Sometimes Being Rare is Good
While the contents of this weeks reading were not entirely new, the combination of the components that Marcus Warner and Jim Wilder in Rare Leadership: 4 Uncommon Habits of Increasing Trust, Joy, and Engagement in the People You Lead provided me a new lens in which to view leadership and how I choose to steward it throughout my life. A broad strokes perspective is that Rare Leadership combines the expertise, education, and experience from Warner’s pastoral role and Wilder’s clinical psychology role, providing a four-habits framework for leaders regardless of their development stage. Warner and Wilder identify the four habits as being:
- Remain Relational
- Act Like Yourself
- Return to Joy
- Endure Hardship Well[1]
Always appreciative of a practical tool, the book not only delves into these areas with science and anecdotes, but also provides reflection questions at the end of each chapter, with later chapters including exercises to put into practice. I can easily see Rare Leadership as a tool for churches and organizations to utilize in leadership training capacities. Depending on the focus of specific training, focus, or audience, this book could also effectively be used in conjunction with other works we have read including Friedman (self-differentiation), Kahneman (fast and slow thinking), Bolsinger (suffering and endurance), or Northhouse (differing leadership styles). While it does not address every topic leadership challenge, the book’s subtitle suggests that the aim of Warner and Wilder is to help leaders increase trust, joy, and engagement in teams and I feel confident they accomplish that goal.
There are several nuggets that stood out to me as I read this week, some of which include:
- Focusing on leadership systems (fast-track) will always improve management (slow-track), but the reverse is not true.[2] Reflective of Kahneman’s work with System 1 and System 2, most of our conversations over the course of the last year have been focusing on engaging with the slower system – it was a bit refreshing to discuss more of the positives associated with our faster system.
- Isolation has the ability to increase our functioning out of fear.[3] For me, this is the perfect summation of how the enemy desires for us to live and lead. The separation, doubt, and shame that can accompany fear can easily persuade Christians that we were not made in and for community. Speaking later on relationships, they state that the Lord “never stops thinking relationally about the problems that must be solved.”[4]
- I have thoroughly underestimated the influence that joy has in the workplace. While I know it is crucial for followers of Jesus to intentionally cultivate, the habit of returning to joy quickly is one that I will truly have to be disciplined towards in my home and work.
For me, this will easily be one book that I not only refer back to for my continued personal and professional development, but is one that I envision walking through with others whether it be colleagues, mentors, or those under my leadership purview.
[1] Warner and Wilder, 19.
[2] Ibid., 29.
[3] Ibid., 84.
[4] Ibid.,137.
About the Author
Kayli Hillebrand
Associate Dean of International and Experiential Education3 responses to “Sometimes Being Rare is Good”
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Kayli, I enjoyed reading your blog; it is a very well-thought-out summary of the book and how you referenced the books we have previously read in this program. It is an excellent blog. I particularly noted your statement about the influence of joy in the workplace: “I have thoroughly underestimated the influence that joy has in the workplace.” What are some of the challenges you anticipate you would encounter in your workplace in implementing this discipline for you and your workmates?
Kayli,
I am curious how you may have activated joy and inner motivation within your students? Also, being in an academic environment how have you or might you implement more right brained habits to solidify student acquisition of cross-cultural awareness?
Kayli, I was curious which leadership style Northouse presents do you see RARE leadership falling under and why? 🙂