LAURIE BETH JONES
I first became acquainted with Laurie Beth Jones through her book Jesus CEO. When she became involved with our Lead Like Jesus ministry, I quickly became a raving fan of not only her writing and thinking, but also who she was as a person. Leaders who are interested in serving rather than being served are not only comfortable with who they are, but also interested in finding out about the people they work with. After you read Laurie Beth’s essay, the importance of understanding yourself and others will become clear to you. —KB
AS A SERVANT leader, one of Jesus’s clear strengths was that He had a clear and compelling narrative of who He was. He said, “I am the Good Shepherd” (John 10:11, 14); “I am the gate” (John 10:7, 9); compared Himself to “living water” (John 4:10-11; 7:38) and emphasized that He “did not come to be served, but to serve” (Matt. 20:28). This self-awareness of His strengths helped others quickly grasp in a visual way who it was they were dealing with.
The brain processes visuals sixty thousand times faster than words. When Jesus said the words “shepherd” or “water” or “servant,” everyone in that culture had a clear image that came to mind. Had He, however, started stating His résumé or pedigree or paper qualifications, no doubt people would have wandered back off to the marketplace.
After my first book, Jesus CEO,1 came out, I was often invited to coach and consult with leaders of organizations. When I would say to them “Tell me who you are,” invariably they would begin to rattle off roles or titles. But when I would say, “Draw me a picture,” silence would fall over the room. It was this lack of visual leadership identities that led me to create the Path Elements Profile, or PEP for short.
In Genesis, God uses four elements—earth, water, wind, and fire—in the creation story. Indeed, these elements are mentioned nearly two thousand times in Scripture. Jesus spoke frequently of, and to, the elements, for example comparing Himself to living water, or saying He had to come to “bring fire” (Luke 12:49). He even referred to two of His rowdiest disciples, James and John, as “sons of thunder” (Mark 3:17).
Here is a quick way to illustrate the different cultural values of each of the four elements:
Fire wants fast and visible results.
Water wants harmonious, long-term relationships.
Wind wants innovation and change.
Earth wants stability and order.
So, for example, when Jesus compared Himself to living water, His desire was to create a culture of harmony and respect for others, with growing relationships as a core value. A water leader understands that growth takes time and is willing to work below the surface, even invisibly, to make that happen.
A fire leader, on the other hand, values conflict as a refining process and wants to gain territory at nearly any cost. A fire leader wants visible results and wants them now. In many ways, this describes self-serving leaders to whom Jesus came to bring the perspective that great leadership had to do with both results and people.
Wind and fire move fast, and almost always have a visible impact. Earth and water move more slowly and tend to do their work underground.
Imagine what happens, then, when a fire leader lands in a water setting. The fire leader wants immediate results, using language like “My way or the highway.” The water culture they inherited wants things to be done in harmonious ripples. Trouble ensues and steam rises. One or the other gives way or, better still, they create and develop a both/and relationship.
Or perhaps a wind innovative thinker is brought into an earth organization that likes the way things have always been done. A servant leader with a water temperament will take the time to listen, reflect, evaluate, and assess.
Leadership can come from any profile. While fires may tend to be the most likely to blaze a trail, if unchecked they can destroy the forest. While waters always seek to serve, without focusing on results it can turn into a country club. Earth leaders are masters at detailed planning but can also be overcome by analysis paralysis. Wind leaders can help an army set sail but, without proper harnessing, can stall or send them in multiple directions—sometimes just for fun. Consider the following examples.
King David, beloved by God, was a wind-fire leader who was given to high and low bursts of order and enthusiasm. One look at the Psalms and anyone can see how this elemental combination in a leader can lead to bold and sudden victories as well as near depression in a cave.
Solomon, in contrast, was more of a servant leader as a water-earth combination—the exact opposite of his impetuous warrior father. Solomon’s first act was to send gifts to all surrounding territorial leaders rather than declare war. The tempo in Proverbs reveals an almost steady drumbeat of wisdom—do this and you get that—which is in great contrast to moody, haunting, exhilarating Psalms.
Whatever your God-created elemental makeup is will be reflected in all the work you do with a team. Jesus compared Himself to living water, and indeed when you follow His actions He acted very much like water in many ways. He said that His mission was to bring abundant life. That’s what water does. He always sought the lowest place and, as a servant leader, told His disciples that honor is to be found in stooping to wash someone’s feet as opposed to standing over their corpse with their head dangling in your hand (fire).
He did show upset in turning over the tables at the temple, but wind and water acting together create a powerful storm. He never wrote anything down, which would have been an earth characteristic. He told people to put away their swords and bless those who cursed them. This is definitely not a fire characteristic or response.
Likewise, you as a leader are going to do and teach things that reveal who you are elementally, thriving on bold initiatives and welcoming confrontation if it brings about change. If you are an earth leader, like Nehemiah, you will want to do things in a well-thought-out and measured manner—going about your work quietly, even being willing, as a servant, to get low in the ditches if it helps you see where the root problems are. If you are a wind leader, like Joshua, you will use your voice to blow the trumpets that bring those walls of Jericho tumbling down. You will say, “This is easy! Cross the river now!” and bring people across a river into the land that had been denied to them for forty years.
One of my greatest privileges as a consultant was working with a servant leader with a water temperament who inherited a fire/earth organization. Over fifteen years, I watched him turn silos into pipelines, drive decision making downward, and teach people ultimately that their greatest promise was taking care of others as well as one another.
Knowing which type of elemental leader you are can do much good for yourself and for those around you. Are you a fire leader, or more like water? More like earth, or more like wind? Jesus, as the greatest leadership role model of all time, obviously had flexibility to all four styles although in my opinion he was predominantly a water/wind combination. Most likely you are a powerful combination of two of the four as well. How about the people you work with? Do you have a sense of their type or combination of types? If you do, you can better serve them.
Remember, Jesus was very clear about his leadership style and adapted it to the special needs of his disciples. While he didn’t attempt to change the styles of his followers, he helped them see other perspectives, which made one plus one greater than two. Are you clear about your leadership style and how it relates to the needs of the people around you? How can you help them bring their strengths to bear on the vision and direction your organization is working toward?
Laurie Beth Jones (www.lauriebethjones.com) is an internationally recognized bestselling author, speaker, inspirational life coach, and trainer. A business development coach and consultant to CEOs and organizations, Laurie Beth’s fourteen business books, written from a spiritual perspective, include Jesus CEO; Jesus, Entrepreneur; Teach Your Team to Fish, and The Path: Creating Your Mission Statement for Work and for Life.
1. Laurie Beth Jones, Jesus, CEO: Using Ancient Wisdom for Visionary Leadership (New York: Hyperion, 1995).