“Laryngitis Leadership”
Hillcrest Church Office
September 25, 2003
LeaderLines is a weekly “e-briefing” providing valuable information and inspiration to those who serve at Hillcrest Baptist Church.
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Here is this week’s LeaderLines. . . .
Special note: Don’t forget to read the note at the end of this e-newsletter! If we can count on you to help us free some parking spaces, we need your response right away!
“Laryngitis Leadership”
by Tom Goodman
This week I was a “Laryngitis Leader.” A virus brought my voice down to a whispered croak. Hospital visitation? Out. Talking on the phone? Out. Have you ever tried to crack a joke with a cracked voice? It
doesn’t lead to a very successful punch line.
What was “in” was a whole lot of listening. Besides a few croaked comments from me, others led the conversation in our Youth Minister Search Committee, our staff meeting, and even in the hallways.
Sometimes the best kind of leadership is Laryngitis Leadership. Irving Shapiro, former chairman of DuPont, once said, “People who accomplish things do more listening than talking.” In The Magic of Thinking Big, David Schwartz said,
“Big people monopolize the listening. Small people monopolize the talking.”
Since that’s so, moments of Laryngitis Leadership should be ours by selection, not just by sickness. To be sure, a person who never gives voice to his vision isn’t leading. But the Bible tells us to examine how much speaking we do
and how much listening we do and adjust the frequency of each activity. The Bible says we should be “quick to listen and slow to speak” (James 1:19). That’s the key to success in all our relationships —
professionally and personally.
The Quiet American,
Tom
P.S. If you attend the second service on Sundays, we need your help. Starting next week, October 5, we’re going to run a shuttle service to the Anderson High School parking lot. Hillcrest has used this
option on certain high-attendance days, but it’s time to make it a permanent part of our routine. From 9:00 to 9:30 a.m., we will run a continuous shuttle between Anderson and Hillcrest, then we’ll run it again after the second
service. If you’re bringing people with you, they can ride the shuttle with you or you can drop them off at Hillcrest before driving to Anderson.
Now, those of you who receive Winning Ways may have noticed that I haven’t made this appeal in that e-newsletter yet. I wanted to first challenge those of you in “leadership partnership” with me to set the example! We’re looking
for at least 25 people to make a commitment to use the shuttle. Send an e-mail to our office at melanie@hbcaustin.org to let us know you’ll be a part of this important effort!