As I reflect on my preparation for ministry as a pastor, I am thankful for what I received. I learned from many teachers who sought to instill a process for learning how to learn rather than just content retention. I learned sound principles of study, communication, and counseling. I gained an understanding of specific pastoral roles beyond Sunday. In retrospect, however, I also wish there had been more focus in my formal education about the leadership role of pastoral ministry. I mean the parts that equip one to cast vision, work with a board, and the need to create a corporate culture. I learned those leadership traits through trial and error. I wonder if the absence of those skills resided with school choices, professors\u2019 lack of ministry experience, or some other reason. My previous education experiences led me to conclude that the gifts of teaching and mercy were elevated while the gift of leadership was minimized. But, that is a blog post for another day.<\/p>\n
Tod Bolsinger served as a pastor previous to his current role as Associate Professor of Leadership Formation at Fuller Seminary. He writes with a style and concern that reminds me of Paul\u2019s influence upon a younger pastor, Timothy. The seasoned minister seeks to encourage, prepare, and give direction to those coming behind him. His concern resides in the challenges of leading adaptive change, defined by Ronald Heifetz as change that \u201crequires new learning.\u201d[1]<\/a> Adaptive change requires onboarding people at all levels of an organization. Tod Bolsinger applies that challenge to leadership in the local church.<\/p>\n Tempered Resilience<\/em>, seeks to provide a strategy for clergy to develop the resilience necessary to withstand the challenges of leading deep change. Bolsinger states his thesis early in this pastoral leadership book. Leading change brings disruption. Disruption breeds resistance. \u201cTo lead, especially in the face of resistance, requires that we develop resilience.\u201d[2]<\/a> Leaning heavily into Edwin Friedman\u2019s concept of failure of nerve, Bolsinger adds another potential threat that stalls effectiveness in leadership, namely, a failure of heart. Failure of nerve refers to \u201ccaving to the pressure of the group\u2019s anxiety to return to the status quo.\u201d[3]<\/a> Failure of heart occurs when a discouraged leader disconnects from the people she or he leads. Failure of nerve acquiesces, and failure of heart disengages. Either response dooms change leadership to failure.<\/p>\n Bolsinger offers no quick fix to the challenge of leading change. He cautions that the resilience needed to survive the resistance to adaptive change needs to be formed over time before the challenge comes. Six chapters lay out the author\u2019s process drawing from the analogy of metal tempered in the forging process. Like Eve Poole in Leadersmithing<\/em>, Bolsinger states, \u201cPractices create a kind of spiritual muscle memory, training us to respond to a crisis and resistance like it is second nature.\u201d[4]<\/a> In addition to Friedman, Bolsinger draws from the leadership traits or content of Martin Luther King, Jr., Brene Brown, Angela Duckworth, and more.<\/p>\n I believe the greatest value of this book comes from Bolsinger\u2019s focus on the inner life of the leader as they progress through the challenges of adaptive change. He offers valuable steps for a pastoral change leader to stay emotionally healthy. At one point, he draws from Erving Goffman\u2019s analogy of the front and back stage, adding an aspect, the \u201coff stage.\u201d Off-stage refers to those places away from performance roles and engagement in other parts of life.[5]<\/a> A significant aspect of the off-stage life of a leader, according to Bolsinger, centers on relationships. Citing studies focused on off-stage relationships, \u201cthe quality of your relationships with other people influences how emotionally resilient you can be in the face of an emotional or physical crisis.\u201d[6]<\/a> His vital connection between resilience and relationship proves to be a timely encouragement. In a recent Chemistry Staffing study, 75% of pastors in America struggle with loneliness.[7]<\/a>70% of pastors do not have a close friend, confidant, or mentor.[8]<\/a> While it has always been impossible to separate leadership from the leader, a much-needed emphasis on the inner life of the leader emerges in this book.<\/p>\n One respectful criticism I offer of the book comes from Bolsinger\u2019s repeated use of the word \u201csabotage.\u201d Like Friedman, Bolsinger predicts the people\u2019s resistance within the church as an organization to adaptive change. There is much truth to that dynamic. Nowhere, however, does he distinguish unhealthy sabotage from constructive criticism that can also come to a leader initiating change. I have found that my harshest critics are worth listening to, and some offer valid corrections and helpful input. It is possible to read this book and conclude that all negativity is equally bad sabotage, which sounds only dangerous and nefarious. Sometimes, helpful input comes cleverly disguised as an adversary.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [1]<\/a> http:\/\/changetheorists.pbworks.com\/w\/page\/15475038\/Ron%20Heifetz<\/a>, accessed October 10, 2022.<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> Tod Bolsinger, Tempered Resilience: How Leaders are Formed in the Crucible of Change <\/em>(Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2020), 4.<\/p>\n [3]<\/a> Ibid., 29.<\/p>\n [4]<\/a> Ibid.,132.<\/p>\n [5]<\/a> Ibid. ,112.<\/p>\n [6]<\/a> Ibid., 120.<\/p>\n [7]<\/a> Todd Rhoades, \u201cLonely Pastors\u2026Everywhere\u201d https:\/\/blog.chemistrystaffing.com\/lonely-pastors…-everywhere<\/a>, April 12, 2021, accessed October 10, 2022.<\/p>\n