raise their instruments to play. Everybody’s ready, and they play in
harmony, directed with passion and precision by the conductor.
“But there’s a type of leadership that’s more like a jazz band-
leader, who stands in front of the ensemble tapping his foot to
set the rhythm. He points to the piano player to take a few bars;
then he points to the saxophonist and he does a riff. Likewise
with the drummer and bass player. They’re all playing the song,
but at different times, different people take the lead doing dif-
ferent things, which enhances but doesn’t eclipse the group’s
overall sound.
“For fifty years the BGEA’s mission statement has been to sup-
port the worldwide ministry of Billy Graham,” Ross explains. “He
definitely is the leader, setting the direction and the pace, but at
various times certain ministries or emphases come to the fore-
front. Whether semiannual crusades, periodic telecasts, a weekly
Hour of Decisionradio broadcast, monthly Decisionmagazine, or the
release of a World Wide Pictures film—all are part of the band,
channeling audiences to the same goal. There’s an obvious har-
mony, but it’s not because Mr. Graham is up in front waving his
arms around, keeping everybody together. He brought good
people to the team and devised the basic strategy and overall
direction, but he gives them room to do what they have to do for
their particular aspect of the ministry.”
The broad freedom Ross says Billy gave to “good people” on
the team is widely affirmed by other colleagues. They could “find
their own voices.” Like DePree’s finger and voice communicating
love to Zoe, Billy has personally touched his many associates with
vitality and his own vulnerability, empowering and inspiring
them.
Ross’s reference to Decisionmagazine provides a compelling
example. Like so many on the extended team, Sherwood Wirt, as
its first editor, was indeed a soul mate to Billy, and an illustration
of a leader’s choosing an appropriate “musician.” A pastor, an
Edinburgh Ph.D., a journalist, and a free spirit, Sherwood Wirt
brought to the magazine far more than the usual competence of
a house-organ editor. In Decisionmagazine he published Billy’s
The Leadership Secrets of Billy Graham