Long-view Leadership, Part One: Long-view vs. short-view

I’m no leadership guru. I’m not even a leadership junkie. Most of the reading I’ve done on leadership has been for academic research. Or to seek out solutions for our organization. Call me simple, but my capacity to absorb “revolutionary tips for transformative change” has a pretty low threshold. And I don’t have much patience with Christian resources that seem to be driven more by marketing than by Scripture. That said, God has graciously allowed me to stumble on some life-altering principles along the way. I call it Long View Leadership.

What is long-view leadership?

To state the obvious, long-view leadership stands in contrast with short-view leadership. Long-view leaders look up and out while short-view leaders tend to look down. Long-view leaders proactively plan for the future. Short-view leaders tend to react to current events and trends. Long-view leaders strive for multigenerational success – like David in 1 Chronicles 22[1]. Short-view leaders think in terms of the here and now, making leadership about them – like Hezekiah in 2 Kings 20:16-19[2]. As human beings, God has created us with the capacity to think ahead and plan for the future. But many times, we fail to leverage that skill fully.

A stark contrast

Here are a few examples contrasting these two approaches. A short-view commander only sees the next battle; a long-view commander plans ahead to win the war. A short-view CEO measures success purely by results during his or her tenure; a long-view CEO seeks to build a company that will thrive after he or she is gone.[3] A short-view pastor grows people dependent on himself; a long-view pastor prepares his people to stand on their own. A short-view parent focuses on just surviving until the college years; a long-view parent seeks to prepare children to eventually succeed as parents themselves. While short-view leadership does have some value and be useful, long-view leadership has so much greater potential.

Deep down, we all want our work to endure – whether it be in the home, the workplace, the church, or the world at large. Something within us longs for significance. Believers cry out with Moses, “Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!” (Psalm 90:17) We instinctively know that only God, the eternal One, can make this happen. “Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.” (Psalm 127:1). Without the blessing of God, even our hardest labors fall flat and our sincerest efforts to lead will fizzle out with a whimper.

Living within our limitations

Realistically, we know from Ecclesiastes, that our lasting influence on this world will be limited no matter what we do. This realization humbles us, putting us in our proper place. God is eternal and our life on earth is brief. But we also understand from Scripture that God can redeem our toil – both in this life and for the life to come. As we seek to serve him, he promises to bless our efforts to plan and prepare for the long-term.

But what does long-view leadership look like? And how does a person become a long-view leader? In the next three articles, I would like to present three principles of long-view leadership for consideration.

[1] David did everything in his power to prepare for the building of the temple, even after God denied him the privilege of building it himself.

[2] One of the most revealing verses in the Bible occurs after Isaiah pronounces God’s judgment on Judah: Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the LORD that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Why not, if there will be peace and security in my days?” (2 Kings 20:19).

[3] This ambition to build a lasting legacy partially defines the Level 5 Leader identified by Jim Collins in his classic business book Good to Great. Jim Collins, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap… and Others Don’t (New York: HarperBusiness, 2001), Chapter 2.

Photo by Liuba Kotorobay on Unsplash