Leaders: You Gotta Serve Somebody

Leaders are great at words.  Some of the most common – and disingenuous – are words declaring the identity of the people they serve.

In my country of Canada, this has come to a head as political leadership’s decisions have, with more hypocrisy than usual, revealed who they truly serve. The typical rhetoric of leadership will eloquently identify and woo a constituent community to be served. However at some point down the road it’s the leaders’ practice, policy & behavior that become the actual ‘speech’ that reveals the priority constituency.

Politicians will state: “Once elected, we serve all people”. However, examine their policy decisions, budget allocations and patronage appointments and it’s clear that they mostly serve the survival of their party into the next election. 

Corporate leaders will say:  “We serve the client”.  Ask most clients and you will discover the truth is that they are merely the ‘target market’.  The real client is the investor.

Faith leaders state emphatically that: “We serve God and His mission to this world”.  However, decisions, budgets and programs reveal it’s the preservation of the institution and the ongoing security of the donor base/congregation that is the focus of their servant-hood. 

Leaders - STOP DECLARING whom you serve as though that is enough to preserve your reputation or elicit loyalty.  Instead, REVEAL who you serve through your decisions and actions.

Bob Dylan sang a truth that although you have choices of who to align with in this life, at some point “You’re gonna have to serve somebody”.  Centuries before that, Jesus Christ affirmed you can only follow one master and it is dangerous to try serve two.  The reason? Because the result is you will actually hold contempt for the one while serving the other. Contempt? Yes. That’s what happens when you do not lead consistent with your public declarations.  Your decisions, attitudes and actions will always lean toward your REAL master.  Then the neglected constituency experiences at minimum a benign neglect and at worst, a blatant contempt.  

The truth is, you already serve only one master.  Have you figured out who or what that is?

A Second Choice Life

We all know the “you can be anything you want to be” mantra of many parents is patently false.  Sounds empowering.  The brute reality is it can set kids up for disappointment and failure. 

However, you have grown out of it, right?  Maturity has set in and tempered expectations and dreams. Realism now rules.  You have settled in with contentment. 

Not for a lot of us.

Either spurred on by a leadership culture that presses us to grander visions, or our own deeply personal drive for the next thing, many of us develop scenarios and plans to reach toward our preferred life.  We then became heavily invested in that future.  It becomes us.  Our identity and even our sense of fulfillment, legacy or calling are tied into that life becoming reality.

What if it doesn’t?  What if your first choice of a life is derailed or unattainable?



What if you are now living a second choice life?

It’s happened to me.  I pursued a dream  (a God-given dream at that) to develop a ministry to international teams.  Left Canada for Kuwait in 2009.  Came back in 2010 crushed.  The life I now live isn’t what I planned.  It’s good, but there is a nagging sense that an ‘other’ life has eluded me.  The prospects of ever re-engaging it are fading.

This experience is shared by millions.  Refugees, entrepeneurs, modern day slaves, leaders and ordinary people who dare to dream.  What will we do in our second choice lives?

The ancient character Joseph walked this same path. His story (Genesis 37 & 39) has inspired me toward first choice living in a second choice life.  Josephs’ first choice life with his father & brothers was interrupted when he was sold into slavery.  Definitely a second choice life!  Somehow, he chose to live well and with integrity in his new context.  In so doing, he prospered.  Incidentally so did entire nations of people at the time and down the historical line!  Who knows the impact of first choice living in your second choice life?

Though your first choice life may have been taken away from you, the power to demonstrate and enjoy first choice living can never be taken.

It could be that God has made a 'first choice' life for you whether you believe it or not.

Carpe diem.  It’s all you have.