Leadership: The Presser Cooker of Transformational Change
People who are transformational leaders willingly embrace a process of personal change which equips them to extract hope from a mountain of despair.[1] Tod Bolsinger’s Tempered Resilience: How Leaders Are Formed in the Crucible of Change [2] is a realistic look at the character-building process of becoming a leader who is transformational. His use of descriptive words and images paints a vivid picture of the struggle and process one must proceed through to preserve.
The eight chapters of well documented transformational leadership is specifically tailored for pastors and Christian leaders. Bolsinger’s distinction between a good manager who is often received with gratitude and the leader, who is encouraging necessary change, is met with resistance.[3] Leading transformational change is disruptive.[4] The very nature of most people is to seek equilibrium or status quo. Alan Hirsch in The Forgotten Ways,[5] found a similar return to the familiar or safe, when engaged in apostolic movements. It did not seem to matter how dynamic the movement was, eventually it would gravitate toward a state of stability.
The leader has an internal struggle when faced with the push back of those being led. Bolsinger asserts that there are two types, failure of nerve or failure of heart.[6] A failure of nerve is when the leader is led of course by “caving to the pressure of the anxiety of the group.” [7] The pressure many spiritual leaders endured during Covid posed this type of challenge. The high pitch emotional fear around the unknown of the disease made it challenging to lead from a position of confident strength. I have had this sense, that Covid gave the church opportunity to shake free from practices they have always done and to reevaluate. However, once the restrictions and overall threat gone most pastors led their congregations back to where they had been. If Jesus is not surprised but what we encounter and he has a redemptive purpose in everything, what were we to glean from this time of global disruption?
The second internal challenge for the leader is that of failure of heart. This occurs when a leader succumbs to discouragement that “leads them to psychologically abandon their people and” [8] their calling. The author claims that this struggle and questions of self are normal part of the process to which we must pass through to develop the necessary strength and flexibility of resilience.
The tempered leader is developed through being grounded in their identity in Christ. They are open to being corrected. These individuals are aware of who they are and are not while actively pursuing new avenues to grow. They are attuned to what is necessary to help everyone through the change. This requires a refined ability to be vulnerable. They can adjust and employ the tenacity to complete the transformation.[9]
As I reflect on my own development as a leader, I am drawn to Bolsinger’s emphasis on identity, vulnerability, and personal change through reflection within spiritual practices. I am very aware that my grounding is related to the strength of my spiritual practices, as they reinforce my identity in Christ. My tenacity is related to the clarity of my purpose of joint mission with Jesus. I am so grateful for the times that I have humbled myself before the trust few I serve to be taught amazing lessons of the Kingdom.
I wonder if more Christian leaders embraced the ideas within this book if there would be few leaders who would moral failings or leave the ministry?
[1] Tod E. Bolsinger, Tempered Resilience: How Leaders Are Formed in the Crucible of Change (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2020), 7.
[2] Bolsinger, Tempered Resilience.
[3] Ibid., 3.
[4] Ibid., 4.
[5] Alan Hirsch, The Forgotten Ways: Reactivating Apostolic Movements, Second Edition (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Brazos Press, a division of Baker Publishing Group, 2016).
[6] Bolsinger, Tempered Resilience, 5.
[7] Ibid., 21.
[8] Ibid., 28.
[9] John Davis, “Review: Tempered Resilience: How Leaders Are Formed in the Crucible of Change by Tod Bolsinger,” Baptist Standard, November 2, 2020, https://www.baptiststandard.com/departments/reviews/books/review-tempered-resilience/.
About the Author
Denise Johnson
Special Education teacher K-12, School Counselor K-12, Overseas field worker in Poland,11 responses to “Leadership: The Presser Cooker of Transformational Change”
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Denise:
This book also taught me the need for tenacity. When we have a clear mission with Jesus and we love what we do, that makes everything go so smoothly. It is times of darkness or not being sure God is trying to work in our lives when we really need to be resilient and trust his guiding hand. Nice comments.
Troy,
What do you do to press through in those dark times?
Ty for your thoughts Denise!
I strongly agree too that many failures as a Christian leader will be avoided if they take more attention to forming their Christ-centered identity throughout life. What are some of your spiritual practices that has helped you to be reinforced in your identity in Christ?
Jonathan,
I journal a lot! I spend significant amount of time meditating and listening to Jesus through the Word.
Denise, thanks for you post and willingness to share part of your own journey. The question you pose at the end appears to me to be a large reason for Bolsinger’s book. I saw a recent statistic that said 90% of people who start in pastoral ministry will not retire as pastors. I’m less trusting of stats due to the book we read last year, but if that’s even close to the truth, it’s a big number. You write a lot about “failure of nerve” and “failure of heart.” Is there one that provides a bigger challenge for you? For me, I find “failure of heart” a bigger challenge as I can retreat into myself when things get hard.
Roy,
I would agree with you that I am more prone to “failure of heart” than nerve. That being said, it is usually short lived. I have always been one to keep going.
You’ve capped off a wonderful book summary with a fascinating question.
I think the answer is yes for a couple of reasons.
First, I think spiritual leaders have limited the capacity of God’s healing and restoration through challenges by only addressing them with traditional spiritual disciplines. As I mentioned in Jonathan’s post, I think the neglect of our physical bodies, not just our spiritual selves, in health, exercise, and proper diets, equally contributes to many leaders’ poor health.
Second, I think spiritual leaders’ egos often prevent them from taking a collaborative and shared approach to leadership. The mentality of “God has appointed me as the leader of this church or organization” creates unrealistic expectations as solo burden carriers.
Great points!
Denise: You state “I am very aware that my grounding is related to the strength of my spiritual practices, as they reinforce my identity in Christ. My tenacity is related to the clarity of my purpose of joint mission with Jesus.” — In this season of not knowing the next step in vocational ministry or feeling of having a home, what do you sense He is speaking to you in terms of your identity that you wouldn’t have been able to hear had you still been in Poland?
Kayli,
Ok…you caught me. Every day I have to fight to engage in time with Jesus and seek out people who know me to remind me of who I am. At this time my joint mission with Jesus is yet to be defined. It is a time of trusting him to be true to who he has always been.
Denise, Bolsinger encourages his readers to have at least one person to hold us accountable for the ways we lean into a teachable and listening spirit. What is your process to discern who you can trust with that kind of vulnerability? How do you model that for those you lead?