josh whitehead

I had the privilege of spending the last few days with my great friend, teacher and consultant, Dan Novak. In our time together, Dan talked a lot about our desire as leaders to “act” like other leaders. Many times we just take what another leader does and put it into practice in our own life. He challenged me with this thought:

In leadership, learn how others think. Do not just learn what they do.

When we copy others practices, we are likely to find that those practices may not work in our organization. However, when we learn how others think -

• We gain understanding. When we just copy others behavior, we are acting without understanding. When I was a kid, we had a farm to grow corn for my uncle’s cows. One day he was putting dirt down the top of the corn plants and I followed suit. He immediately asked me to stop. Then, he explained that he was only putting the dirt in the plants that had signs of a worm in them. The dirt would kill the worm. Without understanding, I was stifling the growth of the plants.

• We learn principles. Practices are great, but principles are better. If a 300 pound lineman on a football team practices throwing the football 50 yards at each practice, that will be impressive. But, that practice will not help him in the game because he will never be the quarterback. Learn the principles that drive great leaders thinking instead of copying their practices.

• We improve application. If you understand the reasons behind the practices, you’ll understand how to make application in your organization. Christian leaders often desire application over understanding. If you grow in understanding, you will minimize the number of organizational mistakes you make from copying others.

It’s harder to learn the thinking behind the practices, but that thinking will change your leadership.

Agree or disagree?