STONES UNDER GLASS

The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, they said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, sir.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you.” (John 11: 3–10)

This fascinating account consists of several interconnected components that paint a challenging picture for aspiring leaders. First, it makes it clear that there was no question about the occurrence of the condemned action: “This woman was caught in the very act.” So the offense is not in doubt; it happened. Second, the law of Moses commanded stoning such a woman. The punishment was clear, but Jesus didn’t buy it. Nevertheless, Jesus does not tell the people what to do. Instead he bends down and doodles on the ground in silence, leaving them to ponder the situation themselves. When they keep questioning him, instead of subjecting them to any proactive preaching, Jesus finally challenges them to examine themselves and make their own decision. He essentially says, “If you haven’t sinned (made mistakes) yourself, then go ahead and stone her.”

In this way Jesus empowers the scribes and Pharisees to lead themselves. No direct command or control is used. They are ready to condemn the woman legalistically without question. They pause only to use the situation to test Jesus, and he turns the tables by challenging them to think for themselves (to examine their judgment). As the people lead themselves away one by one, Jesus remains bent down, writing on the ground.

I have witnessed many good, empowering leaders facilitate the same kind of process, though perhaps less skillfully. The empowerment of employees is rarely helped much by solving problems and providing answers for them. They must learn to do this for themselves—that is, to be their own leaders.

In this passage Jesus challenges us to be at once compassionate with others and honest with ourselves. It may be embarrassing for us to admit, but it seems to be a natural human tendency to find in ourselves a sense of self-righteousness relative to the mistakes and failures of others. There is at least a little piece of all of us that is reassured when others seem more flawed than we are. Obviously this is one of the more negative features of being a human being and should be confronted and controlled to the best of our ability.

I believe that the lesson Jesus teaches goes much deeper than this, however. Often we can consciously or unconsciously contribute to the downfall of others. A primary way we do this is by condemning people for their imperfect humanness. This can be done with a verbal criticism, a withdrawal of support and loyalty when it is most needed—though perhaps least deserved—or even a small self-congratulatory smile for clearly having the upper hand at the moment. It is not enough simply to stay out of the public stoning of people who have stumbled. Jesus models an act of assertive compassion. He takes a stand to help others get back on their feet so that they can correct their mistakes, make amends, or at least keep stumbling along until they get it right.

Accepting and supporting others takes discipline and effort at times, especially when they have openly failed in some way. When a mob is gathered around for a public execution, it is hard not to get sucked into their frenzy. But Jesus leads us to look deeper, to search for the value and worth of every person, despite what they have done. This is not to say that consequences should not be suffered by those who have openly wronged others or been clearly unethical. But in many cases the obsession with accountability and punishment has been overdone.

I once had a wild limousine service van ride to an airport during a consulting trip. I hung on tightly as I was almost thrown from my seat several times while listening to the driver continually mumble about being late. Finally I asked him about his problem. I learned that his company’s control system includes a three-day suspension without pay for being late for a pickup. The same penalty is assessed for an accident, regardless of who is to blame and how minor it is. As the driver attempted to make a left turn, he was forced to wait for some slow pedestrians. He shifted uncomfortably in his seat and explained that if he hit a pedestrian, “that’s twelve penalty points, which is an automatic five-day suspension without pay.” As I pressed hard with my foot on my imaginary passenger-side brake, I couldn’t help feeling that the safety of the pedestrians might hang on the extra two-day penalty. While this example is a bit extreme, my experience and research have convinced me that organizations too often sacrifice employee commitment and customer service for employee control and compliance.

Conversely, sometimes failures are treated as positive learning experiences. The actions of a general manager of a small foundry owned by a large American automobile corporation is a case in point. He had recently implemented an orientation procedure to introduce new employees to the machinery they would operate. One day an employee reported to his office to explain a mistake he had made that had significantly damaged his machine and would result in extended and costly production downtime. His machine had malfunctioned during an unusually busy time in the plant, when no one was available to help him. In attempting to fix the problem on his own he had improperly grounded the electrical wiring, which resulted in the damage. The manager had personally gone over the proper procedure with the employee during orientation, but the employee had improperly performed an important step.

After explaining what had happened, the employee braced himself for the punishment he expected would surely follow. Instead the general manager simply asked if the employee understood why the problem had occurred and if he remembered going over the proper grounding procedure during the orientation. The employee answered yes to both questions and admitted he had forgotten and made a mistake. The general manager pointed out the safety reasons for the procedure and suggested that the employee go over the procedure again with a senior electrician.

The employee looked puzzled as he began to leave and stopped to ask, “Aren’t you going to chew me out?”

The general manager responded, “No. I could do it if it would make you feel better, but I chew people out when they don’t take initiative, not when they do. Do you plan on making the mistake again?”

“No way!” the employee responded emphatically. “Now I know what I did wrong, and I won’t do that again!”

This general manager made a point of leading in a way that encouraged employee initiative, skill development, and self-leadership. Over time, with many similar leadership actions, he created a culture of effective employee self-leadership, and innovation and productivity continually increased while he was general manager.

Most people are hard on themselves when they screw up and don’t need our help in inflicting punishment. And a very wide range of failures are simply the honest mistakes of imperfect human beings who are trying the best they can. Attacks and destructive behaviors that are leveled at others usually accomplish little more than driving them deeper into the self-destructive quicksand into which they have fallen.

Jesus challenges us to examine ourselves carefully. He leads us to the mirror once again for a sincere self-appraisal. A well-known saying warns that “people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.” The fact is, we all live in glass houses. They vary in thickness, but they are all glass nevertheless. The stones can quickly come flying our way when we encounter our many inevitable mistakes, screwups, and failures. Jesus said, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone.” The passage goes on to say, “When they heard it, they went away, one by one.” Probably one of the most difficult but kindest things we can do for ourselves and the world is to conduct such a penetrating self-examination regularly, especially when we are tempted to condemn someone else.

Some time ago I ran across an interesting tool to help with this process. It was a little stone glued to a piece of paper on which was printed Jesus’ reminder that those who are without sin should throw the first stone. For a while I even carried the little stone in my pocket each day. I found myself reaching for it whenever I felt an attack of condemnation coming on. It would probably be a very helpful tool for all of us to keep such a stone handy, in our pocket or on our desk or wherever it would be obtrusive enough to serve as a healthy reminder.

Maybe we should all keep a centerpiece in a prominent location in our workplace (and home). I envision this centerpiece consisting of a beautiful serving plate or tray covered by an attractive sparkling dome of glass such as we might find at the finest restaurants. Under the glass would simply be a stone, perfect for throwing. A stone under glass: the perfect meal for the mind and spirit of an effective leader.