{"id":29078,"date":"2022-10-13T16:03:17","date_gmt":"2022-10-13T23:03:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=29078"},"modified":"2022-10-13T16:03:17","modified_gmt":"2022-10-13T23:03:17","slug":"the-metallurgy-of-leadership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/the-metallurgy-of-leadership\/","title":{"rendered":"The Metallurgy of Leadership"},"content":{"rendered":"

How is a leader formed? More specifically, how is the characteristic and practice of resilience formed in a leader? This is the question taken up by Tod Bolsinger in \u201cTempered Resilience: How Leaders are Formed in the Crucible of Change.\u201d[1]<\/a> In an introduction, eight chapters, epilogue, and notes, Bolsinger establishes his primary metaphor and then unpacks what it means for the leadership journey. In his introduction he writes: \u201c\u2026I want to talk about the processes and practices that develop tempered, resilient<\/em> change leaders who will be able to avoid what Edwin Friedman calls a \u2018failure of nerve\u2019 as well as what I call a \u2018failure of heart.\u2019\u201d[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

Bolsinger uses the metaphor of iron being worked into steel on the anvil and in the hot forge to describe the process through which a leader must pass in order to develop \u201ctempered resilience\u201d in their character and skills.[3]<\/a> \u201cTempering a leader is a process of reflection, relationships, and practices during the act of leading that form resilience to continue leading when the resistance is highest<\/em>.\u201d[4]<\/a> He is seeking to address the holistic spiritual work that a leader is invited to undertake when faced with challenge, resistance, and even suffering. His book is complementary to Eve Poole\u2019s book, \u201cLeadersmithing: Revealing the Trade Secrets of Leadership.\u201d[5]<\/a> Poole also uses the metaphor of the forge, but focuses on the opportunity an apprentice has to learn the skills of the master blacksmith. Using this metaphor of the apprentice at the forge, her book zeroes in on the different skill sets a leader can develop if they are willing to practice like an apprentice. In contrast, Bolsinger focuses on the process undergone by the metal to become tempered, to become resilient and uses this metaphor to describe the processes and spiritual\/relational practices a leader must undergo to also develop tempered resilience. In essence, Bolsinger provides his version of the hero\u2019s journey; a version specifically focused on leadership.[6]<\/a><\/p>\n

In Bolsinger\u2019s telling of the leader\u2019s hero\u2019s journey, he shares significant parts of his own story.[7]<\/a> This gives his book the flavor of an autobiography. At the same time he draws heavily from others like Edwin Friedman (referencing him at least 12 times), Ronald Heifetz, and \u0392ren\u00e9 Brown (among many others) who have written on leadership, offering a thoughtful guidebook or map to navigate the challenging landscape of leadership and emerge more resilient and wise.<\/p>\n

Bolsinger explicates what we read of Nelson Mandela\u2019s and Desmond Tutu\u2019s stories and then experienced on the ground in South Africa. I found Bolsinger\u2019s chapter on \u201cHeating: Strength is Forged in Self-Reflection\u201d of particular relevance. Both Mandela and Tutu spent considerable time in self-reflection, and did so in the presence of God. I am still marveling at Tutu\u2019s commitment to spend three hours a day in listening prayer\u2014asking the Lord for guidance, insight, and direction. He didn\u2019t even allow this time to be interrupted by calls from world leaders. Bolsinger tells the story of Mark Roberts when he was hired as the new executive director for Fuller\u2019s Max De Pree Center for Leadership. Roberts also spent dedicated time in listening prayer every morning where he examined before God his actions, emotions, motivations, and desires for the Center.[8]<\/a> It is this type of vulnerable self-reflection that turns up the heat of the forge and allows a leader to be more deeply shaped and formed in the way God has in mind for that leader. As I return to Lebanon from my extended time in South Africa and Malawi ten days from now and enter into this year where Scott is working in Ohio and I am in the Middle East, as we continue to listen for God\u2019s timing and sorting of the logistics for the ministry transition we are in, as I finish my Project Portfolio and our Leadership courses, I am making a fresh commitment to daily time in contemplative, self-examining, listening prayer before the Triune God. I need to have the heat turned up in this way to be prepared for the season that lies ahead and to develop further tempered resilience.<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Bolsinger, Tod E. 2020. Tempered Resilience: How Leaders Are Formed in the Crucible of Change<\/em>. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.<\/p>\n

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

[3]<\/a> Ibid., 6.<\/a><\/p>\n

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

[5]<\/a> Poole, Eve. 2017. Leadersmithing: Revealing the Trade Secrets of Leadership<\/em>. London\u202f; New York, NY: Bloomsbury Business, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Campbell, Joseph. 2008. The Hero with a Thousand Faces<\/em>. 3rd ed. Bollingen Series XVII. Novato, Calif: New World Library.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Bolsinger, 75-77 for example.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Ibid., 88.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How is a leader formed? More specifically, how is the characteristic and practice of resilience formed in a leader? This is the question taken up by Tod Bolsinger in \u201cTempered Resilience: How Leaders are Formed in the Crucible of Change.\u201d[1] In an introduction, eight chapters, epilogue, and notes, Bolsinger establishes his primary metaphor and then […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":141,"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":[2092,2392,1098,2389,2315],"class_list":["post-29078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-eve-poole","tag-leadership-forge","tag-mandela","tag-tod-bolsinger","tag-tutu","cohort-lgp11"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29078","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\/141"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29078"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29078\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29079,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29078\/revisions\/29079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29078"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29078"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29078"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}