The Leadership Secrets of Billy Graham

“To me that was one of his great demonstrations of leader-
ship,” Mark said. “He could give the message in London, through
interpreters throughout Asia. It was worldwide, phenomenal—
not just the crowds and numbers of people he preached to, but
he was able to communicate with each of those cultures through
those interpreted languages.”
The context principle is not just for communicating the mes-
sage to large crowds or for intercultural connection. It’s at the core
of leadership: every follower is an individual with a set of per-
ceptions, every group is part of a culture, every challenge has a
context. First, one must understand, then communicate with
empathy and creativity.
Sowing seeds means carefully planting them so that they have
the best chance to take root and grow.

LEADERSHIP

LESSONS | Sowing

Applying the Principle

As leaders, some of us have many gifts, others, few. Sometimes

we may feel our particular gifts are ordinary seeds with little

potential for significant fruit. Yet as we refine our skills and grow

as leaders, each of us might be amazed at how our uniqueness

unexpectedly teaches and inspires others.

Apply Your Giftedness with Great Expectation
We asked Mark Hatfield about his use of what he had seen in
Billy Graham’s leadership.
Mark responded, “Billy never found an inappropriate place or
audience from which he felt any restriction of sharing the gospel.
It was just a part of him. I learned that lesson from Billy Graham:
there’s no inappropriate audience or organization that you cannot
share your philosophy of life. You can give them a straightforward
and simple answer.”

The Leadership Secrets of Billy Graham