How Much Should I Let on?
April 1, 1996
They rambled into the room, talking, laughing, swapping stories, and slapping each other on the shoulder as men do when at ease.
As the deacons took their places, I cleared my throat. I was discouraged, I told them, because of dawdling attendance, lagging finances, and chronic fatigue. Our facilities needed renovation, but money was lacking. Our small staff was at odds, but I hadn't the energy to deal with it. Our growth had slowed, but I couldn't help it. My voice conveyed no anger, just weariness.
I noticed their smiles gradually dissolved like the fade-out of a poignant movie scene. Shoulders sagged. By the end of our meeting, they listlessly filed from the room like Job's comforters.
Well, at least I was transparent and honest, I thought. I lowered my mask and let them see what was really in my heart. I enabled them to peek through the window of a pastor's soul.
Ha!
All I did, I soon realized, was infect them with discouragement as effectively as Typhoid Mary unwittingly spread her dreaded disease earlier this century.
A biblical principle of management, often neglected in the Be-real-be-transparent philosophy, is this: Emotions are more contagious than typhoid fever. A leader's negative emotions can infect followers like the plague.
Consider 2 Samuel 18 and 19. Despite an astounding, come-from-behind victory over Absalom's coup, David wept pitifully and publicly because his handsome son had perished. His citizens, hearing his sobs, were crestfallen; his troops were demoralized. "They were like an army that has been defeated in battle and has run away."
Joab spoke severely to David: "I swear by the Lord that if you don't go out and encourage your men, not a man will be left with you by nightfall."
David pulled himself together ...
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