The Leadership Buffet 6 – Foresight and Laissez-Faire
This week we have two less-common leadership styles which may be evident in our pastors. The first is the foresight style, which on the surface sounds exciting, but can be somewhat terrifying for church people who like to keep things safe, secure, and predictable. The second, laissez-faire, is what some might consider being lazy, but can be effective because of the leader’s skills in delegation and the empowerment of the rest of the team. Here is a little from the book The Humility Factor:
The foresight leader is future-thinking, innovative, open, entrepreneurial, and an opportunist who bases their projections on scientific analysis. Churches with a foresight leader will be exciting and a little bit scary. These leaders must make sure that they communicate well and invest in relationships with the movers and shakers of the church. Buy-in by the lay leaders will be particularly important as the foresight leader describes the future that they see as possible for the church, as it will involve both evolutionary (continuous) and revolutionary (radical) change initiatives. Another reason relationships are critical is that many people will not immediately have the ability to see the future as the leader does. They will need to fully trust their pastor not to lead them astray while in the midst of great uncertainty.
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IMPACT: When the humility factor is added to the leadership style of Foresight, the humble pastor outcome is that the all-about-the-future leader becomes grounded in the present through the development of solid relationships. People will admire the vision and imagination of the leader while respecting the down-to-earth understanding about living in the real world that their leader has.
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The laissez-faire type of leader uses delegation and hands-off supervision when dealing with staff, lay leaders and volunteers. Though this may be a style that works in an established church with many structures and practices in place, the leader may be considered disengaged and dispassionate. A church can function with a laissez-faire leader for a short time and remain moderately effective; however, for long-term growth, this style of leadership will become too casual an approach and people will fade away as they find another church and leader that they perceive as more exciting.
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IMPACT: When the humility factor is added to the leadership style of Laissez-Faire, the humble pastor outcome is that, while keeping their laid-back approach to management, this leader becomes highly relational and quietly serves others on the team. Followers may still desire a more dynamic approach, but will appreciate the fact that their leader cares for them.
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As you can see, these two styles of leadership can be effective, though they may not be the typical kind of pastor many churches pursue. The important thing to remember is that for as many different styles of leader there are, there are equally many unique circumstances and needs found in our churches. No two churches are the same and no two pastors are the same. It’s important to match the right pastor to the right church and then douse both with a heavy dose of humble intelligence.
Next week we will continue our trip to the pastoral leadership buffet. We have some very savory dishes still to sample.
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