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Acts 20:35 – Leadership Paradoxes
In commenting on difficult times, William McCumber, in an editorial entitled “Leadership Paradoxes” has listed ten conclusions about people in general. He found the letter in a newspaper article about Howard Ferguson, a wrestling coach, who initially formulated the list:
- People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. Love them anyway.
- If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Do good anyway.
- If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.
- The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do good anyway.
- Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway.
- The biggest men with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men with the smallest ideas. Think big anyway.
- People favor underdogs, but follow only top dogs. Fight for a few underdogs anyway.
- What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.
- People really need help, but may attack you if you do help them. Help them anyway.
- Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth. Give the best you have anyway.
These leadership paradoxes form an interesting commentary upon our Lord’s words: It is more blessed to give than to receive (Acts 20:35 – notice this follows advice given to elders to help the weak). The value of an action lies, not in the response it will receive, but in the quality of the action itself. Doing what is right, because it is right and honors God, is abundantly worthwhile, whether or not it is understood, appreciated, or reciprocated. And remember, the ultimate reason it is more blessed to give than to receive is because in giving we imitate God.
The paradoxes of leadership were not written by McCumber but by Kent Keith when he was a freshman at Harvard in the late 1980s.
I will check this out, thanks.