Making the Shift from Good to Great - Part 1
By: Sara Payne, Magnify Missions Coach
Email: sara@magnifymissions.com
I don’t know how much you know about the Enneagram. Some people see it as a bit of a fad or others put a little too much stock in it. However, I like to land right in the middle and see it as a tool for better understanding my God given design as well as how He has made others. A few years ago, my boss invested in each of his employees taking the Enneagram test in order to help us grow personally and professionally. I found the assessment to be extremely helpful for better understanding and appreciating my strengths and weaknesses. All that being said, I landed on the “1”, The Reformer/Perfectionist. I bring that up because I regularly am thinking about how just about anything can be improved or made more “perfect”. I struggle when I encounter mediocrity or even slight errors that could be easily corrected. The downfall of the “1” is that they are also super critical not only of others but of themselves as well. I was just sharing with a friend the other day how I am struggling to experience grace as a mama because I often land on all of the ways I feel like I failed in a day rather than all of my “wins”. Wins like I kept my daughter alive, read to her, played with her, snuggled her, took care of her needs, took her on a walk etc. Instead at the end of the day I can often fixate on how I failed to get her to bed on time or how I should have held her more or read her more books. There’s a long list of accusations that the enemy tackles me with at the end of the day. He knows best when to hit me too - when I am already tired and overwhelmed with all that’s left to do before I can even sit down. Still I see my God given “oneness” as a gift (most of the time). I can look at situations, ministries, companies and immediately see ways to improve. So when I came across the book Good to Great by Jim Collins I was intrigued. In one of the first lines in his book Collins states, “Few people attain great lives, in large part because it is just so easy to settle for a good life. The vast majority of companies never become great, precisely because the vast majority become quite good - and that is their main problem.” As I read these lines, I wondered how these principles could be applied not just to business, but to ministry, and even our personal lives.
Why Move from Good to Great?
As I mentioned above, I’ve struggled with perfectionism for most of my life. Even as an elementary student I would erase my name dozens of times to try to get it just right. Sometimes I would erase so much I would tear the paper and have to start over. Ugh! Thankfully I’ve learned how to temper my perfectionism with God’s grace. However, I still see the value of striving for excellence in all we do. The details matter. I heard a beautiful story about a custodian who worked at a church and had to sweep the floors regularly. She finally became a Christian, and someone asked her what had changed. Her response was, “Now I sweep under the rugs too.” In Matthew 5:48 Jesus calls us to “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect”. Now this is an impossible standard for us, but it’s not impossible for Jesus. It’s a goal still worth moving towards because it’s about honoring the Lord. Colossians 3:23-24 says, “Whatever you do, work at it with all of your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” In Good to Great , Jim Collins' goal isn’t to help businesses move to greatness for God’s glory, but as believers that’s our first “why”. He does however offer some valuable insights into how to take our work, our ministry, our business whatever we do and move it from good to great. Collins notes, “Greatness is not a function of circumstance. Greatness, it turns out, is largely a matter of conscious choice.” Let’s look at a few of the choices that help move the needle towards greatness.
The Right Kind of Leader
A lady from my church saw I was wearing sandals and made the comment to me recently, “Did you know that if the toe next to your big toe is longer than it, it’s a sign of leadership?” My second toe is indeed bigger, and I’ve had many people give me the title, whether accurate or not, of a “leader”. Reading Good to Great made me reflect on what I would personally consider a great leader to embody. I have a background in education, experience in helping building a company, and in correlation with a biblical worldview this was a really helpful foundation as I read this book. In Good to Great Collins ' process was, “First who…then what.” His starting point was on the leaders who took the companies from good to great. I was intrigued by his findings because the qualities that he identified in the highest level of leadership (Level 5 Leadership) were ones such as “modest and willful, humble and fearless.” Collins noted that, “Level 5 Leaders want to see the company even more successful in the next generation” and are “comfortable with the idea that most people won’t even know that the roots of that success trace back to their efforts.” I was making the connection that ultimately Collins was describing the qualities of Jesus. His finding showed that the leaders who were most successful in moving their companies into “greatness” were often quiet, selfless, and unassuming. They didn’t seek attention, fame, wealth - they sought the good of the company which would ultimately benefit their employees and the general population. Some of these leaders were devout believers and others were not, but either way it’s not surprising that these leaders moved their companies into success because they were modeling the character qualities of Jesus. Isaiah 53:2 says, “He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.” Jesus wasn’t flashy or tooting his own horn. He wasn’t prideful or boastful in his manner, but He came instead as a servant - humble and gentle. Philippians 2:8, says “Who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross.”
It makes sense, Jesus is the model of perfection and excellence. He is Lord of all things and of course His way of being and doing would produce the very best results. As Colossians 1:15-18 says, “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.” Jesus' way of living and doing is always best. He was a humble leader but ultimately He is King of kings and Lord of lords. He rules the universe and all creation, so He knows a thing or two about what it takes to make a company truly great. It was a fun and inspiring realization that when people apply wisdom and live out the character qualities of Jesus, they reap the benefits. Collins wrote, “In contrast the comparison leaders, concerned more with their own reputation for personal greatness, often failed to set the company up for success in the next generation.” These leaders were prideful, arrogant, egotistical, and often cared more about how the company would benefit their own personal gain versus how it could benefit its employees and even more so the general population. Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.” Most if not all of the comparison companies fell and a majority never got back up - they were either bought out or dissolved entirely. At this point in my life, I’ve had a lot of interactions and experiences with leaders. I’ve worked with ministry leaders, bosses, team leads, etc. Some of them have left a positive impact and impression on me, others had a negative impact, and others I can barely remember. I have also had the opportunity to serve in several leadership roles both professionally and personally. It’s unlikely I’ll ever be a Level 5 Leader as Collins writes, but I can strive to be and I think that’s the point. Even more so I can strive to be more like Jesus, which will invariably improve my leadership skills. The point is whether you’re leading a ministry or a business, the leaders that act like Jesus come away with the best results.
The Right Kind of People
Among an array of songs my little girl loves, “The Wheels on the Bus”. We sing it quite frequently, and she literally loves to run to the window anytime she hears a school bus going by. Most people had to ride a bus as a child to get to school - we all probably have some bus PTSD. Working at youth camps and with youth ministry invariably means you will have some kind of experience with riding on a bus as an adult. Buses are crowded, loud, and for however long you’re on it you have to put up with whoever is on it, especially your seat partner. Basically you are stuck with the people on it until you get to your destination, so you hope and pray that you can learn to like or at least tolerate whoever is on it with you. This is true when it comes to your coworkers, team, fellow employees, etc. Who is on your bus matters. Collins writes, “The executives who ignited the transformations from good to great did not first figure out where to drive the bus and then get people to take it there. No, they first got the right people on the bus (and the wrong people off the bus) and then figured out where to drive it.” Again this model brought me back to Jesus' own ministry. He was intentional about gathering the “right” people to follow Him and join Him in His work. In the end he only had 12 on the bus and one of them (Judas) took himself off the bus later on. He had clear criteria for who to put on the bus. As noted by Ray Vander Laan in his article, The Rabbi and the Talidim, They were to be "with" him Mark 3:13-19; to follow him Mark 1:16-20; to live by his teaching John 8:31; were to imitate his actions John 13:13-15; were to make everything else secondary to their learning from the rabbi Luke 14:26.” Jesus made the offer to a lot of people and many of them either said, “No” up front because they didn’t like the criteria or later got off the bus because they didn’t like where He was going with the bus. It was a process and journey for Him to find His people.
The Right Kind of Conditions
Collins “second key point” as he calls it “is the degree of sheer rigor needed in people decisions in order to take a company from good to great.” One of the good to great companies Collins researched was Fannie Mae, whose CEO was David Marshall. Collins writes, “Maxwell made it absolutely clear that there would only be seats for A players who were going to put forth an A+ effort, and if you weren’t up for it, you had better get off the bus, and get off now.” When Jesus selected the 12 apostles he was looking for “A” players. Now to outsiders, they probably looked like a rag tag motley crew made up of a mix of fisherman (Peter, Andrew, John & James), extremists (Simon the Zealot), and undesirables (Matthew the tax collector). However, Jesus knew their potential and what they were capable of. He also didn’t make it easy on them. They didn’t regularly have comfortable accommodations or full tummies. In Matthew 8: 19-20, it says, “Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go. Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” I think at this moment Jesus was defining the rigor of the job. In His own way He was saying - joining me isn’t going to be glamorous or comfortable. In fact it’s going to be rough, involve suffering, and most likely end in death - Can you handle that? If not, you better not get on the bus. He most definitely got the right people on the bus though, because his innermost circle were faithful and took the bus to its destination. After he was no longer physically present with them, his apostles were still driving the bus. In the end almost all of them were martyred, but not before they carried the Gospel message all over the world.
I recently heard of a story of a new start up school that was trying to create different positions to meet its growing needs. A new position had been created and a current employee who hadn’t really been doing her current job was going to be moved into the role because she wanted to make more money and seemed more interested in the work. A similar story came up this weekend, with a friend who was part of a hiring process. He was sharing how he felt that the wrong person had been hired to do the job because the manager felt pressure from the owners to hire this person instead of a more qualified candidate. I couldn’t help but think that this was the completely wrong way to go about putting people on the bus. Both of these companies (both are Christian owned & run) will lose time and money trying to help the “wrong” people stay on the bus. Ultimately they’ll have to hire new people at some point, and this will not only delay good work from happening but will keep the right people from filling those positions. When it comes to hiring, you have to have clear criteria and then you can determine where you’re going. Again, Jesus' model for how to find people should be our starting point. The job description should be clear, the character qualifications should be outlined, the conditions should be rigorous, and the people who don’t line up with that should never get on the bus. If some of the wrong people do happen to get on the bus, then don’t keep them on it. Pull off the bandaid and quickly. The longer they stay means the longer you don’t have the right person in the role. It’s hurting everyone, and you don’t want to drag that out.
Treasures in Heaven
I wrapped up the first part of Collin’s book with a sense that Christian ministries and businesses should somehow already be operating out of these principles. We have the model of the perfect Level 5 leader in Jesus. He showed us His process and criteria for getting the right people on the bus. He had rigorous expectations and modeled them. Why are so many still struggling? My first thought was of course that the enemy is continually attacking and trying to steal, kill, and destroy Christian efforts. This is of course true, but I landed on a second idea, which is that we’re simply ignoring the wisdom of the Bible and its principles. Secular companies have identified and applied these concepts and have experienced the fruit and benefits of it. Christian ministries and businesses should have the market on these concepts because they belong to Jesus and are found in His Word. If Christian companies and ministries aren’t the ones being successful or building wealth, that means secular companies are. What are they doing with that wealth and success? They are building earthly kingdoms. As Matthew 6:19-20 says, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” It’s high time we stop giving the world the advantage, and claim kingdom principles and resources for Jesus. He is the true expert on greatness, and we would do well to follow Him.
If you’re wanting to start moving your own ministry or company from good to great, download our Moving from Good to Great Reflection Questions to help you think through your current situation and what next steps to take.
Sara Payne is first and foremost a beloved child of God. She likes to surround herself with people who love Jesus, be out in nature, work out, cook, and drink delicious cups of coffee. She is married to Ryan, an amazing man who loves Jesus, and also is (in her opinion) a rock star with a band called Attaboy. They have one beautiful little girl named Isabella, who is a joy and delight! Sara’s first job after college was as a missionary serving overseas in Budapest, Hungary. She then transitioned into being a full time English teacher in a PBL school on the south side of Indianapolis, IN. There her mission field was high school students. After getting married, she worked for Magnify Learning as a Branding Manager and PBL facilitator. Since becoming a mama, she now works for Magnify Missions where she is able to combine her love of missions and teaching to serve and coach missionaries and entrepreneurs around the world.
