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Leadership During a Crisis

Last week I had the opportunity to participate in a Zoom meeting with the president of Samford University Dr. Westmoreland on the topic of leadership. He gave seven principles for managing through a crisis:

  1. Take a deep breath. Pause, reflect, relax, and think before you act. Even a few seconds of deep breaths can calm and center your thoughts leading to better decisions.
  2. Establish priorities. Crises require triage to be sure the important things get done and in the right order.
  3. Filter the clutter. Separate the speculative from the informative. Facts are your friends in an emergency.
  4. Take care of your people and yourself. Set limits on your work, a curfew for your emails, establish boundaries, and get needed rest.
  5. Guard your cash. This applies personally and professionally. In an economic crisis, limit spending to the absolutely necessary.
  6. Don’t quit. Even when your reserves are low, your mood depressed, you hope nearly shot, and your nerves frayed, keep going.
  7. Begin and end each day with Colossians 1:17. “He is before all things and in Him all things hold together.” Connect with your faith and operate with the knowledge that many things are beyond your control or ability to repair.

Were I to add an 8th principle, I would include Matthew 5:3, “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.” To be poor in spirit is to have our hearts broken by the things that break God’s heart. To hold loosely the material things of this world in recognition that from dust we come and to dust we will return. To recognize our limitations, weaknesses, and failures. To acknowledge our need for help. To admit when we are wrong and ask for forgiveness. To be humble enough to recognize our complete dependence on God, and thereby strong enough to lead and act with wisdom, compassion, and justice.

Juggling the twin crises of coronavirus and racial violence, I suspect that the easiest parts of both are behind us. When camaraderie fades into frustration and solidarity slips into selfishness the complexities of leadership will multiply. May God give us the wisdom and strength to lead with poverty of spirit and perseverance.

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Racial Violence in America

Dear SouthLake Christian Family,

We have spent the past few months together coping with the impact of the coronavirus. As we begin to celebrate the end of the semester and enjoy the summer, we now face once again the tragic specter racial violence in America. Today I grieve with you, and in particular with people of color in the SouthLake community, over the sin of racism and its deadly consequences. Recent events, including the Amy Cooper video in Central Park and the horrific deaths of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and George Floyd, serve as dreadful reminders that racial injustice is rooted deeply in our nation’s history and continues to plague our communities.

Let me say unequivocally that racism and racial inequality are contrary to the Gospel of Jesus Christ upon which SouthLake was founded. From cover to cover, the Bible speaks clearly on matters of human dignity and justice. All people are created in God’s image and we are called to love each other as we love ourselves. The priests and prophets of the Old Testament implored God’s people to do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God. Jesus Christ modeled love of neighbor, showing compassion to the marginalized and speaking truth to those in power, even asking God to forgive those who unjustly took his life. In the closing pages of Scripture, we see a glimpse of the end of history, when people from every nation, tribe, people, and language will stand together in unified worship and reverence before God. As a Christian school, we must denounce unjust systems and behaviors not because it is the fashionable or politically correct thing to do, but because it is right thing to do.

I thank God for the community leaders, teachers, and first responders whose jobs have been unimaginably difficult in recent days. I pray that together we would lead in ways consistent with the mandates of Scripture and the best ideals of our nation. As SouthLake’s Head of School, I pray for God’s wisdom to lead in ways that honor the image of God in each of you while seeing the sin and brokenness in myself. I ask that all members of the SouthLake Christian family pray, reflect, and seek ways to create a more just and equitable school, community, and nation.

In Christ,

Matthew S. Kerlin, Head of School

Bible Race