{"id":1064,"date":"2012-10-25T16:20:00","date_gmt":"2012-10-25T16:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/beta.dminlgp.com\/where-there-is-no-vision-the-people-perish\/"},"modified":"2012-10-25T16:20:00","modified_gmt":"2012-10-25T16:20:00","slug":"where-there-is-no-vision-the-people-perish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/where-there-is-no-vision-the-people-perish\/","title":{"rendered":"“Where there is no vision the people perish”"},"content":{"rendered":"

What is leadership? What does it take to lead? Who is an effective leader?\u00a0 What are the qualities and attributes of a leader?\u00a0 These are all great and pertinent questions?\u00a0 But there are no set answers.\u00a0 These questions are all understood in variety of ways in different contexts.\u00a0 One must not fail to understand that till the present time<\/span> leadership has been approached and defined independently from various perspectives and experiences where each of them may be credible but not complete.\u00a0 It may be likened to the well known story of the group of blind men trying to describe an elephant. <\/span>(Khurana n.d.)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Leadership and its elements are contingent to various contexts. One learns from experience that there can be no leadership style that is universally applicable.\u00a0 It is a combination of several attributes and skills that are effectively applied in varying contexts.\u00a0\u00a0 This turns out to be more complex in the postmodern context in which we currently live. Globalization is rapidly bringing about drastic changes where earlier assumptions are becoming quickly obsolete. The stability and simple structures of the past are shifting and horizons are broadened.\u00a0 The contrasting phenomena that mark the present times pose greater challenges to leadership than ever.\u00a0 <\/span>(Khurana n.d.)<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Regardless of the challenges and changes there are a few underlying principles of leadership that have stood the test of time.\u00a0 The Handbook of Leadership theory and Practice edited by Khurana and Nohria <\/em>highlights these core principles that have surfaced as a result of extensive research of some of the world\u2019s best scholars on the subject.\u00a0 I find the following very meaningful for my life and valuable in my leadership role because they transcend all contextual, cultural, sociological or economic restrictions.\u00a0 But more importantly, they have deep theological implications for me as a Christian and they have been modelled by Jesus. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

a.\u00a0<\/span>Leaders of social movements have <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>\u2018Prophetic imagination\u2019 \u201cLeading in social movements requires learning to manage the core tensions at the heart of what theologian Walter Brueggemann calls the \u201cprophetic imagination\u201d a combination of criticality (experience of the world\u2019s pain ) with hope (experience of the world\u2019s possibility), avoiding being numbed by despair or deluded by optimism\u201d. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span>(Page 530)<\/span><\/p>\n

b.\u00a0<\/span><\/span>A \u00a0Shepherd\u2019s Style. In the study of many leaders of innovation it is discovered that they lead from behind.\u00a0 What does that mean?\u00a0\u00a0 Nelson Mandela described it well: \u201cthey lead like a shepherd. He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble go out ahead, whereupon the others follow, not realizing that all along they are being directed from behind\u201d. <\/span>(Nitin Nohria and Rakesh Khurana 2010)<\/span>(page 635)<\/span><\/p>\n

I find this a great model to emulate.\u00a0 It is a very vivid description of the style that Jesus modelled and claimed to be when He said, \u201cI am the good Shepherd\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>c.\u00a0\u201cLeaders are formed in the fire of experience\u201d (page 680).\u00a0 What an incredible principle for today\u2019s world that is striving for instant gratification, instant success and quick fixes.\u00a0 The Greek and latin roots of the word \u2018experience\u2019 define it even better. It means \u2018Coming out of the fire\u2019.<\/p>\n

These principles teach me that true leadership is not about being famous or wealthy.\u00a0 It is about having a great vision of a transformed society, looking beyond the present and the self. It is about achieving goals with integrity and honesty.\u00a0 It is about persistence in ones efforts in the face of challenges, difficulties and even failures.\u00a0 It is about pursuing ones selflessness dreams with a combination of courage, sacrifice and compassion. <\/span><\/p>\n

These<\/span> proven principles add an essential theological dimension to a purely intellectual pursuit of leadership.\u00a0 First, I envision a better future for all of creation as God has destined. That people will experience the \u2018abundant life\u2019 that Christ came to provide and the values of God\u2019s reign firmly rooted and practiced in community.\u00a0 `Secondly, I commit myself to lead in humility the flock that God has entrusted in my responsibility.\u00a0 Thirdly, I will never give up in the face of trials and even failures but learn from them and grow with the conviction that this is God\u2019s call upon my life. <\/span><\/p>\n

Harvard Business School. Working Knowledge – The Thinking That Leads. http:\/\/hbswk.hbs.edu\/item\/6372.html<\/a> (accessed October 21, 2012).<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>Khurana, Rakesh. Working Knowledge – The Thinking That Leads. http:\/\/hbswk.hbs.edu\/item\/6372.html<\/a> (accessed October 21, 2012).<\/p>\n

Kreiger, David. Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. May 5, 2008. http:\/\/www.wagingpeace.org\/articles\/2008\/05\/07_krieger_leadership_change.php?print<\/a> (accessed October 20, 2012).<\/p>\n

Nitin Nohria and Rakesh Khurana. Handbook of Leadership Theory and Practice. 2010. Edited by Nitin Nohria and Rakesh Khurana. Boston, Massachusetts: Harvard Business School Publishing, 2010.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What is leadership? What does it take to lead? Who is an effective leader?\u00a0 What are the qualities and attributes of a leader?\u00a0 These are all great and pertinent questions?\u00a0 But there are no set answers.\u00a0 These questions are all understood in variety of ways in different contexts.\u00a0 One must not fail to understand that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2,35,195],"class_list":["post-1064","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dminlgp","tag-leadership","tag-nohria","cohort-lgp3"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1064","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1064"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1064\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1064"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1064"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1064"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}