Lead without God … You Must Be Kidding!

Paula faced the group of men dressed to impress and intimidate with their immaculately tailored executive looks - suits in shades of corporate grays and business browns. Some of them exuded an air of impatience. Some wore an expression of boredom on their faces. A few had shot back their cuffs, looking at their watches; and many, openly evidenced their desire to be anywhere other than in this session. After all, what could a pair of Bible-toting island girls tell them what they hadn’t heard already? She almost giggled out aloud as a ridiculous phrase came to her, “a pair of foot stomping, Bible thumping, religious coconuts…” She pulled herself up sharply. Cut to the chase, she thought, an ice-breaker would only be met with heavy frowns, an unwelcomed prolongation of the presentation. She and Claudia had prayed, as they always did before each presentation, and she was assured of the faithful presence of the Holy Spirit to provide an inspired interjection if needed. She was confident about what they had to share – it was solid advice, cultivated from gritty experiences that had no gender bias. She and Claudia extemporized a version of their usual prayer, “God we will sow, and water if needed; and your Holy Spirit will show up to provide the increase.” She took a deep breath and plunged in, “Recently, I had an interesting conversation with an avid gardener friend of mine whose specialty is growing roses.” A look of exasperation from some of the men, “Bear with me; this story does have a point,” she said. “Maybe it will help if you know that my friend was a business man, pretty similar to many of you, a CEO of a Fortune 500 company. He grew roses as a hobby- a way to relax and unwind from the stress and pressures of the job. And it didn’t hurt to have something to give to the ladies. ” That got a few polite smiles. Tough crowd, she thought, but she plowed on courageously. “My friend has roses of all shapes, sizes and colors in his garden but there always comes a time when he has to make the tough decision to prune these beautiful flowers, and sometimes when they are in all their full and glorious bloom. I asked him why this was necessary. They are so beautiful, so ornamental I exclaimed.” “Well, he shook his head and explained that it must be done because even the most beautiful flowers will become a menace and a threat to the entire garden if they are not pruned. He admitted that he waits as long as he can to prune, and it does hurt to cut back such beautiful plants, but if he did not do this, it would cause further damage to the entire structure. However, sometimes the difficult and painful things you occasionally must do are often the most important for nurturing development and growth.”