Leadership as a Bridge of Hope
The rapid and unpredictable changes have left many people uncertain, hesitant, and even anxious. In last week’s reading, our class discussed the anxiety that plagues the majority of Gen Z due to the influence of social media. One of the impacts is the loss of meaning in real-world relationships. Even though they are virtually connected to others, the real struggles show that they are experiencing increasing loneliness. Haidt writes, “Teens are certainly right when they say that social media gives them a connection with their friends, but as we’ve seen in their reports of increasing loneliness and isolation, that connection does not seem to be as good as what it replaced.”[1] Many people do not anticipate the coming of rapid change, which is not just a theory and prediction but a phenomenon. Annabel Beerel once reminded us of this in another writing. She says, “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]
Leaders in any realm, including the Christian church, must be responsive to this. If not, many people are drowning in feelings of uncertainty that lead to excessive anxiety that disrupts their lives. Edgar and Peter Schein, the authors of this week’s reading, propose a vital concept they call “Humble Leadership” for leaders to apply in their leadership to carry out leadership effectively amid situations full of uncertainty. They write, “We propose that Humble Leadership is a necessary foundational substrate to all variants or “brands” of leadership in today’s volatile, unpredictable, complex, and ambiguous world.”[3] Additionally, they also insist, “Humble Leadership will therefore require the creation of personal relationships that will make others feel safe enough to be open and trusting with their leaders and with the other members of the team that is striving to create something new and better.[4]”
According to them, influential and effective leaders will always strive to build relationships in their leadership to create and foster a sense of security and trust that enables the entire team to achieve common goals. Edgar and Peter assert, “Leaders need to build personal relationships that will make others feel psychologically safe enough to share their information and insight, in order that they might (1) help refine and clarify what will be new and better and (2) help ensure that the team’s plans can be implemented.”[5] A good relationship means “A certain level of confidence in being able to anticipate how the other person will react. Further, in a good relationship with another person, we share confidence that both of us are working toward a goal that we have agreed upon either explicitly or implicitly. That feeling of expectation is another way of describing interpersonal trust. We “know” what to expect of each other, and our level of trust reflects the degree to which our behavior toward each other is consistently and intentionally trustworthy.”[6] They created four relationships: level minus 1, negative relationship, level 1, transactional relationship, level 2, whole-person relationship, and level 3 intimate relationship. They said that level 2 is ideal because Whole-person relationships are built on trust and personization, as seen in friendships and in effective, collaborative teams.[7]
Humble Leadership effectively changes organizational traditions from ancient patterns to transformative ones. According to Edgar and Peter, when communications flowed effectively and people listened attentively to each other, they achieved a complete understanding of what others were saying. Establishing mutual empathy and an environment of psychological safety encouraged openness and trust. Many transformations can be created inside an old and existing organization once the traditional Level 1 transactional relationship is replaced with efforts to form Level 2 relationships in which employees get to know each other and shape a shared organizational identity.[8]
Building relationships is a responsibility that every leader must be aware of. Gittel, in her book Transforming Relationships for High Performance, explains, “Relational leadership creates influence in two ways: by developing shared goals, shared knowledge, and mutual respect with others—and by developing shared goals, shared knowledge, and mutual respect among others.”[9] Building relationships is one of the primary things that brings joy to human life. When relationships are well built, a community and organization can be motivated to achieve their goals. In the book RARE Leadership, Warner and Wilder say, “We have found in our study of Scripture and brain science that joy, that feeling of being in the deepest part of our soul, is primarily relational. To the human brain, joy is always relational.”[10]
Therefore, a Christian leader should follow the example of Christ, who built close and intimate relationships by coming to people and serving them. Many people need the presence of Christian leaders who humbly build relationships with the people or those they serve. Northouse, in the book Leadership: Theory and Practice, explains, “When we look at what leaders do—that is, at their behaviors—we see that they do two major things: (1) They attend to tasks, and (2) they attend to their relationships with people. The degree to which leaders are successful is determined by how these two behaviors are exhibited. Situations may differ, but every leadership situation needs a degree of both task and relationship behaviors.”[11]
Reading these references and writing this reflection, I was stunned that our Lead Mentor provided reading materials that further sharpened the vision of our leadership in this cohort. This reading reminded me that humble and effective leadership does not create distance or build an ivory tower of arrogance. Being a leader means being a bridge builder willing to build relationships and embrace many people who live amid uncertainty and anxiety to present God’s vision that is full of hope and love for each of them. This further confirms what God desires in His words contained within 1 Peter 5:2-3 which says, “Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.”
[1] Jonathan Haidt, The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness (New York: Penguin Press, 2024), Chapter 5.
[2] Annabel Beerel, Rethinking Leadership: A Critique of Contemporary Theories, 1st edition (London; New York: Routledge, 2021), 14.
[3] Edgar H. Schein and Peter A. Schein, Humble Leadership: The Power of Relationships, Openness, and Trust, 2nd ed. (Oakland: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2023), 12.
[4] Edgar H. Schein and Peter A. Schein, Humble Leadership.
[5] Edgar H. Schein and Peter A. Schein, Humble Leadership, 13.
[6] Edgar H. Schein and Peter A. Schein, Humble Leadership, 14.
[7] Edgar H. Schein and Peter A. Schein, Humble Leadership, 15.
[8] Edgar H. Schein and Peter A. Schein, Humble Leadership, 71.
[9] Jody Hoffer Gittell, Transforming Relationships for High Performance: The Power of Relational Coordination (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2016, 57.)
[10] Marcus Warner and Jim Wilder, Rare Leadership: 4 Uncommon Habits for Increasing Trust, Joy, and Engagement in the People You Lead (Chicago, IL: Moody Publishers, 2016), 24.
[11] Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Ninth Edition (Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2022), Chapter 4.
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.5 responses to “Leadership as a Bridge of Hope”
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Great post and great connections to other authors we’ve read. I’m especially intrigued by your mention of humble leadership facilitating psychological safety. I’m currently dealing with a situation where a new missionary is not feeling psychologically safe and I’m trying to bring empathy and relational leadership into the situation. There are some cross-cultural difficulties at play as well. I’m curious if empathy and creating psychological safety are common leadership topics in your context? Are there different ways to go about those things in Indonesian culture?
Hi Kim,
Thank you for your response. I appreciate it. Regarding your situation, I empathize with it.
In my opinion, empathy and psychologically safe are universal things that humans really need in everyday life relationships, including in church ministry. In Indonesia, which highly values Eastern culture, we are always taught to respect older people, especially the clergy. This tradition helps the congregation more easily accept pastors and build closeness with them to build and develop fellowship to move forward to achieve common goals.
Blessings.
Hey Dinka! I love reading your blogs. You said, “Building relationships is a responsibility that every leader must be aware of.” In your culture is humility considered a strength or weakness?
“This reading reminded me that humble and effective leadership does not create distance or build an ivory tower of arrogance. ” Dinka this is well said.
Dinka,
“Humble Leadership effectively changes organizational traditions from ancient patterns to transformative ones.”, this is the best explanation that I have read. Thank you for sharing it.