Law No. 11 - The Law of the Inner Circle - John C. Maxwell's 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership

The leadership axiom from John Maxwell worth remembering about the law of the inner circle is, 'A leader's potential is determined by those closest to him'.

Very rarely will there be a successful leader in their field of work who has become an influential leader by themselves. Or rather, never has someone made a great, Godly impact on the lives of people, whether seeking justice, improving human rights, growing a ethical and profitable business, or witnessing the growth of a healthy Church without having people close around about them. If you can name someone, let me know.

When I think of Pastor leaders like Bill Hybels, Brian McClaren and Rob Bell, I imagine there are people in their 'inner circle' who encourage them, lift them up at times and who keep them on the straight and narrow.

When I consider Business leaders like Jim Collins, Jack Welch and Anita Roddick (founder of the Body Shop), I imagine people in their 'inner circle' who help them reach higher goals and dreams.

We may well think of leaders within the sporting arena like Michael Jordan (NBA Basketball), Lance Armstrong (Tour De France champion), or Mark Webber (Formula One) and we could find names of people who helped train them, encourage them, inspire them and push them to greater levels.

John Maxwell mentions the leader Billy Graham (Famous 20th Century Evangelist) and notes his inner circle that encouraged and inspired him in spiritual leadership - Ruth Bell Graham, Grady Wilson, Cliff Barrows and George Beverly Shea.

If we admit that in leadership, having a strong inner circle is paramount, that begs the next question. Who is in your close-kit team? How effective are these people in supporting you and lifting you up? How often do they encourage you and pray for you?

John Maxwell asks the following leadership questions in relation to your inner circle:

• Do they have high influence with others?
• Do they bring a complementary gift to the table?
• Do they hold a strategic position in the organization?
• Do they add value to me and the organization?
• Do they positively impact other inner circle members?

I would ask a more simpler leadership question. Is this person the right person for such a time to be in my inner circle?

I have been blessed over the years to see God at work, as I have prayed and said, 'God I really need a right-hand man. I really am in need of someone to support me, encourage me, inspire me, to help me complete tasks, and to work closely with me in leadership to fulfil ministry visions. I can mention someone at most stages of my journey of leadership, that God used to be in my 'inner circle', to support me in those ways. May God do the same for you.

The right person will help you soar like a eagle, not waddle like a duck. They will work closely with you, support you through thick and thin, and will have enough character to exhibit traits like integrity, truth-telling, compassion and optimism.

Leadership has limited value and impact without a group of people working together cohesively.

Who is in your inner circle?

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Law No. 11 - The Law of the Inner Circle is part of John C. Maxwell's 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership.

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• Law 1 - The Law of the Lid - We can lift the lid on our ability to lead.
• Law 2 - The Law of Influence - Leadership is influence...
• Law 3 - The Law of Process - Leadership develops over time.
• Law 4 - The Law of Navigation - Leaders learn how to navigate.
• Law 5 - The Law of E. F. Hutton - When the real leader speaks...
• Law 6 - The Law of Solid Ground - Trust is the foundation.
• Law 7 - The Law of Respect - People follow stronger leaders.
• Law 8 - The Law of Intuition - Intuitive leaders know... 
• Law 9 - The Law of Magnetism - We attract who we are.
• Law 10 - The Law of Connection - We must connect then inspire.

Innovative Leadership, Cutting Edge Christianity and the Quest for Poisonous Mushrooms

Innovation and creativity are birthed on the cutting edge.

Who were the first people to discover which mushrooms were poisonous? I imagine a group of people with clipboards walking through a field, and saying, 'Look, over there, that's a different variety! Ok, now, who's going to have a try?'

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Why not share your story of innovation by commenting below?

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Joe Flower reflects on a conversation with author Richard Pascale who wrote, along with Mark Millemann and Linda Gioja, Surfing the Edge of Chaos: The Laws of Nature and the New Laws of Business. (Crown Business, 2000). He writes, 'Innovation increases near the edge of chaos. In the face of threat or opportunity, living things move toward the edge of chaos, into more mutation and experimentation'.

In business life, you only need to think of IBM's challenge from other entrepreneurial, innovative start-up businesses that began to strongly compete with IBM's desktop computer. All of a sudden, IBM is near the edge of chaos, needing to adapt and innovate to survive as a business.

What about Kodak? While other businesses were experimenting with new forms of digital photography, Kodak were still winding up their cameras with the roll of film hoping this was all just a bad dream. Finally they adapted and innovated.

The classic is of a business called Western Union who were a very profitable business in the late 1800s, because of the telegram. Alexander Graham Bell came along and invented the telephone, and the capacity for people three blocks away from each other to communicate without having to catch up for coffee! Western Union basically said, 'We're happy with the telegram', and Alexander Graham Bell went off and started his own business with his new telephone invention. Needless to say, Western Union began to surf the edge of mediocrity while Bell's business thrived. Alexander Graham Bell was an innovative leader.

In Kouzes and Posner's The Truth About Leadership (2010 - well worth a read!) they say that one of the qualities leaders need is the ability to focus on the future. They say:

Having surveyed thousands of people on what they want in their leaders, in someone they would willingly follow, the quality of being forward-looking is second only to being honest as their most admired leader quality (p. 46, The Truth About Leadership).

To be innovative, or to be on the cutting edge in leadership is to go one step further. While good leaders are forward-focused, great leaders are able to put ideas/thoughts into action that create innovative results. To merely be focused on the future, makes me think of an old man slumped on the couch, contemplating eternal life with Jesus. To be cutting edge, or on the cutting edge, is to take the ideas and dreams and find innovative ways to implement them!

Find some leadership tips on creating change and innovation here.

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Christianity has needed to adapt to survive. Or more concisely, the methodology in which we communicate and express the gospel message has needed to adapt to be relevant and transformative within each culture. There have been many innovative Christians surfing the edge of chaos over the years, and Church history shows the struggles we have had with cutting edge Christianity.

John Wycliffe, from England, in the 14th century transposed the Bible into the then modern day language (Now called 'Wycliffe's Bible' and completed in 1382). Following John Wycliffe's death, some 31 years later, the Council of Constance declared Wycliffe to be a heretic, and had his books burned up and his human remains exhumed. Taking the Word of God and making it available and rather, accessible to the average person was innovative and cutting edge.

Not all Catholics enjoyed Nicolaus Copernicus' release of De Revolutionibus, in which he proved that the earth revolved around the sun, and not the other way around! His heliocentric cosmology was at the cutting edge of scientific thought, and along with other innovative leaders like Galileo, Newton and Kepler, began to usher in a new epoch of rational thinking, that transformed the world. Copernicus was innovative and cutting edge. He also knew where true innovation came from, 'So vast, without any question, is the Divine Handiwork of the Almighty Creator!' (1543). See Owen Gingerich's God's Universe for more on Copernicus.

Some Christians were not even so much as innovative as they were determined. Mother Theresa was determined to not be distracted from helping the poorest of the poor in Calcutta, India. Martin Luther King Jr. was determined to see his dream fulfilled of all the nationalities sitting around the table of brotherhood. Nelson Mandela was determined to work for reconciliation even after almost three decades in a South African jail.

John Wesley was innovative when he decided to take the same message preached in the four walls of a church building, and ride on a horse to preach to thousands upon thousands of listeners.

William and Catherine Booth were innovative when they rejigged the pub songs of the day to overtly Christian lyrics, and in large groups marched down the streets of London, as The Salvation Army, worshipping God.

Musician, Bono was innovative and somewhat subversive when he released "I still haven't found what I'm looking for", highlighting the quest for purpose and meaning in the lives of millions of people.

Billy Graham was innovative in his generation when he booked out stadiums to preach the gospel to millions.

The Jesus Film is innovative, and has been an evangelical tool to reach millions of people in predominately countries that are not supportive of the Christian message.

What about XXX Church? Its main aim is to help people recover from porn addiction.

What about 'Salvos Legal'?

Salvos Legal is a world first not-for-profit law firm owned and run by The Salvation Army. We specialise in property and transactional commercial law to assist individuals, businesses and corporates by providing professional legal advice and assistance with a difference.  The difference is that the costs paid by those clients for their legal services fund the operation of another firm, Salvos Legal Humanitarian, which operates to provide free legal advice and assistance to those most in need without any fee.  (http://salvos.org.au/salvoslegal/ - 8/7/12)

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Cutting edge Christianity is not easy. John Wesley, William and Catherine Booth, Billy Graham, Bono and countless others have been criticised for their innovativeness, (and passion, zeal, etc.).

I offer this thought on the cutting edge philosophy:

When you are on the cutting edge people off to the side, cannot understand what you understand and cannot see what you see. Their lack of proximity affects their perception.

Cutting edge people occasionally get cut. They are criticised, misunderstood and are quite often suppressed organizationally (business, church, sporting groups, etc). I'm sure some could write an essay on that one...

What the people of God need today, are those who are willing to be creative, innovative and passionate enough to follow through on their God-given dreams and be willing to surf the edge of chaos. This is not to be disrespectful to others or people in God-given authority, but rather to find creative ways to implement Spirit-led convictions.

We no longer need bland Christianity...

Let me explain. The Christian music industry, for instance, rarely records new and innovative music that is cutting edge. Why? The industry is known to wait until the Secular Music industry has tried and tested a new style/form of music, and once many have embraced the style, then the Christian music industry will give it a shot. The result? Christian music is never cutting edge, and always three years behind the eight ball! Safe Christianity. (Maybe they argue that it is like this for purely financial reasons, but nonetheless, it is still safe a little bit pathetic.)

Give it a shot. Be innovative. Innovate. Be an innovative leader. I give you, for what it's worth, permission to fail, permission to try and permission to 'have a go'. Once you do that, maybe then we will begin entering a stage of...

Cutting Edge Christianity.

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Teaching Unteachable People: Teaching to Teach You if you are Teachable

"Teaching Unteachable People - Teaching to Teach You if you are Teachable" Whew!

Teaching the unteachable. What a leadership conundrum! First of all let's get one thing clear...

I need to be FAT... and no I don't mean more carbohydrates in my diet and an increase in my ice-cream intake. I must be:

Faithful, Available and Teachable.

While I may strive for this, and others may emulate these three characteristics, the leadership dilemma is clearly evident when someone is faithful, available and unteachable.

Right now you're thinking of Joe Blogs and saying, 'Yeah, what DO you do when someone is unteachable?!' You know the person. Maybe its stubbornness, the desire to be in control, pride that tells the person they know what is best or longevity in a position that causes them to choose to become unteachable. Maybe you identify someone in your circles of influence?

The quick fire leadership answer may well be, to realise that you are only capable of changing your own attitudes, discovering new truths and implementing them in your life, and that you are completely incapable of doing that for someone else. We may then move on to another leadership topic, and forget about considering teaching the unteachable.

I want to highlight though some points from a letter in the Bible, that Paul writes in order to mentor a younger guy named Timothy. Now, whether you are in to the God stuff or not, stick with me here, because Paul highlights some helpful leadership tips in teaching the unteachable.

Paul teaches Timothy the following:

• When teaching others avoid arguments, because they produce quarrels.  
• '....Warn them before God against quarreling about words; it is of no value, and only ruins those who listen. Do you best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly. Their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus...' 2 Timothy 2:14-17.
• Do not avoid teaching - Paul does not tell Timothy to forget about teaching Mrs. Start-a-fire and Mr. Quarrelsome.
• Ensure you remain kind to everyone - As hard as that may be, do not let your character dissipate because someone else is argumentative or unteachable.
• Ensure you are not resentful and thus remain able to teach with authenticity and integrity.
• 'Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. And the Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Those who oppose him he must gently instruct...' 2 Timothy 2:23-25
• When teaching be ready to patiently and carefully challenge and correct as needed. - When you have mastered this, please let me know because I'd love to master this as well! Patience is a virtue...
• 'All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness...' 2 Timothy 3:16.
• 'Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction' 2 Timothy 4:2.
• Understand that investing time in reliable, teachable people may be a more beneficial use of your time (not that you stop teaching others!)
• 'And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others' 2 Timothy 2:2

This remains a leadership dilemma for many of us; that is, lifting our capacity to teach effectively and witnessing the transformation that the teaching causes.

Whether you are like me, and teach people about the life, death and resurrection of that revolutionary one they call Jesus Christ of Nazareth, or whether you are a leadership guru, school teacher, sports coach, Bible study leader or just all round nice guy... learning to teach effectively and learning to inspire those who are seemingly unteachable is a great leadership challenge. It was a challenge back in the time of Paul and Timothy (1st Century) and it sure is a challenge today.

I must go. I have a plate of Ice-cream and a bunch of carbohydrates to consume. I must get FAT (faithful, available, teachable!)

God bless.

Also have a look at the TOP 100 Leadership Tips here.

"Teaching Unteachable People - Teaching to Teach You if you are Teachable" is written by Pete Brookshaw and partly the Apostle Paul!