intends.

I do lack ministry heroes—Billy Graham excepted. But if I lack heroes among today’s ministry leaders, perhaps that says more about my own struggles with envy, jealousy, and fear of comparative failure than it says about those leaders’ worthiness. Isn’t such an attitude just the obverse side of Paul’s (and Ms. Ward’s) warning in 1 Corinthians 3?

A lack of heroes may indicate a defilement every bit as stinking as the popular fawning decried by Ms. Ward.—Posted by: Mark Currie