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Jesus & Lao Tzu: Lead Like Yoda

Jesus & Lao Tzu: Lead Like Yoda

Last updated on: February 5, 2025 at 6:12 pm by Gregory T. Smith

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Jesus & Lao Tzu: Lead Like Yoda 2025-02-05T18:12:21-08:00 Gregory T. Smith

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Many know that George Lucas based The Force in his Star Wars movies on the Tao. Yoda exemplifies Taoist teacher Lao Tzu’s leadership style.

Image created by Gregory T. Smith on openart.ai

Like Yoda and Lao Tzu, Jesus teaches servant leadership. This is vastly different from many leaders you see today. Instead of putting themselves forward, servant leaders put others in the driver’s seat. Here’s what Lao Tzu has to say in the seventeenth verse of the Tao Te Ching:

Lao Tzu’s Tao Te Ching, Verse 17

J.H. McDonald Version

The best leaders are those the people hardly know exist.

The next best is a leader who is loved and praised.

Next comes the one who is feared.

The worst one is the leader that is despised.

If you don’t trust the people,

they will become untrustworthy.

The best leaders value their words, and use them sparingly.

When she has accomplished her task,

the people say, “Amazing:

we did it, all by ourselves!”

Who’s the Boss?

When I was a Baptist minister, one of the kids in my youth group expressed confusion over who was in charge of the church. “You are the boss, right?” he asked. I explained that I had no authority over the individual church members. I also clarified that, according to the Baptist structure, I had no power over the church at large, either. Instead, I had influence, which was far better. “What do you mean?” He asked.

“Well, I visit them in the hospital,” I said. “I baptize their children. We do premarital counseling together before I marry them. I conduct the funerals of their loved ones. I comfort them in grief, celebrate their triumphs, and invest in their lives. So, when it comes time for a business meeting and votes on important church matters, hopefully I will have earned their respect, and they’ll listen to my perspective.”

A look of recognition crossed his face, eyes widening with sudden comprehension. “I know who you are,” he said. “You’re Yoda!”

Leading Like Yoda

He wasn’t wrong. Like the Star Wars character Yoda, Lao Tzu says the best leader is the one who conceals his strength behind diminutive stature—the one who becomes so small he’s hardly noticed. The one who speaks sparingly, and with a teacher’s heart rather than one who lords it over the people. In George Lucas’s films, Yoda was the greatest of Jedi, yet it was Mace Windu who was the head of the Jedi council. Yoda didn’t need to be in charge to make a difference.

Yoda’s job was to sit in the background and observe, giving his opinion when it was asked for, and instructing others so that they could be their best. This was the kind of pastor that I strove to be. It took a teenager to discover the similarities to my favorite Star Wars character. Strange as it may sound, my goal was never to lead the church in the right direction. Instead, I determined to help the church members lead themselves in their pursuits so that in the end they could say they had done it all by themselves.

Leading Like Jesus

This is the way of Christ, as well. Jesus is the spiritual master who refused to be king, even when both the devil and the people offered him the throne. Kings work through dominance and fear, but Jesus operates through the spirit of wisdom. This is why his people love and praise him. Yes, Jesus knew that it would be even better for him to ascend to heaven. That way, he could be the best leader of all—one whose people hardly know he exists.

Do you want to become a leader like Jesus? You’ve got to blend into the background and be willing to have your own people forget you. This means detaching your ego from its own success. It means trusting people enough to let them become successful, rather than codependently keeping them reliant on you. Leading like Jesus means speaking as little as possible. Leading like Lao Tzu means doing as little as possible. This creates space for the people to follow their own Way.

Taming the Tongue

Jesus’s brother James writes about the leadership provided by a small bodily organ, the tongue. He compares it to other small things of great consequence:

If we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we guide their whole bodies. Or look at ships: though they are so large and are driven by strong winds, yet they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits (James 3:3-5).

In the same way, if we make ourselves small, we can unobtrusively lead more effectively. And, if we can learn to tame our tongues, then we can begin to promote others instead of ourselves. The first thing you think is often ego-based. Rather than blurting out the first thing, let others speak first. Practice patience and humility in the things you say.

Leading from Behind

Like a sailor at the helm, or like the rudder of a ship, the Tao leads from behind. Those who follow the Tao practice humility, just like water. They seek the lowest level. Like a ship that rises with the tide, those who follow the Tao gently float upon the water’s surface. Such leadership holds others up, until they are able to steer their own boat. This is the kind of leadership the Tao blesses—servant leadership that empowers others.

Unfortunately, today’s political and societal leaders tend to lead from the front. The problem is that when you stand on the bow of a ship with your eyes forward, you lose sight of everybody who’s behind you. Yet, when you stand at the stern you get to see where you’re going—and you also watch your crew at the same time. You observe the points where they need assistance, and you can direct them to a better way. You also get to witness their successes. This is why the stern of the boat is the best place to lead.

Less than Glorious

Leading from behind is not a task for those with fragile egos. When you do your job correctly, everybody forgets you are there. As Lao Tzu says, they follow all your advice and when they are done, they say, “We did it all ourselves!” Those who lead like Yoda and Lao Tzu learn that their glory doesn’t matter. What’s important is that people learn to do it on their own, with your influence. Because, one day, you won’t be there anyway.

Good leadership should never be about your glory. It should be about the people’s good. If you want to see examples of bad leadership today, take a look at the personalities who receive all the attention. They may be leading from the front, but they’re definitely not leading like Jesus.

Practice…

The next time you are in a position of leadership, with others looking to you as the ultimate authority, ask the people what they think. Try on this new style of leadership, where you remain in the back and lead from behind. By promoting the ideas of others, you empower an entire team. You also transform yourself into someone who lets their ego take the back seat. Consider what it means to lead through influence rather than power. How will it make your job better, and the people more skillful, in the end?

For related reading, check out my other articles:

New Visions

Family, Parenting and Religion

Careers, Workplace and Religion

About Gregory T. Smith

I live in the beautiful Fraser Valley of British Columbia and work in northern Washington State as a behavioral health specialist with people experiencing homelessness and those who are overly involved in the criminal justice system. Before that, I spent over a quarter-century as lead pastor of several Virginia churches. My newspaper column, “Spirit and Truth” ran in Virginia newspapers for fifteen years. I am one of fourteen contributing authors of the Patheos/Quoir Publishing book “Sitting in the Shade of another Tree: What We Learn by Listening to Other Faiths.” I hold a degree in Religious Studies from Virginia Commonwealth University, and also studied at Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond. My wife Christina and I have seven children between us, and we are still collecting grandchildren. You can read more about the author here.

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