By Oluwole Dada
In my last column, I started a review on the leadership principles of Jesus especially as we celebrated Easter this month in commemoration of His death and resurrection. The below subjects were reviewed last week: Jesus started with a purpose, not with a plan. Jesus invested in people, and He stayed the course when it cost everything. This week, we will review his life of service and his ability to hold difficult conversations.
He Led by Serving
The night before everything fell apart, the night before the betrayal, the arrest, the trials, and the cross, Jesus got down on His knees and washed the feet of His disciples. He washed the feet of the man He knew would deny Him before morning. He washed the feet of the man He knew had already sold Him for thirty pieces of silver. Leadership literature has spent decades trying to articulate what Jesus demonstrated in that upper room in a single, wordless act. Robert Greenleaf formalized it in 1970 and called it servant leadership. The Harvard Business Review has published hundreds of articles trying to unpack it. However, the summary of this is that the leader exists for the team, not the other way around.
Many managers operate from a fundamentally inverted understanding of this principle. They believe the team exists to make them look good. They take credit for wins and redistribute blame for losses. They protect their position rather than develop their people. And they wonder, genuinely wonder, why their best people keep leaving. When Herb Kelleher built Southwest Airlines into one of the most consistently profitable carriers in aviation history, he did something that baffled the industry. He put his employees first. He put them above shareholders, and above customers. This was beyond conventional wisdom. He showed up on Christmas morning to work alongside his ground crew. He remembered names. He attended funerals and weddings.
He led from his knees, in the manner of the servant-leader, and the organization he built became the standard against which others measured themselves. Servant leadership is not weakness. It is the most sophisticated and most durable form of strength available to any leader. Lastly, Jesus reiterated that he that wants to be the greatest amongst the people should serve the people.
He Was Not Afraid of Difficult Conversations
There is a version of Jesus that popular culture has constructed. He is projected to be gentle, soft-spoken, and endlessly accommodating. That submission may not be exhaustive. Jesus was one of the most direct communicators in recorded history.
He told the religious leaders of His day, to their faces, that they were whitewashed tombs: clean on the outside, and corrupt within. He rebuked Peter: one of His most respected disciples, the man He had designated as the foundation of His church. “Get behind me, Satan.” Jesus rebuked Peter publicly and sharply. When He found merchants exploiting worshippers in the temple, He did not call a meeting or circulate a memo. He overturned the tables.
He understood something that many leaders spend their entire careers running from: unaddressed problems do not resolve themselves. They compound. The kindest thing you can do for an underperforming team member is not to protect them from feedback. It is to tell them the truth clearly, respectfully, and early enough for them to do something about it. The kindest thing you can do for a dysfunctional team culture is not to manage around it. It is to name it, confront it, and begin the work of changing it. Ray Dalio built Bridgewater Associates into the world’s largest hedge fund on a culture he called radical transparency.
Difficult truths were surfaced, not suppressed. Performance was assessed honestly and openly. It was uncomfortable but the quality of decision-making it produced is without parallel in the industry. Dalio understood what Jesus modelled: that truth-telling, delivered with genuine concern for the other person, is an act of leadership love.
Reviewing the leadership principles of Jesus is to enable us to recalibrate our leadership style and take lessons from one of the greatest leaders that ever lived. He had impact while He led His team, and the impact has remained for over 2000 years. We have reviewed five principles vis-à-vis: Having a purpose and not just a plan, investing in people, staying the course even when it costs everything, leading by serving and not being afraid of having difficult conversations. This conversation and review will continue in the next publication.
Oluwole Dada is the General Manager at SecureID Limited, Africa’s largest smart card manufacturing plant in Lagos, Nigeria.
