How to Become the Message, Not Just the Messenger

What’s a preacher man got to do with it?

It’s a fine line. You know, the tightrope that many pastors find themselves walking. They have the tricky job of navigating how to deliver the Gospel message in a way that inspires people to follow Christ, yet not so inspiring that people follow them instead of Christ. A gifted preacher (presenter/speaker) can get a room full of people lifted off their seats, and flying out of the service with a new fire about something. Contrary to that, a dull preacher can have people doodling on the service program.

Both preachers in this example have an equally difficult job in my opinion, albeit using some very different natural skill sets. That job is getting their audience to focus on the message, and applying the message to their lives. The same applies to rallying your troops in business.

So, you’re not a pastor – but you are a leader. As a leader in the business world, your results are often completely dependent on the execution of those you lead. Now you’re on the tightrope!

The Crowd Favorite

Perhaps you’re that dynamic leader. You dress right, walk right and talk right. People are inspired by you and who you are. When you talk, people listen. You’re engaging. You are the one with the great stories, pulled out of your back pocket at a moment’s notice. You can engage and entertain a room. But, are people fans of you at the expense of your message? How do you make people followers of the message, and not just fans of you, the messenger. I realize this goes against everything society is trying to teach us now, where with a few viral pics or videos we can become Insta-famous, or You Tube famous. We live in a society where the goal is getting “likes.” We are taught to accumulate, count, and bathe in the glory of all those “likes” regardless of whether or not the “likes” are real and genuine, or they were an effortless click of a mouse button that seemed nice to do. But, is that really what we’re after? As a business person, is that really producing an effect of having your team push for what you need done? If the point of a message is to deliver useful information that causes people to take action, then isn’t it more important that the people receiving the message are excited to take the implied or stated action? Do we just leave it at “likes” and not look at the end result? Isn’t it easier for me to continue to ask questions, instead of providing any practical insight? Yes, yes, it is. But, we’ll get to the practical. For now, at least, I assume you’re questioning yourself.

So we know that dynamic communicators will tend to have an easier time motivating their teams. Think of head coaches in their respective locker rooms at halftime. One coach goes into their locker room and delivers a speech that rivals William Wallace’s famous rally in Braveheart. The other coach goes into the other locker room and sounds like Ben Stein marketing eye drops. Both playbooks stay the same and both sets of personnel stay the same, but clearly one team will come out with a spark. A dynamic leader with good communication skills can provide that spark to spur activity, and they don’t need to wear a kilt and blue war paint to do it. The good news is that communication, while natural for some, can always be learned and continuously improved upon.

But, after that initial spark, what happens? How do we maintain our audience without causing them to become such a fan of us that they never really get the message?

Enter Apollos

We all know Paul, the guy who wrote about half of the New Testament. He had quite a story. He was most definitely a dynamic leader, and an excellent communicator. But, what about the other guy, Apollos? There’s not nearly as much on him in the Bible, but he is a perfect example of the challenges found when trying to be a dynamic leader who can get people to attach to the message, not necessarily his persona.

Apollos was one of the first Christian apologetics, often debating opponents of Christianity in the open square in Ephesus. He was very knowledgeable and spoke with a boldness and skill that drew people in.

Now a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. – Acts 18:24-25 ESV

So far so good for Apollos. He was well-educated and skilled at delivering the message. The challenge came about because perhaps he was too good. He garnered quite the fan base in Corinth, becoming the champion voice for Christianity. Where this gets a bit sideways is that the people of Corinth loved Apollos so much that in their desire for more of the messenger, they began to lose sight of the message itself. The movement that Apollos was trying to form was now backfiring. Groups were now forming around town based on the preacher.

Paul makes it clear how far this fandom went:

What I mean is this: One of you says, "I follow Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Cephas"; still another, "I follow Christ." – 1 Cor. 1:12 – NIV

We can see this in Christianity today, but I have also seen it in business. The worst is when this kind of clinging to the messenger in place of the message happens under the same corporate roof. I’ve heard people say; “Man, I’ll follow John. That guy is awesome, but Paula? No way.” I’ve seen this when John and Paula have the exact same message, but John has a persona that attracts a certain group of people and Paula has a persona that attracts a different group of people. This ultimately results in cliques based on the leader people become fans of. Now you have two separate teams of people instead of a unified front to accomplish the same mission.

Whether you’re John, or Paula, how do we find that balance of being dynamic enough to draw people in, but also making sure that those people attach to the message more than us? In studying Apollos and Paul, and thinking through past experiences in the marketplace, I came up with what I believe are three practical steps to take if you’re a leader with a message.

Three Practical Ways to Be the Message

1-Have Humility

I’m sure Apollos must have felt pretty good at times, and rightfully so. To look out on a sea of people hanging on your every word as you masterfully deliver good news must be very rewarding. Is it also possible that he knew how much people loved him, but he did nothing to change that? Maybe. If Apollos had a Facebook account, would he be raking in the “likes?”

"...your humility can help your audience (employees, clients etc.) shift their focus from you as the goal, to the message as the goal."

If you’re a leader in business, you must get a sense as to how much people follow you. Do you feel that you energize people and they are excited to follow you? If so, your humility can help your audience (employees, clients etc.) shift their focus

from you as the goal, to the message as the goal. Put simply, “don’t follow me, follow what I’m saying.” As Christians, we should be mindful not to set ourselves up as the idol anyway. It’s great to have a following, but who are we pointing that following to? Us, or Jesus?

I think humility in these instances means that we show that we as leaders are vulnerable and we’re learning too. Letting those we lead know that we desire to do better, but don’t always get it right. Sometimes putting your cards on the table with your audience can give them a wake up slap across the face that you’re human. You have fears. You mess up. You keep trying too. By the way, would your employees respect you more if you continued to let them believe you’re a bulletproof business person, or if instead you just simply let them in more? By the way, they will find out you’re not a bulletproof business person on their own at some point. You’re better off telling them ahead of time.

2-Take You Out

If you’re a dynamic and engaging leader, I think it’s wise to use your skill set to strike the match and create the spark. However, along the way you’ll need to stress the value of the message itself, as if it was by itself without you. How do you take you out of it? Reference scripture, other thought leaders, or other people in your organization pushing for the same result. John and Paula from the above example must know that they each have a little “fan club.” They would be wise to edify each other in front of their fans.

Bring yourself to the level of William Wallace in Braveheart, where you get behind your own movement. Ask for input and advice from people you lead. Your people will see that you are focused on the mission as well, and your solicitation of feedback shows that the value is in the mission (the message), not in how you

explain the mission.

3-Display Naturally

Now that the spark is lit, you have shown humility and re-focused the audience’s eyes towards the message, it’s time for you to walk it out. Here’s where I’ve seen leaders do it all so well, and then lose it again at this step.

"The key here is taking visible action without calling attention."

The key is walking out the message without making a big deal about it. For example, let’s say you have a simple message such as: “we’re trying to motivate our sales team to start their day at 8:15 instead of 8:30, so that they can have 15 uninterrupted minutes of planning before the phones ring.” What will lose your audience for you is if you as the leader show up every day at 8:15, but you make it known to everyone that you’re showing up at 8:15. Don’t sound the horn, or post on your social media, or tell your staff you’re on your second cup of coffee because you’ve been in the office 20 minutes already. Now you’ve just lost all that hard work you put into laying down a great message that people can get behind. If you do that, one of two things will happen. Some people may find it off putting. Remember, you’re trying to inspire people to get behind something. Off-putting here is not helpful. Other people may find that their focus is now shifted back to you as the dynamic, do-it-all-right-inspirational- leader, ultimately diluting the actual message.

The key here is taking visible action without calling attention. Walk it out regardless of who’s watching. For what it’s worth, if you have employees or staff; they’re all, always watching. Think Barry Sanders scoring a touchdown. No dance. No celebration. Just respect. The old saying applies; “act like you’ve been there before.”

Closing Summary

As a leader, remember to shift the focus onto the specific action or movement that you hope to inspire people to take. Use your natural gifts and trained skills in communication to create the initial spark and push for momentum. Once you see the crowd is behind you, show humility, shift focus from you to the movement, and walk it out naturally without purposely drawing attention to yourself. In my opinion, that’s how you can become the message, not just the messenger.

Let me know if this resonates with you, or if you’ve found other ways to become the message.