Insights on the Journey

I’m delighted to welcome Michael Holmes, author of I Shall Raise Thee Up, as a guest blogger.

To be honest, I haven’t been a Trekkie long. So don’t ask me about the time Kirk had dinner with the Klingons and they served Romulan pie!

But I was won over after the 2009 version. It was an awesome movie! It remained true to the spirit of Star Trek while bringing in a flock of new Trekkies—including yours truly. In addition to being a great movie it gave some great lessons in leadership. Any ministry of any kind could REALLY benefit from these lessons.

What are they? I’m glad you asked:

There has to be both Kirk and a Spock

You need two people to make any organization run effectively:

1. A great leader
2. A great manager

The leader sees the unknown, the manager makes the unknown reality; the leader breaks through barriers, the manager makes sure they get through safely; the leader charts the course, the manager gets the group there safely. Any good organization needs both—because leaders don’t manage well and managers don’t lead well. They need each other to be at their best—Kirk was a great leader and Spock a great manager.

In fact, a leader is only as strong as the supporting leadership; and one of the marks of a great leader is the ability to raise up strong leaders. Not “yes men”, but strong men. Not soldiers, but generals. Not just followers, but leaders in their own right. Both Kirk and Spock were strong leaders and the USS Enterprise benefited immensely.

There have to be fights

During the course of the movie Spock and Kirk get into a tussle (Spock, being the stronger Vulcan, wins). After the fight an amazing thing happened: they became closer. They crossed each others battle lines and became the best of friends…or better friends.

Great organizations are comfortable with “fights.”

The Bible says, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” ¹ And with that sharpening comes a lot of sparks!! You, as a leader, have to be comfortable with sparks: people challenging your ideas…to your face, challenging each other, and coming to a conclusion that truly benefits the group.

Get away from these “politically correct” meetings! Challenge, confront, debate, make it loud, and make it boisterous.

You don’t agree? Tell ‘em! Hold nothing back!!

There has to be synergy

In the movie, the greatest ideas never came from Kirk or Spock—they came from the group. When everyone came together with their different experiences, education, resources, and thoughts the group truly benefited.

The Bible says, “Plans go wrong for lack of advice; many counselors bring success.” ² You don’t know everything; and when undertaking a great task you have to get as much counsel as you can. The discussion and “fights” created a solution no one person would have discovered on their own.

So there you have it: what Star Trek taught me about leadership. And if you follow these suggestions to become a better leader, you too can go where no one has gone before!

What are your thoughts?

¹ Proverbs 27: 17 (New International Version)
² Proverbs 15:22 (New Living Translation)

Mike Holmes is the author of I Shall Raise Thee Up: Ancient Principles for Lasting Greatness. He’s also a blogger that writes on business and leadership development from a Biblical perspective. It’s leadership by the Book! When he’s not writing blogs or speaking he can be found writing bios in the third person. Check out his website/blog here.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 22nd, 2010 at 9:18 am and is filed under leadership. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.