When Iron Sharpens Iron: How Great Leaders Grow

— by Dan Owolabi

“I have no one. I do this by myself.”

A few years ago, I traveled across the world to ask one person one question. I had taken the long drive, and even longer plane ride, to sit in Abonzo Coffee. Abonzo was a sprawling, chic coffee shop with an incredible view of the foggy Doi Chiang mountains outside of Chiang Rai, Thailand. I was there to meet Pat, a young, ambitious, faith-driven entrepreneur. I had heard about him a few months before and was eager to hear his story. Born just a few miles from where we were sitting, Pat’s story was nothing less than impressive. He showed me the impoverished village where he grew up. He shared how he found his way to college then to seminary to be a pastor, only to quit to start a business brewing and exporting coffee.

He laughed about the negative reaction of his seminary professors when he quit and about his initial lack of business experience. But despite objections from mentors and initial challenges, Pat persisted in his belief that entrepreneurship could be an incredible way to expand God’s Kingdom in his community. The way he treated his customers, employees, and suppliers mattered. Providing employment and introducing people to Jesus through natural, healthy relationships mattered.

Since then, Pat had invested nearly a decade of his life to build Abonzo coffee shop and a thriving business around it. When he started, he never would have guessed that God would lead him to export coffee all over the world, do millions of dollars in business, become the #1 tourist destination in his region, or employ more people than anyone else in his community. He was thrilled at how God had worked through him.

After he shared his story, I thanked him. Then I raised the question I had traveled across the world to ask. I said, “Pat, you have invested so much into your community… But who invests in you? Who sharpens you?”

He looked at me for a long moment, then his eyes lowered in sadness. “I have no one. I do this by myself.”

In my work with Branches Worldwide, I have met incredible faith-driven entrepreneurs all over the globe. Each of them has a story of a strong call from God, overcoming odds, and building a business that is a significant blessing in his/her community. But when I ask, “Who sharpens you? Where are your peers and mentors? Who invests in you?” I repeatedly hear the same answer: “No one. I do this by myself.”

We Are Better Together

It’s self-evident that leaders can accomplish more together. Like hot campfire coals, we burn hotter when we stay close to each other. But why do so many of us end up leading alone? Jesus is our ultimate example of leadership, and he strategically steered away from the temptation to lead alone. In fact, he spent extra time cultivating close relationships with Peter, James, and John in order to bring them into his inner circle. And as he approached his most difficult day on earth, Jesus pulled these three disciples closer in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus did not attempt to lead in isolation. Matthew 26 documents Jesus saying, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” Jesus essentially said, “Stay close to me. I don’t want to do this alone.” He understood the dangers of isolation, and He leaned on his inner circle during critical, vulnerable moments in His ministry.

I have come to see isolation as a powerful temptation that cripples even the best leaders. But isolation is inherently different from loneliness. You and I may have loving family and friends that help us feel socially connected. But the absence of peers who understand our unique challenges in leadership or mentors who can empathize, leaves us vulnerable to fatal leadership mistakes. When you and I are isolated, we make poorer decisions, experience more stress, and develop an increasingly inaccurate view of the world.

Even in light of the apparent pitfalls, isolation remains a significant temptation. This is primarily because isolation allows leaders to maintain an illusion of control. We can easily avoid uncomfortable conversations when employees rarely give unvarnished feedback on our leadership or when our boards are disengaged in our day-to-day performance. So, when we make decisions, set goals, and create systems apart from a community of high-capacity peers, we can easily avoid accountability, sidestep taking responsibility for poor choices, and stop challenging ourselves to be better. In isolation, we can control the narrative. We don’t have to be honest about facts, and we can evaluate ourselves based on our intentions, rather than our actual impact on others.

But most leaders don’t intend to avoid the companionship of other leaders. In fact, they may desire honest feedback from others. They may long for the freedom to speak without a filter, to share new, unprocessed thoughts, and to unload the burdens of leadership on one or two trusted peers. However, the fear of vulnerability, overcrowded schedules, or the inability to identify other high-capacity peers nearby leads them to drift into isolation. And the deeper they drift, the more ineffective they become.

Great Problems and Good Friends

God rarely calls leaders to accomplish His work in isolation.

The most significant challenges of any generation have always demanded the collective wisdom of committed, courageous, and creative followers of Jesus. We are better together.

In addition, God created leaders to posit solutions and solve problems. By design, the best of us yearns for significant challenges to tackle. My Thai friend, Pat, was troubled by the poverty plaguing his community. In response, he quit seminary and decided to start a faith-driven business—an ingenious solution that has given him a platform to communicate his faith and an economic engine to alleviate poverty. Pat believes what many believe… that at the foundation of our faith is the idea that Christ is working through us to redeem the world.

Our faith animates our work, compelling us to ask God to apply our best efforts to the world’s worst issues.

We long to immerse ourselves in the most perplexing challenges of our day—the greatest problems of our generation—because we know the work itself will serve so many and bring out our best in the process.

But I believe God has reserved the most significant blessings for individuals that tackle great problems with good friends. The camaraderie, intensity, and satisfaction that come from these relationships can be found nowhere else. The creative energy and uniquely potent solutions benefit everyone involved in an endeavor. Proverbs 27:17 reminds us that, “Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” Great leaders grow when they have sharpened each other for the work God has called them to. When iron sharpens iron, sparks fly, and the world is richly blessed.

Branches Worldwide is advancing a solution rooted in God’s design for how great leaders grow. We believe the faith-driven leaders of this next generation will solve bigger problems, do better work, and bring more honor to Christ… only when they are supported and sharpened in relationships with other high caliber, faith-driven leaders. That’s why we inaugurated an initiative to build a community of 30 individuals from 30 countries and invest in them for 30 years.

The 30 Leaders

Our 30.30.30 initiative started with the desire to serve the leaders who were serving their neighbors. We looked for people dedicated to solving pressing economic and spiritual challenges in their communities. We were careful to identify and invite men and women who loved Jesus and were already engaged in extraordinary work in the Kingdom.

Early in the process, we decided to focus on experienced leaders within the business community. Entrepreneurs have immense potential to impact a community. As natural change agents with hundreds of connections, these leaders are often closest to the heartbeat of the community. They know what’s working, what’s broken, and how to fix it.

Finally, we focused on Millennials. We looked for young leaders between the ages of 25-40, not only because we wanted natural affinity between leaders, but we also wanted men and women with three decades of leadership potential ahead of them.

When Iron Sharpens Iron, Sparks Fly

Leaders are sharpened by each other. But as it is with traditional metalworking, skill, intentionality, and patience are required to bring the best results. As sharpening is much more than two knives rapidly, haphazardly clanging together, genuine leadership development is more than short-term, unfocused training.

Often leadership training is a short-term endeavor, dedicated to adding new competencies to an individual. A leader could be trained in more effective ways to develop employees, for example, or on new methods for delegating more effectively. When we launched Branches Worldwide, we believed that faith-driven leaders would be best sharpened and developed by long-term relationships that contained three strategic elements: Support, Information, and Challenge. These three elements not only compel leaders to develop new competencies, but they also change a leader’s mindset and mental model. As Branches identifies and invests in leaders around the world, we are building a community rooted in Christ, focused on providing support, information, and challenge. Let’s explore each element, one by one.

Challenge:

When we invite leaders to join Branches Worldwide, we ask them to identify significant challenges they want to solve within three years. We ask each leader to pray about ambitious three-year goals that are God honoring, community serving, and personally challenging.

These goals are critical to our relationship with the leader, because pursuit of those goals inevitably places them in situations where they cannot make decisions with their current patterns of thinking. Once they face new and significant challenges, their minds are open to better and improved ways to lead. The challenge initiates the need for the remaining two elements.

Information:

Access to information about how to navigate new leadership challenges is critical to the development of the leader. Sometimes people are motivated to tackle a challenge, but they simply need more information. They need the exact words to say, steps to take, or book to read. Branches leaders have access to resources that can give them that information.

When an entrepreneur joins Branches, they join a community of faith-driven leaders from 30 countries around the world. These varied perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds provide the primary source of information. They are also exposed to books, videos, and workshops which invite them to alter their existing mindsets and apply new methods to existing challenges. Finally, they are invited to share their knowledge and experience with other Branches leaders in order to codify their own areas of expertise.

Support:

When leaders feel appreciated and valued beyond their ability to produce results, a fertile ground for creative ingenuity is fostered. For this reason, Branches Worldwide makes a unique promise to each leader. We will walk with them for 30 years. Practically speaking, that means Branches is committed to supporting them for the duration of their career. As long as they are committed to building a faith-driven business to bless their communities, we are committed to them. Each leader is paired with a mentor who is dedicated to his/her success.

The sense of support this gives to entrepreneurs is immeasurable. They are free to try to tackle challenges, to fail, to learn, and to try again. The network of high-capacity peers, mentors, and consultants around the world serves the function described in Proverbs 11:14: “Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.” These leaders regularly tap into a community that is there to support them with suggestions, prayer, and perspective. The result of this kind of support are leaders who readily integrate new practices and develop a larger, more advanced worldview.

Ultimately, Branches Worldwide is dedicated to seeing communities transformed by the influence of faith-driven entrepreneurs. We believe relationships rooted in Christ and focused on providing challenge, support, and information are essential to sharpening high-capacity leaders. We anticipate that our long-term, goal-oriented, relationship-driven approach will help Branches leaders develop the wisdom to choose the right strategies as well as the correct skills to implement them.

What’s Next:

When we started Branches Worldwide, we had three primary challenges: finding leaders, facilitating community, and funding our work. Since that first plane trip to visit Pat in Thailand, we have solved many of those early problems. As Covid-19 gave the world the gift of Zoom, our leaders have been able to develop the initial roots of relationships through virtual prayer meetings. We have learned how to find the right leaders and invite them to join our community. And we’re thrilled by the robust community of donors and business partnerships who help fund our work. But we know our work is not done.

Leaders need the loving perspective and face-to-face sharpening that close accountability provides.

As we look forward to the day when travel is easier and Covid-19 is behind us, we are planning opportunities for mentors and leaders to meet in person. We know 30 years is a long time, and we’re building our community of leaders to be sharp and ready for the challenges God asks us to tackle together.

Since that day with Pat in Chiang Rai, I have prayed for a day when our 30 Branches leaders are asked, “Who sharpens you?”

And the answer will be, “I have Branches Worldwide. I do not do this by myself.”

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Article originally hosted and shared with permission by The Christian Economic Forum, a global network of leaders who join together to collaborate and introduce strategic ideas for the spread of God’s economic principles and the goodness of Jesus Christ. This article was from a collection of White Papers compiled for attendees of the CEF’s Global Event.

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