Villain: The Cost of Good Decisions on a Leader's Reputation

By Dan Pierce

When we lead, particularly when we lead in ministry, we get to make a difference in this world. Our hope is to see lives changed for the better, to impact the lives of the people around us. Because our vision is filled with good intention, we often aspire to fill the role of hero. But what happens when our good intention and our faithfulness to God's calling leaves us disliked, even targeted? What do we do when the right call disappoints the people that we mean to serve? The truth is that Jesus was not hailed as a hero by the influencers of His time. Good leadership means getting comfortable operating in a new category: Righteous Villain.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Jun 1, 2018
• ISBN: 9781543937008

Book preview

Villain:  The Cost of Good Decisions on a Leader’s Reputation by Dan Pierce, First Edition

All Scripture quotations are taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.lockman.org

eBook ISBN: 978-1-54393-700-8

Visit the author’s leadership blog at www.danpierce.org

© 2018 Dan Pierce

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. For permissions contact: [e-mail]

Cover by David Pierce

Artwork by Kelli Crawford

Edit by Karlye Louritt and Fenella Smith

Table of Contents

Hanging up the Hero’s Cape

Sacrificing Reputation

Just how snake-like can you be?

The Integrity of a Villain

Find your people. Change the world.

Hanging Up the

Hero’s Cape

One of my earliest school memories is of being asked to draw a picture of what I wanted to be when I grew up. I remember drawing a person standing next to a big blue truck. I wanted to be a truck driver. The truth is that I hadn’t thought a lot about it.  When I looked at the pictures the other kids had drawn, I remember seeing a theme. I saw drawings of President Reagan, athletes, military generals…they were leaders. I didn’t know that I was supposed to want to be a leader. I just thought that the big truck that my uncle drove was cool. While I didn’t care much about being a leader then, I quickly learned from my peers that leadership was something to aspire to.

Fast forward a few years and I had my first taste of leadership as a captain of the football team. I got to go out and call heads or tails at the coin flip before the game. I got to talk to the referee about whether we wanted to decline or accept a penalty. I got to call the play in the huddle and eventually even the audibles to change the coach’s original call. I got to decide things and I got to put my teammates in the best situation to succeed.

Being a captain of the football team had all the stereotypical perks. People know your name. People expect you to make good decisions and, therefore, trust that you are putting the team’s best interests above your own. You get more attention and you get the benefit of the doubt more often than not. Generally, life is good when you are the leader. It was a natural transition for me to move on from captain to football coach and then eventually to pastor. Leadership became my life and has been since I first stepped on the football field at seven years old. It’s a good thing too because I am a terrible driver.

There have been countless books and blogs written on leadership. Through some of these books, I learned how to make solid decisions. Other books have laid out best practices and pro-tips in various industries in hopes that they can then be generalized to any leadership context. I am a better leader because of each book and blog read.

This book is going to be a little different though. In its pages, I want to bring light to a topic in leadership that is rarely discussed but that I feel is important. This book is about the effect that being a strong leader has on our reputation.

Being a leader is one of the most fulfilling positions to aspire to. When we lead, we get to make a difference in the world. We get to decide the path forward. We get to help people grow beyond what they ever imagined for themselves. We get to engage with likeminded people that trust us to point them in the right direction.  When we lead well, we gain respect and credibility. That respect is also fulfilling. Our reputation seems to be positively affected by our popularity as a leader because we get some of the credit for making things better around us.  Who wouldn’t want to be in such an influential position?

While ambition can cloud motivation, it is generally a good thing to want to lead. This is especially true in the church. The Apostle Paul told Timothy that aspiring to the office of overseer (leadership) is a fine work.

It is a trustworthy statement: if any man aspires to the office of overseer, it is a fine work he desires to do.

1 Timothy 3:1

He tells him this because leadership is fulfilling. It makes for a good life when we strive to be an example of good to others so that their lives will be made better.

For many, leadership is just that: the opportunity to make a difference in the lives of others. We aspire to be heroes, saving the day. In our own narrative, we see our good intentions and noble efforts. We see our failures and struggles as well, but we register these as a part of our hero’s journey. Ultimately, we want to see people’s lives changed for the better. We want to see hard days reap joyful days. We want to lead people to a better place and make them heroes too. We share vision and grow individuals and push through obstacles.

While we generally get to be the good guy, I wish someone would have warned me that being a solid leader would inevitably mean that not everyone would look at me as the hero. People talk about the loneliness of leadership, but I never heard about the inevitable disappointment that I would cause by trying to make good decisions. I knew that I would not be perfect and that mistakes would cost me and the people that I lead. That was a reality that I was prepared for. What surprised me as a leader is how many times the right decision would cost me my positive reputation. What delighted some enraged others. One day, people would be singing my praises and the next, the same people would doubt that I could even do my job. I learned that, eventually, all leaders become somebody’s villain. The choice we have is whether to be a true villain or a righteous villain. This reality may be alluded to occasionally, but this book looks to explore the very real toll strong leadership takes on the reputation of the leader.

Jesus the Villain

Jesus modeled an important principle in discipleship; he didn’t sugarcoat things.  If only someone would have been as straight forward with me as Jesus was when he talked to his disciples about what to expect. Jesus never let his disciples be sideswiped later by hardship.  Jesus never sugarcoated the road ahead for the church. He knew what He was asking them to do and He knew how that work would be received. Read the following verse as if Jesus was speaking to you about your leadership.

Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves. But beware of men, for they will hand you over to the courts and scourge you in their synagogues; and you will even be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. But when they hand you over, do not worry about how or what you are to say; for it will be given you in that hour what you