DLGP

Doctor of Leadership in Global Perspectives: Crafting Ministry in an Interconnected World

Putting the Pieces Together

Written by: on February 4, 2025

Have you ever done a jigsaw puzzle with 1500 to 2000 pieces? It seems to take forever and in the midst of it I wonder if it will ever be finished. Pieces are all over a table and everything is disjointed. Then suddenly, the pieces start to fall into place. The picture becomes clearer and the building of it goes much faster. This week was such a time for me as I was reading, Rethinking Leadership: A Critique of Contemporary Theories, by Annabel Beerel, PhD. So many books that I have read on leadership pick a topic and make that their focus. How to impress your supervisor? Work long hours. How to write a strategic plan? Follow these steps. How to deal with employees? Follow these HR guidelines. While these may be simplistic examples of some of the topics, the reality is that there are a lot of books about leadership skills. Sure, skills are important and must be learned. However, some authors go to the very heart of leadership. As Simon Walker wrote, leadership is about who you are, not what you know or what skills you have. Leadership is about trust, and it is about power[1]. More than a compilation of a lot of knowledge or skills, there are basic character traits that leaders need to be effective and long lasting.

In Rethinking Leadership, Annabel Beerel used different techniques to highlight many aspects of leadership and the science behind them. For the purpose of this post, I am focusing on the importance of vertical rather than horizontal learning and how character is a vital part of who we are and thus, how we lead. Both of these seem to be in some way a part of many of the other chapters in the book.

Horizontal learning is traditional learning that helps a person develop skills such as how to listen attentively, technical skills, or any increase in a capability such as grant writing[2]. On the other hand, vertical learning is about growing as a person with a new purpose or understanding of who you are. More than simply becoming highly capable, it helps a person to have a better understanding who he is as a human being and build greater cognitive capacity[3]. That capacity helps a person transcend the boundaries of capabilities with better intellectual, emotional, and spiritual power[4].

There are many ways to look at character. In this post, space and time limit my focus to several key factors:

  • Leadership is personal. If a leader does not have a healthy ego or leads by coercion; fear, negativity, and apathy will rise sooner or later.
  • Leadership takes tenacity. Angela Duckworth spoke of tenacity in her book, Grit, where talent to skill takes effort and skill to achievement takes even more effort[5]. Hard work builds character along the way to achievement.
  • A person with a mature ego is able to make decisions based on integrating facts from multiple perspectives rather than having her identity attached to a specific way of working[6].

As I was reading this book, two additional books drew my attention. The first was Mindset by Carol Dweck[7]. Someone interested in growing vertically would need a growth mindset in order to expend the energy to continue learning about herself. The other was our most recent read: Illuminaire by Karise Hutchinson[8]. While these authors had different approaches and research to guide their work, each was really talking about who the leader is; what is the character of the person in the role.

My NPO deals with helping women who want to advance their career to work in a leadership role in nonprofits. All professionals need knowledge and skills, no question. Yet, what will serve them when exhaustion sets in, differing ideas collide, personal egos loom large, and there is real work that has to be done? It is not their skills, but their ability to sift through the clutter, their courage to make difficult decisions, their grit to persevere, and especially their keen awareness of who they are as a child of God. Several authors have recently discussed the shadow side of leadership. When following Jesus is the ultimate goal, then modeling his perfect servant leadership becomes the gold standard. My jigsaw puzzle moment showed me that I can learn from each of these authors and synthesize it with my years of experiences that show how foibles and successes are more than just possibilities. They are life lessons that can assist women, helping lift them to the next level of their career. Ultimately, it is making me refine the content of my prototypes to focus less on capabilities and more on capacity of the women to learn and grow.

[1] Simon Walker, Leading out of Who You are: Discovering the Secret of Undefended Leadership (Carlisle, CA, Piquant Editions, Ltd. 2007), p.5.

[2] Annabel Beerel, A Critique of Contemporary Theories (New York, Routledge, 2021), 380.

[3] Beerel, p.20.

[4] Beerel, p.,371.

[5] Angela Duckworth, Grit: THE POWER of PASSION and PERSEVERANCE (new York, Scribner, 2016), 31.

[6] Beerel, p. 240.

[7] Carol Dweck, Mindset: Changing the way you think to fulfil your potential (New York, Random House Publishing, 2006).

[8] Karise Hutchinson, Illuminaire: Bringing Life & Light to Leaders across the World (Northern Ireland, Illuminaire Press, 2023).

About the Author

Diane Tuttle

13 responses to “Putting the Pieces Together”

  1. mm Shela Sullivan says:

    Thank you for your post, Diane,
    Your essay highlights the importance of vertical learning and character in leadership. How has your personal journey of vertical learning and character development influenced your approach to leadership? Can you share any specific experiences or challenges where these aspects played a crucial role in shaping your leadership style?

    • Diane Tuttle says:

      Hi Shela, good question. In some ways it is easy to write a strategic plan for an organization. A group of people decide on the short, mid, and longterm goals then build an action plan around that. However, actually carrying out that plan is not a linear journey. Things happen that make us pause. About two weeks ago, one of our staff died unexpectedly from an illness. That event sent some people into a tailspin and others into a strong sadness. It was important for us and me as a leader to pause to recognize the grief that both the people we serve and our colleagues were experiencing. I think becoming aware of my feelings and the ability to have compassion on others who were hurting were part of my being that allowed us to stop other activities and take care of the people we serve and those who do the serving.

  2. Adam Cheney says:

    Diane,
    I’ll just keep to 1000 piece puzzles. Any more than that just takes too long to get going, even getting all the pieces face-up!
    I really liked the idea of vertical learning as well. Would you say that you have learned more vertically or horizontally in the last couple of years? Why would you choose this?

    • Diane Tuttle says:

      Hi Adam, Thanks for the question. When I did my masters degree it was very important to learn theory and concepts to become a competent therapist. As this journey in the DLGP has unfolded, there is more vertical learning going on. The readings give under pinnings for support of the concepts but it is always more than theory. It is how the theories and concepts impact thoughts, people, and generally leadership. As an example, in Mining for Gold (Camacho) we read about the practice of coaching but by retaining a coach and experiencing it, it became personal and the introspection was valuable.

  3. mm Kari says:

    Diane, As I was reading about vertical learning, I thought of you! Thank you for being an example to the rest of us as someone who wants to maintain a lifestyle of learning and growing. As you focus on the capacity of women to learn and grow, what are some practical things that have helped you on your journey of maintaining a growth mindset?

    • Diane Tuttle says:

      Hi Kari, you are very kind. Actually, I see you and marvel how brave you are to follow Jesus so wholeheartedly in a part of the world that is so very different from what was once your home. My answer to your questions is not very profound. I just have a keen awareness that I don’t know it all and really never will, so continuing to learn is important.

  4. Elysse Burns says:

    Hi Diane, I agree. It is very satisfying to complete a puzzle. I appreciate your emphasizing the difference between horizontal learning and vertical learning. I, too, focused on vertical learning and found some interesting literature, especially on human development. It takes effort on the part of the adult to continue vertical growth. If the effort is not made, we plateau. I believe you are moving upwards! You did a great job tying in Walker, Duckworth, and Hutchinson. As you highlight the importance of the leader’s character, how have you seen your character grow since starting this doctoral program? Thanks for a great post.

    • Diane Tuttle says:

      Hi Elysse, Please God, I pray I keep moving vertically. Yet, it is easy to get self absorbed and think woe is me, la, la, la, is wrong, etc. One thing this journey does is not give time to fuss over trivial things, there just isn’t time. I am not sure that is a character thing but it is real. Truly though, I feel so blessed to hear and read others’ opinions and learnings. It is a real gift that pushes me to keep going. Thank you for being a true part of that gift.

  5. Daren Jaime says:

    Hey Diane. I appreciate your focus on character as integral for leadership. As an organizational leader from your context, how can organizations better support leaders in developing vertical learning rather than just focusing on skill acquisition?

  6. Diane Tuttle says:

    Hi Daren, Thanks for the question. I think it needs to be an across the board thing. So it isn’t just me concerned with vertical learning but the whole senior staff team and then they promote that to the next level of leaders. This way it becomes an expectation of the culture of the organization.

  7. Christy says:

    Hi Diane, thanks for your post and bringing in your NPO. If you were to recommend one book, leadership theory, or school of thought to help women in leadership, what would that be? Does that content exist today, or have you ever considered making it yourself?

    • Diane Tuttle says:

      Hi Christy, you ask a good question. There is not one book that stands out at this moment, but I feel as though I got a confirmation of where I am heading when I listened to the round table that Dr. Clark had with some professionals in the field – most of whom either spoke at advances or wrote books we have read. As they discussed the final take away from their conversation, I felt like they read my mind – or my post (hardly) but generally they were talking about staying connected to our creator God and grounded in our faith. I do think that needs to be a focus of my NPO. I am still researching what that is going to look like. Thanks for asking.

  8. This post ties so beautifully in with your NPO, Diane. I love how you ended, saying “Ultimately, it is making me refine the content of my prototypes to focus less on capabilities and more on capacity of the women to learn and grow”. I’m thinking of the unique challenges of women in leadership that I know, and who face what Marilyn Loden called ‘the glass ceiling.’ Addressing this challenge, women leaders I know have been entrepreneurial, self-motivated, and willing to pioneer against great odds to even stay where they are in order to prevail. From your perspective, what are some of the capacities unique to women who lead in this kind of reality?

Leave a Reply