{"id":33374,"date":"2023-10-12T21:09:26","date_gmt":"2023-10-13T04:09:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=33374"},"modified":"2023-10-12T21:09:26","modified_gmt":"2023-10-13T04:09:26","slug":"the-battle-between-being-driven-by-competence-versushumility","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/the-battle-between-being-driven-by-competence-versushumility\/","title":{"rendered":"The Battle Between Being Driven by Competence versusHumility"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cLeadership is not about being perfect. It is about being willing to learn and grow\u201d.[1]<\/a> This quote from the beginning pages of Marcus Warner and Jim Wilder\u2019s Rare Leadership: 4 Uncommon Habits for Increasing Trust, Joy, and Engagement in the People You Lead<\/em> stuck with me as I read the rest of the book and has continued to resonate within me afterward. The underlying characteristic that it requires is humility. Humility, then, is the foundation for the 4 habits the authors discuss, relational presence, authenticity, resilience, and empowerment.<\/p>\n

Why is humble leadership rare?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think in part because we don\u2019t understand what true humility is. Humility, for Asian-Americans, can feel like the yoke of the model minority myth that is placed on us. It reminds us of the voice that lauds our assimilation through submission and deference to dominant culture norms[2]<\/a>; the same one that tells us to \u201cgo back to where you came from\u201d when we break character and give any reason for fear, anger, or suspicion.[3]<\/a> I suspect that\u2019s why when I spoke to prominent Asian-American pastor, theologian, and non-profit president about the need for cultural humility in Christian spaces, their response was, \u201cAsian-American Christians don\u2019t need humility, because we almost have too much, we need others to have humility toward our populations\u2026 more than cultural humility we need a cultural confidence.\u201d[4]<\/a> The problem they stated, that Asian-Americans need a dose of confidence along with others being more willing to listen, can be solved with a better understanding of true humility. \u201cTrue humility comes, ironically, from a deep inner self-confidence, and attends to the needs of and the valuing of others.\u201d[5]<\/a><\/p>\n

So why don\u2019t ministerial leaders and pastors understand the value of true humility?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Currently, The Association of Theological Schools emphasizes \u201cstriving for culturally competent school communities\u201d[6]<\/a> with an accompanying set of guiding principles and recommended practices for schools to follow. I think this approach to honor diversity and address a changing cultural landscape here in the U.S. falls short. In the words of Martyn Percy in his talk at Oxford town hall, words matter. The focus on competency highlights Percy\u2019s delineation between training and education. Competency often is attained by running down a checklist and suggests that culture can be distilled into a technical skill that can be mastered.[7]<\/a> As seminary education (or training) is structured around the idea of competency(cultural or otherwise), ministerial leaders are elevated and chosen by how well they can prove their mastery along with, or perhaps instead of, how they\u2019ve developed humility.<\/p>\n

Learning from a Chinese Philosopher<\/strong><\/p>\n

In Hwa Yung\u2019s book, Mangoes or Bananas?<\/em> Lao Sze-Kwang is referenced to distinguish between Western philosophy, which is more \u201ccognitive\u201d, and Chinese philosophy, which is more \u201corientative\u201d.[8]<\/a> By this he means that there is an intention to \u201ceffect some change in the self and in the world\u201d.[9]<\/a> A flip from a Western philosophy to a more Chinese philosophy illustrates the move from competence to humility. Competence leaves one with various checklists to review and complete to better influence others. True humility allows space for those who practice it to change and grow, and in doing so better the communities around them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Marcus Warner and Jim Wilder, Rare Leadership: 4 Uncommon Habits for Increasing Trust, Joy, and Engagement in the People You Lead<\/em> (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2016), 5.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Ellen D. Wu, The Color of Success: Asian Americans and the Origins of the Model Minority<\/em> (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2013), 1.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Gary Duong, \u201cYou\u2019re Called a \u2018Model Minority\u2019 as an Asian American \u2013 Until They Decide You Aren\u2019t\u201d, National Public Radio<\/em>, May 30, 2022, https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2022\/05\/30\/1101790205\/as-an-asian-american-youre-called-a-model-minority-until-they-decide-you-arent.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Interview with Asian-American pastor\/theologian, September 8, 2023.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Martyn Percy, \u201cHumility, Humiliation and Hope: Authentic Character in Leadership\u201d (Lecture given at Bern University)<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> \u201cPolicy Guidelines\u201d, ATS<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Mary Jo DelVecchio Good, American Medicine: The Quest for Competence<\/em> (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1995), 265.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Hwa Yung, Mangoes or Bananas?: The Quest for an Authentic Asian Christian Theology (Regnum Studies in Mission, Biblical Theology in an Asian Context), <\/em>(Carlisle: Regnum Books International, 2004), (25)<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> Ibid, 25.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cLeadership is not about being perfect. It is about being willing to learn and grow\u201d.[1] This quote from the beginning pages of Marcus Warner and Jim Wilder\u2019s Rare Leadership: 4 Uncommon Habits for Increasing Trust, Joy, and Engagement in the People You Lead stuck with me as I read the rest of the book and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":161,"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":[2347,2594,2595],"class_list":["post-33374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dlgp01","tag-warner","tag-wilder","cohort-dlgp01"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33374","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\/161"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33374"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33374\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33377,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33374\/revisions\/33377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}