In case you missed it yesterday, Bill Hybels announced that Strabucks CEO, Howard Schultz, would not be presenting at the Global Leadership Summit. Schultz backed out at the last moment due to an online petition started to boycott Starbucks if he presented at the Summit.
I’ll let you watch the video of Bill at the Summit explaining the why? behind this. I watched this live and in person and I can tell you that people were spellbound. Hybels is an amazing leader. Absolutely phenomenal. This video exemplifies way. Take a look.
If you don’t want to watch the video, you can read the transcription below. (Sorry for the low quality. I had to take a picture of the official transcription. It was the only copy that existed!)
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Thanks for sharing this, Justin. Hybels is a gifted leader–the fact that he dealt with the issue at hand as directly as possible, is a credit to his leadership. I admire his application of Matthew 18. It’s another matter entirely about what he means by “anti-gay.” Hybels used the moment to teach his organization’s perspective on sexuality and marriage. To some, that means anti-gay, regardless of the hospitality that is offered at Willow Creek. Willow Creek is probably a leader in hospitality as well, as he has followed a good leadership model in staying connected to those who disagree with him.
Yesterday Bill Hybels displayed true leadership and The Global Leadership Summit. I gained a larger respect for him through his respond to this. Thanks for sharing this.
What a great example of how to deal with a negative situation in a godly, gracious manner. I sent a message to Mr. Schultz on his company’s website. If we let them, the radicals will shout out the good folk. For every Westboro baptist Church, there are thousands of churches with arms wide open, sharing the love of Christ. Thanks for sharing this, I wish I could have been there!
I had read Howard Schultz’s book earlier in the summer and was really looking forward to hearing what he had to say. His story about turning Starbucks around is a great read.
But Pat Lencioni did a great job filling in, and exceeding expectations. He is a favorite of mine from past Summit events.
Ironically, Pat’s talk, from his book “Getting Naked,” illustrated something that Schultz could, and perhaps should, have done.
Lencioni said that leaders can’t be afraid of losing business or being rejected. They have to “enter the danger” and be willing to do what is right and speak the truth.
Had Schultz appeared at Willow, he could have used the opportunity to point out that neither he, Starbucks, Bill Hybels, or Willow Creek are anti-gay. He could have showed that he’s willing to speak with anybody about anything. He could have showed that he won’t be shut-up by people who are trying to intimidate him.
Well, maybe next year.
I surprised gay-rights advocates beat advocates for the divorced to launching a petition drive. Certainly there are more divorced folks upset with being excluded from Willow Creek Church than there are gays who are upset with being excluded.
I wasn’t sure what we were going to hear from Mr. Schultz, and I wasn’t looking forward to it. When I learned that he wouldn’t participate, I was fairly disappointed.
I think the fear that caused him to cancel at the last minute was a stark counter-example of leadership principles that we learned from other faculty. In a odd way, it was an instructive leadership lesson . . . in how NOT to lead. We now know that any interest group (presumably if their issue is sufficiently P.C.) that is upset with something Starbucks is doing or failing to do can get what they want by likewise making threats.
Pardon the unfortunate comparison, but this is why the governments refuse to negotiate with terrorists.
Listening to customers has nothing to do with political correctness nor terrorism. It is good business. And social media makes it easier.
Thanks for sharing this! This is an outstanding example of leadership and witness in a tough situation.
I’ll have to weigh in with a dissenting opinion. Sure, Willow Creek has a perfect right to interpret scriptures any way that is believable – I happen to disagree, but that’s fine.
There’s a difference between having an open door to all and truly being inclusive. The gay community is right when they think to welcome someone in the door and then try to change your sexual orientation is counter to that person’s identity. It’s not homophobic (in the best versions), but it cannot be a fully inclusive position when one’s aim is to change the person.
We’ve been here before. Women have always been part of the Christian community, but only in the last century (aside from those early pesky pre-Constantine Days) have all the gifts of women been included by some Christian denominations. Divorced folks were banned from their churches (and there’s a lot more scriptural against divorce than homosexuality), and now can be leaders. Slavery has a ton of support in the Bible, but now we don’t advocate it (we just overlook the desperate conditions in oversees manufacturing of the toys we buy).
I am interested in reading that book, though.
I also wanted to point out that Pastor Hybels use of “sexual ORIENTATION”, rather then “sexual PREFERENCE”, is a very important choice of words and one that I applaud, as it says to me that he understands that sexuality is not a choice. I have read several of Pastor Hybels books and I’ve found him to be very professional, direct, fair and honestly don’t believe that he should be put into the same category other,mainstream anti-gay, non-Christlike, homosexual hating pastors. Pastor Hybels is man of his faith and but unlike other gay-bashing “preachers”, I have found him to be non-condemning, and although in a more perfect world he would openly accept gay men and women and his church would not only be one built on love but also inclusion. And although the issue of homosexuality in the bible can be forever debated, Pastor Hybels also endorses sexual abstinence over reparative torture and brainwashing.