{"id":27715,"date":"2021-10-06T21:56:43","date_gmt":"2021-10-07T04:56:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=27715"},"modified":"2021-10-18T08:00:12","modified_gmt":"2021-10-18T15:00:12","slug":"you-cant-lead-if-others-arent-following","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/you-cant-lead-if-others-arent-following\/","title":{"rendered":"You Can\u2019t Lead if Others Aren\u2019t Following"},"content":{"rendered":"

Edwin Friedman was a man of many hats \u2013 an ordained rabbi, family therapist, and leadership consultant, to name a few. As part of his work, A Failure of Nerve<\/em> was birthed to give insight into the leadership crisis he witnessed throughout his work. Two decades later, this book is as relevant now as it was then. He writes, \u201cPeople cannot hear you unless they are moving toward you.\u201d[1]<\/a> Regardless of your title, genuine leadership is influence. Thus, you can\u2019t lead others if they aren\u2019t following you. In light of my work, to seek the flourishing of vulnerable communities, so much of which hinges on leadership development, I will highlight three fundamental principles.<\/p>\n

First, Friedman claims that for an individual to lead well, a priority must be given to the wellness of the self. If an individual is not healthy, they will be incapable of effectively leading others. He writes, \u201cWhat stood out from the very beginning is that to the extent leaders are successful in their differentiating efforts in their own family of origin, there is immediate carry-over to their functioning in the organizations (or families) they lead.\u201d[2]<\/a> In my experience of Christian leadership for over two decades, what is typically emphasized are concepts such as servant leadership, conflict resolution, vision casting, compelling communication, and the like. Most of these points of emphasis are outward-oriented, neglecting the weightier matters of self-development. While these leadership concepts are undoubtedly essential and Christ-like, unless a leader prioritizes their health and development, according to Friedman, they will be ineffective in leading.<\/p>\n

Two, Friedman provides five characteristics of anxious leadership; leaders who are incapable of effectively leading for various reasons. Of these reasons, these leaders tend to be reactive<\/em> in a vicious cycle of negative responses; be led astray by a herding<\/em> mentality and follow ill-guided persons; quick to blame <\/em>others rather than accept responsibility; settle for quick-fix <\/em>solutions; and as a result, fail to function as self-differentiated leaders<\/em>. Self-differentiated leaders are those with the ability to lead for the good of the whole. These leaders can separate themselves from the pitfalls of their context, maintain clarity and vision, demonstrate vulnerability, are long-suffering in difficulty, and be able to regulate their responses.[3]<\/a><\/p>\n

Lastly, in addressing social dilemmas that result from chronic anxiousness, Friedman claims that when families and systems get fixed on problematic symptoms rather than focusing on the root emotional hindrance, \u201cthey will recycle their problems perpetually no matter what technical changes they make, how much advice they receive from experts, or how hard they try to understand their symptoms.\u201d[4]<\/a> Friedman continues, \u201cThe same is the case when an entire society stays focused on the acute symptoms of its chronic anxiety \u2013 violence, drugs, crime, ethnic and gender polarization, economic factors such as inflation and unemployment, bureaucratic obstruction, an entangling tax code, and so on \u2013 rather than on the emotional processes.\u201d[5]<\/a> As a result, \u201cthe society will continue to recycle its problems\u201d no matter what solutions they attempt to provide.[6]<\/a> In the context of our target neighborhood, a low-income and marginalized community, I have witnessed this firsthand as Billings\u2019 city leaders have sought to offer symptom-based solutions to the rampant increase in homelessness, mental illness, as well as drug and alcohol addiction. Unfortunately, this approach has done very little to positively impact struggling individuals or the community.<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Edwin H. Friedman, Margaret M. Treadwell, and Edward W. Beal, A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix<\/em>, 10th anniversary revised edition. (New York: Church Publishing, 2017), 215.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Ibid., 22.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Ibid., 96\u201397.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Ibid., 66\u201367.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Ibid., 67.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Ibid.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Edwin Friedman was a man of many hats \u2013 an ordained rabbi, family therapist, and leadership consultant, to name a few. As part of his work, A Failure of Nerve was birthed to give insight into the leadership crisis he witnessed throughout his work. Two decades later, this book is as relevant now as it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":142,"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":[2025,236,35],"class_list":["post-27715","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-a-failure-of-never","tag-friedman","tag-leadership","cohort-lgp11"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27715","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\/142"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27715"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27715\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27721,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27715\/revisions\/27721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27715"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27715"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27715"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}