{"id":29832,"date":"2022-12-08T22:55:55","date_gmt":"2022-12-09T06:55:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=29832"},"modified":"2022-12-08T22:55:55","modified_gmt":"2022-12-09T06:55:55","slug":"strategically-stopping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/strategically-stopping\/","title":{"rendered":"Strategically Stopping"},"content":{"rendered":"

Throughout history, strong leaders have benefited from adaptive leadership skills that equip them to navigate our ever-changing world and unique societal contexts. Not only do adaptive leaders possess the qualities needed to negotiate change, themselves, but they possess the crucial qualities needed to prepare and encourage other people to navigate complex challenges and thrive in new circumstances.[1]<\/a> Tod Bolsinger, known for his work on the subject of adaptive leadership, offers guidance to pastors, students, and seminary administrators as they seek to navigate rapid change in the church, in education, and in the broader world today.[2]<\/a><\/p>\n

Book Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n

In his book, Tempered Resilience: How Leaders are Formed in the Crucible of Change, <\/em>Bolsinger uses the metaphor of blacksmithing to illustrate the process through which adaptive leaders develop and grow strong. Bolsinger describes the steps a blacksmith takes to forge steel into a durable and flexible tool: working, heating, holding, hammering, hewing, and tempering.[3]<\/a> In the same way as steel is shaped and forged, says Bolsinger, leaders are developed and grow resilient. For Bolsinger, \u201cResilience is not about becoming smarter or tougher; it\u2019s about becoming stronger and more flexible. It\u2019s about becoming tempered.\u201d[4]<\/a> Interestingly, this process of becoming tempered happens during<\/em> the act of leading. Thus is the leader forged on the job and in the very crucible of change where they work. Ideally, this prepares leaders to withstand resistance to change with grace and steadfastness.[5]<\/a><\/p>\n

Bolsinger draws heavily upon the wisdom of Edwin Friedman, author of A Failure of Nerve, Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix<\/em>.[6]<\/a>\u00a0 Having talked with hundreds of leaders around the country, he notes that leaders bringing change to their communities often feel daunted and discouraged, and this discouragement is most often due to internal organizational and personal resistance, as opposed to external challenges.[7]<\/a> The risk for a leader is that their discouragement can lead to a failure of nerve, as Friedman stresses, or a failure of heart. Both failures result from a crisis of identity. Identity is made resilient in the very act of leadership. Therefore, according to Bolsinger, \u201cIf you are tempered and resilient you can avoid the failure of heart and the failure of nerve.\u201d[8]<\/a><\/p>\n

My Opinion of the Book<\/strong><\/p>\n

I found the message of this book to be valuable and the blacksmithing illustration easy to follow and memorable. However, I think Bolsinger\u2019s book is a bit redundant. He makes a good point and then repeats it multiple times, writing from a low context assumption.[9]<\/a> His book offers a good reference to skim for specific wisdom needed regarding separate parts of the tempering process. To that end, I focused on the last chapter of the book, entitled \u201cTempering: Resilience Comes Through a Rhythm of Leading and Not Leading.\u201d[10]<\/a><\/p>\n

Relevant Application<\/strong><\/p>\n

As one who has struggled with burnout over the last several years, I found the concepts in this chapter valuable. Bolsinger points out that, \u201cResilience comes from stress that creates strength. At the same time, too much stress means that both steel and leaders become brittle instruments that crumble beneath the task. This is the delicate balance.\u201d[11]<\/a> If we want a tool to become tempered it must go through a process of stress and release from that stress. He says that perhaps the lesson most overlooked by \u201cchange leaders\u201d is that tempered resilience requires a rhythm of leading and not leading. This rhythm of working and not working, leading and not leading, toiling and enjoying, being diligent and being thankful, of good ministry and good life creates both a resilient leader and a healthy community.[12]<\/a><\/p>\n

To bolster his point, Bolsinger highlights Bill Bowerman\u2019s coaching wisdom applied at the University of Oregon in the 1950s and 1960s. Bowerman coached the Oregon Ducks in track and cross-country and is well-known for his emphasis on establishing a training routine consisting of hard workout days, followed by easier recovery days.[13]<\/a> \u00a0The practice has been adopted by many successful coaches over the last fifty years. Coach John Hale, current high school running coach in Portland, Oregon, remarked that this training approach helps runners \u201cstay hungry, eager, and mentally fresh, rather than burned out.\u201d[14]<\/a> As leaders, remaining hungry, eager, and mentally fresh in our calling is an attractive thought, indeed!<\/p>\n

Applying the Ignatian Examen<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bolsinger suggests we increase our learning as we read his book by asking ourselves the questions often used by Ignatian spiritual directors.[15]<\/a> I gave this a try, applying these questions to the material in the last chapter of the book.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. What has inspired you as you read this chapter?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I am inspired by the idea that good leaders, in fact, some of the best leaders, take time to stop leading. Not only do they stop leading, but they switch gears mentally, to dwell on activities and thoughts that have nothing to do with work. To stop leading, means to stop, completely. In an article entitled, \u201cResilience is About How You Recharge, Not How You Endure,\u201d authors Shawn Achor and Michelle Gielan note, \u201cTo build resilience, you need to be willing to stop. This means spending some time away from your phone, eating lunch away from your desk, and actually using your vacation time.\u201d[16]<\/a> \u00a0They add that if you do not take these necessary, full-stop breaks, you risk burnout.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

      \n
    1. What raises questions that you would like to have clarified?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      A question that I would like to have clarified is: In a highly competitive, product-driven society, is there a cost to pay when a leader takes a break or is the result of the break purely beneficial? Other questions, include: Does the team pay the price when their leader takes a break, or do they benefit? How can a leader ensure that everyone on the team receives meaningful breaks?<\/p>\n

       <\/p>\n

        \n
      1. What do you find yourself resisting?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        I find myself resisting the ease with which Bolsinger suggests that leaders implement the rhythm of working hard and then not working. It sounds good on paper, especially as he describes retreating to his vacation home in the Idaho mountains, but is it really that easy to maintain a balanced rhythm of working and stopping working?<\/p>\n

         <\/p>\n

          \n
        1. What changes are you considering in your own leadership because of reading this section?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          In my current routine, I am good at taking \u201cbreaks from work,\u201d but during these breaks, my mind is often still on work. Achor and Gielan remind us that if our brains are still focused on work, even while resting, we are not recovering. They comment, \u201cIf you really want to build resilience, you can start by strategically stopping.\u201d[17]<\/a> I am going to work on creating space for myself to strategically stop, completely.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          Bolsinger\u2019s last chapter has given me some valuable material to contemplate. In a world of high expectations and endless to-do lists, can successful living and sustainable leadership be found in a balance of hard work and meaningful recovery periods?\u00a0 I believe it can.<\/p>\n

           <\/p>\n

          [1]<\/a> Peter G. Northouse, Leadership, Theory and Practice, Seventh Edition <\/em>(Los Angeles, CA: SAGE Publications, 2016), 257, 259.<\/p>\n

          [2]<\/a> Grace Ruiter and Tod Bolsinger, \u201cTod Bolsinger on Power, Privilege and Adaptive Leadership in 2020,\u201d https:\/\/www.faithward.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

          [3]<\/a> Tod Bolsinger, \u201cTempered Resilience: How Leaders are Formed in the Crucible of Change (<\/em>Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2020), 7.<\/p>\n

          [4]<\/a> Tod Bolsinger, \u201cTempered Resilience: How Leaders are Formed in the Crucible of Change (<\/em>Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2020), 4.<\/p>\n

          [5]<\/a> Tod Bolsinger, \u201cTempered Resilience: How Leaders are Formed in the Crucible of Change (<\/em>Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2020), 5.<\/p>\n

          [6]<\/a> Edwin H. Friedman, \u201cA Failure of Nerve, Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix <\/em>(New York, NY: Church Publishing, 2017).<\/p>\n

          [7]<\/a> Tod Bolsinger, \u201cTempered Resilience: How Leaders are Formed in the Crucible of Change (<\/em>Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2020), 10.<\/p>\n

          [8]<\/a> Tod Bolsinger, \u201cTempered Resilience: How Leaders are Formed in the Crucible of Change (<\/em>Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2020), 5.<\/p>\n

          [9]<\/a> Erin Meyer, The Culture Map, Decoding How People Think, Lead, and Get Things Done Across Cultures <\/em>(New York, NY: Public Affairs, 2014), 34.<\/p>\n

          [10]<\/a> Tod Bolsinger, \u201cTempered Resilience: How Leaders are Formed in the Crucible of Change (<\/em>Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2020), 193.<\/p>\n

          [11]<\/a> Tod Bolsinger, Tempered Resilience Study Guide: 8 Sessions on Becoming an Adaptive Leader<\/em> (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2020), 50.<\/p>\n

          [12]<\/a> Tod Bolsinger, \u201cTempered Resilience: How Leaders are Formed in the Crucible of Change (<\/em>Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2020), 203.<\/p>\n

          [13]<\/a> Tod Bolsinger, \u201cTempered Resilience: How Leaders are Formed in the Crucible of Change (<\/em>Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2020), 198.<\/p>\n

          [14]<\/a> John Hale, Cross-Country and Track Coach, Lake Oswego High School and Catlin Gabel High School, Portland, OR, Personal Interview by Jennifer Steinbrenner Hale, December 6, 2022.<\/p>\n

          [15]<\/a> Tod Bolsinger, \u201cTempered Resilience: How Leaders are Formed in the Crucible of Change (<\/em>Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2020), 7.<\/p>\n

          [16]<\/a> Shawn Achor and Michelle Gielan, \u201cResilience is About How You Recharge, Not How You Endure,\u201d Harvard Business Review, https:\/\/hbr.org\/2016\/06<\/a>.<\/p>\n

          [17]<\/a> Shawn Achor and Michelle Gielan, \u201cResilience is About How You Recharge, Not How You Endure,\u201d Harvard Business Review, https:\/\/hbr.org\/2016\/06<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

          Throughout history, strong leaders have benefited from adaptive leadership skills that equip them to navigate our ever-changing world and unique societal contexts. Not only do adaptive leaders possess the qualities needed to negotiate change, themselves, but they possess the crucial qualities needed to prepare and encourage other people to navigate complex challenges and thrive in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":157,"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":[2478],"class_list":["post-29832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-bolsinger-dlgp01","cohort-dlgp01"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29832","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\/157"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29832"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29832\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29833,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29832\/revisions\/29833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}