By Dan Reiland

My father-in-law was a Master Chief in the Navy and I always enjoy listening to his stories of leadership of times at peace and times at war. I have great respect for his ability to lead up, down, and across.

If you know anything about the United States Navy, you will know that the Master Chiefs are the ones that make it all happen at a grass-roots level. My dad was an officer in the Navy and confirms the same thing! I'd go farther and say that the Master Chiefs run the Navy, but I don't want to offend the officers too quickly!

The fact is that a good Naval Officer, from an Ensign to an Admiral, recognizes the incredible value of a seasoned Master Chief and therefore backs him up 100%. A Master Chief can be responsible for hundreds of men and carries tremendous responsibility, but they are not rated as officers. They are the highest of the enlisted ranks. Master Chiefs must become experts not only at leading the men and women they are responsible for, but also leading up to influence and serve the officers that command them.

In the strict command-and-obey culture of the military, it requires great skill to influence and get the job done. Further, a Master Chief must learn to get along with and be a positive influence on other equally ranking Master Chiefs. Bottom line -- even in the culture of our U.S. military where it seems like the lines of authority are clean and clear, it is not enough to be a one-directional leader.

In the church, it's even more complicated, because there is no command-and-obey culture with staff, and there certainly isn't with volunteers. In today's church culture (and business as well), if you want to add value and make a difference as a leader, leading only downward isn't enough.

Let me give you a quote from John Maxwell's new book, The 360° Leader.

"These are classic pictures of leadership: William Wallace leading the charge of his warriors against the army that would oppress his people and him. Winston Churchill defying the Nazi threat as much of Europe collapsed. Mahatma Gandhi leading the two-hundred-mile march to the sea to protest the Salt Act. Mary Kay Ash going off on her own to create a world-class organization. Martin Luther King, Jr. standing before the Lincoln Memorial challenging the nation with his dream of reconciliation.

Each of these people was a great leader and impacted hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people. Yet these pictures can also be misleading. The reality is that 99 percent of all leadership occurs not from the top but from the middle of an organization. Usually an organization has only one person who is the leader. So what do you do if you are not that one person?"

Knowing the percentages, I can say that there is a good possibility that you are not the senior pastor of your church. And if you are, you know that while you may be "the" leader, you don't make it happen by yourself. In fact, there are many other leaders who help you make progress in the missional endeavors of your church.

I write this article with passion and based on personal experience. For twenty-five years I have served at what has become a calling - as "number two" in a local church setting. I know what it's like to sit on both sides of the desk. I have always served and followed at least one leader, and simultaneously lead dozens, hundreds, and indirectly influenced thousands of other people. If you are like me and lead from somewhere other than "the point" you need to digest what it means to be a 360° leader. If you haven't purchased a copy of John's book, you will serve yourself well to get a copy soon.

John opens his new book with seven myths about leading from the middle of an organization. As I reflected on my younger years in leadership, I can think of when I believed nearly all of these myths at one time or another. Let me give you three of them.

Myth #1 The Position Myth: "I can't lead if I am not at the top."

Myth #3 The Influence Myth: "If I were on top, then people would follow me."

Myth #5 The Freedom Myth: "When I get to the top, I'll no longer be limited."

Now I smile at these myths and the others, but there was a day when those thoughts were alive and well in my heart and mind. Please hear me, John is right, these are myths. Don't let yourself be held hostage to that which is not true. You don't have to wait to lead, lead now right from where you are.

In the following three sections I will barely scratch the surface of leading up, down, and across, but I pray this will help get you thinking in the right direction.

* Leading up

Leading up may seem like the most difficult realm of the 360° leader, and at times it can be, but it is often most rewarding. When you bring positive influence to your first chair, you change a larger scope of the organization. Leading up well begins by leading yourself well. Don't attempt to guide the person above you if you can't find your own way. Find consistency in your personal disciplines and character. Also, do your job well first. I am surprised at people who want to "fix" the person above them but haven't yet conquered their own responsibilities. Let the person above you know that you genuinely want to help them and the organization. Go the extra mile to provide solutions (and personal energy to implement the solutions), not just identify problems.

* Leading down

You've got to show people that you care. Your title doesn't matter, it doesn't matter how good you are, and yesterday's successes don't matter. People want to know if you care about them today. The people who report to you will follow you more readily of their own free will if you treat them with a vision of who they can become rather than who they currently are. In other words, see each person as a potential and continued success. Place people in their strength zones and help them flourish in their sweet spots as much as possible. Invest, invest, invest. I can't over-emphasize the importance of developing those you lead. Unless you lead a very small company, a company of one (you), developing other people is your most important responsibility.

* Leading across

Leaders rarely think about leading their peers. We more often think about those relationships in terms of friendship with the people we like, and how to get along with (or get away from!) the people we don't like. This is a short-sighted view, because there is no such thing as neutral when it comes to leadership. One of you is leading the other! This is not about competition, it's about reality. In great work environments there is give and take among peers about who is doing the influencing in any given moment. The person with the greatest contribution according to the circumstance is the one to lead in the moment. The ability to pull this off is based on key relational aspects like trust, honesty, absence of office politics, and doing your best to make the other person look good. If you are more concerned about helping the team win than getting the credit, you'll be amazed at what can be accomplished. And you'll be a better leader for it.

Lead on!