Security, Freedom, and Consensual Leadership
In Leading with Nothing to Lose: Training in the Exercise of Power, Simon Walker explores “eight different leadership strategies, each of which ‘does something’ to the space around you.”[1] Walker’s work is so rich and so timely. I will attempt to codify three personal takeaways.
Security in the “Other”
“The undefended leader is the one whose needs are met through an unconditional attachment to an Other, in which she finds identity, belonging and affection.”[2]
This year I was asked to teach a course titled “Discovering Best Practices in Executive Leadership” in a local seminary. Thanks to my doctoral studies, I included Edwin Friedman’s A Failure of Nerve in the required reading. I also included Walker’s Leading Out of Who You Are in the supplemental reading, but I may integrate Walker’s second book into the syllabus. I do want the students to walk away with a strategy for implementing changes to their leadership practices, but the primary “strategy” I want them to embrace is the one that Walker reiterates over and over again: To find security and approval in God, not in the applause of those they serve.[3] Tips, tricks, resources, and tools can be helpful, but they will only go so far. Foundationally speaking, if the leader rests in anything other than God to provide hope and approval, that leader will rest in temporary wins and performance reviews. That can lead to despair.
Freedom to be Hospitable
When I am connected to the “Other” – when I am rooted and grounded in Christ and not living on the crests of accomplishments – according to Walker, I can hospitably serve others without clamoring for recognition and accolades. This leads to a great deal of freedom: freedom that flows from a self-emptying posture of service accompanied by “three beautifully-honed facets.”[4] These are: the “freedom from the need to be great,”[5] “the freedom to be fully available,”[6] and the “freedom to lead with nothing to lose,”[7] described in chapter sixteen: “The Hospitality of the Undefended Leader.”[8]
How often do we overlook hospitality as a qualification for leadership in the church? Paul writes to Timothy, “Therefore an overseer must be…hospitable.”[9] Perhaps we put too much emphasis on “knowledge” to the exclusion of soft skills like hospitality and the ability to serve others in a “non-anxious,” “well-differentiated” way.[10] This raises a number of questions. When leaders are recruited and vetted to serve the church, do we observe the candidates as they interact with others? Do we make note of how “free” they seem to be from the need to be recognized as a leader (“freedom from the need to be great”)? Are they able to attend (“freedom to be fully available”) to the needs of others in an undistracted, charitable, and engaging way? Do they operate with a desire to control everyone and everything in the room, or do they function with grace, humility, and the willingness to lead out of weakness (“freedom to lead with nothing to lose”). Even as I write this, I’m doing a bit of self-inventory. What needs to change in my own life? Am I open to genuine, critical feedback, both in my public-facing workspaces AND in the privacy of my own home?
Adopting a Consensual Strategy
A third point of application is to recognize and lean into the kind of leadership strategy needed for my current context. Not every situation in an “ecology of power”[11] calls for the execution of every strategy, all at once. “Leadership itself must be thought of as a ‘meta-activity’—that is, an activity that can see beyond any particular situation and has available to it a range of potential interventions, as well as the capacity to know when and how to implement them.”[12]
In 2022, I moved from one executive director (E.D.) role to another, although I did take 2.5 months to rest and prepare between the two. Having now served for one year, and with a year’s worth of experience and data, it is more clear to me what a strategy of leadership needs to look like, different from the one deployed in the past. It is also clear that the organization I left in 2022 is in a different season, too, with a different leadership strategy now being deployed. The organization has different needs (and my successor is doing an incredible job!).
Walker’s examples of how “weak force”[13] can be used is certainly helpful as I scan the landscape of my current work. “Submitting to the ‘due process,’” “reaching consensus,” “listening,” and “building trust and a sense of belonging” are all important.[14] However, the big question I must wrestle with is this: Do I understand “the kind of power (I am) using and whether it is the appropriate kind to use in (my current) situation” today?[15]
To integrate Walker’s eight strategies into my objectives for 2024, Walker’s book is going to require more than an “inspectional reading.”[16] Therefore, I plan to revisit Walker’s strategies over the next two months. One strategy stands out as needed for my current role. Walker addresses this strategy in chapter twelve: “Nelson Mandela and the Consensual Strategy (PWC).”[17] This strategy makes a ton of sense, as there is no doubt the spaces between people in this organization (presbytery) are in need of strengthening.[18] There is a great deal of trust that needs to be restored. Pacesetting and visionary leadership, other strategies described in Walker’s leadership strategy model,[19] have gone before. The current hour demands something different.
One way we have already begun to implement this strategy is by building and fostering network dynamics and convening an actual (church planting) network in the midst of our presbytery. The quarterly network gathering fosters the “sense of belonging” and “collaborative learning environment” needed to help “build trust.”[20]
As I prepare for 2024, I would like to take the PWC strategy and use it as a foundation to employ actionable next steps and due dates for the new ministry year.
[1] Simon P. Walker, Leading with Nothing to Lose: Training in the Exercise of Power, Carlisle, CA: Piquant Editions Ltd, 2007), Kindle Version, location 2514 of 2753.
[2] Walker, location 2392 of 2753.
[3] Walker, location 2392 of 2753.
[4] Walker, location 2470 of 2753.
[5] Walker, location 2471 of 2753.
[6] Walker, location 2471 of 2753.
[7] Walker, location 2486 of 2753.
[8] Walker, location 2505 of 2753.
[9] I Timothy 3:2, ESV.
[10] Edward H. Friedman, A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix. Revised edition. New York: Church Publishing, 2017, 15-16.
[11] Walker, location 175 of 2753.
[12] Walker, location 2211 of 2753.
[13] Walker, location 364 of 2753.
[14] Walker, location 364 of 2753.
[15] Walker, location 2211 of 2753.
[16] Adler, Mortimer J. and Van Doren, Charles. 1972. How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading. Rev. ed. (New York: Simon & Schuster), 17.
[17] Walker, location 1760 of 2753.
[18] Walker, location 1828 of 2753.
[19] Walker, location 626 of 2753.
[20] Walker, location 1948 of 2753.
About the Author
Travis Vaughn
8 responses to “Security, Freedom, and Consensual Leadership”
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HI Travis,
Your post was very enlightening. Of the many things you mentioned, seasons for different strategies resonated with me. One size does NOT fit all when it comes to leadership seasons.
The last couple of years have been one of transition for me. In the spirit of “let go, let God” I have been releasing control over GoodSports Hungary. After 25 years, it turned out to be more painful and lingering than I thought it would be. Chapter 13, talks about Jesus and the Self-Emptying Strategy (RWC).
I am seeing how that is impacting me now. By withdrawing I am empowering/allowing other to flourish and stretch their leadership wings.
It will a fun couple of years to see where the organization goes. It has taken me a while to come to this place but God, in His incredible grace, has allowed me to explore the opening of GoodSports Ukraine. I sort of feel back in the saddle again. Thank you Lord!
Shalom…
I didn’t realize you served Goodsports Hungary for that long! I can imagine how hard (including painful and lingering!) that would be to let that go. When I left my previous organization — one that I committed to serve as Executive Director for only 5 years total — I found that to be hard, especially not knowing how things would be shaped by my successor, even though I know him and he is a dear friend! Needless to say, the power he has leveraged has served that organization well. Today, now just over a year later, that organization continues to grow and thrive. It is in a different season of its life and requires a different strategy of leadership.
I look forward to learning more about GoodSports Ukraine when I see you in Oxford.
Travis,
I, too, “took away” the concept of leadership hospitality, and reflecting on the fact that we can’t be truly hospitable if we are self focused or concerned about what others think.
This book was gold for me. I agree with you that it’s impossible to grasp on an inspectional level. I tried that with his last book and realized I’d completely missed the point (which was evidenced in my blog response to it). This time I dug deep and made more notes in the book than I have with any other, and even then I need to re-read to fully grasp, but I think there is more to mine for me there!
Tim, what I would like to do is take each strategy of leadership, particularly the strategy that I believe is most needed in my current role, and go through them slowly to connect the dots with tangible outcomes and S.M.A.R.T. goals for the 2024 calendar year. I plan to have finished that by October so that we can align budgets with the strategy. We’ll set a final budget in December. Walker’s approach to different strategies has helped me to see where we need to focus — and how — within our presbytery. Some of the challenges we currently face require a great deal of critical processing of the power currently needed for us to thrive. I had a bit more time to digest some of Walker’s book over the summer, but there is still a great deal I’d like to explore. I’m hoping to be able to talk with him briefly at Oxford.
Like Tim, your reflection on hospitality resonated with me.
This very morning, I was invited to join a leader and her team in their team meeting, which she hosted at her house. In that meeting, she thoughtfully created space for community building and quiet reflection on where we are as individuals, which modeled so many good things for her team. It was clear to me that this was a usual ritual for her team- not a special occasion. Having this as an underlying tone, I now am looking forward to working with this group, because so many of the typical hurdles of mistrust and misunderstanding have been headed off in advance.
I guess what I am taking a lot of words to say is that practicing that soft skill of hospitality is just smart leadership because it creates an agile team.
I think it is rare for a leader to make that kind of space for hospitality AND for it not to feel scripted. Your example here is encouraging. I can think of one particular experience in August of 2021 where the executive producer for the media group that partnered with my podcast hosted several people at his “fish camp” on the Gulf Coast for a day of fishing (with a guide), feasting (he was the primary cook, and he prepared the fish that we caught that day…and we caught a lot!), and providing space for several of us to get to know one another a bit more. I remember walking away from those two days thinking that was one of the best examples of hospitality I could remember in recent years — and it was super authentic (it was at his expense, too). Hospitality is too often neglected, but not that day!
Connected to the Other. . . abiding. . . . remaining. . .to find security and approval in God, not in the applause of those they serve. When our three daughters were little we would remind them at school drop-off, “Remember Whose You are.” Thank you for highlighting where our security is found. Safe travels!
Thank you Cathy. And speaking of those travels…my wife and I arrived in Edinburgh, Scotland yesterday. This is such a beautiful city, and our guide today (who happens to be a friend pursuing his PhD here) explained how many believe that the Scottish Reformation did not make it too far past the reformers, which is why churches have struggled in modern Scotland. As we walked through Edinburgh’s streets, and later during dinner at an amazing restaurant called Dishoom, my wife and I talked about and imagined the challenges of planting new churches here. As church planters (and missionaries) and everyday Christians extend the gospel in Edinburgh and other parts of Scotland and the UK, I wonder what those conversations do and will look like as they talk about the Other. I wonder how those who hear will ask questions about abiding, remaining, and otherwise being connected to the God who loves them.