King Solomon, The Byrds, and Leadership
Monday, March 15, 2010 at 4:19PM “To everything, turn, turn, turn… there is a season, turn, turn, turn… and a time for every purpose under heaven…” On October 29, 1965, The Byrds released their rendition of King Solomon’s timeless wisdom. As I reflected on the demands and competing priorities of our own leadership team here at the Center, it dawned on me the appropriateness of this timeless truth with respect to the leadership challenges of the day.
Often, as leaders we get really focused on our agenda and what priorities we personally feel are most important and urgent. If any outside interest (i.e., person) wants to compete for time and energy, leaders are vulnerable to frustration that might be misapplied. I’ve come to believe that “concession” is an important leadership principle. At times, it’s important for leaders to set aside their agendas and biases to make room for others’. If we dismiss that of others, we risk devaluing our people as we dismiss what’s important them. We need to be aware of times when we need to concede our focus on something we think is important in order to tend to something that is important to someone else.
Listen, I’m not suggesting we don’t need to set the pace and direction. At times, leaders need to say no. But as Solomon wrote and The Byrds sang, “to everything there is a season”. Leaders need to develop the skill of concession so that they can employ it appropriately to the overall good of the organization.
-Chuck Hyde
Reader Comments (1)
I enjoy your thought provoking correlations...I could not fathom how vintage rock tied to timeless teachings but it makes sense! In today's connected world it is easy to become buried in e-mail, meetings, and simply managing the day. I have felt the most connected and valued when on teams with a clearly defined objective where the leader is willing to say "no" to ideas that are important, but cannot be prioritized beause they are not on-task.