The Leadership Mystique
Manfred F.R. Kets de Vries is a world known expert in the area of leadership development and organizational change. He has worked with organizations in many countries, so brings great wisdom when looking at leadership from a global perspective. In his book, The Leadership Mystique: Leading Behavior in the Human Enterprise, he looks at a person’s ability to influence and drive organizational effectiveness. Although many have published books on the subject of leadership, Kets de Vries book stands out. He provides a picture of effective leadership based on consistent traits that successful leaders have demonstrated across global industries. I don’t believe that a person can pick up a book and learn leadership. I find that people need to see and experience what successful leadership looks like so that they can learn and gain wisdom from the model that others provide. The perception of what makes a good leader is often based on an individual’s definition of success, in the specific context that they have worked. This book helps to broaden an individual’s perspective, allowing them to see what good leadership and effectiveness looks like in a broader global context. This being said, Kets de Vries takes leadership thought one step farther. Beyond being a global leader, he addresses the need for leaders to adapt their style to the needs of the specific organization. The leadership factor involves being agile, adaptable, motivating and creative in any context. It is an art form practiced with “mystique “ within the complexity of organized effort and diversity.
Kets de Vries offers insight that is especially helpful to many Americans, since we are known to have a unique “American” way of approaching work and leadership when compared to other parts of the world. Engagement with culture is one of the most effective means to spread moral values and to make positive change. Yet, many American’s struggle in the area of cultural intelligence & cross-cultural leadership. We have an image of success that works in the typical “American” context, but we fail to connect in an increasingly global context. The impact of this to Christianity is profound. We are failing in our efforts to effectively engage the diverse cultures in which we minister, in the U.S. and globally. First and foremost, our calling is to love one another and to share Christ with them. If people don’t learn to connect with diverse groups of people, our mission will fail.
Throughout our history, we have been taught that, “American’s are powerful leaders of industry”. It is this underlying philosophy that drives our approach toward leadership. We are likely to view the responsibility for success at the individual level, and leadership growth in terms of becoming more powerful as an individual. High performance is equated with actions such as working overtime, getting the job done, or doing more work than others. The image of a good leader is one who works faster, while getting the task done with high quality. American’s are typically very direct, want to “get to the point”, and are quick to call out issues or problems. Unfortunately, this way of doing things isn’t the most accepted or effective in the global context. The “American” leadership practices don’t work everywhere. Specifically, they don’t work within the church context.
Western church leaders have good intentions for sharing Christ with others, yet there seems to be a divide between their intention and ability. They aren’t engaging people and motivating them forward. In a study by the Barna group, 61% of pastors struggle with personal relationships, yet nine in ten reports they are effective teachers and leaders who are driven by a clear vision and eight out of ten pastors claim they are effective disciple makers. David Kinnaman, the director of the study, “challenged the objectivity of pastors’ perceptions by pointing out discrepancies between their self-views and other research conducted by the firm. Most pastors say they are driven by a clear vision, but very few pastors are able to articulate the vision statement for their church. Many pastors talk about their church’s deep engagement in the community, but most church programs are focused on the congregation, not people outside the walls of the church. The vast majority of pastors describe their church as theologically conservative and effective at disciple-making, but a minority of churchgoers has developed a biblical worldview.”[1] By studying the work of experts, such as Manfred F.R. Kets de Vries, we can identify gaps in leadership needed across the Christian community. He writes, “organizations are like automobiles. They don’t run themselves, except downhill.” Is the American church rolling downhill? Are current leadership structures failing the church? I’d urge each person in ministry to think carefully about leaders within your direct context, and to identify if they are contributing positively or negatively. Based on insight gained from reading this book, what are issues you see with leadership in your ministry context? As I’ve engaged with this week’s reading, I’ve found areas where my own leadership needs improvement so that I can be effective in ministry (i.e. I could use a leadership attitude adjustment!)…
[1] David Kinnaman, “Pastors Feel Confident in Ministry, But Many Struggle in their Interaction with Others,” Barna Group, Ltd., July 10, 2006, accessed October 22, 2014, https://www.barna.org/barna-update/leadership/150-pastors-feel-confident-in-ministry-but-many-struggle-in-their-interaction-with-others#.VEp8mUtTpqd.
About the Author
Richard Volzke
5 responses to “The Leadership Mystique”
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Richard, what a fantastic post. Very well done! So much of what you said rings so true from my experience. I deal with the very issues that you raise about the American attitudes with my short-term teams. You can’t begin to understand the struggle I go through as I try to tell people that if they come over to Romania and work with our ministry, they are NOT going to build anything! They are usually confused, because they think, “What else would we do!” Our American view is that we have to make a plan, raise the money and finish the job. Well, that is how most of Kingdom work operates. Because (at least in our ministry) it is about working with people in a different culture – things never work the way they are supposed to, and it takes lots of time and effort without ever seeing results in many of the people we work with (at least the results that we as humans hope for or can perceive). So, your critic is right on…we Americans rarely function well in other cultures for many reasons, but mostly because it seems most other cultures value real friendship a lot higher and take more time to grow them then we do. Frankly, it is easier to build something!
Your Barna quote of “61% of pastors struggle with personal relationships” was shocking to me. Thanks for sharing those statistics. If nothing else, it begins to explain why the church in the USA is struggling in some very fundamental ways… if pastors have trouble relating with others, then we shouldn’t be surprised when the church is no longer involved in each others lives or with their community. And isn’t belonging, genuine relationships, and love at the heart of what our modern society is longing for. This should give us all pause. Do you see anything that indicates that churches here in the states are beginning to get it? That they see that something is wrong or that we’ve been on the wrong track for too long? Or is the church too satisfied with their perception of growth and have no inkling that they are missing the point? Thanks Richard, for stirring up my thinking here!
John,
Thanks for your reply and questions. American churches, in general, don’t understand what it means to have real relationships, and we don’t value each other. I believe this is because we do not understand what Godly relationships look like or what love is. Further, we certainly don’t teach or practice relationships. Just yesterday, we were in a church service attended by many struggling and poor people. They took up two offerings and sold everything from books to fried chicken. At the time of offering (there were three offerings), it was announced that they would accept credit cards also. Although half the people couldn’t afford the $3 snack, they announced it at least four times.
I’m not sure that satisfaction with growth is the issue, rather low expectations. For example, in my church district it is considered acceptable if a church only has a few salvations or baptisms a year. After all, that is still growth. Why do so many American churches and even consider it a successful year if they only have 2 or 3 people come to Christ and join the church?
Richard, I find myself in agreement with lots of points you make in this post. You’re right; leadership is best learned in practice than just in theory, and as leaders we need to be willing to learn from the experience of other successful leaders. I also appreciate you clearly identify the issues causing churches decline, especially in America. We have similar issues among the churches in my community when it comes to connecting with others outside the church community. Like you suggest we need to take courage to help leaders in our direct ministry context. Thank you for your insightful post!
Thanks, Richard for an engaging post – in “The Leadership Mystique” Kets de Vries spoke to me directly on the lines of my area of research, multicultural ministry in local church ministry. Your post has given additional insight.
You note, “We are failing in our efforts to effectively engage the diverse cultures in which we minister, in the U.S. and globally. … If people don’t learn to connect with diverse groups of people, our mission will fail.” Your referral to addressing diverse cultures is essentially true at the local congregation level. It is true that the commission to “all the world” does apply geographically to all nations, but it also true that the local neighborhood mirrors the culture of nations. Understanding and developing the characteristics and competencies for effective global leadership is applicable to effective leadership in the local community.
Thanks for your insightful comments…
Richard,
I so agree with you when you say, “I find that people need to see and experience what successful leadership looks like so that they can learn and gain wisdom from the model that others provide.” Theory is one thing but fleshing out that theory is quite another matter all together. Knowledge needs to mature through practical application to become wisdom. And it is wisdom that is needed in all matters and situations. I could not have said it better myself regarding how “We are failing in our efforts to effectively engage the diverse cultures in which we minister.” This semester I am looking at immigration and the effects it has on both the immigrant and the nation receiving them. CQ is a great need in this issue.
Great statements regarding how we cannot run a church just like a business, but so often church leaders are looking at the sheep like clients and the message and programs like the product. They, like you said, are focused on the congregation rather than the people outside the walls. It’s as if we want to make the current disciples better (or better entertained) before we go out and really be the fishers of men.
Great post! Good points and overview of the book! Thanks for the Barna article as well!