The Starving Baker

THIS IS A COMMON HAZARD FOR LEADERS. WE’RE LIKE THE BAKER WHO SPENDS SO MUCH TIME BAKING BREAD FOR OTHERS, WE FORGET TO EAT OURSELVES. LEADERS MUST FEED THEMSELVES FOR PERSONAL GROWTH.

Imagine, if you will: you visit a new bagel shop not far from your home. You love going there because the chief baker has created a new recipe for breads, bagels, pastries and cinnamon rolls that are incredible.

Soon, word gets out about this bagel shop. Crowds start forming lines each day, waiting for the new confections to come from this baker’s marvelous kitchen. The baker doesn’t have enough help, and ends up trying to serve all the customers himself. He is scurrying back and forth, busy with all the requests of the people—but oblivious to what’s happening to him. His exhaustion is quickly becoming burnout. What’s worse, as you watch him for a few weeks, you see a change. This man is getting thin. Very thin. It almost seems like he is shriveling up. What’s up with that?After observing this baker for a few hours, the problem becomes obvious. This man never stops to eat. The irony is, he is busy serving bread to everyone else, but never stops long enough to feed himself. With food all around him, he is starving. Hmmmm. Does this scenario sound familiar?

So many leaders fail to tend to themselves, and eventually are unable to really serve others. They are starving intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually. They can fake it for a while, but eventually they run out of gas. When they do read or listen to podcasts, it is always for someone else. They consume information for the “program,” but there’s no personal growth. They are always preparing some presentation for a group. They neglect to digest the content and apply it to their own lives. Their “talk” is great. Their “walk” becomes fake. They go through the motions, but they are emotionally and intellectually starving. So close to food, yet never eating.

The Iceberg reminds us that leaders must lead themselves before leading others. The Starving Baker reminds us that leaders must feed themselves before feeding others.

I wish Rob had learned this principle as a young professional. As a student, he had served on his high school student council. In college, he was part of SGA, a campus club and RA staff. As a new graduate, he jumped in and got involved in too many projects at work. During that first year, his attitude went sour. It shocked his friends. He lost any drive to connect with others. He withdrew from his involvement in meetings. He quit his obligations on committees. He became bitter, and sometimes took it out on others. When his friend Lauren confronted him about his attitude, he grew quiet at first. Eventually, he confessed he felt like a fake and was tired of trying to be a perfect example for everyone. The more they talked, the more Lauren could see the reality. Rob wasn’t a fake. He just wasn’t taking time to invest in his own personal growth. He burned out because he was depleted. His tank was on empty. He had nothing to give. He’d become a “starving baker.”

Rob is an interesting contrast to Stacy. Stacy worked at the same company. She was busy with both professional and personal commitments. In addition, she led a mentoring group for new team members. Interestingly, Stacy never ran out of gas. Her busy-ness never led to a bad attitude or a critical spirit. Her friends marveled at how she seemed genuinely happy, and although her life was busy, her mind was at peace. How did she accomplish this? It’s simple. She took time to feed herself.

She consistently spoke of the former mentor who taught her about “sharpening the axe.”This term came from a little story about two lumberjacks who challenged each other to see who could cut down more trees in one day. At daybreak, the first one began furiously chopping down trees. He worked up a sweat early on, and by noon had cut down sixteen trees. The other lumberjack had only cut down four, because he took the first two hours to sharpen his axe. As he sharpened it, his challenger laughed at him knowing he was doomed to lose the bet with all that wasted time.

That’s when things got interesting. By early afternoon, the first lumberjack was slowing down. It took him almost an hour to cut one tree down, while his friend was picking up speed. How could this be? Certainly he was as strong as his friend. Unfortunately, strength had little to do with it. It was all about whose axe was sharper. The sharper the axe, the quicker the trees came down. By late afternoon, the second lumberjack who had sharpened his axe had passed his friend by several trees and won easily. Hmmm. It seemed like such a waste of time to sharpen the axe in the morning, but in the long run, it had saved him time and had brought better results. That little story saved Stacy’s sanity as a leader. She took care of herself so she could take care of others.

Lasting leaders practice this truth. President Teddy Roosevelt grew up as a frail kid, and knew his only chance of making a difference was to become a life-long learner. He died in his sleep—and under his pillow was a book he’d been reading right up to his dying day. President Harry Truman grew up as a bit of a nerd, and came to the same conclusion. He built a plan for personal growth and practiced daily reading habits. He later said, “Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers.”

The lesson of the Starving Baker? As selfish as it may sound, the most selfless way leaders can serve and grow their people is to tend to their own growth first.