{"id":33777,"date":"2023-10-31T21:13:39","date_gmt":"2023-11-01T04:13:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=33777"},"modified":"2023-10-31T21:15:00","modified_gmt":"2023-11-01T04:15:00","slug":"discerning-the-many-voices-of-leadership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/discerning-the-many-voices-of-leadership\/","title":{"rendered":"Discerning the Many Voices of Leadership"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Many Voices of Leadership<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

As I look for book titles on leadership on Amazon, I find more than 30,000 results. \u00a0It\u2019s overwhelming. Advice on leading seems to have no limits. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Lead out of who you are<\/span><\/p>\n

Selfish leadership<\/span><\/p>\n

Become a multiplier. <\/span><\/p>\n

Become good to great. <\/span><\/p>\n

Coaching as leadership. <\/span><\/p>\n

Trust and inspire<\/span><\/p>\n

A Leader\u2019s Job? Nail down certainties \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Achieve agreement<\/span><\/p>\n

Leadership is a journey<\/span><\/p>\n

The Influence of leadership<\/span><\/p>\n

Leaders eat last<\/span><\/p>\n

Though the conversations around leadership have shifted in the past few years, an unspoken expectation that accomplishment be the primary pursuit of leadership, is often still defining many books[1]<\/a><\/sup>, articles[2]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0and ideas in the leadership culture. \u00a0 That is why Dr. Jules Glanzer\u2019s new book, The Sound of Leadership: Kingdom Notes to Fine Tune Your Life and Influence<\/span>\u00a0<\/em>is insightful, refreshing and self-reflective all at once: He claims the vocation of leadership is best seen as a musical score consisting of rhythm, melody, and harmony. \u00a0And this mindset affects more than the way one might lead; it also impacts the way others follow \u2013 follow us, that is. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A Kingdom Seeking Sound of Leadership<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The messaging in leadership culture repeatedly reminds us that leadership is hard work, isolating, and often received with criticism. \u00a0Yet, Glanzer\u2019s thoroughly kingdom centered approach in learning to discern the different voices around us and distinguishing God\u2019s Voice from the cacophony centers the content not in accomplishing but in discerning. \u00a0One of the author\u2019s most pivotal discerning questions asks, \u201cWhat is the difference between marketplace leadership and kingdom-seeking, God-honoring, biblically rooted leadership?\u201d[3]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0 What message might this question send to us? \u00a0How we answer that question, I believe, influences future leaders.<\/span><\/p>\n

We each arrived at this program with a body of wisdom and intuition about our leadership roles. In Glanzer\u2019s language, our leadership sound and frequency interpreted our roles in many ways. \u00a0We knew we didn\u2019t want to end up like the stories we hear of \u201cChristian\u201d leaders whose attitudes and actions defy what it means to be a Christian. Again, I hear the author saying that \u201ckingdom mindset\u201d affects more than the way we lead, it impacts those who follow. How we listen and discern, \u201cIntentionally or unintentionally, sets the voice, tone, and mood of the organization.\u201d[4]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0Or as Henri Nouwen taught us about discernment, \u201cPerceiving, seeing through, understanding, and being aware of God\u2019s presence.\u201d[5]<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Why Discernment Matters Amidst The Many Voices <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

And all the while I cannot stop thinking about the college students, young adults and future leaders who experience a vast array of voices that our generation may not hear. \u00a0In May of 2023, Dr. Perry Glanzer (no relation to Jules Glanzer), wrote an open letter to the class of 2023\u00a0 in the Christian Scholar\u2019s Review. <\/span><\/em>The letter\u00a0<\/span>addresses the never-ending stream of joylessness soon to be graduates hear and watch on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube feeds. He writes that if there is a descriptor of the vice that older generations have labeled them it would be joylessness. \u00a0Pointing to their literature with Hunger Games<\/span>, Divergent<\/span>, Mazerunner<\/span>, Uglies<\/span>, Matched<\/span>,<\/em> etc. \u00a0Glanzer admits there is little to no joy in these books.\u201d[6]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0 Between 2010-2019, the presence of joy in the news substantially changed, only becoming increasingly negative. Because he sees the resulting lack of joy and hope in his own national research in how college students think about life purpose and the good life, he offers this advice: \u201cFind Joy.\u201d[7]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0 He concludes his address by pointing his audience to what truly awakens joy\u2013 in our purpose, companionship, beauty, goodness noting that to receive joy from God you have to realize what it is.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s here where I see Glanzer\u2019s thesis insightful and theme important as he asks personal questions and makes practical applications. If Chapter Six is true that each of us represents a masterpiece composition of the Lord, then even the generation who needs to find joy in their lives create a song to the Lord through their experiences. And God is raising them up as leaders.<\/span><\/p>\n

In chapter 13, Dr. Glanzer is convinced that \u201cKingdom motivation brings joy to the Father.\u201d[8]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0and offers the following statements:<\/span><\/p>\n