Change Of Calling?

Episode 56:  Life With Father

Father:    [Reading a letter from his sister] Kathy, Kathy, Kathy.                    How could you think of such a thing?
Henry:     [Bursting into Father Mulcahy’s tent] Father, I’ve got                    to talk to you about my wife.

Father:     My sister wants to leave the order…She’s such a        

            fantastic nun. I’d stack her up against any nun in the  

            business…God smiled on her from the start. Imagine a 

            basketball scholarship at the Holy Name Academy. She’s 

            been teaching. She loves children. Now she thinks she 

            might like one of her own…Now she wants my approval. I 

            don’t know what to tell her. I don’t know what to say.

Father Mulcahy is busy attending to the diverse spiritual needs of different faiths in the camp at the same time trying to come to terms with his sisters desire to leave the ministry.  While performing a circumcision on a Jewish baby he realises that the joy of motherhood is just as legitimate a calling for his sister.

There exists within my spirit a deep tension every time I hear about one of my colleagues leaving the ministry!  I cannot hide my disappointment in losing godly and competent leaders who exchange their calling or vocation for another direction.  Are they right or are they wrong?  That is not mine to judge!  My disappointment lies in the loss of good leaders who have the capacity to lead great change from within our organisation.  While there are many reasons why people change career paths or even pursue their calling through alternative pathways, I wonder how the following questions are reconciled:  Is a calling conditional upon circumstances?  Should our own purposes supersede a divine purpose?  When is it right to step outside of a covenant relationship?  In the context of Christian leadership Reggie McNeal asserts, “Christian leaders certain of their call allow it to become the centre of gravity for their life experiences.”  Whether your calling is secular or sacred it needs to be grounded upon a deep conviction that will remain steadfast through trials and resistant to the allure of other offers.

Leadership Check-Up

Episode 55:  Check-up

Henry:    [Speaking into the PA] Attention! Attention please. May I 

          have the attention of each and every personnel, please? 

          This is your commanding officer, Colonel Blake… It is 

          required that, uh…everyone be given a routine medical 

          check-up. This is according to a new army regulation, 

          is your, uh…RP78/80778J, uh…blah blah blah. Now 

          accordingly, enlisted men will fall into the mess tent to 

          receive their physicals. Officers will examine 

          themselves, and vice versa, in private. 

All personnel are ordered to undergo a routine check up which reveals that Trapper has an ulcer which could be his ticket home. However, a new army regulation from Headquarters spoils his farewell party and plans to leave Korea.

Undergoing a physical check-up is a normal part of the rhythm of life to diagnose and treat any health concerns.  Likewise, looking after your mental health is emerging as being just as important as your physical health to maintain overall well-being.  When you consider that leadership is all about influence and how our influence impacts the well-being of those we lead, how important is it then that leaders also undergo a leadership check-up?  One of the most helpful processes I’ve engaged in as a part of my leadership development journey was completing the Life Styles Inventory (LSI) which provided a feedback report about the positive and negative characteristics of my leadership styles.  Other people I know engage in a similar process by completing a 360 degree questionnaire. These types of processes provide leaders with a diagnosis of their strengths and weaknesses and helpful strategies to facilitate growth and development.  In his book the 360 Degree Leader John Maxwell affirms the value of such a growth process, “Your leadership, if it is not continually growing, can be a lid to the potential of your people...If you want to increase the potential of your team, you need to keep growing yourself.” A regular leadership check-up is a prescription for the growth and well-being of your team.

A Little Ray Of Sunshine

Episode 54:  Springtime

Trapper: Do you believe? Someone has actually ordered us a genuine 

         spring day.

Hawkeye: What a dirty rotten trick to put it in the middle of a war.

Trapper: I’m gonna put that sky on hold.

Hawkeye: That’s just a mural painted by the North Koreans to catch 

         us off our guard.

Spring is in the air bringing a ray of sunshine into the routine of the 4077th. Klinger gets married to his fiancé back home over the phone, Radar falls in love with nurse Louise and Hawkeye has an overzealous patient try to repay him for saving his life by being his personal aide and body guard.

Leading from deep within the trenches of life can be a dark and dreary place sometimes, especially when the clouds of uncertainty or opposition hover overhead. Underneath the deadlines, demands and day to day responsibilities it can be easy to lose sight of the clear skies of vision above radiating the opportunities and possibilities that excites us about leadership. However, just like the weather, the clouds do clear and the sun reemerges or like the seasons, winter will give way to spring. There is always a ray of light that penetrates the darkness reminding us of the vision that drives every focused leader to push through the dark times. This is a thought captured by Aristotle Onasis who said, “It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.” A focused vision will allow light to shine into the darkest places of leadership.