From Heroism To Humilty
Church leaders are navigating a landscape marked by complexity, uncertainty, and rapid change. In such a world, older models of leadership rooted in hierarchy, charisma, control, certainty, and individual authority are increasingly insufficient. What is emerging instead is a robust vision of leadership that emphasizes relationships, widespread collaboration, shared responsibility, and requires unmistakable humility.
Humble Leadership by Edgar and Peter Schein resonates with other current leadership literature that I have been reading and with my NPO, which focuses on helping church leaders develop collaborative skills. Humble Leadership challenges the notion of leadership as the work of “heroic individuals”. Instead, leadership is about the leader’s ability to move beyond command/control and transactional relationships to connection with others, marked by openness, vulnerability, trust, and mutual respect. In Re-Thinking Leadership, the current challenges in our context prompted Annabel Beerel to write, “There can be no hero to do it all. We need many effective leaders working collaboratively together, complementing one another’s capacities and skills, yet keeping one united goal in mind.”[1]
While there are many applicable ideas in the book, I will identify two key concepts that will help a leader shift from heroic leadership toward humble leadership. Secondly, I will explore how this might be applied in ministry contexts.
Key Concepts
The first concept is the ability to develop “situational humility”.[2] This is a leadership skill that involves a leader recognizing they do not have all the answers to a problem and then embracing a path of inquiry through curiosity, seeking the perspectives of others, and identifying unconscious biases.[3]
The second key concept is “personization”—the intentional act of seeing people as whole individuals. The authors elaborate, “A personized relationship is one in which the parties know each other well enough to have built an open, trusting, collaborative connection with each other.”[4] The act of “personization” moves people in an organization from transactional relationships (Level 1), characterized by professional distance, toward whole person relationships, characterized by psychological safety (Level 2).[5]
The principles laid out in the book don’t just apply to corporate teams or tech startups—they speak directly to the heart of pastoral leadership, congregational life, and church mission.
From Managing Roles to Shepherding Souls
Traditional church structures often mirror corporate hierarchies: senior pastors at the top, followed by staff, volunteers, and congregants. Often, we are recognized by our roles and skills. Humble Leadership challenges this model, urging us to move from transactional relationships (Level 1) to personal, trusting ones (Level 2). The authors explain, “The essence of Level 2 is that the people involved, whether managers, employees, peers, clients, patients, or partners, move from being seen as entities performing roles—just partial or undifferentiated contributors who must be kept professionally distant—to being seen as whole people with whom we can develop personal relationships around shared goals and experiences.”[6]
In the church, this means knowing your people beyond their roles—not just “the worship leader”, “the youth volunteer,” or “the lead pastor” but Sarah who’s grieving, or James who’s quietly discerning a call to ministry, or Mike who cares for an aging parent.
In ministry, this is the essence of shepherding people. It’s the difference between managing volunteers and shepherding souls.
When we personize:
- We are free to listen without an agenda.
- We can lead with empathy.
- We cultivate belonging.
- We create safe spaces.
This kind of leadership doesn’t just build programs, it builds people and community.
This shift mirrors the incarnational leadership of Jesus, who didn’t lead from above but walked alongside.
From Coordination To Collaboration
Often, heroic leaders feel that it’s their responsibility to have the vision, solve all problems, and coordinate the church around the fulfillment of the vision. One of the most terrifying things a heroic leader might face is not knowing. However, when a leader is humble enough to be vulnerable, admitting that they don’t know, it creates a space for vulnerability and invites others to collaborate.
When a leader practices situational humility, they are not weak but wise. The authors exhort, “Effective leadership behavior requires situational humility because the information needed to make effective decisions is likely to be widely distributed among members of the team.”[7] Humble pastoral leaders don’t resist change—they engage it with openness and courage. They say, “Let’s figure this out together,” rather than “Here’s the plan.”
In the church, collaboration isn’t just strategic—it’s theological. The Body of Christ is made up of many parts, each with gifts to offer. When we lead collaboratively:
- We honor the priesthood of all believers.
- We discern together, trusting that the Spirit speaks through community.
- We empower others, not just to serve, but to shape the mission and strategy.
Conclusion:
The shift from heroic leadership to humble leadership is not merely a tactic for greater ministry effectiveness. It is rooted in theological and relational principles. It calls pastoral leaders to release control, embrace vulnerability, and cultivate trust. It invites us to lead not from above, but alongside—just as Jesus did.
By practicing situational humility and personization, we move beyond managing roles to shepherding souls. We create space for collaboration, where the Spirit speaks through community and every member is empowered to contribute meaningfully to the mission.
In a time when complexity and uncertainty are pervasive, Humble Leadership offers a path forward that is both faithful and fruitful. It’s not about abdicating responsibility; it’s about leading differently and more effectively.
[1] Annabel Beereel, Rethinking Leadership (New York: Routledge, 2023), 4.
[2] Schein and Schein, Humble Leadership: The Power of Relationships, Openness, and Trust, Second Edition, (Oakland, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2018), Kindle, 8.
[3] Schein and Schein, Humble Leadership, Second Edition, 8.
[4] Schein and Schein, Humble Leadership, Second Edition, 20.
[5] Schein and Schein, Humble Leadership, Second Edition, 20.
[6] Schein and Schein, Humble Leadership, Second Edition, 22.
[7] Schein and Schein, Humble Leadership, Second Edition, 12.
About the Author
Graham English
I was born in Cape Town, South Africa 30 minutes from Table Mountain, the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. My family immigrated to Vancouver, Canada where I spent my teen years, met Wendy, and got married. We now live on the Canadian prairies in northern Alberta. I think God has a sense of humour. I'm a follower of Jesus, work in leadership and church development, love my family and walk a lot.10 responses to “From Heroism To Humilty”
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Hi Graham,
I agree when leaders choose to walk alongside rather than stand above, ministry becomes a movement of grace, trust, and shared purpose.
In what ways can practicing situational humility and collaborative leadership empower congregants to discern, contribute, and co-create the mission of the church as the Body of Christ?
Thanks for engaging, Shela.
When leaders develop, what Dr. Paul Magnus has called, “process fluency” they are able to develop the kinds of clear processes that help people enter a process that leads to co-creation and co-implementation. Processes such as Appreciative Inquiry invite every person in the system to contribute and create a new way forward.
Margret Wheatley describes collaborative leaders as “hosts” rather than “heroes”. These kinds of leaders develop environments in which problem-solving and vision-shaping conversations can take place. These leaders facilitate the work of the team more than doing the work.
When people create change, they are more likely to own the path forward and more likely to make the sacrifices needed for the change to occur.
Thanks Graham, great post! As a local church pastor, how do I cultivate Level 2 relationships with people in my church that have varying levels of expectation on their relationship with a pastor. Where are there healthy expectations and boundaries and how do we stay in level two relationships without draining ourselves as pastors and burning out. Asking for a friend 🙂
Graham, I am going to jump in here with Ryan. He asks a good question.
This quote of yours was spot on. “This kind of leadership doesn’t just build programs, it builds people and community.” The challenge with building people and community is that it can be harder to document. This is my eternal issue. It is easy to share how many baptisms a church has had and to use that as a measurement of growth, but how might we determine value in building people and community?
Good question, Adam.
Perhaps we need to add some measurements to our dashboard. We have largely bought into the church growth movement, success is measured by Sunday attendance, conversions, and budgets. These are fine but they really don’t tell the whole story.
Perhaps we should also attempt to measure the number of conversations our people are having or the missional activity of the church. Perhaps we should measure how many people we engaged in collaborative and co-creative processes (both inside and outside the church).
Ryan, thanks for asking this question. I, too, would like to hear Graham’s response.
Graham, since I first met you in Oxford, you have consistently demonstrated humble leadership, even in new relationships, such as within your peer group. What are a few of your own personal strategies (your “go-to’s”) that help you shepherd and collaborate in your role and relationships?
Kari, thanks for your kind words. It means a lot because this has not always been my approach. I have to confess that I have been a heroic leader and there are times I easily slip into that mode. I like to tell people, we won’t be collaborative all the time. First, because it’s not our typical default or the expectation in our environments. Secondly, there are contexts that require us to be the expert or heroic leader. In a crisis, we need someone who will take charge and make quick decisions for the group. For example, when our church burned down, I had to make quick and difficult decisions on behalf of the group because there was no time or bandwidth to collaborate.
To answer your question:
1. I work had to remember names of people I meet in my work.
2. When we start meetings, we always start with check-ins and we pray for each other.
3. I assume that Jesus is the head of the church and leading the church in real-time and that he knows stuff we don’t know. I assume that discernment and wisdom come from a group who are Spirit-filled. We practice a lot of listening prayer in our meetings. Not every decision is made this way, but when there’s a directional decision or a big decision we give everyone an opportunity to speak and we listen to Jesus who also has a seat at the table.
Ryan, great question.
One of the challenges of pastoral work is certainly managing expectations. What I could share is how I’ve managed these.
First, a clear, defined, and communicated job description from the board is extremely helpful. My board would convey this to our membership semi-regularly (annual meetings in particular) so that people understood my role.
Secondly, developing other leaders (pastoral staff and lay volunteers). As the church grew we needed a team approach. I regularly communicated this to our people.
Thirdly, building up life-groups as a means to develop “level 2” and in some cases “level 3” relationships was essential.
Finally, I tried to remember as many names as possible and would use the weekend to connect with as many people as possible. It was one of the things that made a huge difference. And our pastoral staff would do the same on weekends. All hands on deck and focused on people.
I actually think the larger a church grows, the less expectation there is on a pastor to have “Level 2” relationships with every person. But, I would caution pastors of large churches to not use that as an excuse to avoid connecting with his/her people.
Great post Graham, thanks. I wonder where you find your greatest challenges when it comes to creating Level 2 relationships?
Thanks Debbie, I work with 500 licensed workers who are spread out across over a big area. I do not see them all the time.
On our direct office team, I, along with 2 others on our team of 17, work remotely. Online presents a challenge for us because it’s not the best way to develop these. Not impossible, but certainly challenging.
I would say though that we have worked hard to nurture these relationships. We try to connect with each of our LWs through gatherings like Network retreats and at our large annual Prayer Retreat. In essence, we bring them together rather than trying to get to all of our churches.