{"id":30951,"date":"2023-02-09T13:32:55","date_gmt":"2023-02-09T21:32:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=30951"},"modified":"2023-02-09T13:32:55","modified_gmt":"2023-02-09T21:32:55","slug":"uncommon-habits-for-uncommon-leaders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/uncommon-habits-for-uncommon-leaders\/","title":{"rendered":"Uncommon Habits for Uncommon Leaders"},"content":{"rendered":"

Marcus Warner and Jim Wilder wrote Rare Leadership: 4 Uncommon Habits for Increasing Trust, Joy, and Engagement in the People You Love in 2016<\/em>. Since that time this book has undoubtedly been a benefit to many Christian leaders wanting to improve their effectiveness and ministry. But like a key note speaker whose opening banter drags on for too long, a book that possesses a Forward, a Preface, and<\/em> an Introduction, can make the reader grow anxious; get on with it, gentlemen. The book falls within the non-fiction\/leadership\/Christian Ministry genres. The book is unique, however, in that the closing section of each chapter includes a short discussion of our modern understanding of the brain. This underscores and strengthens the principles the authors teach in each particular chapter. The result is a book that has plenty to teach about Christian leadership but also backs it up with modern understand of the inner-workings of our brains. In this regard the book shares affinities with Van Der Kolk\u2019s, The Body Keeps the Score<\/em>. With both, the premise is the physical body reveals what is transpiring in an individual\u2019s mind and soul. Our exterior physiology discloses interior impulses, fears. Warner and Wilder assert, \u201cThe conclusion of this new science is that relational joy is the natural means for growing a strong, resilient mind\u201d (p. 65).<\/p>\n

The thesis of this book is that the fruit of four uncommon habits related to emotional intelligence is a dramatic increase in trust, joy, and engagement in the people you lead<\/em> (p. 13). The authors go on to describe these four habits with the acronym RARE. \u201cThey are: Remain Relational, Act Like Yourself, Return to Joy, Endure Hardship Well<\/em>\u201d (p. 19). Chapter seven is entitled, \u201cRemain Relational,\u201d and it is their strongest chapter in the book. There are many books on leadership and almost all of them will have a chapter that focuses on persevering when difficult times arrive. The authors do a great job of discussing the tension that comes between getting the job done while maintaining relationships. They state, \u201cEmotionally immature leaders have almost no capacity to remain relational in the face of big problems\u201d (p.123). The tendency is to focus on the problem and not your coworkers\u2014the very people who can help solve the problem. In my own experience, I viewed the problem as the people. I go into crisis mode, exclude others, and focus on the problem to the exclusion of other responsibilities. Other leaders I have talked to have a similar default setting. To overcome this inclination, we must recognize that we have this coping mechanism. This was not so easy: I would rationalize that I am being responsible and working hard. \u201cI\u2019m facing the problem head-on, and seeing the problem through to then end,\u201d was my mantra. But that mindset should not come at the expense of alienating others. The authors help solve this problem by providing four strategies that can help leaders who struggle in this area. The first is Curiosity,<\/em> meaning leaders should be curious if others have a possible solution. Don\u2019t just see problems, but be open to seeing unique solutions. \u00a0The second is Appreciation<\/em>, and they affirm, \u201cAppreciation attracts, while resentment repels\u201d (p. 130). Keep reaching out to others and let them know that without their input, the goals of the organization would not be accomplished. The third is Kindness<\/em>, which should be easy for Christians to do, but when the pressure is on, kindness can easily be thrown out the window. The authors teach not to let this happen: \u201cShared joy is perhaps the most powerful relational experience that exists\u201d (p. 132). Lastly, there is Envelope Conversations<\/em>. By this the authors mean, \u201cYou start with the history and importance of the relationship, then you discuss the problem, finally you end with the hope that the relationship will be even stronger\u201d (p. 133).<\/p>\n

This book has many unique contributions, but there are also many similarities to other books we have read for this program. One is Tod Bolsinger\u2019s Tempered Resilience.<\/em> Bolsinger teaches that change and maturation occurs in the crucible of difficult times\u2014and if a leader is going to be worthy to lead others, they have to endure these difficult times. Leadership requires a person to be willing to change and that takes tenacity. Warner and Wilder agree and they spend many pages developing their idea under the heading, Endure Hardship Well<\/em>. \u00a0But Warner and Wilder discuss the fruits of coming out on the other side of trying times better than Bolsinger. The fruits are joy, trust and engagement.<\/p>\n

This book is also similar to Friedman\u2019s, A Failure of Nerve<\/em> in that we need to have courage and convictions. This is especially true when nobody is demonstrating courage and boldness but just \u2018managing\u2019 the situation.\u00a0 But where Friedman speaks frequently of courageous leadership in the face of difficulties, Warner and Wilder speak of trust and joy to be the most effective leader you can be. The authors come at the motivations of great leaders from different approaches.<\/p>\n

This book is also similar to Western and Garcia\u2019s, Global Leadership Perspectives<\/em> in that these authors recognize that effective leadership takes different forms; it is the underlying qualities of the leader that makes for great leadership\u2014no matter what country or culture a leader occupies. Western ad Garcia emphasize the complexities of leadership because the complexities that exist in culture. Warner and Wilder would not disagree\u2014and they would offer their four habits as a solution that would help a leader become more effective.<\/p>\n

The authors combination of faith with modern day science of the brain is powerful. \u201cThe conclusion of this new science is that relational joy is the natural means for growing a strong, resilient mind.\u201d What science has proven scripture also teaches: \u201cThe joy of the Lord is your strength\u201d (Nehemiah 8:10). Joseph Campbell, who famously said, \u201cFollow your bliss,\u201d would agree that when you have others on the journey with you, it can make it that much sweeter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Marcus Warner and Jim Wilder wrote Rare Leadership: 4 Uncommon Habits for Increasing Trust, Joy, and Engagement in the People You Love in 2016. Since that time this book has undoubtedly been a benefit to many Christian leaders wanting to improve their effectiveness and ministry. But like a key note speaker whose opening banter drags […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":150,"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":[2594],"class_list":["post-30951","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-warner","cohort-lgp11"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30951","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\/150"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=30951"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30951\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":30952,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/30951\/revisions\/30952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=30951"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=30951"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=30951"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}