Embracing Shift: Developing Leader Resilience in The Face of Adjustment
Leaders make a difference. They move people to new places – physically, psychologically,
emotionally, spiritually – that they could not have achieved alone.
They provide inspiration, courage, conviction, hope, and comfort.
-Annabel Beerel-
About a week ago, I saw a news ticker on one of our national television networks. The news ticker contains news that the WHO has issued a warning concerning the emergence of “Disease X” in 2024. After I read it, I immediately Googled. I found some news containing a warning concerning “Disease X,” which appears to have been announced several months ago.[1] This brought back memories of March 2020, the formal announcement made by our government that COVID-19 had been detected in Indonesia. Before the government made its statement, news broke that a few members of our denomination, who had just returned from their annual assembly, had become ill with an unknown flu-like ailment. Healthcare providers were unable to identify it as COVID-19 at that time. I had a fever and flu-like symptoms immediately after the annual assembly, so I guess I was hit too. Thankfully, I and a lot of other fellow made a full recovery. We sadly lamented the passing of several colleague ministers, including some of our seniors and leaders.
The globe was taken aback by the COVID-19 pandemic’s start. Our government responded forcefully to curtail large-scale operations when it first debuted in Indonesia, which resulted in a spike in hospital admissions and astronomical costs for necessities. Traditional and social media outlets were inundated with a mix of true and incorrect information throughout this crisis. Social media platforms began to include a diverse array of content, ranging from depressing observations to defamatory critiques of the actions of the government. Tension increased upon hearing reports of rising crime rates. Leaders faced unprecedented accountability in an unexplored domain, necessitating extraordinary skills, knowledge, and moral rectitude to steer companies through a devastating storm. This turbulent time showed how challenging it is to be a leader amid tremendous uncertainty and change.
Beerel, referring to modern physics, said that life is filled with more uncertainty than certainty. She writes, “Modern physics teaches us that little is certain or predictable. Instead, the world moves within ambiguity, uncertainty, and infinite possibility. New possibilities not previously imagined are continuously emerging.”[2] Beerel also emphasized that changes in life in the world are due to many factors that occur, such as: “Serious geopolitical tensions, climate change, the implications of Brexit, the cooling of the global economy, growing income equality, digital disruption, massive mental health problems, racial tensions, and tension between generations provides a challenging leadership agenda.”[3] Beerel’s statement emphasizes how serious the problems he discusses are. Just think about what may happen if leaders of countries with nuclear weapons were to reach a breaking point in their geopolitical tensions to the point where they would consider detonating their dangerous arsenals. We certainly hope that the possibility of such a scenario occurring is kept firmly in the realm of conjecture.
Beerel emphasizes the significance of reevaluating context-aware and visionary leadership. This is a result of how difficult leadership is. Beerel emphasizes “that the most important task of leadership is identifying, framing, and aligning people to new realities. The task of leadership is to be mindful, attentive, aware, curious, and always on the lookout for change signals. Leaders need to be like lighthouses, continually sweeping the horizon for new patterns.”[4] A successful leader recognizes that his primary responsibility is to guide his followers into and take ownership of the future. Beerel insists that we require that kind of leader.[5] Leaders who have three sorts of skills. These three skills are more essential to a leader than any other. As per Beerel, these competencies consist of: “Systemic thinking, an ability to create clarity amid a sea of confusion where clarity does not mean certainty, and a capacity for helping others find purpose and meaning during extreme times. Being ethical is also essential.”[6]
Aside from these skills, Beerel discovered that effective leaders are adaptive leaders. According to Beerel, adaptive leaders help people with this process so that they can psychologically and emotionally align themselves to changing realities or circumstances. Adaptation to changing realities requires a fundamental shift in mindset, values, beliefs, and behaviors.[7] Furtherly, she describes that adaptive leaders’ ability to overcome resistance is crucial, by ensuring that they do not become the source of problems or the messenger of unwanted messages and that they are not seen as dictating solutions. Adaptive leadership has these skills because their approach departs from various theories, including transformational, situational, contingency, and complexity.[8]
A leader, who is typically an ordinary individual with several needs and goals, may experience a shift in effectiveness and optimization if their leadership is predominantly influenced by personal interests, such as the desire for recognition. Leaders who can guide individuals or communities through tough times, navigate the future, and achieve common goals typically demonstrate some level of self-transcendence. Beerel refers to such leaders as having reached the ‘transpersonal’ stage, which signifies the state of transcending the ego. This revolutionary stage represents a departure from self-centered goals in favor of a more expansive and collaborative leadership approach. Transpersonal means beyond the ego.
According to Beerel, letting go of the ego is not the same as transcending it. Rather, it entails rising above and embracing the ego in a more profound and elevated way. Seeing past the ego’s chaotic, self-seeking, anxious, and frequently compulsive tendencies entails opening out to the transpersonal Self, that intrinsic center of pure awareness. One can overcome the ego’s demands and avoid becoming linked to or identified with its neediness or cravings by engaging in this witnessing practice.[9] Beerel then emphasizes, “During these transpersonal moments, we experience an expanded identity; we transcend ‘what is in it for me’ motivations, and our consciousness extends beyond the boundaries of space and time. The wonderful truth is that we can train ourselves to have more of these transpersonal experiences in our lives.”[10]
Beerel’s thought prompted me not just to reconsider leadership, but also to criticize my own as a pastor/church leader. Beerel assisted me in revealing what items were still left behind and related to me. Starting with the tendency to enjoy comfort zones and the status quo, there is a lot of reactive or compulsive thinking and acting rather than systematic thinking, it is difficult to adapt to rapidly changing environments, there is a reluctance to engage in transdisciplinary collaboration, and, finally, there is a tendency to prioritize ego. As Bereel notes repeatedly in his book, the world’s position can alter at any time and in unimaginable ways, so I must adapt. Beerel insists, “Leaders make a difference. They move people to new places – physically, psychologically, emotionally, spiritually – that they could not have achieved alone. They provide inspiration, courage, conviction, hope, and comfort.”[11] Being prepared and vigilant, equipping yourself, boosting capacity, and establishing networks might be critical. The Bible says in 2 Timothy 4:5, “But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.”[12]
[1] World Health Organization, WHO to Identify Pathogens that Could Cause Future Outbreaks and Pandemics. https://www.who.int/news/item/21-11-2022-who-to-identify-pathogens-that-could-cause-future-outbreaks-and-pandemics. Accessed January 23, 2024.
[2] Annabel Beerel, Rethinking Leadership: A Critique of Contemporary Theories, 1st edition (London; New York: Routledge, 2021), 14.
[3] Beerel, Rethinking Leadership, 16-17.
[4] Ibid, 166.
[5] Ibid, 24.
[6] Ibid, 24-25.
[7] Ibid, 219.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Ibid, 237.
[10] Ibid.
[11] Ibid, 5.
[12] Bible, KJV
About the Author
Dinka Utomo
Dinka Nehemia Utomo is an ordained pastor of the Protestant Church in the Western part of Indonesia (Gereja Protestan di Indonesia bagian Barat or GPIB). He has served for more than 15 years. The first five years of his ministry were in the remote area of East Kalimantan, including people from the indigenous Dayak tribe in the small villages in the middle of the forest, frequently reached using small boats down the river. For more than 15 years, Dinka has served several GPIB congregations in several cities in Indonesia. He has always had a passion for equipping Christian families, teaching and guiding them to build equal relations between husband and wife, maintaining commitment, love, and loyalty, creating a healthy and constructive Christian family atmosphere, and rejecting all forms of violence and sexual violence. Dinka's beloved wife, Verra, is also a GPIB pastor. They have two blessed children. Dinka and his wife and children love to spend quality family time, such as lunch or dinner, and vacation to exotic places.8 responses to “Embracing Shift: Developing Leader Resilience in The Face of Adjustment”
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I’m glad you mentioned a leader’s motivation, as you said, “we transcend ‘what is in it for me’ motivations.” When leadership and situations get difficult I certainly can struggle to move beyond what is comfortable and do the hard thing in the interest of those I’m serving. Thanks for the reminder of how important this is!
Hi Kim! Thank you for your comment.
I found a pearl of wisdom in Beerel’s thoughts. One of them is this “transcends matter.” Her writing provokes me to rethink my leadership model. Her writing made me realize that I dared to go beyond my ego and get out of my comfort zone preventing me from serving effectively.
Dinka~
You wrote: “Beerel’s thought prompted me not just to reconsider leadership, but also to criticize my own as a pastor/church leader. Beerel assisted me in revealing what items were still left behind and related to me. Starting with the tendency to enjoy comfort zones and the status quo, there is a lot of reactive or compulsive thinking and acting rather than systematic thinking, it is difficult to adapt to rapidly changing environments, there is a reluctance to engage in transdisciplinary collaboration, and, finally, there is a tendency to prioritize ego.”
From my observations of you on our Advances and in our video Zoom meetings, you do not seem the type of leader who seeks out your own comfort or seeks your own ego needs. My question for you based on your post is besides COVID-19 (which I know is big), what other unexpected major change have you had to respond and adapt as a leader of a church?
Hi Pam! Thank you for your comment.
A wise word is saying, ‘Don’t judge a book just by its cover’ which is relevant to my reflective writing. However, I appreciate your honest statement to me, Pam.
Frankly speaking, the question you asked was brilliant and, at the same time, challenging for me because I didn’t even dare to imagine a sudden and frightening change in the situation like the experience of the previous COVID-19 pandemic. However, if I had to answer, let’s say, for example, if there was a horizontal conflict due to identity politics in our country, or an unexpected nuclear war from the world’s superpower countries. But to be honest, I really hope that all that doesn’t have to happen in the future.
Well-written and thoughtful blog Dinka!
I appreciated the focus you gave to adaptiveness. “Life is filled with more uncertainty than certainty.” How true that is.
This is the most valuable quote from Beerel that you identified…thank you for highlighting it:
“The most important task of leadership is identifying, framing, and aligning people to new realities. The task of leadership is to be mindful, attentive, aware, curious, and always on the lookout for change signals. Leaders need to be like lighthouses, continually sweeping the horizon for new patterns.”
Thank you, John! I appreciate it.
I resonate with your opinion regarding the most valuable quote from Beerel. Beerel’s thought is a pearl that inspires me as a leader. Yet, her idea brings me to a deep consideration and consciousness on how to develop my leadership style and model as a pastor.
Dinka! Brilliant my friend. I have an easy question for you. How can you become less of a reactive or compulsive thinker?
Hi Todd! Thanks for your comment.
Actually, that is not a simple question for me; rather, it is complicated. This is because I’m still grappling with it today. The first thing I generally do is relax my thoughts and take a long, slow breath. Non-technically, I minimize it by praying to God for peace in my heart and head. Another thing I do is look at things from a larger viewpoint.