August 24, 2012
This week I found myself in several conversations about the current trends in church leadership and the manner in which some of those writing and speaking about the subject come across. In my blog last week, I spoke of the importance for those of us in leadership to be servant leaders, putting others first and moving away from autocratic leadership models. I am very fortunate to work alongside such a servant leader. Unfortunately, however, from my vantage point, I feel that there seems to be a renaissance of the old command-and-control style in which some church leader decides the direction and policies, then insists that all follow without discussion, and certainly without any room for differences of opinion. Buy-in is not the goal from the team – compliance is. I see this in many examples of current leaders in the church today. The leader decides that their view is the only way, then leads with an iron fist, arrogantly believing that they, and those who agree with them, are the only ones with a valid perspective. They put their plan in motion, and there is no room for any opposing thought.
A few years ago, when I was in graduate school crafting my views on servant and collaborative leadership styles for today’s organizations, I came across a book which really spoke to me. It is Humble Leadership, written by N. Graham Standish. In it, the author addresses the attitude that some church leaders have today: “He [the leader] made the tragic assumption that he was the only one in the church who understood what God wanted.” He goes on to write, “Too many churches have [leaders] who are somewhat arrogant, assuming they always know what is best…” I believe that this isn’t just a problem in church leadership, but leadership in general. When we are privileged to be in an influential role in our organizations, I believe it is crucial that we surround ourselves with gifted people who will be more than mere foot soldiers for our personal vision, but also a collaborative team that will give input to us, even when they disagree. In the end, I believe the results will be more effective and meet the needs of a wider group of people. Mr. Standish also deals directly with the fact that “humble leaders are self-aware leaders,” a subject that falls right in line with the topic of “emotionally intelligent leadership” (D. Goleman), with which I will deal in future blogs. I hope this blog has stimulated some thought on how you lead your people.
Lead well.