Unitarian Universalist Church of Palo Alto

Reflection: What Makes a Good Leader?

Rita Hays
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Palo Alto, CA

One of my favorite comic strips is Dilbert. Dilbert’s boss is an empty headed individual who sits behind an empty desk. He never does any work, except to think up useless assignments for his staff. The staff, for their part, largely ignore him and figure out how to get things done in spite of him.

Now, I haven’t anything against empty desks, even though I am constitutionally incapable of achieving one. Some good leaders undoubtedly have empty desks, but they somehow have figured out how to get things done efficiently and how to hide all of the pending tasks. I once knew a man, a superior leader, who had figured out an innovative way to start each work day with an empty desk: He had a credenza behind his desk with 10 stacks of papers on it. At the end of each day, he would pile up the papers on his desk and put the stack at the left-hand end of the credenza. Then he moved all of the other stacks to the right. The one furthest to the right, representing work from 2 weeks ago, he would throw away. He was of the opinion that, if he hadn’t needed a paper for 2 weeks, he would never need it. His staff, who loved him dearly, made allowance for this habit.

Our church has many leaders. They are the ones who make things happen. None thinks of him or her self as a boss. Occasionally someone may make a decision on behalf of the congregation, but that is because we have, tacitly or overtly, asked them to make that decision. They are all workers, and we would be lost without them.

Our ministers and our staff are essential to the well-being of our church. Without them, we would be lost. But they don’t act like bosses. They work with the rest of us to fulfill the mission of the church. Our ministers are our leaders, not our priests. They don’t dictate to us, they lead us.

What is a leader? Being an usher — making sure that we have programs, helping those who need it, taking the collection, putting away the hymnals — is that leadership? What would happen if they didn’t do this, week after week? How about the beautiful flower arrangements that adorn our service? Who keeps track of our finances? How about those who saw to it that we helped make the Opportunity Center happen? How about those who lead us to environmental responsibility? All of these, and the other contributions of our members too numerous to name, make our church what it is. Let us call leaders these members who lead by their service.

What is their reward? Occasionally, someone is given a kazoo in recognition of outstanding service. But for most, it is the satisfaction of being a part of something important, our church.

There are many talents among us. Let us appreciate those who use their talents to labor on our behalf, our essential leaders.