YES! No! No?
Nothing demonstrates leadership the way firm, sure decisions do. Right? And the next sure sign of leadership is to mock those in similar positions who make the opposite decision from your own!
Get a load of this guy. So, you pastor a church in Atlanta, Georgia. There's winter weather in the area, and some churches, as of Saturday morning, had already cancelled Sunday services. Not MY church, he exclaims in his blog. "Unless a blizzard comes, we are having church just like normal. If a blizzard comes, we are still having church."
That was at 10:59 am Saturday. Fast forward four hours and twenty-one minutes:
Some say that a good leader is one who makes a great second decision, so cut Gary Lamb some slack. Besides, he cites several justifications for the change of direction. The first one should tell everyone that THIS is the MAN you want to follow into the battle! Why is canceling services the right move? Yes, this is a direct quote: "Barry Manilow canceled his concert in Atlanta tonight."
Then there's the third post (9:38 pm) on this topic, in which Gary continues to question himself publicly for deciding to call off church.
Thank you Gary Lamb for brightening my Saturday evening!
Get a load of this guy. So, you pastor a church in Atlanta, Georgia. There's winter weather in the area, and some churches, as of Saturday morning, had already cancelled Sunday services. Not MY church, he exclaims in his blog. "Unless a blizzard comes, we are having church just like normal. If a blizzard comes, we are still having church."
That was at 10:59 am Saturday. Fast forward four hours and twenty-one minutes:
Due to the weather we will NOT be having church services on Sunday, January 20th. The weather channels are all predicting temperatures dropping well below freezing tonight which could lead to the possibilities of black ice on the roads. As much as we would love to have church and worship together, we are not willing to risk the safety of those who call Revolution home.
Some say that a good leader is one who makes a great second decision, so cut Gary Lamb some slack. Besides, he cites several justifications for the change of direction. The first one should tell everyone that THIS is the MAN you want to follow into the battle! Why is canceling services the right move? Yes, this is a direct quote: "Barry Manilow canceled his concert in Atlanta tonight."
Then there's the third post (9:38 pm) on this topic, in which Gary continues to question himself publicly for deciding to call off church.
Thank you Gary Lamb for brightening my Saturday evening!
Technorati Tags:
Church Leadership, Snowed Out
I’m pretty sure the Barry Manilow line was done tongue-in-cheek.
I have no doubt that it was tongue-in-cheek. There was some of that in my post, as well. Had he not mocked those who had already canceled services in his initial post, there would have been nothing on which to comment.
I don’t really know him except through is blog but from what I read it appears his earlier post was laughing because it hadn’t even snowed yet and churches were canceling.
Either way, to question him as a leader seems a little childish.
I posted this for a couple of reasons. One, I’m a student of leaders and leadership. It’s a subject that interests me, and this was an obvious object lesson in how to make yourself look like a fool as a leader. I was interested in it for this reason. Second, it can serve as an illustration for those reading the blog who are involved in mentoring and training leaders.
I don’t know Gary at all. There’s nothing personal here. Fact is, if Gary had simply said in his first post, “Folks, I know you’ve probably heard reports of churches canceling services for tomorrow. At this point, we plan to conduct our regular Sunday services tomorrow. Check back late this afternoon for an update,” then there’s nothing at all notable about this episode. But because he opted to mock other pastors/leaders for making a decision, while boldly declaring that he would never make such a decision, and then some four hours later reversed course and made the same decision he had mocked others for making, makes this something that serves as a good illustration in how to not make a fool of yourself by exhibiting pointless bravado. Tongue-in-cheek references to Barry Manilow as justification for their actions aren’t enough to keep the egg off the leader’s face in such a case.
I’m sorry if you find that offensive, but I stand by it.
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