Two steps ahead as a leader….
Tod Bolsinger, a well known author and leader most recently at Fuller Seminary by designing an entire program on leadership for them. His recent book Tempered Resilience explores leadership challenges through adaptive changes within various leadership positions. The author states that “resilience is not simply found within leadership but carefully formed. Leaders are formed by leading and resilience is formed in the moment.” (1) This reins true in all of our lives as well as throughout history.
In my life- I recently experienced a leadership position that resilience was learned quickly….
More personally in our lives as leaders we are adapting to our surroundings and being formed through experiences that are shaping us. You cannot lead without leading. You adapt to thicker skin, and strength throughout situations as you are forging through situations. Personally for me I am reminded of a recent position that I took on leading a million and a half dollar bond for our school district. I had never completed that daunting task before much less for free. However with a background in education, children in the school district, and a longstanding resident I felt overly confident and qualified. If I am being honest, I might have been abundantly confident. Of course this is a slam dunk… why wouldn’t someone vote to make their kids life better at school? As I got into the position of weekly meetings with the superintendent, as well as meetings with our community I quickly realized this was a much bigger job than I anticipated. I was met with resistance from more than I thought which led me to learn quickly to not spout off with my initial reactions. Bolsinger stated in an interview I watched recently that “Sabotage is not the bad things people do, its the human things anxious people do. When people get anxious they want to go back to familiarity.” It was normal to have resistance because change is hard for people. It’s normal for people to act out of character when you are asking them to do things that they are not used to. The trick according to the author is to be able to stand inside great anxiety of others and not give yourself up to your peers that you are also anxious. Being a differentiated leader is asking you to manage your reactions, actions and emotions.
In history.. one of my favorite leaders showed great tempered resilience and adaptive leadership….
Historically speaking, this is arguably one of the greatest and well known speeches of all time. It was done through Dr. King facing adversity through adaptive changes and he showed great resilience as a leader. After looking up this speech I learned that it wasn’t actually the speech that he intended to give at all… but someone close to him yelled at him to tell him about the dream he had! From there he winged it and gave the speech that is so well known today.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning: My country, ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrims’ pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring. (2)
Why to not be reactive with rules/policies as a leader…
(1)YouTube. (2022, February 23). Tod Bolsinger: Tempered resilience – how leaders are formed in the crucible of change. YouTube. Retrieved December 7, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dxd0My7ON40
(3) Bolsinger, T. E. (2020). Tempered resilience: How leaders are formed in the crucible of change. IVP, an imprint of InterVarsity Press.
About the Author
Alana Hayes
Alana is a mother to four beautiful children and wife to a farmer in Texas. She is an avid world traveler with a heart for both the world and education. She is the president of the nonprofit Against the Grain Texas where they focus on providing education to children overseas and at risk adults in the states. To date the nonprofit has given almost $100,000 to individuals around the world. In her free time she loves spending meaningful time with people and reading to further her personal education.9 responses to “Two steps ahead as a leader….”
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Alana,
I am encouraged by your post. I am reminded by one of my instructors in bible college when he taught on the book of Philippians. That Paul was a thermostat and not a thermometer. A thermometer is affected by whats going on in the environment, while a thermostat controls the temperature in the room. I appreciate your post to respond and not react.
God Bless
Thank you Greg! What a great illustration!
Alana,
I love your favorite quote, I think it is one of mine too. Trust is so critical to our leadership journey if we aren’t trusted we won’t get far.
I also appreciate your focus on being reactive. I tend to find myself getting stuck in a season of having to be reactive, it tends to be the snowball effective one thing, then another layer, and another. I wonder do you have wisdom to share on how to get our of a reactive season and begin to regain a proactive leadership model.
I can tell you what I am trying this semester! I am starting our next semesters work now, and trying to get 2-3 weeks ahead when we start… so that when I am pulled there is room for error.
Hey Alana,
It was fascinating reading your story of the leadership position for the school district your were in. Is there an example you can share of someone resisting your work, and how you managed your reactivity?
Oh for sure! They would send terrible messages to me as a keyboard warrior! Kindness always wins though!
Alana,
Thank you for sharing your favorite quote. Trust is vital in leadership, and is a key characteristic God has been speaking to my heart this entire semester. Just how you really can’t lead effectively without it. I always appreciate what you have to say.
Merry Christmas!
You are one of the kindest individuals, and I know that you are building trust within your community. I am praying for all of your kids and you as you finish the semester both with your kids and here.
Alana – interesting post! How were you able to separate the anxiousness from the person? As the quote states, anxious people act out of character, yet how do we give enough grace to believe their character is different. I find it difficult to trust people when their anxiety is released in my direction. I can be friendly but I keep them at a distance. I’m sure this was particularly difficult if you need to work closely with people in the School setting. Great post!