The Power of Storytelling in Leadership

00:00:00.000 | In 2011, author John Knapp published an evocatively titled book, "How the Church Fails Business

00:00:11.600 | People and What Can Be Done About It." In it, he argued that the church has not helped

00:00:15.580 | Christians succeed in the secular business world because churches have not helped Christians

00:00:19.680 | in the secular business world develop the day-to-day ethical decision-making skills

00:00:23.340 | that they need. It's a bold accusation, but it's also one that implies quite a lot about

00:00:28.000 | the relationship of the church to Christian leaders in the secular business world.

00:00:32.800 | So has the modern church failed to equip business people? And if so, what can be done about

00:00:37.160 | it? Those are my questions to Dr. Albert Moeller, among Reformed leaders in America. I'm not

00:00:42.600 | aware of many gifted leaders who have proven it over the decades more than Moeller has.

00:00:46.280 | He's the president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky,

00:00:50.240 | where he brought unimaginable institutional transformation, which has now been documented

00:00:55.020 | in the 2015 book, "Baptists in America, a History," by Thomas Kidd and Barry Hankins.

00:01:02.600 | Moeller is not only a leader, he's written a book on leadership titled, "The Conviction

00:01:06.560 | to Lead, 25 Principles for Leadership that Matters." I talked with him and began by asking

00:01:12.120 | him if the church has let business people down, and if so, how?

00:01:17.720 | I think the church has failed not so much by a strategic decision to ignore the business

00:01:22.520 | world, but by a couple of things, a confluence of the fact that many churches simply don't

00:01:28.080 | know what to do with the world of business. And that is partly because of the social distance,

00:01:34.280 | and otherwise because some churches simply don't have the kind of natural entree into

00:01:38.800 | that context. I think the second reason, though, is a little more serious, and that is a lack

00:01:43.760 | of confidence that we really know what to say in that world. And I think we do. I would

00:01:48.900 | not suggest that Christianity comes with a technical and comprehensive stated economic

00:01:56.340 | or fiscal policy, but it does come with the application of Christian truth, who is deployed

00:02:03.000 | for the glory of God in the world of business.

00:02:04.840 | Yeah, yeah. In your book, one of the most helpful points you make is that leadership

00:02:08.680 | is about storytelling. You write this, "No organization that exists simply for itself

00:02:13.400 | is worth leading. Leaders want to lead organizations and movements that make a difference, that

00:02:18.240 | fill a need and solve real problems. That story frames the mission and identity of the

00:02:22.760 | organization and explains why you give your life to it. The excellent leader is the steward

00:02:28.080 | and chief of that story, and the leader's chief responsibilities flow from this stewardship.

00:02:34.000 | Leadership comes down to protecting the story, bringing others into the story, and keeping

00:02:38.840 | the organization accountable to the story. The leader tells the story over and over again,

00:02:45.920 | refining it, updating it, and driving it home." Explain this idea more for us that leadership

00:02:53.440 | is storytelling.

00:02:54.440 | Well, it's more than that, of course, but it's never less than that, because any leader

00:02:59.360 | seeking to lead in any important endeavor ends up telling a story about where things

00:03:03.800 | are and where they need to be. And furthermore, the leader comes with his or her own story.

00:03:09.000 | That story becomes a part of explaining how the convictions have come to take possession

00:03:14.200 | of the leader and why he wants others to be a part of that story in order for the organization,

00:03:20.880 | the congregation, the institution, the family, whatever group it is, to arrive at the destination

00:03:29.000 | that is implied by and fulfilled by the story. So whether it's a political leader saying,

00:03:36.080 | "This is what America's all about. This is what we were founded to be. This is now what

00:03:39.960 | we need to do." Or whether it's Moses reminding the children of Israel over and over again,

00:03:46.040 | "Remember your story. We were in bondage to Pharaoh in Egypt, but God brought us out

00:03:51.200 | by his mighty hand." And then everything that follows is predicated on the fact that,

00:03:56.200 | "Okay, now we know our story. We know who we are. That implies what we are to do."

00:04:01.440 | Yes. And speaking of stories, how does a Christian leader who understands the redemptive storyline

00:04:06.440 | of creation, fall, redemption, recreation, how does that story translate into what he

00:04:12.360 | does on Monday?

00:04:13.360 | You know, Tony, I think that's a fantastic question, and it is well answered only partially

00:04:19.480 | in terms of anyone trying to take a stab at that. But let me suggest this. I think a part

00:04:24.760 | of what the Christian in the business world, you might say even in the secular world, because

00:04:29.520 | it would apply to the world of politics or even the world of academia or the cultural

00:04:34.160 | creatives, I think a part of what that Christian has to say is, "Look, what we're doing is

00:04:38.520 | really important. I'm absolutely convinced this work is important. It's important because

00:04:43.880 | in this world, we've been put here for a purpose, and I'm very thankful to have these gifts

00:04:48.720 | and this opportunity and to be with you in this endeavor." But at the same time, the

00:04:52.640 | Christian leader says, "As important as this is, and as much as we're going to strive for

00:04:56.960 | excellence and push ourselves to go beyond where we even could imagine we could go, this

00:05:02.960 | is not the most important thing in life." And I think the Christian leader always has

00:05:06.600 | to demonstrate that. "My marriage is actually more important to me than this work. My children

00:05:11.200 | are actually more important to me than a promotion." At the same time, I give myself to a greater

00:05:18.040 | degree of commitment. I'm invested in this to a greater degree of personal heart, mind,

00:05:23.480 | and soul because I know that this is important. And the Christian worldview validates the

00:05:29.120 | importance of work in this world, and the glory of God in the human being made in God's

00:05:34.560 | image, doing what God has created us to do, to use creative energy, to be driven by visions,

00:05:41.360 | to use the physical capacity to craft, to manufacture, to create, to use the relational

00:05:47.840 | gifts to be able to sell, to buy, to bargain, to negotiate. All of these things are validated

00:05:55.720 | in terms of a biblical worldview that says, "This life we're living right now is not something

00:06:01.440 | that is just a prelude to real life. This is real life. We're promised an even more

00:06:08.720 | real richer life in Christ to come, but this life is validated as being important, not

00:06:14.200 | only to us, but to the Creator who gave us these gifts and gave us life and gave us a

00:06:19.640 | task."

00:06:20.640 | Yeah, so every company should be led from a sub-narrative to explain why their services

00:06:25.680 | or products matter, but some don't, or at least it's not obvious. I mean, how would

00:06:29.360 | you counsel a businessman in a corporation that, to be honest, seems to have no compelling

00:06:34.340 | story to protect? What then?

00:06:37.420 | You know, there is an old Christian theological concept that is important here. It's called

00:06:42.560 | sphere sovereignty, and it reminds us that we are responsible for that which is put into

00:06:48.000 | our care under our stewardship. So one of the things that every Christian in the business

00:06:53.380 | world or the secular world needs to remember is that we're not responsible for the things

00:06:57.640 | that are beyond our pay grade. If the company we're working for doesn't have a clear grasp

00:07:04.540 | of its story, we're probably unable to reach two or three executive levels above to solve

00:07:09.920 | that problem. But where we are, where our unit is assigned, the work that is ours, that

00:07:16.360 | has a story. And we're at least going to be very clear about what our story is. And furthermore,

00:07:22.520 | we're going to try to help others to understand how important it is to know who we are, why

00:07:28.160 | we're here, what we're doing, why it matters, and what every group being led wants to know,

00:07:33.320 | where in the world are we going?

00:07:36.040 | That was Dr. Albert Moeller by phone from his office. He's the president of the Southern

00:07:39.760 | Baptist Theological Seminary and author of the book, "The Conviction to Lead, 25 Principles

00:07:44.520 | for Leadership that Matters." Tomorrow, I'll ask him how we balance conviction, humility,

00:07:50.640 | and self-confidence in the workplace. I'm your host, Tony Reinke, and I'll see you tomorrow.

00:07:55.360 | [BLANK_AUDIO]

00:08:03.720 | you

The Power of Storytelling in Leadership

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