The Greatest Threat To Greatness

Today we have a guest post from fellow blogger and author Michael Holmes, of the blog I Shall Raise Thee Up. He is reviewing one of my favorite businesss authors and a long-time friend (not really), Jim Collins . Let’s give a warm STC-welcome for Michael! (Vigorous handshake as Michael steps up to the blog post):

Jim Collins in his book How the Mighty Fall paints a very vivid picture of how easy it is for a company (or any organization for that matter) to slip from greatness into demise. It’s a very eye-opening account of the enemy that seeks to destroy leaders and what they have built.

No one is exempt from this threat.

Great nations like Egypt, Greece, the Chou Dynasty, Rome, and Britain weren’t exempt from it. Great companies like Bank of America, Lehman Brothers, Bear Sterns, and MySpace weren’t exempt from it. Even ministries that touch the world aren’t exempt from it. It can any attack any leader, anywhere, at anytime, and only a few escape its lure.

So what is it??

It’s as old as the world itself: Pride.

Pride=Fall

What amazed me about Collins’ research is that all of the companies he profiled appeared to be unstoppable. They had attained a high level of success. They weathered the storms of the start-up phase, remained true to a core purpose, served their customers well, and constantly found better ways to serve. But somewhere along the way they got more concerned about growth: doubling revenues, tripling market share, acquisitions, mergers, growth, growth, growth, and more growth!

And with that success and growth came arrogance. “We’re here because we’re better than everybody else!”

Pride was the main cause of MySpace’s downfall. You do remember MySpace, don’t you? At one point it was the most popular site in the US. It was so monumental that it became a launching pad for other entrepreneurs and their companies–in fact companies like Slide.com, RockYou!, and YouTube were all launched on Myspace. Since then it has been on a steady decline: being eclipsed by Facebook, management instability (with their recent CEO stepping down after less than a year), decreasing revenue, and massive layoffs.

The destructive force of pride is mind-boggling! That is why God went to such great lengths to warn us:

“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall. Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud.” (Proverbs 16:18-19 New King James Version)

“Pride lands you flat on your face; humility prepares you for honors.” (Proverbs 29:23 The Message)

“It’s common knowledge that ‘God goes against the willful proud; [but] God gives grace to the willing humble.'” (James 4:6 The Message)

The antidote to pride

The effects of pride have never changed but neither has its antidote.

The cure to pride is this: humility.

In Collins’ book, those companies that did return to greatness did it through:

A change in leadership
A re-commitment to service
An attitude of humility

Humility is a necessity in leadership. The best ways to find humility is through service. That’s why Jesus said:

“You know that in this world kings are tyrants, and officials lord it over the people beneath them. But among you it should be quite different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must become your slave.” (Matthew 20: 25-27 New Living Translation)

That’s why God takes such a LONG time in developing His leaders! He cares more about character than your career.

He knows how important character is in leadership–because its lack will ultimately cause the downfall of a nation, a company, a ministry, a group, and a person.

Have you seen arrogance lead to a downfall?

Have you seen humility lead to greatness?

Tell us your stories!