Jesus set forth in simple terms many principles of leadership, and then left it up to his followers to try His words and thus discover their hidden wisdom.

For example, He said to His followers, “Whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain [two].”  (Matt. 5:41)

At the time Jesus made that statement, the nation of Judea was under Roman rule.  Roman law stated that if a Roman soldier compelled a private citizen to carry his gear for a mile, the citizen must submit.  That law, and Roman rule in general, were a huge irritant to the Jews; yet here was this fellow, Jesus, telling them that they should not only submit to such unjust treatment, but to then voluntarily carry the soldier’s gear a second mile.  Such a policy didn’t make sense.

Or does it?

Who is in charge during that first mile?

The soldier.

Who’s in control the second mile?  Is there a difference in the citizen’s attitude between the first and second mile?

Yes, indeed.  The citizen who is compelled to go one mile, and who has no intention of going even one step further, is filled with resentment, complains the whole way, and hates his job and his employer.  In contrast, the second-miler has no such mental burdens.  He performs the first-mile task with a smile, does it quickly and efficiently, has a bounce in his step as he starts the second mile, is pleasant to be around, and feels good inside.  No negative attitudes are weighing him down.  He feels free and empowered.

 

Herein lies a secret that few people find.  Only true leaders ever discover the secret of the second mile.

Carol Downes found it almost by accident.  Downes accepted a position with a company, and was given a desk in a huge room with nearly a hundred other employees, each seated at a desk exactly like his.  At 5:30 p.m. on the first day of work, the bell rang, signaling the end of the day.  Downes was astonished at the stampede of workers rushing for the exit.  He remained sitting at his desk to keep from being trampled.

Downes sat there a few moments longer after the last of his co-workers had left, and marveled over their hurried exit.  As he sat there, the door of his employer’s office opened.  His employer, William C. Durant, founder of General Motors, stood for a moment in the doorway, looked around, saw Downes sitting at his desk, and asked if he would bring him a pencil.  Downes jumped up with a pencil, ran it through the sharpener, presented it to Mr. Durant, and asked if there was anything else he could do for him.

Being told that there would be nothing else, Downes bid his boss a good night, and went home.

The next day was a repeat of the last.  At 5:30 everyone rushed for the exit, but this evening Downes purposely sat still and waited to see if his employer might again open his door.

Carol Downes’ wait was not in vain.  The door shortly opened.  Mr. Durant saw Downes sitting at his desk and said, “Don’t you know that you’re free to go at 5:30?”

“Yes sir, but I thought I’d wait to see if perhaps I might be of service to you.  Is there anything I can do for you?”

Mr. Durant was surprised at this answer, and replied that there actually was something he needed, and asked Downes to get it.  Downes gladly complied.

Thereafter Downes made it a point to stay in the office each evening until Mr. Durant went home.  Mr. Durant gradually came to depend on Downes.  It wasn’t long before Mr. Durant called Downes into his office and told him that he had purchased a new plant and needed to have equipment installed.  He outlined the basic plan, and then said, “I want you to install the machinery.”

Downes was shocked.  He could have said, “I don’t know anything about machinery,” but instead humbly and graciously accepted the assignment.  He was given access to a very large sum of money with which to begin the project.

Downes enlisted the help of experts, and hired them to do the job.  When the plant was completed three months later, Mr. Durant was very pleased, and asked Downes where he’d learned about machinery.

“Oh, I don’t know anything about machinery,” Downes replied.  “I just went out and found people who did, put them to work, and they did the job.”

“Excellent,” Mr. Durant replied.  “There are two types of people who are valuable.  One is the man who knows how to do something, and does it well.  The other is the man who knows how to get other people to work for him.  You’re both types wrapped up in one.  I’m making you the manager of this new plant.”

Carol Downes became a wealthy and an influential man because of his discovery of the value of going the extra mile.  Because he’d been willing to give more than an eight-hour day, and because he did a simple, extra thing like putting a fresh point on the pencil before handing it to his employer, he was given positions of great trust and opportunity.

When asked later why such opportunities came to him, he simply explained that he’d made it his business to put himself in Durant’s way so that Mr. Durant got into the habit of calling on him when anything needed to be done.

A true leader distinguishes himself from the other members of the pack by his willingness to go the second mile.  He stays later, looks for ways to serve, and starts earlier than the others.

When J. C. Penney landed his first job, his mother told her son to be waiting at the door each morning when his employer arrived.  After several mornings of such promptitude, Penney’s employer said, “If you’re going to be the first one here every morning, you ought to have a key.”  Thereafter Penney was the one who opened the business each day and got things started.

The principle of the second mile is the reason that the name J. C. Penney is a name with which everyone is familiar.