{"id":2826,"date":"2014-10-24T06:31:29","date_gmt":"2014-10-24T06:31:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=2826"},"modified":"2014-10-24T06:31:29","modified_gmt":"2014-10-24T06:31:29","slug":"all-too-human","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/all-too-human\/","title":{"rendered":"All Too Human"},"content":{"rendered":"

A long time ago, I picked up a mantra that has guided much of my work: If you understand how a person thinks, their behavior makes sense. I\u2019ve fine-tuned this thought over the years to include feelings (if you understand why a person feels the way that they do, their behaviors also make sense) and their context \u2013 their life experiences, their skills, their passions, their human frailty. Thus, as I read this week\u2019s book, The Leadership Mystique: Leading Behavior in the Human Enterprise (<\/em>1) I found a lot of the concepts to be rather familiar. I\u2019m a social worker, after all, and my work has been guided by research and theory in psychology, human behavior, cultural studies and organizational development. I wasn\u2019t blown away, but I truly appreciated Kets De Vries very thoughtful and comprehensive discussion of leadership as it is shaped and developed by an individual\u2019s well-being or \u201cinner theater\u201d, competencies, and context.(2)<\/p>\n

The book raised a number of thoughts for me. First, from a practical standpoint, I appreciated the inclusion of multiple interactive tools to assess personality, leadership styles, organizational strengths and styles, and how to apply these. As a functional tool, it is a book that I will likely reference throughout my teaching and coaching work. From a personal point of view, I might even refer back to it as I update my Personal Leadership Development Plan. It\u2019s a useful book.<\/p>\n

I got to thinking about the many leaders I have known throughout my life so far. Being human is a true challenge to leadership. It is essential \u2013 you can\u2019t lead and not be human. But the accomplishments of leadership don\u2019t always look like the man or woman who led the action. Some leaders drench their donuts in whiskey for breakfast (I have a whole new perspective on Walt Disney). Some look like model citizens but lead horrendous actions (i.e. Hitler). I had a discussion this morning about our former County Chair who left office in disgrace following an affair that as it turns out was not his only indiscretion. He was a great guy with great ideas but human failings. Which in turn reminded me of what George Stephanopoulos wrote about former President Bill Clinton: \u201c\u2026if only this great president had been a better man.\u201d(3)<\/p>\n

I thought about my personal connections with leaders in the public, non-profit, private and religious sectors. I began to think how rare it is to find a leader who is truly balanced, healthy, and effective. I know leaders who \u201cdon\u2019t play well with others\u201d, and yet their organizations grow. I know those who are driven and brilliant, and whom I like a great deal, and have also led their organizations to grow into\u2026 mediocrity. I have known pastors who are loved and inspiring, and were (and some still are) personally frail. They had limited ego strength and were too tender to the challenges and conflicts of leadership. Regardless of the sector, there are all these all-too-human leaders.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t write about these leaders to judge them. I, too, am all-too-human. Rather, I want to acknowledge the considerable courage that it takes to grow into a balanced, healthy, resilient leader who is also effective. It requires self reflection, internal fortitude, spiritual hope, faithful and trustworthy social support from family and friends, accountability, and some skills. It takes courage to be honest, to acknowledge your own human frailty, to pursue healing and health, to develop a trustworthy inner circle who knows you \u2013 even the painful stuff \u2013 and to hold you accountable while lifting you up.<\/p>\n

I find myself less critical about this week\u2019s reading, and more reflective. I also find myself grateful for a God who understands us. Me. When I think about Christian leadership, I think about the considerable challenge of also being human. People in religious institutions often hold higher standards for their Christian leaders. They expect them to be without sin, which is a false expectation. They expect them not to make hurtful mistakes, to be completely transformed in Christ, and never to falter. These are also unrealistic expectations. Leaders working in these institutions often struggle to be honest. If they let their followers know that they are only human, that they make mistakes, it is not always well received. So rather than be honest, they try to keep their \u201clook good\u201d up which only leads to more secrets, more shame, more false sense of self. I have great compassion for leaders in the faith. I think perhaps of all of the sectors, it is most challenging to be human and real in the church.<\/p>\n

It is also where it is most important. It is here that we can model what healing in Christ looks like. It is here that we can model what the lifelong (not instantaneous) process of sanctification looks like. It is here that we can model that we are all learning, and none of us have arrived. I wonder what impact the church might really make if we had the strength and courage to acknowledge our human weakness but live and lead in the strength that is Christ. I don\u2019t know that I am saying what I really mean. It seems far too simplistic.<\/p>\n

So I will share what my goals are with my students. I want them to learn the skills and competencies to be good social workers. I really don\u2019t care what grades they get; I want them to have the right skills. But just as essential is that they diligently pursue healing and health. People who enter helping professions have often experienced significant pain or lived with great struggle. If they serve from that place of pain, they will serve out of their own need, and not necessarily recognize it. They (we) must make a commitment to develop their own emotional, social, physical and spiritual health. Otherwise it is far more likely that they will burn out, leave the field, or cause harm.<\/p>\n

It would be so lovely if all of us did that. But so many of us don\u2019t. I am reminded of when Jesus looked out over the people. \u201cWhen he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.\u201d (Matthew 9:36) Perhaps if we had a little more compassion, if we recognized one another \u2013 even our leaders \u2013 as human, we might create space where we can follow the shepherd to safety.
\n(1) Manfred Kets De Vries, The Leadership Mystique: Leading Behavior in the Human Enterprise, Harlow, England: Preston Hall, 2006.
\n(2) Ibid, p. 7.
\n(3) George Stephanopoulos, All Too Human: A Political Education, Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1999, p. 443.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A long time ago, I picked up a mantra that has guided much of my work: If you understand how a person thinks, their behavior makes sense. I\u2019ve fine-tuned this thought over the years to include feelings (if you understand why a person feels the way that they do, their behaviors also make sense) and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"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":[246],"class_list":["post-2826","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-ketsdevries","cohort-lgp4"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2826","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\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2826"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2826\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2829,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2826\/revisions\/2829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2826"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2826"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2826"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}