Leadership Links for the Bivocational Pastor
The Leadership Mystique by Manfred Kets De Vries is a textbook for leaders who want to lead successful organizations in the 21st Century. I say it is a textbook because it is not just jammed packed full of rich material on leadership, but it also has a wealth of charts and many questions for the reader to answer. This amazing work reads more like a series of deep conversations between an expert in the practice and a student of leadership. This blog lifts the key points of the book and applies them to bivocational pastors in the United States. For me, there are three leadership links that bivocational pastors should incorporate into their leadership.
Linking Soft and Hard
In the now-old-fashioned business world, leaders were addicted to data. As we learned from Friedman a couple of weeks ago, it’s time to ditch the data and focus on other things. Kets De Vries picks up where his fellow psychologist left off, and argues for an emphasis on emotional intelligence. Typically when we talk about feelings we use the word, “soft.” Emotionally unaware leaders fail more often then those who appreciate the “soft” areas of leadership.
Bivocational pastors know this intuitively and it is essential for them to follow the advice of Socrates and “know thyself.” Emotional intelligence means we recognize our own emotions. Bivocational pastors can only survive having two jobs if they daily recognize their “false self” and are in touch with their own shadow. Bivocational pastors must also manage their emotions in order to be successful. It’s okay to feel hurt or angry, but they must act on these emotions in productive ways. Finally, they must have the capacity to deal with other peoples’ emotions. This is the most difficult part for bivocational pastors because they are constantly dealing with other peoples’ emotions in at least two different contexts. A helpful skill to aid with this is to become an “active listener.”
Linking Creativity and Study
Kets De Vries points out that many leaders are shocked when they learn that their employees are so creative and imaginative when they are NOT at work. This comes from the old way of leading as a parent would lead with command, control, and compliance. One issue that we started to delve into last week has to do with exit and voice within an organization. Leading as commander in chief, or “chief control-freak officer” and demanding 100% compliance leads to people leaving the organization.
Bivocational pastors would do well to adopt a healthy personal link with being creative and studying. This means doing good theology, and good art. As leaders of a local church, bivocational pastors can pursue hearing new ideas from their staffs and teams. It is imperative that they also pursue accurate information from members in their church. Third, bivocational pastors can improve their leadership by interacting more with their church leaders and members. This is difficult because the number one scarce resource for leaders who hold two jobs is time. Good interaction with people costs a lot of time. However, being bivocational is at it’s core an exercise in creativity so they must create new forms of interaction where voices can be shared and heard. Bivocational pastors must become the chief storytellers and chief listeners in their churches.
Linking Present and Future
Many workers and leaders focus exclusively on their professional goals to the harm of their personal lives, their families, and their own passions. They sometimes do that in the name of the future. This is known as the “deferred-life strategy” and is a leadership and organization killer. Many bivocational pastors suffer from a strain of this syndrome by promising their family and self that they are only going to work two jobs until their church gets big enough to support them full-time. Then when the pastor can quit their second job, they will magically have more time to be with family and therefore be happier.
Instead of deferring happiness and life, bivocational pastors should pursue a “whole life strategy.” There are many helpful steps to live a “whole” life. 1)Spend time alone. Jesus did it so can bivocational pastors. 2)Drop trying to be a superhero. Bivocational pastors are the church’s unsung superheroes already, they don’t need to develop a superhero complex. Let’s let Jesus build His church too. 3)Devote plenty of one-on-one time to family. The world doesn’t need another pastor who’s family hates them because they simply don’t know each other. Bivocational pastors need to show up for their families. 4)Set life goals. Bivocational pastors need to set realistic goals and determine what is important and then spend time doing that. 5)Measure quality, not quantity. Bivocational pastors mostly pastor small churches. As my wife says, we might be small, but we can be mighty. 6)Say no. Bivocational pastors tend to be yes people. They would do well to make time for recreation by saying no more often to certain things.
About the Author
Aaron Peterson
I am a working priest which means that I am a husband(to Lisa), dad(to four wonderful children), senior pastor and church planter(The Hub Vineyard Church), and high school social studies teacher(Verdugo Hills High School LAUSD). I am currently working towards a DMIN in Leadership & Global Perspectives @George Fox Seminary.14 responses to “Leadership Links for the Bivocational Pastor”
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Hi Aaron P,
You have done a great job in explaining the “Leadership Links for the Bivocational Pastor”but it seem that the ” Leading Behavior in the Human Enterprise factor still remains, with that in mind.
My question to you…
Do you find within “Bivocational Pastors’ their behave is according to certain principles of human nature”? If so, then you must know human nature of the people you are working with,their values, belief and customs in order to better understand and motivate them. According to the author People behave according to certain principles of human nature.How are you dealing with that factor within your ministry?
It great sharing with you. Be blessed within your ministry. Rose Maria
Yes I agree that people behave according to certain principles of human nature. One of these aspects I hear this book saying is that our childhood/past contributes greatly to this. One of the ways that I am dealing with this in my ministry is by creating safe/sacred spaces where people can “go back to go forward.” By that I mean people can look back to their childhood and past and be healed. Make sense?
Aaron,
I believe that you have landed on the most important thing for ministers. Time spent with family as an important “appointment.” To often this gets sacrificed on the altar of expectations. Learning to balance those things out is the real juggling act of the ministry. Not only for the bivocational but for the full time, or part time minister. Thanks for your perspective. It helps me stay very thankful that God has allowed me to do this full time.
Kevin
Kevin, I hear you and agree. Being in full-time youth ministry as long as you have is a true gift!
Hi Aaron,
I always enjoy reading your well-articulated and well thought-out words of wisdom. I applaud you in your role as a bi-vocational pastor! How are you able to “daily recognize your false self” and be “in touch with your own shadow?” Kets de Vries did not explain those concepts in his book to my satisfaction or level of comprehension.
Hi Claire. Thank you for your encouragement. One book that has been helpful with the concept of shadow is Richard Rohr’s, “Falling Upward.” One huge part of the daily aspect is becoming closer to God and who He is.
Thanks for the resource, Aaron. That sounds like a powerful book.
Aaron:
You are to be commended for the “balance of life” that you are living in: pastoring, teaching, and working on your doctorate. I am not sure how you do it.
Kets de Vries is now one of my favorites on leadership. He is more than an allusive writer, he gives practical, truly authentic, and character driven traits that build balanced leaders.
What is your 2 “go to” principles that you live by that give you balance?
Phil
Thanks Phil. Lately my 2 have been:
1)Jesus is my friend. Everything I do comes out of this true relationship.
2)Spend time with my friend Jesus.
If I can do these two things the rest gets pretty balanced most of the time.
Aaron
Being bi-vocational, is the script for your inner theater the same or different when you are teaching high school and when you are pastoring the church?
Great question Marc. I have struggled with this concept for years. Since you are forcing me to think about it…where I am today, after trying to amalgamate the different scripts, is to go deeper (or higher?) and focus on the meta-script of Jesus is my friend and out of that relationship I get to pastor and teach and father, and husband and all the various gifts he’s given me. (I’m still a work in progress).
I love that – yes – flowing from our relationship with Jesus is how we live in every arena of life.
Aaron,
I really like your perspective of bi-vocational, especially as it applies to this book. Of the three major links you have listed, which do find of greatest need for a bi-vactional pastor?
Aaron
Hey AC. Thanks.
Probably the present and future link is most needed. Most of the Bi-Vo people I speak with have this concept that I’ll be Bi-Vo for a bit until my church can support me and I can quit my other job. I think the concept from DeVries that we should live a whole life strategy now is most helpful here.