LEADERSHIP FORESIGHT & 5 simple shifts to let go, learn faster, and thrive in the future of work.

by Heather McGowan and Chris Shipley, Fast Company Magazine, 5/8/23.

… McGowan and Shipley share five key insights from their new book, The Empathy Advantage: Let Go, Learn Fast, and Thrive in the Future of Work. Listen to the audio version—read by McGowan—in the Next Big Idea app.

1. Shift your perspective: your workforce is now empowered

… We are experiencing the attitudinal shifts that come with generational changes in the composition of the workforce… These trends combine to give workers power and agency in all aspects of their working lives.

2. Shift your mindset: you work for them

Increases in employee turnover, a lack of engagement, and a rise in disengagement are often collectively framed as employee dissatisfaction—in other words, “their fault.” In reality, these are leadership failures: Leaders must adapt and make fundamental shifts to their leadership approach. The first shift is from managing people and processes to enabling success. The team doesn’t work for you; you work for them. Your success depends on their success.

3. Shift your culture: peers as collaborators

…Today you are likely managing a team of people who have skills and knowledge that you do not. Furthermore, each team member likely has unique skills and knowledge that are not duplicated across the team. You need to create a culture in which your team sees peers as collaborators who make them stronger rather than competitors they must beat.

LIST OF 23 PUBLISHED ARTICLES written in 2022 by @BobWhitesel published by @BiblicalLeader Magazine.

Commentary by Dr. Whitesel, 3/7/22: Below are 23 of the articles I wrote in 2022 to help churches engage what’s next.

LEADERSHIP & Here are the Biblical Greek words for “leadership,” which mean to “pilot” (like a ship) and to “care for people entrusted to you” (like a shepherd).

by Mark Roberts, Life for Leaders, De Pree Center, 10/5/22

When people hear that I work for a leadership center, most are intrigued. But every now and then I run into a confident critic. They’ll say something like, “Leadership, huh? You know leadership isn’t really a biblical idea. It’s a modern invention.” Even if this were true, that doesn’t mean leadership isn’t something to be taken seriously. Electricity is a modern invention, too, but we don’t deny its importance for our lives.

There is a small measure of truth, however, in the critics’ claim about leadership. It’s true that ancient Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek, the languages of Scripture, didn’t have a word precisely equivalent to our word “leadership.” In the Bible, the closest we come to a word meaning “leadership” appears in the phrase “forms of leadership” in 1 Corinthians 12:28. The Greek behind the word “leadership” is kybernēsis, which literally meant piloting a ship. “Piloting” people in the church would be something we’d identify as leadership.

I Thessalonians 5:12 uses a word that is close in meaning to our verb “to lead.” The NRSV reads, “[R]espect those who labor among you, and have charge of you in the Lord.” The Common English Bible says the Thessalonians are to “respect those who are working with you, leading you.” The Greek verb translated as “have charge of” or “leading” is proistēmi, which the lexicon renders as “to exercise a position of leadership, rule, direct, be at the head of.” The use of this verb in 1 Thessalonians shows that certain members of the church were exercising what we would call leadership, which included teaching and correcting as well as working hard.

Yet there is a nuance in the verb proistēmi that also deserves our attention. If you were to look up this word in the standard Greek lexicon of the New Testament (BDAG), you’d find, in addition to “exercise a position of leadership,” a second definition: “to have an interest in, show concern for, care for, give aid.” In light of this option, the NIV refers to “those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord,” avoiding the language of leadership altogether.

So, 1 Thessalonians 5:12 does speak of those who lead in the church, but it uses a word that reveals something crucial about the character of those leaders. They are not puffed up with their own power and prestige. They do not seek to dominate those they lead, lording it over them. They don’t see their people as cogs in some kind of church “machine.” Rather, their leadership is an expression of deep personal care. Because they care, they lead. When they lead, they do so in a loving way.

My De Pree Center colleague Dr. Scott Cormode, a professor of leadership at Fuller, talks about leadership as serving “the people entrusted to your care.” Yes, these people might be called employees or subordinates or followers. But Scott emphasizes the relational dynamic of leadership by thinking in terms of “the people entrusted to your care.”

Read more at … https://depree.org/caring-leadership/

LEADING IN LIMINAL TIMES & This is what’s really behind Quiet Quitting (and what leaders can do about it).

Commentary by Dr. Whitesel: We often notice that people are changing in their passion for a job as well as their performance level. But what do we do about it? Here are several good ideas from a recent article in Fast Company magazine.

“This is what’s really behind Quiet Quitting (and what leaders can do about it)” by Ben Reuveni, Fast Company, 8/31/22.

…Many leaders see ghost quitting, also known as quiet quitting, as a people problem, but that’s not the case. It’s a failure of traditional HR methods that don’t work anymore. The pandemic accelerated a shift in how employees think about work. People are demanding flexibility in their jobs as they give equal or greater focus to family, travel, or passion projects. Contributing to this trend is the fact that employees feel trapped and unfulfilled in the roles they hold today. According to one of our recent surveys, over half of employees say their current role doesn’t make good use of their skills. A separate report reveals that 43% say they don’t have enough opportunities for internal mobility.

…According to McKinsey, the top reasonpeople left their jobs last year was a lack of career development and advancement. HR teams, people managers, and senior leaders need to give their employees more flexibility, more visibility into internal growth possibilities, and agency to pursue them.

Double down on investing in developing people.

…The quiet quitter’s mindset is a symptom of a work environment where people feel cornered or stuck. Organizations must fundamentally change the way they think about work, proving their people come first. They can start by creating access to development and internal job opportunities. According to Gallup, companies that made a strategic investment in employee development report 11% greater profitability and are twice as likely to retain their people.

Try job sharing or peer mentoring.

… Since the pandemic began, many CHROs have reported a spike in employee interest in gigs and mentorships. Gigs offer people exposure to new leaders and coworkers in other departments and locations. They also provide the chance to add or reinforce skills that could lead to an internal career move. Through mentorships, employees and leaders can learn from each other without the stakes of a manager-direct report relationship.

Many companies are even embracing job sharing—splitting one job between two or more employees. Job sharing can help to beat quiet quitting by providing relief to employees who feel overworked, and connecting them to a complementary and engaging partner.

#LD722

LEADERSHIP & Stop saying ‘I’m sorry’ at work—and use these 3 phrases instead, says Wharton psychologist.

by Megan Sauer, NBC, 7/14/22.

…”[Saying sorry] is a very kind thing to do, but it can also put us in what we characterize as a one-down position,” Schweitzer tells CNBC Make It. “It’s not authoritative, it’s not assertive, and sometimes people appear more powerful when they don’t apologize…”

Replace I’m sorry with…

Schweitzer says it’s important to communicate intentionally when things don’t go as planned. For instance:

Replace “I’m sorry for this mistake” with “I’m taking responsibility for this, and here’s how I plan to fix it.”

It’s an apology that still acknowledges a misstep without conveying unnecessary vulnerability. “If you recognize a mistake, it takes assertiveness to say, ‘Here’s the error. I want you to know about it and I’m going to take these corrective actions,'” Schweitzer says. “Stating your intentions specifically, I think, is a powerful and often constructive thing to do.”

In other situations, you might not want to explicitly apologize at all. For example:

Replace “I’m sorry for being late” with “Thanks for your patience”
Replace “I’m sorry you’re stressed” with “I noticed you have a lot on your plate. Can I help you? Do you need a break?”

The key, Schweitzer says, is to practice accountability while suggesting solutions that can help you move forward, rather than dwelling on past mistakes.

LIGHTING & Today’s #SundayChurchHacks: Ensure the front lighting is not too high above the speaker. If the front lighting is too high, it will create dark holes where there should be the speaker’s eyes.

by Bob Whitesel D.Min., Ph.D., 12/5/21.

High ceilings force churches to often hang their front stage lights too high. The result is that the preacher, who is usually trying to convey a message with his or her facial expressions, will appear to have black holes for eyes.

Here is a client church that has improved its front lighting (though even a bit higher might be ideal).

Here is how to fix it:

Evaluate your recorded “on demand” streaming videos.
Make notes when eyes are visible and when they are black holes.
Lower your front lighting, options include:
- Hang lights to the front of a balcony
- Lower your ceiling lights with pipe, cabling, etc.
- Add a light tree in the auditorium,
  - In a place that does not interfere with sight-lines.
  - Sometimes it can be added near the camera operator’s position.
Practice raising your head, if none of the above options are viable.

Preachers and worship leaders spend many hours preparing to communicate God’s Word. But as a church, we may not be spending as much time ensuring that the speakers/musicians’ stage presence communicates as well.

#SundayChurchHacks Sunday Church Hacks

LEADERSHIP & How Church Change Drove a Family Away by @BobWhitesel published by @BiblicalLeader Magazine.

by Bob Whitesel D.Min., Ph.D., Biblical Leadership Magazine, 10/16/19.

It just happened one Sunday in 1962. My dad stopped going to church. Mother and I still attended, at least for the next year or so. But soon, our entire family no longer frequented the church my parents had attended since they were married.

Dad had been the head usher for the second of three Sunday services in this church of 1,500 attendees. In that role, he had organized 16-20 men each Sunday to receive the offering and help congregants find seats. Planning was minimal. Dad was supervised by Bill, the church’s Usher Supervisor who recruited, selected, trained and mentored ushers. Bill was an engineer for Delco-Remy, where he led an entire department in the burgeoning lighting division.

However, my father’s duties as head usher for the second service were more straightforward. Dad had to ensure that each usher had enough bulletins, that ushers were at all entrances, and on occasion he had to conscript ushers from the audience if someone was missing. This was his close-knit fellowship, and he often remarked that not since his World War II days had he enjoyed such camaraderie.

Dad also prayed over the offering. And because his prayer never changed, I can recall it to this day; Gerald was a relational leader who liked consistency, uniformity and reliability. Because he exemplified these traits, he had been head usher of the second service for four years.

Why would a man of such consistency and reliability suddenly disconnect himself from his church?

As a child I never understood, nor inquired. But, once grown I had occasion to ask my dad about his departure. Gerald’s disappearance was due to an honor. The faithful discharge of his duties as a head usher, had brought him to the attention of the church leaders. When Bill, the Usher Supervisor quit, Gerald was the natural choice to replace him. After all, my dad was head usher for the largest of three services. He was faithful. Dad was honored, but also wary. None-the-less after some gentle prodding by the church leaders he was “rewarded” with a promotion to Usher Supervisor.

In this new capacity, Dad was now thrust into a leadership role that required oversight of 60 plus men. His duties now included scheduling and organizing ongoing usher training, recruitment and oversight as well as replacing ineffective ushers. Dad had enjoyed his duties as head usher of one service, but now his responsibilities doubled if not tripled. While his previous duties had been largely relational, now his tasks were increasingly organizational. Dad missed the interpersonal nature of his previous duties, and now saw himself increasingly isolated from the fellowship and camaraderie he had previously relished.

Additionally, the usher ministry suffered. Dad found it difficult to schedule pertinent and timely training, and he never felt comfortable with the recruitment and dismissal process. He was a man everyone liked, and he found it hard not to utilize a willing usher candidate, simply because of lack of skill, decorum or call.

The church leaders noticed this decline in the usher’s ministry. And, they subtly tried to work with Gerald. They tried to develop him into a director, who could oversee 60 plus men, and three different worship services. In the end, this was not Dad’s gifting or calling. He had been a successful sergeant during World War II, and he had successfully led a small team of men. But when it came to the oversight, tactical planning, recruitment and paperwork necessary to administer a burgeoning ministry, Dad did not enjoy it, nor did he feel he was called to do it.

The church leaders did not want to see Gerald quit, but the atmosphere of pressure and disappointment became too much. Without an avenue for retreat, one day Gerald simply called the church office and resigned. Dad was a gracious and loving man. But, the feelings that he had let down his church and lost his camaraderie were too much. Dad couldn’t bear to see the looks of the other usher who he felt he had failed as their leader, and thus returning to church was too uncomfortable to bear. He simply faded away, and soon our family did as well.

In adulthood, I began investigating leadership styles and in hindsight always wondered what happened to my Dad’s volunteerism. He had been so content and fulfilled as a sergeant in the military. But at church, his involvement had led to disappointment and failure. As I researched leadership abilities, I found that the military had an insightful understanding of leadership sectors, that might benefit the church. And, it has to do with three military leadership categories: strategic leaders, tactical leaders and relational leaders.[i]

[i] Within military leadership theories there are many nuanced categories. However, to keep the present discussion from becoming too unwieldy, we will focus on the three broad categories of strategic leadership, tactical leadership and operational (i.e. relational) leadership. For a good overview of the historical importance and tensions of the top levels of military leadership see, Mark A. Stoler, Allies and Adversaries: The Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Grand Alliance, and U.S. Strategy in World War II (Chapel Hill, No. Carolina: The University of North Carolina Press, 2000).

Excerpted from Preparing for Change Reaction: How to Introduce Change in Your Church by Bob Whitesel (Indianapolis: Wesleyan Publishing House, 2007).

Photo source: istock

Read the original article here … https://www.biblicalleadership.com/blogs/how-church-change-drove-a-family-away/

LEADERSHIP & Who are the strategic leaders? by @BobWhitesel published by @BiblicalLeader Magazine.

by Bob Whitesel D.Min., Ph.D., Biblical Leadership Magazine, 08/21/19.

(Click the following link for a short, self-scoring questionnaire to discover your 3-STRand leadership mix: https://churchhealthwiki.files.wordpress.com/2020/11/3-strand-leadership-questionnaire-c2a9bobwhitesel-fillable.pdf)

The word strategy comes from the Greek word for a military general: strategoi. The generals of ancient Athens, led by the forward-thinking Pericles, undertook a grand building project to make Athens the cultural and political center of Greece. The Athenian generals’ strategy paid off, with beautiful buildings such as the Parthenon, making Athens the Greek capital.

Subsequently, in the military field the word strategic has come to refer to the bigger-picture planning that is done before a before a battle begins. Strategic leaders see the big picture, and envision outcomes before the battle commences. They intuitively know what the results should be, even though they are not experts in getting there. In the military, strategic leaders are generals, admirals, etc.

In architecture

An analogy from the world of art may be helpful. The strategic leader is akin to an artist. He or she seems the dim outline of the future, perhaps a gleaming office tower or an eye-catching museum. They can envision what it will look like once it is complete. But, they seek only general forms, shapes and appearances. They see the art and the results.

In the military

Strategic leaders are intentional, big-picture leaders who deal in theoretical, hypothetical concepts and strategies. For example, in World War II generals such as Dwight Eisenhower and Bernard Montgomery strategically knew that France must be invaded and wrestled from the German occupiers. The decisions to invade North Africa, Sicily, Italy and eventually France were decided upon by the generals. But, once each of the invasions commenced, leadership was put into the hands of tactical leaders.

In the church

Let’s look at some typical characteristics that distinguish leaders in the church. And, in my consultative work, I have routinely witnessed that pastors can be drawn into the ministry by two competing roles.[ii]

1. The shepherd. Many pastors enter the ministry due to a desire to help fellow humankind with a hands-on, relational, personal and mentoring type of leadership style. This is analogous to the guidance of a shepherd, and is reflected in scriptures about nurture, care and cultivation such as in Isaiah 40:11, “He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.”

And, this is exemplified by Jesus who is described as, “our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep” (Hebrews 13:20). Pastors drawn by this role often become relational leaders.

2. The visionary. Pastors in this category have an overriding desire to make a significant impact for Christ and His kingdom. They are impassioned by statements such as John 4:34-38, “‘My food,’ said Jesus, ‘is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying, ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”

Visionaries have what church growth researcher Win Arn called “church growth eyes … a developed characteristic of individuals and churches who have achieved a sensitivity to seeing possibilities….”[iii] Pastors drawn by this leadership role usually become strategic leaders.

3. A mixture. Oftentimes pastors and church leaders have a mixture of the two above roles and may fluctuate between one or the other at various times in their ministerial journey. However, it is important to note the dissimilar nature of these roles. One seeks to build interpersonal camaraderie and intimacy, the other seeks to attain a physical forward-looking goal.

In the former, intimacy is the purpose, and in the later the future goal is the purpose. Which is needed? They both are, but the wise church leader will employ each as the circumstance warrants and as their abilities allow. Thus, let’s look a bit more at strategic leadership.

Pastors attracted to the ministry because of a vision to make a significant impact for Christ often exhibit strategic leadership. And, they are often passionate about their work, for they see the depravity of humankind and they perceive how Christ provides the necessary answer.

Subsequently, they are often highly enthusiastic and energetic about reaching people for Christ. This passion can sometimes be misconstrued as a fervor for growth, size or power. And, such negative attributes can sneak in. However, what customarily motivates these individuals is the picture they envision of many people coming to know Christ.

As such, visual and revelatory scriptures hold great sway, and they can readily perceive the “great multitudes of Revelation 7:9-10 “… a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: ‘Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.’”

In the change process

Strategic leaders are the first to notice that change is needed. This is because they are always looking ahead. To a degree, they live in the future better than the present. Thus, they can be frustrating to work with if not accompanied by the tactical leader. Strategic leaders thus see the need for change, and love discussing the rationale and theories of change.[iv]

They know what the change should look like, but they have trouble seeing the individual steps to get there. Thus, they are critical for the change process, for they look ahead and see where the church is going and needs to go. But they are also frustrating for other leaders because strategic leaders know what the results should look like, but they are weak at envisioning the step-by-step process.

Characteristics

Strategic leadership is “future directed.”[v] Strategic leaders often want people to move forward, and thus they are the first to start moving in new directions. Historian Martin Marty said they “are extremely sensitive to where people are, but are not content to leave them there.”[vi]

Other names for strategic leaders are:

1. Visionaries (George Barna,[vii] Leith Anderson[viii] and Phil Miglioratti[ix]).

2. Role 1 Leaders (Phil Miglioratti[x]).

3. “Top management” (John Wimber, Eddie Gibbs[xi]).

4. “Strong, authoritative, directive pastoral leadership” (Wagner[xii]).

5. Upper-level Management (John Kotter[xiii]).

6. Sodality leadership, which is described as “vision setter, goal setter, strong leader, visionary, upper management” (Ralph Winter[xiv]).

This is the second article in a series of articles on 3-STRand Leadership. Check out the first, “How church change drove a family away,” by Bob Whitesel. Click here for footnotes.

Excerpted from Preparing for Change Reaction: How to Introduce Change in Your Church by Bob Whitesel (Indianapolis: Wesleyan Publishing House, 2007).

Photo source: istock

Read the original article here … https://www.biblicalleadership.com/blogs/understanding-graffiti-leadership/

LEADERSHIP & Why Relational Leaders Are the Glue to Hold a Team Together by @BobWhitesel published by @BiblicalLeader Magazine.

by Bob Whitesel D.Min., Ph.D., Biblical Leadership Magazine, 9/13/19.

In the military, relational leaders are the men and women who lead skilled teams on critical assignments. They have an immediate, urgent and vital task to perform. They may not see where their efforts fit into the bigger picture, but they are the masters of relational leadership. They lead an intentional and personal effort to build a team of interdependent soldiers. While the key to strategic leadership is forecasting and theorizing, and the contribution of tacticians is precision and allocation, the skill of the relational leader is his or her connection with their team and the ability to think creatively, improvise, adapt and be successful.

In architecture

These are the skilled craftsmen that build a house and give it the working components. They are often knowledgeable in a certain predefined field such as electrical, heating/cooling, framing, etc., because of the complexity of the task. And, they like to see the immediate results of their hands. One relational leader told me, “I like to see immediate results from what I am doing. I do not have the patience to wait for an outcome. That is why I am a painter. I like to see the results right now from what I am doing.”

In contrast, the strategic leader may wait years to witness the culmination of a project, and thus may leap to a new idea before the first has come to fruition. The tactical leader is also patient in waiting for the project to be completed, but the tactical leader finds it rewarding to see that progress is being made and the end goal is getting nearer. However, for relational leaders, seeing immediate results in even small steps is one of the most rewarding parts of the process.

In the Church

My dad was a sergeant in the military, and initially a relational leader who led his small team of second service ushers successfully for four years. Like many relational leaders in our churches, Dad enjoyed getting the job done. I often remember how fulfilled and satisfied he was after church, where he had faithfully discharged his duties with his team.

In the change process

During the change process these are the church leaders who get things done. They often see things from the viewpoint of their task. If they are an usher, then as my dad, ushering seemed like the most important job in the church. Still my dad, like many relational leaders today, knew that the church was an organic organism of many functions and ministries (1 Corinthians 12:12; Ephesians 4:11-13). But Dad so enjoyed the task at hand, that at least for him and his giftings this was the most important job imaginable. As a result, he discharged his duties with speediness, precision, care and results.

Characteristics

Relational leaders have the knowledge, skill, relational abilities and dedication to get a job done. Once the parameters are defined and they see how their task fits into the bigger picture (they are helped in this by the tactical leader), the relational leader can accomplish almost anything. Anthropologist Margaret Mead observed, “Never doubt that a small group of committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has” [xxvii]. And, thus the contribution of the relational leader is critical to the change process.

Relational leaders often love their job so much that they do not see themselves “moving out” of this role in the foreseeable future [xxviii].

But, if the relational leader does not have the go-between of a tactical leader, the strategic leader’s vision may be too imprecise to motivate the relational leader. Thus, we see once again while all three types of leadership are needed, it is the glue the go-between tactical leader provides that helps the relational leader move the strategic leader’s vision forward.

This is the fourth article in a series of articles on 3-STRand Leadership. Check out the third, “What is tactical leadership?” by Bob Whitesel. Click here for footnotes.

Excerpted from Preparing for Change Reaction: How to Introduce Change in Your Church by Bob Whitesel (Indianapolis: Wesleyan Publishing House, 2007).

Photo source: istock

Read the original article here … https://www.biblicalleadership.com/blogs/why-relational-leaders-are-the-glue-to-hold-a-team-together/

LEADERSHIP vs MANAGEMENT & Why every leader needs to have a manager and Steve Jobs’ success at Apple was because he realized it.

by Chris Matyszczyk, Inc. Magazine, 5/26/20.

Being a manager… The very word conjures a sense of keeping things together, getting by and generally making a system work.

Being a leader, on the other hand, now that’s the apogee of rockstarism.

…I’ve been bathing in a commentary, published in the Academy of Management Journal, by INSEAD’s Associate Professor of Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior, Gianpiero Petriglieri.

…Petriglieri explains how research has clearly shown the diminished impression of management:

To be a manager is to be useful, but dispensable. It is no protection against anxiety in the workplace. In many such places, in fact, wanting to be a manager is a questionable aspiration if it is one at all. It is like wanting to be a dinosaur in an age where leaders have the disruptive impact of meteorites.

This has caused a skewing that is surely evident in the way so many organizations are run today. Says Petriglieri:

Preach passion above competence, influence above stewardship, and soon you will find much passion for influence and little competent stewardship at the top of corporations and countries.

Too often, leadership becomes a game of self-aggrandizement, power and stock options. More troubling is the fact that the obsession with leadership has led to a sense that you must act like a leader (whatever that means) to succeed or get funded.

Somehow, says Petriglieri, we pick leaders in a hurry and managers at our leisure. In each case, we’re asking the question What Can You Do For Me?

We’re human. We’re irrational. Or, as Petriglieri puts it:

We want evidence and excitement, data and dreams.

Yet instead of trying to find all those things in one, we separate the more rational traits from the emotional ones.

Oh, he looks and feels like a leader. Let’s pick him.

Petriglieri worries that leaders and managers are now seen as antagonistic, rather than complementary:

Splitting leadership from management and arguing for the superior value of one, in other words, is like asking whether the brain or the heart is most important. Which one would you rather give up?

The truth, says Petriglieri, is that a balance between leadership and management is simply harder to build.

He’d like to see a different sort of organization:

Institutions where we can get along or argue well, passion is held, reasons are heard, and managing and leading abound instead of their caricatures — the managers and leaders.

How many times do so-called leaders breeze in, make everyone feel good — for a short while — and then disappear to their next exalted position? Which all leads me to Steve Jobs. One of the greatest leaders of our time, so we’re told. Surely, then, he’d appoint another great leader to replace him.Instead, he appointed the ultimate so-called manager, Tim Cook.Perhaps Jobs appreciated that as his company got bigger and ever more global, certain skills of absolute competence were essential.It’s a vital lesson for today’s exceptionally disturbed and fractured world. Fine words and a fine image are not enough.I’ve often thought it’s more possible for managers to grow into leaders than for leaders to embrace true consequential competence.How do you think Cook’s been as a leader? Remarkably good, as well as remarkably competent, if you ask m

LEADERSHIP & “St. Paul’s Guide to Leading Remotely” by @BobWhitesel published by @BiblicalLeader Magazine

St. Paul's Guide to Leading Remotely 2.2

Look at Paul …

Some degree of social distancing will most likely be part of future leadership practices. This will require church leaders to develop new skills and embrace new leadership methods. But for many church staffs, volunteers and ministers leading remotely may feel awkward and unnatural. However, leading remotely is a skill found in the New Testament and the early Church. St. Paul himself provides a fascinating example about how to lead remotely through the letters he wrote to congregations he guided. Here are 12 principles drawn from his writings.

Paul’s Guide …

Be personable. Paul greeted leaders personally. This created a human connection to Paul’s remote location (and sometimes his imprisonment). Whether at the beginning of his letters (Philippians 1, etc.) or the end (Romans 16:1-16, etc.), Paul recounted his personal connection with his readers. When critique was called for, Paul even prefaced it with personal histories. In Romans 16 he spends several paragraphs thanking God for those who helped him, but then warns about those who divide the flock. In verses 17-18 he instructs, “Keep a sharp eye out for those who take bits and pieces of the teaching that you learned and then use them to make trouble. Give these people a wide berth. They have no intention of living for our Master Christ. They’re only in this for what they can get out of it, and aren’t above using pious sweet talk to dupe unsuspecting innocents” (MSG). Paul’s greetings not only provided personal salutations to exemplary followers, but also examples of ones to avoid.

Reputation is based upon God’s work in a life. Distance, whether physical or created by electronic mediums, can undermine credibility. When necessary, Paul defended his credentials. But he based his credibility upon how God has changed (and is changing) him, stating, “Do you think I speak this strongly in order to manipulate crowds? Or curry favor with God? Or get popular applause? If my goal was popularity, I wouldn’t bother being Christ’s slave… I’m sure that you’ve heard the story of my earlier life when I lived in the Jewish way. In those days I went all out in persecuting God’s church. I was systematically destroying it. I was so enthusiastic about the traditions of my ancestors that I advanced head and shoulders above my peers in my career. Even then God had designs on me. Why, when I was still in my mother’s womb he chose and called me out of sheer generosity! Now he has intervened and revealed his Son to me so that I might joyfully tell non-Jews about him.” (Gal. 1:10-16). Be ready to tactfully (2 Cor. 5:20) but directly (1 Tim. 1:3) point to God’s work in your life if your credibility is questioned.

Accept change, yet acknowledge how God is behind the change. Don’t shy away from accepting change, but also acknowledge how God is changing you. Paul embraced his change, recalling in Gal. 2: 7-10 (MSG), “It was soon evident that God had entrusted me with the same message to the non-Jews as Peter had been preaching to the Jews. Recognizing that my calling had been given by God, James, Peter, and John—the pillars of the church—shook hands with me and Barnabas, assigning us to a ministry to the non-Jews, while they continued to be responsible for reaching out to the Jews. The only additional thing they asked was that we remember the poor, and I was already eager to do that.”

Go deep theologically, but give them something to do with it. Don’t be afraid to give those you lead remotely something on which to theologically chew. But also make sure it’s something they can readily apply. Pauline scholar Herman Ridderbos stresses the general character of Paul’s preaching was the kingship of Jesus (1997:48). And, as a result Paul urged his readers to exemplify lifestyles that attested to living in a new realm. And knowing it might be some time before they would hear from him again, Paul literally gave them something to do. He told them to act upon what they heard, saying, “It’s the word of faith that welcomes God to go to work and set things right for us. This is the core of our preaching. Say the welcoming word to God—‘Jesus is my Master’—embracing, body and soul, God’s work of doing in us what he did in raising Jesus from the dead. That’s it. You’re not “doing” anything; you’re simply calling out to God, trusting him to do it for you. That’s salvation. With your whole being you embrace God setting things right, and then you say it, right out loud: ‘God has set everything right between him and me!’” (Romans 10:9-10, MSG).

Use stories, to help others endure the unendurable. The early church experienced an increasing loss of civil and human rights because of mounting opposition by the Roman regime. To this predicament Paul encouraged his listeners to embrace perseverance, steadfastness and in the more modern term championed by Angela Duckworth, “grit.” Paul wrote to the church at Colossae, “As you learn more and more how God works, you will learn how to do your work. We pray that you’ll have the strength to stick it out over the long haul—not the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy, thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright and beautiful that he has for us” (Col. 1:10-12, MSG). And in Gal. 6:9, Paul famously intones, “So let’s not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right time we will harvest a good crop if we don’t give up, or quit” (MSG).

Learning how God works, brings strength to endure the seemingly unendurable.

When you must correct, do so with a parent’s firm but loving touch. Paul sometimes had to pen a painful response to his critics. In 1 Cor. 4:14-16 he admonished, “I’m not writing all this as a neighborhood scold just to make you feel rotten. I’m writing as a father to you, my children. I love you and want you to grow up well, not spoiled. There are a lot of people around who can’t wait to tell you what you’ve done wrong, but there aren’t many fathers willing to take the time and effort to help you grow up. It was as Jesus helped me proclaim God’s Message to you that I became your father. I’m not, you know, asking you to do anything I’m not already doing myself…” (MSG). As we saw earlier, Paul’s critiques sometimes begin with positive salutations. But here Paul prefaces his critique by reminding his hearers of the nature of their leadership relationship, not as a boss to a hireling but as a father to a child.

Face-to-face leadership is sometimes still required. Continuing the 1 Cor. 4 passage above Paul warns, “I know there are some among you who are so full of themselves they never listen to anyone, let alone me. They don’t think I’ll ever show up in person. But I’ll be there sooner than you think, God willing, and then we’ll see if they’re full of anything but hot air. God’s Way is not a matter of mere talk; it’s an empowered life” (1 Cor. 4:18-20, MSG). A key to critiquing remotely is to lay out clearly your intentions if remote leadership is ineffective. Face-to-face leadership may still be necessary and should be understood as an option by all parties.

Be authentic & humble. Paul regularly acknowledged his status, as one Christ appeared to lately, but genuinely. In I Cor. 15:8-9 he recalled, “…He (Jesus) finally presented himself alive to me. It was fitting that I bring up the rear. I don’t deserve to be included in that inner circle, as you well know, having spent all those early years trying my best to stamp God’s church right out of existence” (MSG). And in Ephesians 3:7-8, he said, “This is my life work: helping people understand and respond to this Message. It came as a sheer gift to me, a real surprise, God handling all the details. When it came to presenting the Message to people who had no background in God’s way, I was the least qualified of any of the available Christians. God saw to it that I was equipped, but you can be sure that it had nothing to do with my natural abilities” (MSG)

Put others first, as exemplified by Christ. Paul knew that each leader who read or heard his letters would need to make a myriad of subsequent decisions. To guide decision-making, Paul emphasized that the arrival of Christ’s kingdom meant putting others before oneself. Paul summed this up in Phil. 2:1-7, “If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand. Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn’t think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. When the time came, he set aside the privileges of deity and took on the status of a slave, became human!” (MSG).

Reconciliation and transformation are pivotal in the community of the king. Christ’s death and resurrection signified the arrival of his kingdom. A new community emerged which Paul calls, the saints, the elect, the beloved, the called. Over and over he would remind his readers they must decide if they will take up God’s offer for personal kingdom life, reconciliation and letting the Holy Spirit transform them. And so, Paul’s emphasis upon conversion was not just a theoretical concept, but also a noticeable change in people. Paul famously intoned, “So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.” (2 Cor. 5:16-20, MSG).

Be thankful & prayerful for those you are entrusted to lead. Paul believed thankfulness must characterize every step in a Christian’s journey, saying: “And cultivate thankfulness… Let every detail in your lives—words, actions, whatever—be done in the name of the Master, Jesus, thanking God the Father every step of the way” (Colossians 3:15-17, MSG). In addition, Paul’s mentees were never far from his prayers. In Phil. 1:3-6 (MSG) he recalls that “Every time I think of you, I thank my God. And whenever I mention you in my prayers, it makes me happy. This is because you have taken part with me in spreading the good news from the first day you heard about it. God is the one who began this good work in you, and I am certain that he won’t stop before it is complete on the day that Christ Jesus returns.”

Regardless of difficulties, pestilence and/or persecution Paul’s leadership is a guide to how to lead God’s people in difficult, even remote, times.

LEADERSHIP & An Overview of Max DePree’s book “Leadership Is An Art”

by ViaDialogue, 9/5/2005.

Max DePree. Leadership Is An Art. Dell Trade Paperback, 1989.

… The art of leadership, as Max says, is “liberating people to do what is required of them in the most effective and humane way possible.” To do this effectively requires clear thinking about their own beliefs: They must have thought through their assumptions about human nature, the role of the organization, the measurement of performance (and the host of other issues…) (xx)

In short, the true leader is a listener. The leader listens to the ideas, needs, aspirations, and wishes of the followers and then — within the context of his or her own well-developed system of beliefs — responds to these in an appropriate fashion. That is why the leader must know his own mind. That is why leadership requires ideas. And that is what this book is: a compendium of ideas about organizational leadership. (xxi)

INTRODUCTION

The book is about the art of leadership: liberating people to do what is required of them in the most effective and humane way possible. (1)

…Charles Eames taught me the usefulness of repetition. I often repeat myself, by design, to establish something and then connect it to something else. (3)

Leadership is an art, something to be learned over time, not simply by reading books. Leadership is more tribal than scientific, more a weaving of relationships than an amassing of information, and, in that sense, I don’t know how to pin it down in every detail. (3)…

THE MILWRIGHT DIED

…it is fundamental that leaders endorse a concept of persons. This begins with an understanding of the diversity of people’s gifts and talents and skills. Understanding and accepting diversity enables us to see that each of us is needed. (39) It also helps us to understand that for many of us there is a fundamental difference between goals and rewards. (10)

WHAT IS LEADERSHIP?

The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between the two, the leader must become a servant and a debtor. That sums up the progress of an artful leader. (11)

“Leaders don’t inflict pain; they bear pain.” (11)

The measure of leadership is not the quality of the head, but the tone of the body. The signs of outstanding leadership appear primarily among the followers. Are the followers reaching their potential? Are they learning? Serving? Do they achieve the required results? Do they change with grace? Manage conflict? (12)

… People are the heart and spirit of all that counts. (13)

Leaders need to be concerned with the institutional value system which, after all, leads to the principles and standards that guide the practices of the people in the institution. (14)

Leaders owe a covenant to the corporation or institution, which is, after all, a group of people. Leaders owe the organization a new reference point for what caring, purposeful, committed people can be in the institutional setting. Notice I did not say what people can do — what we can do is merely a consequence of what we can be. (15)…

Leaders are obligated to provide and maintain momentum. (17)

Leaders are responsible for effectiveness. …efficiency is doing the thing right, but effectiveness is doing the right thing. …effectiveness comes about through enabling others to reach their potential… (19)

A leader must be a judge of people. For leaders choose a person, not a position. (20)

Leaders must take a role in developing, expressing, and defending civility and values. (21)

PARTICIPATIVE PREMISES

What is it most of us really want from work? …to find the most effective, most productive, most rewarding way of working together. …to know that our work process uses all of the appropriate and pertinent resources: human, physical, financial …a work process and relationships that meet our personal needs for belonging, for contributing, for meaningful work, for the opportunity to make a commitment, for the opportunity to grow and be at least reasonably in control of our own destinies. Finally we’d like someone to say “Thank you!” (23)

I believe that the most effective contemporary management process is participative management. (24) Participative management guarantees that decisions will not be arbitrary, secret, or closed to questioning. participative management is not democratic. Having a say differs from having a vote. (25)

Leaders need to foster environments and work processes within which people can develop high-quality relationships… (25)

Respect people.
Understand that what we believe precedes policy and practice. As practice is to policy, so style is to belief.
Agree on the rights of work.
Understand the respective role and relationship of contractual agreements and covenants. Volunteers do not need contracts, they need covanants.
Understand that relationships count more than structure.

Finally, one question: Would you rather work as a part of an outstanding group or be a part of a group of outstanding individuals? This may be the key question in thinking about the premises behind participation. (29)…

ROVING LEADERSHIP

Roving leaders are those indispensable people in our lives who are there when we need them. Roving leaders take charge, in varying degrees, in a lot of companies every day. (48)

In many organizations there are two kinds of leaders — both hierarchical leaders and roving leaders. In special situations, the hierarchical leader is obliged to identify the roving leader, then to support and follow him or her, and also to exhibit the grace that enables the roving leader to lead. (49)

Roving leadership is an issue-oriented idea. Roving leadership is the expression of the ability of hierarchical leaders to permit others to share ownership of problems — in effect, to take possession of a situation. (49)

INTIMACY

Intimacy is at the heart of competence. It has to do with understanding, with believing, and with practice. (53)

Beliefs are connected to intimacy. Beliefs come before policies or standards or practices. Practice without belief is a forlorn existence. Managers who have no beliefs but only understand methodology and quantification are modern-day eunuchs. (55)

Intimacy is betrayed by the inability of our leaders to focus and provide continuity and momentum. It is betrayed by finding complexity where simplicity ought to be. (56)

We do not grow by knowing all of the answers, but rather by living with the questions. (58)

Broadly speaking, there are two types of relationships in industry. The first and most easily understood is the contractual, …[which] covers the quid pro quo of working together. (58) Three of the key elements in the art of working together are how to deal with change, how to deal with conflict, and how to reach our potential.

A society based on the letter of the law and never reaching any higher, fails to take advantage of the full range of human possibilities. The letter of the law is too cold and formal to have a beneficial influence on society. Whenever the tissue of life is woven of legalistic relationships, this creates an atmosphere of spiritual mediocrity that paralyzes men’s noblest impulses. – Alexander Solzhenitsyn, speaking to the 1978 graduating class of Harvard College.

Covenantal relationships, on the other hand, induce freedom, not paralysis. A covenantal relationship rests on shared commitment to ideas, to issues, to values, to goals, and to management processes. Words such as love, warmth, personal chemistry are certainly pertinent. Covenantal relationships are open to influence. They fill deep needs and they enable work to have meaning and to be fulfilling. Covenantal relationships reflect unity and grace and poise. They are an expression of the sacred nature of relationships. (60)…

WHITHER CAPITALISM?

In our effort to understand the capitalist system and its future, what should we keep in mind? We should begin with a concept of persons. (63)

First, as a Christian, I believe each person is made in the image of God. (63) Second, God has given people a great diversity of gifts. (63) Third, for reasons that we may not always understand, God has provided us a population mix. … This concept of persons within the capitalist system holds important implications for everybody — Christian or not. (64)

Therefore, we reject exclusivity. We covet inclusiveness. (66)

An inclusive system requires us to be insiders. We are interdependent, really unable to be productive by ourselves. Interdependency requires lavish communications. Lavish communications and an exclusive process are contradictory.

One can define this inclusive approach in three ways.

First, there are always certain marks of being included:

being needed
being involved
being cared about as an individual
fair wages and benefits
having the opportunity to do one’s best (Only leaders willing to take risks can give this opportunity.)
having the opportunity to understand
having a piece of the action — productivity gains, profit sharing, ownership appreciation, seniority bonus

Second, the inclusive approach makes me think of a corporation or business or institution as a place of fulfilled potential. … Leadership is a conidtion of indebtedness. Leaders who have an inclusive attitude think of themselves as owing, at the very least, the following:

space: a gift to be what I can be
the opportunity to serve
the gift of challenge: we don’t grow unless we’re tested (constraints, like facts, are enabling friends)
the gift of meaning: not superfluous, but worthy; not superficial, but integral; not disposable, but permanent

Finally, here is a third way to understand and define an inclusive approach. Inclusive capitalism requires something from everyone. People must respond actively to inclusiveness. Naturally, there is a cost to belonging.

Being faithful is more important than being successful. If we are successful in the world’s eyes but unfaithful in terms of what we believe, then we fail in our efforts at insidership.
Corporations can and should have a redemptive purpose. We need to weigh the pragmatic in the clarifying light of the moral. We must understand that reaching our potential is more important than reaching our goals.
We need to become vulnerable to each other. We owe each other the chance to reach our potential.
Belonging requires us to be willing and ready to risk. Risk is like change; it’s not a choice.
Belonging requires intimacy. Being an insider is not a spectator sport. It means adding value. It means being fully and personally accountable. It means forgoing superficiality.
Last, we need to be learners together. The steady process of becoming goes on in most of us throughout our lifetime. We need to be searching for maturity, openness, and sensitivity.

GIANT TALES

Giants see opportunity where others see trouble.

Giants give others the gift of space, space in both the personal and the corporate sense, space to be what one can be.

Giants catch fastballs.

Giants have special gifts.

Giants enable others to express their own gifts.

TRIBAL STORYTELLING

The penalty for failing to listen is to lose one’s history, one’s historical context, one’s binding values. (82)

Herman Miller’s stock of values is an example of the continuity I’m talking about.

We are a research-driven product company.
We intend to make a contribution to society.
We are dedicated to quality.
We must become, for all who are involved, a place of realized potential. Herman Miller population must be a reflection of God’s diversity, not of our choices. We are committed to a high sense of initiative in doing everything we can to make capitalism an inclusive system of relationships, not an exclusive structure of barriers.
We are committed to using responsibly our environment and our finite resources.
We commit voluntarily our energy and talent, as well as our financial resources, to those agencies and institutions whose purpose is the common good.
It is essential to us that we preserve our future economically. Profit, like breathing, is indispensable.
We at Herman Miller acknowledge that issues of the heart and spirit matter to each of us.
We are deeply committed to the Scanlon idea. [TIME]

Tribal storytellers, the tribe’s elders, must insistently work at the process of corporate renewal. They must preserve and revitalize the values of the tribe. (91)

WHO OWNS THIS PLACE?

Love is an undefinalbe term, and its manifestations are both subtle and infinite. – Robert Greenleaf, Servant Leadership.

The capitalist system cannot avoid being better off by having more employees who act as if they own the place. (100)

COMMUNICATE!

The best way to communicate the basis of a corporation’s or institution’s common bods and values is through behavior. (101)

What is good communication? What does it accomplish? It is a prerequisite for teaching and learning. It is the way people can bridge the gaps. … Communication clarifies the vision. … Good communication is not simply sending and receiving. Nor is good communication simply a mechanical exchange of data. No matter how good the communication, if no one listens all is lost. The best communication forces you to listen. (102)

Among a leader’s most trusted and familiar tools are communication skills. (104)

…muddy language usually means muddy thinking… (105)

Communication performs two functions, described by two “action-prone” words: educate and liberate.

A corporation’s values are its life’s blood. Without effective communication, actively practiced, without the art of scrutiny, those values will disappear in a sea of trivial memos and impertinent reports. There may be no single thing more important in our efforts to achieve meaningful work and fulfilling relationships than to learn and practice the art of communication. (108)

PINK ICE IN THE URINAL

“What is one of the most difficult things that you personally need to work on?” “The interception of entropy.” (110)

…leaders need to learn to recognize the signals of impending deterioration.

a tendency toward superficiality
a dark tension among key people
no longer having time for celebration and ritual
a growing feeling that rewards and goals are the same thing
when people stop telling tribal stories or cannot understand them
a recurring effort by some to convince others that business is, after all, quite simple (The acceptance of complexity and ambiguity and the ability to deal with them constructively are essential.)
when people begin to have different understandings of words like “responsibility” or “service” or “trust”
when problem-makers outnumber problem-solvers
when folks confuse heroes and celebrities
leaders who seek to control rather than liberate
when the pressures of day-to-day operations push aside our concern for vision and risk (I think you know that vision and risk can never be separated.)
an orientation toward the dry rules of business school rather than a value orientation that takes into account such things as contribution, spirit, excellence, beauty, and joy
when people speak of customers as impositions on their time rather than as opportunities to serve
manuals
a growing urge to quantify both history and one’s thoughts about the future (You may be familiar with people who take a look at a prototype and say, “In 1990 we’ll sell $6 million worth” — nothing is more devastating because then you plan either to make that happen or to avoid it.)
the urge to establish ratios
leaders who rely on structures instead of people
a loss of confidence in judgment, experience, and wisdom
a loss of grace and style and civility
a loss of respect for the English language

WHAT’S NEXT?

Leaders, in a special way, are liable for what happens in the future, rather than what is happening day to day. (114)

…it just is not possible for everybody to know everything and understand everything. The following is essential: We must trust one another to be accountable for our own assignments. When that kind of trust is present, it is a beautifully liberating thing. (116)

Mahatma Gandhi once wrote that there were seven sins in the world:

wealth without work
pleasure without conscience
knowledge without character
commerce without morality
science without humanity
worship without sacrifice
politics without principle

SOME THOUGHTS FOR CEOS WHO BUILD BUILDINGS

Facilities can aspire to certain qualities as an expression of a civilization. (124)

Facilities should enable and empower people to do their best. (125)

We should make it our goal to create an environment that

encourages an open community and fortuitous encounter
welcomes all
is kind to the user
changes with grace
is person-scaled
is subservient to human activity
forgives mistakes in planning
enables this community (in the sense that an environment can) to reach continually toward its potential
is a contribution to the landscape as an aesthetic and human value
meets the needs we can perceive
is open to surprise
is comfortable with conflict
has flexibility, is non-precious and nonmonumental

TO MAKE ONE VICE PRESIDENT, MIX WELL…

A future leader

has consistent and dependable integrity
cherishes heterogeneity and diversity
searches out competence
is open to contrary opinion
communicates easily at all levels
understands the concept of equity and consistently advocates it
leads through serving
is vulnerable to the skills and talents of others
is intimate with the organization and its work
is able to see the broad picture (beyond his own area of focus)
is a spokesperson and diplomat
can be a tribal storyteller (an important way of transmitting our corporate culture)
tells why rather than how

Further observations

The only kind of leadership worth following is based on vision.
Personal character must be uppermost.
If we are going to ask a person to lead, can we determine ahead of time whether he or she has gaps between belief and practice, between work and family?
When talking about leadership, one always ends up talking about the future, about leaving a legacy, about followers. In other words, leadership intertwines the most important aspects of an organization: its people and its future. We need, therefore, to proceed very slowly and carefully.
When choosing officers, provide for possible failure and a graceful withdrawal. Promotion to officership should be decided in a group, with no slim majority. The process should include complete commitment and no reservations. After all, the way we move managers around, you may inherit a work team that you cannot, or will not want to lead.
What does the company physician say about the candidate?
What do the person’s peers have to say?
Would you seek out this person as a key resource on an important task force?

WHY SHOULD I WEEP?

Anyone in touch with reality in this world knows there are lots of reasons to weep. (135)

What do we weep over? What should we weep over?

superficiality
a lack of dignity
injustice, the flaws that prevents equity
great news!
tenderness
a word of thanks
separation
arrogance
betrayal of ideas, of principles, of quality
jargon, because it confuses rather than clarifies
looking at customers as interruptions
leaders who watch bottom lines without watching behavior
the inability of folks to tell the difference between heroes and celebrities
confusing pleasure with meaning
leaders who never say “Thank you
having to work in a job where you are not free to do your best
good people trying to follow leaders who depend on politics and hierarchy rather than on trust and competence
people who are gifts to the spirit

THE MARKS OF ELEGANCE

A friend of mine described a colleague as great at running the “ninety-five-yard dash.” …serious runners think of it as a 110-yard-dash so that no one will beat you in the last few yards. That completes this idea nicely. Think beyond the whole. (143)

Elegant leaders always reach for completeness What are some of the marks of elegance? What should leaders be searching for in their efforts to liberate people of high potential?

A complete relationship needs a covenant. (144)

Intelligence and education can ascertain the facts. Wisdom can discover the truth. The life of a corporation needs both. (144)

To give one’s time doesn’t always mean giving one’s involvement. (144)

Hierarchy and equality are not mutually exclusive. Hierarchy provides connections. Equality makes hierarchy responsive and responsible. (145)

Without forgiveness there can be no real freedom to act within a group. (145)

Opportunity must always be connected to accountability. (145)

A whale is as unique as a cactus. But don’t ask a whale to survive Death Valley. We all have special gifts. Where we use them and how determines whether we actually complete something. (145)

Goals and rewards are only parts, different parts, of human activity. When rewards become our goals, we are only pursuing part of our work. Goals are to be pursued. In healthy relationships, rewards complete the process by bringing joy. Joy is an essential ingredient of leadership. Leaders are obligated to provide it. (145-6)

LEADERSHIP & “You must first look for the personal need, before you try to meet the organizational need.” 7Systems.church #Leadership #LeaderhipDevelopment

The 7Systems.church assessment and planning tool is based upon research of 32,000 churches combined with 29 years of consulting practice by Bob Whitesel D.Min. Ph.D.

Click here for more info: 7Systems.church

LITURGY & Episcopalian ministry among millenials: When worship works.

by Jason Evans [Episcopal Diocese of Washington] 5/8/15.

…Almost every Sunday, I visit a different parish within our Diocese. Most of the time, I meet at least one or two young people who have found their way into the Episcopal tradition. Each time, I make it a point to talk with them about what brought them to their church. Whenever I listen to their stories a sense of hope rises up within me…

In his book, You Lost Me, David Kinnaman writes that there is a “43 percent drop-off between the teen and early adult years in terms of church engagement.” The Pew Research Center reported that more than 25 percent of millennials were unaffiliated with a faith community. This is enough to concern any rector or vestry member. But it isn’t a complete picture of what is happening amongst emerging adults. The National Study of Youth & Religion tracked the religious transitions of young people over a five-year period. Sociologist Christian Smith wrote in his book Souls in Transition that the study found mainline Protestants were “… relatively good at attracting new emerging adults who grew up in other religious traditions–good enough, in fact, to hold their own over these five years in terms of overall ‘market share.’”

Referring to anyone as a “market share” makes my skin crawl a bit. But you get his point–enough emerging adults are finding their way into the Episcopal Church to abate what would otherwise be a steeper decline. So, what are we doing right? In order to answer, I thought we should ask some of those I’ve met in our Diocese.

I met Dongbo Wang, a young scientist, a few months ago. He is a member of Church of the Redeemer in Bethesda, MD. Dongbo did not grow up Episcopalian. But he clearly remembers the first time he walked into an Episcopal parish while in graduate school. “When I walked through those doors, I thought to myself, this is what church is supposed to feel like,” he told me during our conversation. “It was something I couldn’t analyze as a scientist. It was something that felt right–I felt connected. The year before I had visited more than 20 churches and never felt that.”

Like Dongbo, Tiffany Koebel is a young adult who did not grow up Episcopalian. Today, she is a member of All Saints in Chevy Chase, MD. For Tiffany, the Episcopal Church provided a consistent, reliable religious culture that countered what Tiffany referred to as, “a culture constantly fixated on the ‘next big thing.’” She discovered more of a depth of theology in the liturgy during one worship service at All Saints than she had experienced in years attending churches of other traditions. “I was struck by the richness of the liturgy,” she shares, “and the central role of Scripture in the service.”

And for more innovative ways some Episcopal churches are reaching out see this article … Church Has No Walls But Many Doors Accessible to Seekers.

LEADERSHIP & Inspiring Presidential Quotes on Leadership for #PresidentsDay

by Marissa Levin, the founder and CEO of “Successful Culture,” and author of “Built to Scale: How Top Companies Create Breakthrough Growth Through Exceptional Advisory Boards,” Inc. Magazine, 3/19/18.

On Mindset:

“If you see ten troubles coming down the road, you can be sure that nine will run into the ditch before they reach you.” ~Calvin Coolidge

“Pessimism never won any battle.” ~Dwight D. Eisenhower

“Efforts and courage are not enough without purpose and direction.” ~John F. Kennedy

“What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight; it’s the size of the fight in the dog.” ~Dwight D. Eisenhower

“Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing.” ~Abraham Lincoln

On Community & Circles of Influence:

“Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation; for ’tis better to be alone than in bad company.” ~George Washington

“Never waste a minute thinking about people you don’t like.” ~Dwight D. Eisenhower

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, then you are a leader.” ~John Quincy Adams

On Persistence & Resilience:

“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” ~Calvin Coolidge

“In every battle there comes a time when both sides consider themselves beaten, then he who continues the attack wins.” ~General Ulysses S. Grant

“In the time of darkest defeat, victory may be nearest.” ~William McKinley…

“The harder the conflict, the greater the triumph.” ~George Washington

On Ethics & Taking a Stand:

“An honorable defeat is better than a dishonorable victory;” ~Millard Fillmore…

“Unswerving loyalty to duty, constant devotion to truth, and a clear conscience will overcome every discouragement and surely lead the way to usefulness and high achievement.” ~Grover Cleveland

“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power” ~Abraham Lincoln

“Life is never easy. There is work to be done and obligations to be met – obligations to truth, to justice, and to liberty.” ~John F. Kennedy

LEADERSHIP & The Dark Side of Leadership: What it is and how to overcome it.

Commentary by Prof. B.: In my leadership classes students read Peter Northouse’s classic “Introduction to leadership.” In that textbook Northouse reminds us that not all leadership is good. He suggests there is a the dark side of leadership which he describes as, “the destructive side of leadership where a leader uses his or her influence or power for personal ends.”

Here is the way Northouse introduces this concept:

QUOTE Northouse Dark Side of Leadership.jpg

Peter G. Northouse, Introduction to Leadership: Concepts and Practice (New York: Sage Publications. Kindle Edition, 2011) p. 9.

In response to his statement one student said, “we allow for horrible men and women throughout history to be considered ‘great’ leaders. We usually equate ‘agreeable outcomes’ with ‘great leadership.’ The big question then is: was Hitler a great leader? That sounds like a landmine in a conversation…”

Though it is a landmine in a conversation, it must be addressed. One place I do this in my courses is in (e.g. in Alexander Hill’s writing) the importance of ethical practices and altruistic objectives in moral leadership.

In addition, a helpful book on this topic was written by a colleague of mine and his doctor of ministry student. It is titled: Overcoming the Dark Side of Leadership: How to Become an Effective Leader by Confronting Potential Failures by Gary McIntosh and Samuel Rima (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2007). In this book Macintosh and Riva not only explore moral and ethical failures but also theological failure. They point out it is due to egoism subtly influencing our altruism. And they give ways to stay focused on God’s altruistic purposes.

Here are the five steps they suggest to overcoming your leadership darkside,:

1) Acknowledge your dark side

2) Examine your past

3) Resist the poison of expectations

4) Practice progressive self-knowledge

5) understand your identity in Christ

For more insights (and tools to displace the lure of our ego) see their helpful book: Overcoming the Dark Side of Leadership: How to Become an Effective Leader by Confronting Potential Failures

LIFECYCLE & Should aging churches be euthanized? #No (what I learned by consulting them)

by Bob Whitesel, D.Min., Ph.D., 12/7/17.

Recently a student commented, “Last week (national name) was advocating that we put a ‘Sun Set Clause’ in all our churches. He said less than 1% of churches in the country are older than 100 years old. There are no churches that trace their heritage as a congregation to the first century church. He says that churches have a life cycle and instead of fighting it we should work with it. He said the most fruit years of most churches ministry is in the first 30 years. He is advocating that all decisions made in the church be based on the idea that we have 30 years of ministry left. He believes that if we did this we would place more emphasis on people and less on buildings. Instead of building monuments that will last for ever we would make disciples and release them to be missionaries. I would be interested in your prospective on this?”

I responded:

Thanks for the question. My view on this comes out of interviews I have conducted over the past 25+ years with hundreds of older members of churches in my consulting practice. I discovered that as people age they need the church more, rather than less. However as they age they have less ability to volunteer as well as less ability to support the church. Therefore, Like Social Security I believe we should provide a spiritual security in our congregations. So rather than closing a congregation down you can revitalize a congregation into a new lifecycle.

I discovered that as people age they need the church more, rather than less. However as they age they have less ability to volunteer as well as less ability to support the church.

Also as older congregants age I believe they have more insecurity in their lives. They have financial insecurity as they live on a fixed income. And they have relational insecurity as their friends move away and/or die. In addition they have health insecurity. Therefore it is been my experience that they look to the church to provide needed security and a worship culture they can relate to. Without an influx of younger generations the church becomes organizationally insecure it only adds to their insecurity.

Here is where I’ve written more about this and answered more questions: https://churchhealthwiki.wordpress.com/2017/02/19/multiplication-instead-of-planting-an-independent-new-church-what-about-planting-a-new-venue-instead-pros-cons-considered/

Finally, as I said above I came to this viewpoint after interviewing hundreds of aging members. Over and over again these dear hard-working saints worry that their church will not survive. Usually they’ve seen exit behavior occur as the result of change implemented too quickly or without consensus (see Bruno Dyke and Frederick A. Starke, “The Formation of Breakaway Organizations: Observations and a Process Model,” Administrative Science Quarterly 44 [Ithaca, NY: Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University, 1999], 792-822.).

Thus, older congregants fear (rightly so) being left behind and marginalized. And many of these dear saints ran the church and supported it through the years as young families.

But I want to agree with (national name) that we put too much emphasis on facilities. In fact, I wrote a chapter in the book Growth by accident, death by planning: How not to kill a growing congregation (Abingdon Press, 2004) that “Missteps with facilities” was one of the quickest ways to kill a growing congregation. You can find more info on that here: https://churchhealthwiki.wordpress.com/2014/11/13/facilities-the-7-donts-7-dos-of-building-growthbyaccidentbook/

I believe people like (national name) are not as familiar with the needs of aging congregants because they don’t consult aging churches. Most of them have been involved in church plants. In fact that’s how I started out: overseeing a network of church plants and then planting a church myself. And in hindsight I found I had a jaded view. I tended to not understand the needs of aging congregants and rather dismissed them.

And in hindsight I found I had a jaded view. I tended to not understand the needs of aging congregants and rather dismissed them.

After having consulted for so many years and conducted numerous focus groups with aging congregants I have found them to be dear, committed saints who now suffer insecurity in their lives” an insecurity the next-generation can address … if the next gen doesn’t abandon and instead respects the senior saints’ culture.

The result has been that some churches, like Trinity Wesleyan Church in Indianapolis has reached out to senior centers. They just don’t go into senior centers and put on a Sunday service. But they actually organize the seniors to lead the services. It gives aging Christians an opportunity to still be involved in worship and leadership. (As a preacher, worship leader and pastor I hope one day that opportunity will be afforded me 🙂

LEADERSHIP & “It is about vision, but management is about solving problems”

by Bob Whitesel D.Min., Ph.D., 9/22/17.

I ask my students the difference between leadership and management. Here are some quotes I’ve used to describe my thinking:

“Leadership can be more prestigious, more exciting and more visionary. But management, that’s about solving problems”

“Management is what’s missing in our ministry leaders.”

“If you get kicked out of a church, it’s usually not because of bad theology or even poor leadership … but because of bad management.”

“Leadership is about vision, but management is about solving problems.”

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT & Clinton’s 6 Phases for Developing Leaders

by Bob Whitesel, D.Min., Ph.D., 2010.

Clinton’s Phases

Bobby Clinton from Fuller Seminary focused on the phases of the journey after new birth (Figure 2). Though other authors have offered similar process models,[i] Clinton’s is one of the best organized and defined. In addition, Clinton emphasizes that these phases overlap and are indigenized for each person.[ii] Let us look briefly at each of what Clinton calls “Six Phases of Leadership Development.”

Figure 2

Clinton’s Six Phases of Leadership Development[iii]

I Sovereign Foundations

New birth: A New Disciple is Born

II Inner-life Growth

III Ministry Maturation

IV Life Maturation

V Convergence

VI Afterglow

Sovereign Foundations. Clinton suggest this phase begins in the period before new birth. Clinton sees God imbuing His creation with certain personality characteristics that after new birth will correlate to spiritual gifts. During this phase God is preparing a leader through experiences and character traits.[iv]

A New Disciple is Born. Between Phase 1 and 2, Clinton sees “an all out surrender commitment, in which the would-be-leader aspires to spend a lifetime that counts for God.”[v] Here Engel offers here more depth as he charts the minute, but important, mental steps that lead up to a “surrender commitment.” Therefore, Engel’s preparatory steps to this experience will contribute more robustly to our waypoint approach.

Inner-life Growth. In this phase Clinton describes the mentoring and modeling that the new Christian experiences. Clinton neglects Engel’s insights regarding the post-birth evaluation, yet Clinton adds to our understandings the influence of both informal apprenticeships and formal training.[vi]

III. Ministry Maturation: Ministry as the Prime Focus of Life. This phase occurs as the disciple senses ministry is increasingly becoming a focus of their life. The disciple is motivated to explore ministry options and spiritual giftings.[vii] At this juncture, Clinton offers the most satisfying insights, pointing out that much of the growth in the new disciple is self-directed, meaning the disciple must take it upon themselves to look for opportunities to volunteer, minister to others and evaluate effectiveness. Ministry is thus often organic, unpaid and unscripted.[viii] Though Clinton notes that “most people are anxious to bypass Phase II and get on with the real thing – Phase III, ministry,”[ix] in hindsight Phase II can be very satisfying because all options are possible and hope abounds.

Life Maturation: Gift-mix With Power. Here Clinton offers a critical insight into the powerful synergy that is unleashed when a person finds a ministry that corresponds to their gifts. Ministry priorities are also established during this phase, which Clinton describes as a phase of “mature fruitfulness.”[x]
Everything Converges. In this phase personality, training, experience, gifts and geographical location converge to release ministry that is not only effective but also widely appreciated. Clinton points out that not all disciples reach this stage, but by just defining the stage Clinton gives us a mental picture of God’s potential for the individual. “Ministry is maximized” sums up Clinton.
Afterglow. This is a phase when a person’s ministry is so influential over such an extended period of time, that the person enjoys the afterglow of effective ministry. Thought a end that should be considered, Clinton notes that in reality few get there. However, travelers should not be discouraged nor surprised, for the Scriptures are replete with examples of saints who never attained (at least in this life) afterglow.

Clinton provides an interesting roadmap toward the growth of influential and effective leadership, even if the higher phases are often not realized in this lifetime. It is in the phases of leadership development that Clinton bests Engel.[xi]

[i] I.e. John C. Maxwell, The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader, Becoming the Person Others Will Want to Follow (New York: Thomas Nelson, 1999); Max DePree, Leadership is an Art (New York: Dell Publishing, 1989), Tom Rath and Barry Conchie, Strengths-Based Leadership (Washington, DC: Gallup Press, 2009); Seth Godin, Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us (New York: Portfolio, 2008).

[ii] Robert Clinton, The Making of a Leader: Recognizing the Lessons and Stages of Leadership Development (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 1988), 30.

[iii]Robert Clinton, The Making of a Leader.

[iv] Robert Clinton, The Making of a Leader, 31.

[v] Ibid.

[vi] While Clinton addresses the influence of personal mentoring, he does not address the influence of the Christian community to the degree of Engel. Research shows that the health of a church community is an important factor in fostering leadership development (Whitesel, Growth by Accident, Death by Planning, and Inside the Organic Church, along with parallels in the business world, Mary Jo Hatch and Majken Schultz, The Dynamics of Organizational Identity [Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2004] and Mary Jo Hatch, Monika Kostera and Andrzej K. Kozminski, Three Faces of Leadership: Manager, Artist, Priest [Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2005]).

[vii] This would be Engel’s sub-stage of “discovery and use of gifts.”

[viii] For “A Comparison Between Institutionalization and Improvisation” see Whitesel, Inside the Organic Church, 119.

[ix] Robert Clinton, The Making of a Leader, 32.

[x] Ibid.

[xi] While Engel emphasizes spiritual disciplines, there is no guarantee in Engel’s scale that spiritual maturity will correspond with these actions. For example, just because a person is experiencing Engel’s +8 Stage of stewardship of resources, or +9 Stage of prayer, does not mean that person is actually growing in maturity. These are actions that should accompany maturity in faith, but do not necessarily do so. Thus Engel emphasizes the artifacts of the journey, but Clinton emphasizes their influence.

Excerpted from Spiritual Waypoints: Helping Others Navigate the Journey (Indianapolis: Wesleyan Publishing House, 2010).

LEADERSHIP & MANAGEMENT: The fundamental differences & why you need both.

Commentary by Dr. Whitesel:

“Most church leaders fail because they lack management skills, not leadership skills.”

I have found church leaders are usually adequately prepared to set the vision and define objectives, but an under-prepared to manage the process to get there.

My above statements are often quoted by church leaders and students. I think they resonate in part because in the church world there are hundreds of books on leadership. But on the corollary task of management, only a few (including two, to which I contributed chapters: Foundations of Church Administration [Beacon Hill] and The Church Leader’s MBA [Ohio Christian Univ. Press]).

To understand the differences between leadership and management read this helpful definition from Brent Gleason.

by Brent Gleeson, Inc. Magazine, 2/23/17.

Generally speaking, management is a set of systems and processes designed for organizing, budgeting, staffing, and problem solving to achieve the desired results of an organization. Leadership defines the vision, mission, and what the “win” looks like in the future. It inspires the team to embody the beliefs and behaviors necessary to take the actions needed to achieve those results.