Welcome to the Table
Welcome to the Table
Leaders—especially in today’s world—must seek permission from followers in order to lead them. We must invite people in. We must welcome them to the table. We must create conditions in which people want to be led.
“Leaders must create conditions in which people want to be led.”
Biographer Jean Edward Smith recounts an incident during the Second World War when General George Marshall was resistant to a military action President Franklin Roosevelt wanted taken. Roosevelt, America’s longest-serving president, had an instinctive awareness of what the American people wanted. Though he ultimately would make decisions based on what he believed was in the best interests of those he led—as any leader should—he knew that if he paid attention to public opinion and led in tandem with the will of the people, his decisions would bring a better result.
The president pushed General Marshall to take action that he believed Americans would support, as opposed to the strategy Marshall wanted to pursue from a purely military perspective. Roosevelt prevailed, the action was taken, and the results were effective and historic.
Much later, General Marshall confessed that he had in fact been wrong in his leadership approach. With new insight he said, “We failed to see that the leader in a democracy has to keep the people entertained.”1 In ways obvious and subtle, hospitable leaders “entertain” those we lead—or want to lead.
It is simply easier to influence people who have been welcomed to the table.
A famous example of this is when Jesus fed the five thousand. You know the story: Jesus was in a town on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, and a huge crowd came to see Him. He welcomed them. Jesus was concerned that they didn’t have anything to eat. He took a little bit of food, enough for one little boy, and multiplied it into a whole lot of food—enough for more than five thousand people. Characteristic of the hospitality of Jesus, there were even leftovers.
That night Jesus got into a boat with His disciples (actually walked on the water to the boat) and sailed to another town on the Galilean shore. The next morning the crowd “realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, [and] they got into the boats and went in search of Jesus.”
Note, they went searching for Him. You know you are leading well when people are searching for you! When they found Him, Jesus told them He knew they were only looking for Him because they knew He could feed them. But now that they were there, He could talk about what He really wanted to talk about: “Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life.” He then announced that He was the bread of life and that whoever believed in Him would never be hungry again.
The meal he fed the five thousand was more than a meal; it was not really about the fish and bread.
I have no doubt that Jesus was terribly concerned about the physical hunger of the people. He was hospitable in their need. But with Jesus, dinner was usually about more than dinner. Now that He had their attention, He could lead them to more than they knew they needed. He could say what really needed to be said. He could exercise influence.
The people could have gone wherever they wanted to that morning. But because he had “entertained” them, they were engaged at the level of their will and they went looking for Him. Now He could offer them something more than breakfast—He could offer them the Bread of Life.
Hospitality provided a pathway for Jesus to move His mission forward, and to offer the people more than they had ever dreamed of. Hospitality creates environments for people and dreams to flourish.
What have you done to welcome people to your “table”? Drop a comment and share your story.
1 Jean Edward Smith, Eisenhower: In War and Peace (New York: Random House, 2012), 216
Adapted from The Hospitable Leader (Baker Publishing Group) by Terry A. Smith. All rights reserved.
Want to know more about this kind of leadership? I’ve identified “5 Welcomes of Hospitality” based on the primary leadership methodology of Jesus. I’d like for you to have them as my gift to you. Download your FREE copy of “The 5 Welcomes of Hospitality” today.
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