Academic summary

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Chapter 4: The Value of Controlled Discipline The third Beatitude is about discipline and is related to the second Beatitude about caring for employees. As we examine the third Beatitude try to see how caring is a related value.

Blessed are the meek for they will inherit the earth.

Today’s typical leader abhors the word meek since leaders want employees to know that they are the Boss, which is supported in the popular leadership press with books on tough negotiation styles and in business magazine articles about the toughest bosses in the toughest companies. Amazingly, though, true to form, Jesus’ counsel shows the depth of the paradox of agapao leadership and in the characteristics that He seeks to develop in us.

The Greek word for meek is praus, or humility, which continues the theme of humility from the first Beatitude. Though this is not a repetition of the first Beatitude, it is an application of humility to behavior, since you can also find praus in conjunction with action. The Greek term is a rich term and more fully is translated into “controlled discipline.” In line with this application of meekness to behavior, Aristotle spoke of meekness as the means between anger and indifference (Augsburger, 1982, p. 63). Aristotle described one who is meek as being angry on the right occasion with the right people at the right moment and for the right length of time (Boice, 1972, p. 37). Thus, we might see that the meek have a sense of duty and that they demonstrate controlled discipline.

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John Wesley in his Sermon 22 entitled “Upon our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount – Discourse 2” provides some insight into the concept of meek. Wesley said:

“[t]he meek are zealous for the Lord of hosts; but their zeal is always guided by knowledge, and tempered, in every thought, and word, and work, with the love of man, as well as the love of God. They do not desire to extinguish any of the passions, which God has for wise ends implanted in their nature; but they have the master of all. They hold them all in subjection, and employ them only in subservience to those ends. And thus even the harsher and more unpleasing passions are applicable to the noblest purposes. “

Barclay stated that selfish anger is always a sin but selfless anger can be one of the great moral dynamics of the world (Barclay, 1958, p. 91). We see this controlled selfless anger in Jesus as He swept the moneychangers out of the temple. The psalmist wrote of the meek inheriting the earth (Psalm 37:11). The Hebrew word used by the psalmist here is anayv that translates as gentle in mind or circumstances. It also connotes saintliness. Let us examine Jesus’ behaviors in the temple as recorded in Matthew 1:12-13; Mark 11:15-17; Luke 19:45-46; and John 2:12-16 – the greatest detail comes from the account in the Gospel of John, so this analysis relies more on the passage in John. Jesus saw that people were using a part of the temple in a manner that defiled its sanctity. The temple courts were not to be used for commerce of any kind. Commerce could and did occur at the temple, but commerce was meant to be restricted to outside of the temple.

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John recorded that Jesus made a whip out of cords (v. 15) and drove the cattle and sheep from the temple. Here, the Messiah, the one who could turn water into wine, make fig trees wither, heal the sick, and raise the dead, took the time to make a whip out of cords and to move the cattle and sheep out of the building. Why? The cattle and sheep were not at fault. Can you imagine what most of us would have done if we had possessed the same power as Jesus? I think, in my own uncontrolled anger, I would have turned the cattle into a few thousand fast-food hamburgers and made a spectacle large enough to keep the crowds talking for days!

Verse 15 goes on to say that he scattered the coins. I doubt that I would have been so controlled. If I had the power that Jesus possessed, I think, that in my uncontrolled anger, I would have melted the coins into the stone floor so that the coins spelled out “Jesus was here!” Talk about leaving a sign! But then, if I had done this, the coins would not have been of any use to anyone and would have been as wasted as the thousands of fast-food hamburgers I would have made. And what about the doves that John wrote of in verse 16? Jesus demanded that the people remove the birds. Why didn’t Jesus scatter the cages? Or, at least open the cages and let the doves fly. Why not just let them go? Because the doves would have been lost and the people would have suffered. Jesus was not interested in hurting anyone; He wanted the temple restored to its intended use.

Would I have been so controlled as to ask someone to remove the doves? I don’t think I would have. I think I might have done something less controlled. And what would have been the result of my actions? Put yourself in the place of the people conducting commercial business, and Jesus has just destroyed your property and removed part of your

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livelihood. Would you be willing to listen to the message of Christ after that? Most folks, I think, would not listen to a leader who had reacted in such uncontrolled ways.

This is the essence of controlled discipline; it draws people closer to you, whereas uncontrolled discipline drives people away. Leadership occurs only at the point of contact between leader and follower, and if this contact is broken or prevented through uncontrolled discipline for example, leadership won’t occur. The follower may comply with the leader’s commands, but the follower will not commit. Compliance and capitulation, are not leadership – they are coercion.

Let’s look at another biblical example of a meek man, Moses. “Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men who were upon the face of the earth” (Numbers 12:3). Note that this passage describes Moses as being above all the men who were upon the face of the earth. Not your idea of a mild-mannered little man with limited strength and force-of- will. Moses defeated the gods of Egypt, conquered Pharaoh, led a million people out of bondage, fed and cared for them for over 40 years, laid down the Mosaic Law, and established the foundation for the promised land of Israel. All in all, this is a wonderful example of leadership, but Moses did not do this alone, for God worked through him to accomplish all these feats. God can only work through the humbleness, the mourning, and the disciplined anger of those leaders who, as empty vessels, are filled by Him.

Baker uses Charles Wesley’s hymn to demonstrate the strength of controlled discipline:

Jesus’ tremendous name Puts all our foes to flight:

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Jesus, the meek, the angry Lamb A Lion is in fight. By all hell’s host withstood, We all hell’s host o’erthrow: And conquering them, through Jesus’ blood, We still to conquer go. (Baker, 1963, p. 44)

Baker continues his definition of meek by saying, “the meek man never submits to evil or compromises with it, but by active, persistent patience overcomes it” (Baker, 1963, p. 45). Bauman gives us another view of meek in his description of one who is meek as being a wild animal that, upon domestication, is still just as capable of feats of strength, yet is gentle with people. Bauman repeats his definition as “power under control” (Bauman, 1981, p. 56).

First Hand Experience with the Controlled Discipline that Bauman Describes

I recall a time back in my youth; it seems like a very long time ago now as I think back to the early 1960s, when I encountered just such an animal as Bauman describes. My grandmother owned a piece of land in the Sand Hills of Nebraska and decided to sell the parcel of land to her cousin who wanted the land to add to his ranch. Since my grandmother wanted the cash for retirement, it seemed like a good deal for both, and to celebrate the transaction, my grandmother and my mother decided that the three of us would go from our little town near Omaha, Nebraska, and spend a long weekend with the relatives out in the Sand Hills which is in the upper western area of the state. The land consists of rolling hills of sand (hence the name) with sparse grass and minimally planted ground. It takes a lot of land to raise cattle because of the sparse grass. In some places there are meadows that support small hay-growing fields.

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I had worked on farms around our little town and looked forward to seeing how a ranch differed from a farm. The three of us drove to the ranch and spent the evening visiting with relatives. My grandmother’s cousin asked if I wanted to go with the men in the morning and work in the hay field. I eagerly agreed to get out of the house to engage in some physical activity, and since I had worked on several farms bailing hay and moving it to the barns, I thought I might be able to help.

The next morning, my grandmother’s cousin woke me up at 5 a.m., a bit early for haying work I thought, but “when on the ranch you do as the ranch hands do.” So I quickly dressed and joined the men in the kitchen for a cup of coffee and some breakfast. I didn’t like coffee, but as a young lad, I wanted to be part of the group. After a quick breakfast, we all headed out the door. I expected to find a pick-up truck that would take us out to the hay field or a tractor and flatbed cart used to haul hay from the field to the barns. I was a bit surprised when I was handed the reins to a horse -- a big horse.

I had ridden a horse a few times, so I was not completely naïve, but I was certainly not a skilled rider. The big mare that I was assigned to was, according to grandmother’s cousin, a gentle mare that would be fine to ride. Here it was, still dark and cold in the morning, I drank coffee I didn’t like, and then I was stuck with this horse. My attitude was not the most pleasant, I admit.

I managed to get into the saddle, although it was not a picture of grace and skill. I recalled from my brief training in horsemanship at the Boy Scout Camp the previous summer, that I should hold the reins firmly, but not to cause the horse discomfort from the bit, and let the animal know that I was in

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command of the situation. The rest of the men started out, and I kicked this big mare in the ribs to get her going. The mare, upon being kicked, turned her head and looked at me with a look that was of pure disgust and disdain! The mare snorted a bit and turned her head back to watch the other horses and riders head down the dirt roadway. Thinking that all I needed to do was to establish authority I once again kicked the big mare in the sides and gave the old cowboy shout: “Giddy-up.” The mare turned and looked at me with contempt in her eyes and tried to bite my left leg. I quickly remembered that this was an animal that could throw me off her back and trounce me into the dirt if she really wanted to. But fortunately for me, she had decided not to do so and was allowing me to get my self-directed efforts for control out of my system. It was clear that the horse was the stronger of the two of us and that she had controlled her discipline, thus sparing me a trouncing that I probably deserved.

As I relaxed my hold on the reins I quietly told the mare that I was sorry and that she could do what she wanted, the mare nodded her head, snorted, and started off down the road toward the other horses. I don’t think she understood my words, but she must have understood the change in my attitude or position in the saddle, since communication obviously happened. Her gait was a bit fast and uncomfortable, but we soon caught up with the rest of the riders and she settled down into a relaxed pace.

As I read Bauman’s statement, the image of that big mare returned to my memory, and I understood the focus of this third Beatitude. I had learned an important lesson that day, but I have to admit that the lesson didn’t sink in until I read Bauman’s statement years later.

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Leaders Seek to Understand the Situation before Administering Discipline

Here’s another example that may help you understand controlled discipline. I can’t go into all of the details since it would violate the confidentiality of the people involved, so I will summarize. The situation involved an employee who we hired for her administrative skills, attention to detail, and her follow-through in getting projects done. I assigned her to help me with three key projects that were very important to me.

Everything seemed to go well in the beginning and the employee seemed to have a good grasp of the concepts and the needs. However, the first report after a couple of weeks indicated that the employee had mixed up the three projects. After I had a couple of meetings with the employee, it seemed that the employee had it all straight and we headed down the path again. Two weeks later, though, the problems resurfaced. Key guests were not invited to the events and unwanted guests were invited. By this time, it appeared doubtful to me that the employee was capable of doing the work and that I was looking at the potential failure of the three.

My first reaction was to call the employee into my office and to terminate her, at least from this area of responsibility, and to consider reassigning her. However, I decided that if I were really serious about wanting to lead according to The Beatitudes, then I would have to control the discipline and see what might be going on behind the scenes. Surprisingly, the employee called me and asked to talk with me about her performance. When the employee entered my office, it was clear that something was not right. The employee apologized for poor performance and explained that for the past three

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months the employee’s home life had been, and continued to be, in turmoil. The employee’s spouse was talking about leaving the family and tempers at home were high. Their two children were becoming problematic as a reaction to all the trouble between the parents.

I realized during the conversation that this Beatitude on controlled discipline was directly tied to the Beatitude about mourning. Had I been more attuned to this employee’s demeanor and behavior in the office, I might have recognized the characteristics of deeper problems and I would have intervened earlier and discussed workloads and assignments. While I may not have been able to help the home situation, I could have restructured assignments, thus, reducing the added burden of working on a high-profile assignment. The risk of failure on the project only added to the problems that the employee faced. Here, I had contributed to the problem and, had I acted outside of The Beatitudes, I might have fired the employee for incompetence all the time feeling that I was a good leader for not tolerating her poor performance.

The poor performance in this situation was my own poor leadership of not being aware of the condition of my flock. At least, by exercising controlled discipline and seeking to understand, I prevented myself from making a terrible leadership mistake and from making this employee’s life worse. We did shift duties, and eventually the problems worked out to the good of all those involved.

How Do Leaders Control Discipline?

So how will you exhibit controlled discipline as a leader? Are you like Jesus in the temple chasing out cattle and sheep, or like Moses leading the Hebrews out of Egypt, or, are you

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like Bruce Winston riding a big horse across the Nebraska Sand Hills?

First, understand that as a leader you have power, power to reward, to punish, to promote, to ignore, to provide resources, or not to provide resources. Followers know this and fear their leaders out of concern for what happens when leaders engage in uncontrolled discipline.

Discipline is for correction and reproof, not for punishment. Discipline begins with patience as depicted in Proverbs 14:29 (NIV): “A patient man has great understanding but a quick-tempered man displays folly.” This proverb helps us see that understanding results from patience, and it is this understanding that helps the leader know what discipline to give. In most of the situations I encountered along my journey to become an agapao leader, I have found that the most often-needed form of discipline is instruction. Usually, problems occur because of a lack of knowledge or skill on the part of the follower. The next most common form of discipline that I have found is a reduction in workload to allow the employee to work through some problem outside of the job. The problem may include personal health issues or family emotional issues. Few of us can perform at peak levels when we are physically ill or wrestling with family problems. Punishing an employee because he or she is physically ill won’t do much to improve the long-term performance of the employee.

In another instance, I once had an employee who wasn’t producing at the desired level. I talked with the employee and found out that the employee wasn’t feeling well and could not maintain a full day’s work for more than two days. I asked what the doctors said and the employee informed me that she had not seen a doctor and believed that the matter

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was a spiritual matter that she had to accept. My discipline for her was to require her to see a doctor and to continue to see doctors until all physical reasons for her problems had been removed.

I am certainly not opposed to the need to work through a spiritual matter, but I wanted to make sure that all physical causes of the problem had been removed. Several weeks later the employee had surgery to fix the physical problem, and after her recovery she returned to full workloads. I agree that this is not the typical MBA-textbook example of discipline, but then I don’t think most MBA programs teach agapao leadership!

There are times when the employee plays a greater role in the problem. In addition, poor performance can come from being in the wrong work situation or in a situation of incorrect levels of supervision.

The situational leadership model developed by Hersey and Blanchard (1982), tells us that, based on two levels (high and low), of (1) a person’s knowledge of a task and (2) willingness to perform the task, there are four leadership styles that can be used – one for each of the four conditions. If you have an employee who is in a situation that doesn’t fit your leadership style, then the discipline is either for you to change your style, or for you to help the employee get into a different situation.

W. E. Deming, who was instrumental in helping the Japanese become a world-class manufacturing country, referenced the 85-15 principle. This principle says that 85 percent of employee problems are caused by the system, which is the responsibility of the leadership. Employees

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cause the other 15 percent of the problems. But what about the employee who doesn’t seem to care at all?

If the employee doesn’t care because he or she is in the wrong job, then the leader has the responsibility to help the employee to find a new job. If the employee just doesn’t care, or if rebellion is at the base of the problem, and no system-related cause can be found, then the employee should be removed from the workplace, but removed in such a manner that there is dignity for the employee and sufficient financial support to find a new position. This “severance” support varies depending on the employee’s job position, the current job market and geographical location. The focus of the severance package is to help and encourage the employee to get started somewhere else.

The Leader with Control

Consider the leader who possesses controlled discipline. He or she never flies off the handle, yells, or shouts. This leader always remains in control of his or her faculties, holds to, and never compromises, those values in order to get the next promotion or to get the client’s next big order. People see this leader as a rock of strength and controlled energy, unflappable in the midst of confusion and frustration. The meek leader is someone in whom employees can confide because he or she never strikes back even when others are critical.

Imagine working for a leader like this. Would you give your all for this leader? Would you go the extra mile without being asked? Most employees would.

Blessed are the meek leaders, for their controlled discipline will result in inheriting the earth.

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Selah

Take a few minutes to think about a time when a leader for whom you worked, demonstrated controlled discipline. What was your reaction to the leader before and after the situation?

Has there been a time when you reacted and disciplined in an uncontrolled manner? In your opinion, what was the result?

If you have followers who are willing to openly talk to you, ask them to point out past instances of uncontrolled and controlled discipline and have them explain to you how your behavior affected all the followers.

Be brave. It won’t be the easiest thing that you have ever done, but it will be one of the best things that you’ve ever done as a leader!