Don Follis 8/31/2001 religion column:
"Those with leadership abilities should lead"
When the 49-year-old Bill Hybels
steps to the podium, people move to the
edge of their seats. With thick brown hair and a youthful face,
Hybels is
the founding and lead pastor of the 25-year-old, 20,000-member Willow
Creek
Community Church in South Barrington, a Far West Chicago suburb.
Each August Hybels runs
a 3-day conference on leadership. Appearing with
Hybels this year were Chuck Colson, president of Prison Fellowship,
Don
Soderquist, former senior vice chairman of Wal-Mart, and Ben Zander,
conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra. Hybels is the
main speaker
and every aspect of the event has his fingerprints.
This year 5,000 church and
business leaders attended the conference at the
Willow Creek church while another 9,000 watched at sites around the
United
States via a live satellite link.
Hybels says that the spiritual
gift of leadership mentioned in Romans
chapter 12 is a relatively rare but utterly essential gift in the church.
Speaking to the 14,000 leaders Hybels said, "If you have the gift of
leadership, take the responsibility seriously."
Gary Wills wrote a book
on leadership styles called "Certain Trumpets: the
call of Leaders," (Simon and Schuster, 1994). He maintains that
a few
people are born charismatic leaders. Wills points to King David
as one who
was anointed with the mantle of leadership when he was still a young
boy.
This is true of Hybels,
too. He is a charismatic leader with a worldwide
influence. Hybels has led people as long as he can remember.
When Hybels
enters the room, heads turn. Though Hybels says speaking is not
his top
gift -- leadership is -- he is a terrific communicator and very inspiring.
He is decisive, funny, willing to openly share his mistakes, and most
significant, humble.
Hybels has the ability to
see the big picture. He especially is intense
about communicating how he believes God always works through the local
church, broken though it may appear.
Several times during the
conference Hybels was moved to tears while he
spoke. I thought, "This guy is either a great Christian leader,
or he is
an utter sham." Frankly, it's obvious that he's the real deal.
A man with
his power and influence could not fake it for 25 years (last year the
church celebrated its 25th birthday), and several of his Willow Creek
Community Church staff that I know tell me he is as transparent and
real as
they come.
In his most interesting
talk, Hybels proposed that influential leaders
have a sixth sense. They have a special intuition about what
is right and
they are willing to act on it. Over time, these leaders will develop
an
ability to make leadership decisions better and better.
To think about whether or
not you have this sixth sense, Hybels said to
look at your bedrock beliefs. How does what you believe inform
how you
make decisions? Are your beliefs biblical?
The base from which Hybels
makes decisions is very simple. He believes
that if he honors God in everything, God will honor him. Second,
Hybels
believes people matter to God more than anything does. "If I
err, I want
to err on the side of people," he said. Third, Hybels believes the
local
church is the hope of the world. He consistently comes back to
his hope in
the local church.
Those foundational beliefs
are at the bottom of every decision Hybels
makes. That doesn't mean all his decisions are perfect. He said
there are
many tough decisions facing him when he simply asks, "What would
a better
leader do?"
If you have, say, a risky decision confronting you, Hybels says to
try to
think about a leader whom you admire who handles risk well. Or
perhaps you
have a staff that is under performing. Then think about a leader
who
handles staff assignments well. What if you have a morale problem
with
your people? Then you think of the best encourager you know.
What would
that other leader do in that case? If your organization is bogged
down in
bureaucracy, think of a leader who handles decisions well in a big
group.
Hybels ended his conference
by challenging leaders to act when they feel a
prompting from the Holy Spirit. "Let him (the Holy Spirit) give you
a new
vision. If the Spirit says something, do it," Hybels said.
Looking at the crowd of
leaders Hybels said, "Deal?"
The answer in unison was
a ringing, "Deal."
Don Follis is an Urbana minister. Reprinted with permission from
the
Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette, copyright 2001.