The Whitman’s Sampler Leadership Book
Introduction
The “Handbook of Leadership Theory and Practice” is like eating a box of Whitman’s Sampler assorted chocolates. As a child, my mother received at least one of these annually from my Dad. As an elementary aged, little boy who was beginning to read, the challenge and the discovery of the chocolate schematic inside the box pointing me to the chocolate of my dreams was the methodology for hope and chocolate bliss.
Nohira and Khurana deliver the ultimate “Whitman’s Sampler Leadership” box of great minds. As a DMin student embracing an impending dissertation, my goal was to use the “schematic”, otherwise known as the Contents page, to feed my hunger for information on intentional and transitional senior leadership handoffs.
Honestly, I went with selfish motives. As I went through the various works in the book I was being challenged in my present world of pastoral leadership. I wanted academic information but found principles that begin to convict and challenge me in my present role. Each chapter was like a morsel of Whitman’s chocolate; I really wasn’t sure what was inside, but I trusted the Contents page.
Summary
“Handbook of Leadership Theory and Practice” is the reflection of Harvard Business School Centennial Colloquium on Leadership. The amalgamation of various disciplines from economics, history, sociology, and psychology attempt to define what is known about leadership and what will the future of leadership look like.
Nitin Nohira and Rakesh Khurana, editors of the book, said it best, “We hope that this volume creates a new future, that improving the research, practice and teaching of leadership allows us to develop better leaders and a better world. The world is crying out for better leadership.”[1] The book delivers a plethora of information that is both practical, scalable and useable.
Analysis
My first great morsel of information was from Marshall Ganz. He is a lecturer in Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School. In 1964 he volunteered as a civil rights worker in Mississippi. In 1965 he joined Cesar Chavez, a fellow Arizonian, and the United Farm Workers to fight for equality for farm laborers in the Southwest.[2] Ganz paper on “Leading Change” intrigued my curiosity to find “gold” for my dissertation.
Having just read Social Geographies, Space and Society by Gill Valentine, my antennae for change to space and society was heightened. Valentine gave an interesting dialogue in the human ability to cluster or live in geographical frameworks. My thought was Ganz was going to be the voice of reason and change. After navigating through civil rights and the equality of human labor surely Ganz was a voice of truth. Ganz ever added the fine sugar topping by using Moses in his analogies on social movement leadership.[3]
Instead of “gold” for future use, Ganz convicts me with, “Leading in social movements requires learning to manage the core tensions at the heart of what theologian Walter Breggermann calls the ‘prophetic imagination’: a combination of critically (experience of the world’s pain) with hope (experience of the world’s possibility), avoiding being numbed by despair or deluded by optimism.”[4] I wondered was Ganz a prophet or the son of a prophet?
I just had my Executive Pastor tender his resignation in front of the entire staff. He then proceeded to unload his agenda, preferences, and point out my major weaknesses and shortcomings. Here I am reading a book to glean a blog, to ultimately give me information for my dissertation, and the writer is invading my private world. I was not expecting this piece of chocolate to taste so well and deliver such an impact of help. Doesn’t Ganz know that we have two building projects going on?
My leadership is to “manage the core tensions between pain and possibility”. Ganz lowered another nugget when he states, “Social movement leadership requires not only adapting to the rhythm of change, but also structuring the space in which effective leadership can grow.”[5] Effective leadership must balance the tension of “being numbed by despair or deluded by optimism”.
I was quite content with the fresh morsel from “Whitman’s Sampler Leadership” box of great minds till the schematic led me to Bruce Avolio, professor at the University of Washington. Five books and over one hundred articles on leadership under his belt. As I viewed the next potential morsel on the schematic, “Pursuing Authentic Leadership Development” jumped out. Surely this is the golden, nutty, gooey almond interior piece I was looking for.
Avolio’s morsel proved again that this was more than a dissertation search. Avolio was meddling in my world again. His belief, “Like many in the field of leadership, I concentrated a lot of my early attention on what the leader was like, what the leader did, and how the leader performed. So, inside my telescopic view was clearly one image that loomed large, and it covered most of the visual space. Only after a number of years of reflection did it become obvious to me that we also needed to pull back and look at the larger global context to see exactly where we were in explaining what constituted the range and depth of ‘good’ leadership.”[6]
After the event with the staff member, I found myself concentrating on a myopic view of my present state of reality. As Avolio points out we need “pull back and look at the larger global context” and understand what leadership needed to be now. Assessment was in order, both corporate and individual, but the next steps was to continue to develop through the crisis.
Avolio even brought me back to a God-reflection on my leadership and on my present state of reality when he says, “One beneficial outcome of the globalization of our planet has been the clear sense that, like any organization, town, city, region, or country, the resources in this world are finite.”[7] As a staff we did analyze strengths, weaknesses, reality, uncalled for venting, possible next steps, and strategies to step forward. In the end we are infinite and need God desperately. After all it is His church, His Kingdom and His people.
I reflected back on those simple days of my mom’s Whitman’s Sampler assorted chocolates. I can still smell the aroma as the ornate box lid was pulled upward revealing the careful schematic and placement of the potential finds that were to be discovered. Sometimes I would get a jelly-filled interior and it would be ok. But with careful detective work I could find the piece that
would make my taste buds stand at attention. By the way, I also appreciate the morsels of truth that “Handbook of Leadership Theory and Practice” delivered. I needed it!
[1] Nitin Nohira and Rakesh Khurana (editors), Handbook of Leadership Theory and Practice (Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press, 2010), 24.
[2] Ibid., 811.
[3] Ibid., 529-530.
[4] Ibid., 530.
[5] Ibid., 559.
[6] Ibid., 739.
[7] Ibid., 740.
13 responses to “The Whitman’s Sampler Leadership Book”
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Phil,
I am glad that you were so enlightened by Handbook of Leadership Theory and Practice. It seems to be the appropriate book of the hour for you. Who would have thought that a secular book by erudite scholars on leadership theory and practice would have so much personal application for your current ministerial concerns and challenges? Soul searching as to where do I go from here will probably trump what information do I need for my dissertation research?
You have a lot on your plate right now, brother. I pray that the love, wisdom, peace and strength of God will overshadow you and enable you to hear His voice regarding His course of direction for yourself and the churches you oversee. Be blessed!
Claire:
Thank you. Wisdom and direction are so important throughout all stages of life.
Phil
Phil,
Great analogy to Whitman’s sampler! One of my favorites as well. As I read your blog, I had to do a “re-read” with the announcement of your executive pastor. My question for you is not about leadership or chocolate, but are you ok?
Praying for you Bro!
Aaron
Aaron:
Thank you for asking. God is faithful.
We had Ken Angel a couple of weeks ago. He spoke to our staff and then prayed over the staff. He ended the prayer and said that God had given him a word. The word was “acceleration” ….what took a year, would happen in a month. Month a week. Weed a day. Day an hour.
You know ministry and staff issues….they happen. It is how you navigate through……key word is “through”.
Thanks friend,
Phil
Phil, great comparison and visual – chocolate is much like leadership – highly varied and highly addictive. Nohria and Khurana truly delved into the diverse perspectives and attributes of leadership and tantalized our appetite with scholastic insight and practical application.
I’m sorry to hear of the awkward resignation of your Executive Pastor. I’ll be praying that God brings about unity and restoration in relationship. “…leadership scholars equally recognize that there is no universal model or one best way to lead and that leadership must be contingent on the specifics of any given situation” (Nohria, 17). When a fellow leader approaches us from a Matthew 18 position, then the individual is seeking out restoration and rehabilitation of the relationship; however, when a fellow leader rebuffs us in front of others, it only serves to reveal their lack of leadership. I’m sure God gave you the grace to be a good leader, even in the most hurtful situation. These types of instances have to stem from a peace that passes understanding – a leadership that comes from control and certainty in our God-given identity. John 8:32, “…the truth will set you free.”
Colleen:
Thank you for the wisdom. The Matthew 18 passage is rich with insight and your analogy was received. The challenge is that in church life you expect better…..business can be cut throat.
You don’t expect “blind allegiance” from staff. What is amazing is how “vision” leaks and you find people not embracing the vision that drew them originally. When you look at Jesus, He faced the same issues with His closest followers.
Phil
Phil,
It is incredible when you are reading about leadership and you are leading that it highlights the positives and the negatives. You knew you needed to proceed forward and I believe in this book I have discovered when leaders lead there are lots and lots of things that can fall out. Lots of things to guard against and lots of things to do specifically so that you don’t have issues….. Issues are what define leaders!
Keep leading. Now on to important things. How are you doing? Do you need a mother Pullinger prayer meeting with the boys at the house? If you do let’s do it through Skype!!
Thanks for your insight from the book. Leading takes everything that we have and it is not for the weak!
God Bless
Kevin
Kevin:
Amen! Leading a growing ministry will have its challenges. It is not for the faint hearted! When people disappoint you, you have the choice to believe again or quit. I guess I’ve chosen to believe again and again and again.
Thanks for the possible intervention! Amazing how the young man in the program came up and had a word for me while we were at St. Stephens. That word in a nutshell to cast everything on Him.
Phil
Phil,
I love the metaphor. I suspect we’re going to find wonderful morsels in this book for a long time to come.
My question: did you go and buy a box of Whitman’s chocolate just so you could take those pictures?
For the record: I married into a Sees Candy family. I’ve never witnessed such idolatry as when my wife’s family opens a box…
Marc:
Thank God for Google….that is how I got the pictures. I do agree that this book will be on “standby” for some time.
To be honest I haven’t had Whitman’s chocolate for some time now.
Phil
Phil,
Thank you for sharing about your ministry experience. If just reading about the resignation hurt, I imagine that it was a difficult experience to go through. I’ve had a couple of those experiences in my pastoral ministry during these thirteen years, and it never ceases to be discouraging.
I hope the assessments you’ve done with your team and the insights from the DMin will help you not only survive the crisis but thrive through it. I am reminded of the lyrics of a song we sang this morning at church: “I hear the Savior say, ‘Thy strength indeed is small; Child of weakness, watch and pray, Find in Me thine all in all.'” May you find in Him all you need to help you thrive during this challenging stage of your pastoral ministry. I’ll be praying for you.
Pablo
Pablo:
I receive the word “thrive”! It is more than hopeful thinking. We did assessments with the staff to help us process what was present reality. I have been reaching out to the staff to make sure that they are doing ok. It stretched some of them further than they wanted to go.
The staff is doing good. The collateral damage has been contained as best as we can tell. People started to ask questions and we did our best not to demonize the situation or individuals involved.
Thanks for the prayer!
Phil
Phil,
In the short time I met you, there is no doubt in my mind that you are a terrific leader. There is always one challenge with samplers: you never get enough of one thing so you are sometimes forced to buy another sampler. That to me is the challenge in reading some of the leadership books out there. They provide an idea of leadership and not enough leadership theory and practice so we keep buying more books hoping to find the right one. You quoted the authors saying, “We hope that this volume creates a new future, that improving the research, practice and teaching of leadership allows us to develop better leaders and a better world. The world is crying out for better leadership.” This book provided great theory and like you, I felt convicted by the challenges to explore new leadership practices. I own a plethora of leadership books, especially, John Maxwell so I thought I had a great deal of wisdom regarding leadership. Although I knew what effective leadership was supposed to look like, I was far from practicing. While I am sorry for the sudden departure of the executive pastor, I am grateful for your transparency as pastor and leader. Your transparency brought life to the theories presented in the book because I have met you. Now, I cannot say I have had Whitman’s before but I know what a good piece of Swedish chocolate taste like with my young taste bud. This book provided more than nuggets; it provided transformation. Leadership has its challenges but if you know where to find great information, that’s one of the keys in addressing those challenges. Great posts…
Garfield