Lessons From Working Within a Hierarchy – Part 3

The third and final lesson from working in a hierarchy is that highlighted in scripture.

Matthew 8:5 And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, imploring Him, and saying, “[Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented.” Jesus *said to him, “I will come and heal him.” But the centurion said, “Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” 10 Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who were following, “Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel.

So the story goes: a Roman centurion has a desperate need, his servant is paralyzed and in need of healing. Jesus offers to come and heal the man but the centurion suggested another idea based on his understanding of who Jesus is. He said “I am not worthy for You to come under my roof”. This centurion also understood deeply how hierarchy works. “I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it”. This centurion understood the infinitely powerful spiritual authority that Jesus had. He knew that all Jesus had to do was to say the word, and some how some way his servant many miles away would be healed.

Within authorities (if they are led well) the words and desires one of the one at the top rules, he (or she) is the greatest one that people rally around. This means two things: 1) go against anyone within that line of authority and we risk the wrath of the one at the top. So be supportive of people within if you want to be supportive of the one at the top and we must be supportive if we want promotion. 2) If we are at odds with the one at the top we will be at odds with everyone loyal to the one at the top.

If you find yourself within a hierarchy (and you want to do well) take care to not violate these rules. Hierarchies are neither inherently evil nor inherently good they are simply tools of unity, they align our efforts, commitment and loyalty under one or a few persons.

Another noteworthy fact is that Jesus never set up a line of authority among his disciples nor did he teach them to do so. Jesus did not want some of his disciples above or below the others. He even seemed to prohibit this when his disciples were wanting to do so.

Matthew 20:24 And hearing this, the ten became indignant with the two brothers. 25 But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. 26 It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant

Find Part I of this series here:

Find Part II of this series here:

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Lessons from Working Within a Hierarchy – Lesson 2

Almost all of us currently do or will need to participate within a hierarchy. Some hierarchies are very healthy and others are extremely toxic and everywhere in between. I write these posts to share with young people how to do well within hierarchies. I wish I would have realized these long ago when I started working in my company.

The idea that we will be judged entirely based on our merits and performance is rare, its partially our performance but most of the time more than half of our value is based on behaviors that we can exhibit toward the chain of command and/or senior leaders. These behaviors can instantly make us much more valuable in the perception of leadership. If we are disgusted in the senior leadership or are out of step with their vision we can expect to stay stagnant or pushed out until that is resolved.

Lesson 2:

The laws and ground rules (‘culture’) which defines success within a hierarchy is not necessarily based on truth or reality. Often they are based more on the preferences and ideals of the leader at the top. So our value within a hierarchy is defined by our relationship with, proximity and/or loyalty to its leader(s). We must stay on our toes because those culture-rules can rapidly change as the leader changes or as new leaders take over.

Life-Lessons From Working Within A Heirarchy

This post begins a short series of posts over the next few weeks on life-lessons from working within a hierarchy.
Lesson 1:

A fast way to get promoted is open and frequent displays of loyalty to the man with power. It causes him to use his power to set you over your peers. Which breaks down equality and mutual respect with peers, within the organization it makes you “right” and them “wrong”.

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