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Napa Valley on Leadership
by
Margaret Feinberg
For each of us, the answer will be different. Some of us allow success to make us drunk. For business and church leaders, a combination of “successful” markers—(in church, it’s often the three B’s—the building, the budget or the butts in seats)—may become a source of permission to overindulge foolish behavior. For artists and creative types, we may find the awards, the reviews, and the accolades to begin allowing us to believe things about ourselves that simply are not true.
Success is intoxicating, but so, too, are frustration and feelings of failure. Just as the highlights distort our view of reality, so too can the lowlights. The stress created by financial storms, the cold response to an innovative idea, the lack of attention to a project we’ve poured our selves into can make us drunk—an angry drunk—but still irresponsible and foolish at a time that begs for sober judgment and sound advice.
That’s why it’s so important that as we lead we are wary of markers, the trinkets, the numbers that give us a false sense of self-worth and value. A CEO who has a disproportionate amount of self-worth or lack of self-worth as a result of a deal. The business owner who cheers or jeers depending on a single day’s sales receipts.
The jazz musician or fiction writer who soars from delight to depression based on their album or book’s rankings on amazon.com. Be wary of markers that move quickly and cause you to lose sight of the greater marker—the goal that you’re aiming for in distance in order to stay focused and sober in judgment.
NEVER FORGET THE POWER OF CULTIVATION
As you move toward shaping, cultivating, and leading, there will be times you encounter scenarios that seem beyond repair, but never forget the power of investing yourself. One particular vineyard in Fresno we visited was owned by a woman who merely cared about the land not the crop.
“This hurts me to look at,” the vintner said. “It wouldn’t take much to turn this vineyard around, but the owner isn’t willing to invest in it.”
As I walked the edge of the field, I was taken in by the dismal sight: the stakes and wire were still in place yet only a few vines showed any signs of life. The thickness of the base of the vines revealed that they were at least twenty years old, but the lack of growth made the gnarled trunks appear dwarfed. Weeds lined the rows stealing much needed nutrients from the vines. While a few of the branches managed to eke out a handful of grapes, most had withered from a lack of water and overexposure to the sun.
“You really think you could turn this around?” I asked.
“In less than two years you wouldn’t recognize this vineyard,” he said.
His words gave me hope—not just for the vines—but for myself. If a vintner could look at a withered, weathered vineyard and confidently claim to bring it back to life, how much more could God use you and I to transform the withered, weathered areas of our world and bring them back to life, too. The disheveled vineyard was a reminder that nothing is beyond God’s redemption or restoration, and we are invited to be on the forefront to bring life and healing to our world.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. How do you honestly feel about reading the Bible? When do the stories and messages come alive for you? When do they feel most distant and disconnected?
2. Where do you feel like God has planted you and called you serve and cultivate culture? Does the place feel more like Fresno or Napa Valley? Why? Are you content where God has planted you? Why or why not?
3. In what ways do you drift toward taking a short-term perspective in what you do? How do you tend to get distracted by the immediate, the here, the now? How would taking a long-term perspective affect what you’re doing?
4. What has been the greatest source of adversity in what you feel you’re called and created you to do? How has that adversity shaped you?
5. Which is more intoxicating for you—success or failure? Why? What are you tempted to imbibe within your work that causes you to lose perspective? What steps can you take to stay sober minded as you lead, create, teach, manage?
6. Should local communities of faith do anything to engage this issue? If so, what?
7. What metaphors does God speak to you through the most? How does God tend to get your attention? What steps can you take to better understand Scripture and discover its beauty, wonder, and awe?
© Margaret Feinberg and Q, 2009
All Rights Reserved.
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