Christianity and the 5th Disc. LO9178

Granade, Ben (bgranade@customcpu.com)
Fri, 16 Aug 1996 08:35:51 -0800

Replying to LO9093 --Benjamin B. Compton ("Ben") writes

>In the Bible I find at least three different types of spiritual people
>(excluding all those the Bible records as "wicked"):
>
>1) Seers (Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, John the Revelator, etc.)
>2) Prophets (Moses, Elijah, John the Baptist, etc.)
>3) Followers
<snip>
>Followers, in my opinion, will choke an organization to death. Especially
>given the global competitive environment and the rapid changes brought on
>by the knowledge era. We need prophets and seers at every level of the
>organization.
>
>Followers, in my opinion, are like the children of Israel, whose faith was
>a fickle as the weather, and who had a hard time staying committed.
>
>Any comments?

Ben, I think you missed a most important type of spiritual person. For
lack of a better term I'll call them "the believers". In organizational
terms, they are the advocates and change agents that translate the vision
into action. Their work helps to channel the followers into productive
work. They are the platoon leaders that motivate the foot soldiers, the
lay leaders that help create values and establish norms. They are the
middle managers, supervisors and team leaders that provide the conduit and
translation skills that take the words of the seers and prophets to the
farthest edges of the organization.

-- 

Ben Granade, CQA bgranade@customcpu.com Management Analysis Officer, OMB (907) 343-4554 Municipality of Anchorage fax: (907) 343-4110 P.O. Box 196650 Anchorage, Alaska 99519-6650

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