PASTOR DAVE’S MUSINGS FROM THE HEARTLAND

August 7, 2022

LEAD FROM WHERE YOU ARE

Francis Ellert invited a long-time friend of his, Matt Gifford, to speak to the Rotary Club of Plymouth on Monday, July 25.  Matt is a 1995 graduate of Indiana University and is presently VP of Stadium Operations for the St. Louis Cardinals.  He played baseball for three years at IU.

Matt shared to a full house some of his experiences while working for the Cardinal organization of the last 27 years.  He passed around his 2011 World Series ring.  During a question/answer session he distributed St. Louis’s memorabilia to White Sox, Cub, and Guardian fans.  I came away with a Yadi tumbler.  I’m looking for a die-heart Cardinal fan to give it to!

Gifford said that his view of leadership was more like a wheel rather than a pyramid.  Anybody can be a leader if an organization will let them.  In a well-run organization there are times when anyone might be called to take the lead.  Everyone needs to learn to lead from where they are.

To illustrate his view of leadership Matt told about an incident when he was just new to the organization.  He was a part of a meeting to talk about a new advertising campaign that the owners were suggesting.  At the meeting his superiors did not raise any questions about the campaign.  Matt had dome calculating and had come to conclusion that the figure did not add up.  Near the end of the meeting he raised his hand and expressed his concern.

On the way back to the office Matt was not sure if he was about to be fired for questioning the owners’ suggestion.  What did happen is that the owners scrapped their proposed campaign based on Gifford’s work.  The Cardinal organization let Gifford take the lead in evaluating the new program and Matt had taken the opportunity from his position as low man on the totem pole.

In his letter to the Romans the Apostle Paul compares the church to the human body.  In part he says, “Indeed, the body does not consist of one member but of many. … If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be?  If the whole body were hearing, where would the sense of smell be?  But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be?  As it is, there are many members, yet one body.  The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I have no need of you,’ nor again the head to the feet, ‘I have no need of you.’  On the contrary, the members of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable. … If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice with it” (I Corinthians 12: 12, 14-22, 26).

Instead of the church, one could well substitute a more general term “organization.”  Each member of an organization has their own part to play.  All are important and have their own particular contributions to make.  Matt Gifford suggests that depending on the issue, problem, or task at hand anyone in the organization might possibly take the lead.  Who does is dependent upon who in the organization is best suited to assume the leadership position.

For five years I was the senior pastor of a church that had 42 employees and a budget of more than $750,000.  I was essentially the C.E.O. of a small company.  For the church to function effectively, it was important each person assumed leadership for the areas for which they were responsible.  It would have been a disaster for me to attempt to micro manage the church.  One of my primary jobs was to create a good working environment where the members of the staff had the resources and support they needed to accomplish their duties.

All of us have opportunities to lead from where we are.