{"id":29122,"date":"2022-10-15T18:17:29","date_gmt":"2022-10-16T01:17:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=29122"},"modified":"2022-10-15T18:31:27","modified_gmt":"2022-10-16T01:31:27","slug":"jesus-as-the-ultimate-differentiated-leader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/jesus-as-the-ultimate-differentiated-leader\/","title":{"rendered":"Jesus as the Ultimate Differentiated Leader"},"content":{"rendered":"

A Failure of Nerve <\/span><\/i>by Edwin Friedman is a thought-provoking leadership book that is just as relevant today as when it was first published privately more than 20 years ago. Friedman asserts that leaders (whether in families, organizations or society-at-large) must differentiate themselves and not fall prey to the anxious characteristics of our times. Specifically, he listed five characteristics of anxious leaders and showed how behaving in the opposite way<\/span> is how leaders can have the most positive impact.[1]<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 To help me sort through Friedman\u2019s hypothesis, I decided to look at the ultimate leader, Jesus, and see if the Biblical accounts of His life provided any evidence of the anxious characteristics that Friedman deems so detrimental to leadership today, or if Jesus had the differentiation that Friedman applauds.<\/span><\/p>\n

Reactivity<\/b>
\n<\/span>Friedman posits that the most obvious characteristic of an anxious leader is their hyper-reactivity to people and events.[2]<\/a> <\/span>In contrast, Jesus typically showed a calm, deliberative response. There are instances recorded in scripture where He reacted out of righteous anger–overturning the tables in the temple, as one example.[3]<\/a><\/span> But Jesus generally displayed the self-regulation of instinctual drive that Friedman says is imperative to successful leadership.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Herding
\n<\/b>The second characteristic that Friedman tells leaders to avoid is herding around the least mature or vulnerable.[4]<\/a><\/span> Of the five characteristics I examined, this is the one I had most difficulty reconciling when it came to Jesus because He often rallied around those who appeared inferior.\u00a0 Think of the parable of the lost sheep where the shepherd leaves the strength of the flock to find the one who has gone astray.[5] <\/a><\/span> Perhaps the difference is that Jesus sought the vulnerable in order to give them HIS strength, not to leave them to wallow in their weakness. In this light, He did, indeed, show adaptation toward strength.<\/span><\/p>\n

Blame Displacement
\n<\/b>Jesus definitely did not point fingers in order to avoid the deeper work of transformation as Friedman suggests that anxious leaders do.[6]<\/a><\/span> Instead, Jesus got to the root of issues and called it out accordingly. His response to challenges was always growth-producing.<\/span><\/p>\n

A Quick-Fix Mentality
\n<\/b>I also see in scripture that Jesus never took the easy way out. In some cases, He did provide immediate solutions like healing a disease or expelling a demon, but one must remember that He was the Son of God. He offered the long view in most circumstances and reminded His followers of God\u2019s timing in His redemptive plan. That is definitely an example of allowing time for processes to mature.<\/span><\/p>\n

Failure of Nerve in Leadership<\/b>
\n<\/span>Finally, Jesus used His influence to call out those who abused power, provided hope to the captives and offered life to the full <\/span>to those who would follow His leadership, even to the point of underserved death on a cross. Not once did His nerve fail. In fact, I can think of no one with more differentiated leadership than He.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The comparison between Jesus\u2019 leadership and the principles in Friedman\u2019s book isn\u2019t perfect, but I can\u2019t think of any greater example to follow. Jesus\u2019 leadership will always be a timeless measuring stick for any leader to grow toward. Combining His example with Friedman\u2019s theory is great place for all leaders to begin.<\/span><\/p>\n

[1]<\/a>\u00a0Edwin H. Friedman,\u00a0A Failure of Nerve Leadership in the Age of Quick Fix<\/em> (New York: Church Publishing, 2017), 68.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Friedman, 69.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Mark 11:15-18, Luke 19:45-47, John 2:14-16<\/span><\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Friedman, 74.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Matthew 18:12\u201314, Luke 15:3\u20137<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Friedman, 83.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Failure of Nerve by Edwin Friedman is a thought-provoking leadership book that is just as relevant today as when it was first published privately more than 20 years ago. Friedman asserts that leaders (whether in families, organizations or society-at-large) must differentiate themselves and not fall prey to the anxious characteristics of our times. Specifically, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":154,"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":[1660,236],"class_list":["post-29122","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-edwin-friedman","tag-friedman","cohort-dlgp01"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29122","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\/154"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29122"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29122\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29128,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29122\/revisions\/29128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29122"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29122"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29122"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}