{"id":35141,"date":"2024-01-22T11:00:08","date_gmt":"2024-01-22T19:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=35141"},"modified":"2024-01-22T11:00:08","modified_gmt":"2024-01-22T19:00:08","slug":"leader-wanted-courage-required","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/leader-wanted-courage-required\/","title":{"rendered":"Leader wanted: Courage required"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

Written against the backdrop of the COVID19 pandemic, Rethinking Leadership: A critique of Contemporary Theories<\/em> by Annabel Beerel succeeds in its stated goal. In her opening pages, Beerel stresses the need for \u201csharp leaders who are cognitively savvy and emotionally astute\u201d to lead us into the future.[1] She writes to emerging, learning leaders in order to sharpen their \u201cinner and outer game of leadership,\u201d as she explains in her chapter on the psychology of leadership.[2] Her themes are reminiscent of Simon Walker\u2019s front stage vs. back stage[3] and the inner strength discussed by Edwin Friedman [4], whom she even references several times.<\/p>\r\n


However, the theme that I found the most thought-provoking was Beerel\u2019s discussion of courage. Perhaps the most obvious manifestation of courage happens when a leader ventures into unknown territory. Confronting an uncertain future always requires bravery. But the need for courage doesn\u2019t stop there. The internal work necessary to lead well requires immense courage. \u201cSelf-examination demands brutal honesty and an ability to face one\u2019s fears\u2026. It takes courage to look at what lies behind our fears and to understand what causes them\u2026 It means working with one\u2019s fear not denying it, avoiding it, or suppressing it. Courage means facing one\u2019s fears head-on.\u201d [5]<\/p>\r\n


In addition to courageous introspection, leaders need what I will call ethical bravery. Think back to a time when you found yourself in an ethical gray area. Maybe the stakes were high or maybe the situation was relatively trivial. Maybe it was difficult to do the right thing in the face of pressure or maybe for you the ethical choice came naturally. The personal anecdote that comes to mind happened a couple of years ago. I had received a subsidy from the city to fund a community event. At the end of the evening as we were cleaning up, one of the city representatives told me that I should have padded the event budget, bought extra snacks and drinks, and then kept them to feed my family. I remember being so surprised that I was a bit speechless, but I eventually found my voice. I\u2019m curious, what would you have said in a similar situation?<\/p>\r\n


Leaders also need courage to be seen as different, even if that means voicing unpopular opinions. \u201cIt takes courage to risk one\u2019s own safety, psychological, economic, or physical, in the service of a principle or a life-giving action.\u201d [6] A friend recently shared a story of how he risked his safety, psychological and economic, when he voiced his support of an unpopular position. A manager of an IT team in a large company, my friend was affected by a decision made based on an extremely progressive stance on a social issue. I can\u2019t recall the details, so I probably won\u2019t do this anecdote justice. What I do recall is my friend\u2019s genuine angst and discomfort with the decision that was made. As a follower of Christ, he felt compelled to speak up even though he genuinely feared that it would cost him his job. Here is a leader who works in an environment completely different to my own context, and I admire the way he works out his faith in the challenges of everyday life.<\/p>\r\n


If my previous two examples were of leaders who required courage in the secular world, let us remember that it takes no less courage to stand up to abuse in the church. Sadly, I could cite countless examples of abuse in the church even in recent memory. I caught a brief glimpse of this when another Anglican church in our district back in the States went through an investigation. From a leadership perspective, I observed the heartbreak and confusion of my own rector and associate rector, a husband-and-wife team, who had been instrumental in pastoring and coaching the person who turned out to be a predator. They were not in any way implicated in the abuse, but they were still plagued with guilt and self-doubt over their team\u2019s missteps. Here Anabel Beerel\u2019s words are a valuable reminder: \u201cAbove all, leaders need to be self-aware and to practice ethics. This means they need to be mindful, reflective, questioning, and thoughtful about their choices and the impact of their behaviors and decisions.\u201d [7]<\/p>\r\n


In critiques of leadership, \u201cthere are some uplifting and hopeful stories, in most cases, we are confronted with leadership failures.\u201d[8] I\u2019ve chosen these examples above to remind myself that courage and bravery in leadership can make an impact in our world. In that spirit, I\u2019d welcome your \u201cuplifting and hopeful\u201d anecdotes. When have you seen courageous leadership that made a positive impact?<\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n

_____________________________________<\/p>\r\n

1 Annabel Beerel, Rethinking Leadership: A Critique of Contemporary Theories<\/em> (New York : Routledge, 2021) 2.<\/p>\r\n

2 Ibid., 110.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

3 Simon P. Walker, Leading Out of Who You Are: Discovering the Secret of Undefended Leadership<\/em>, The Undefended Leader Trilogy. 1 (Piquant, 2007).\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

4 Friedman, Edwin H.\u00a0A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix (10th Anniversary, Revised Edition), <\/em>Church Publishing Incorporated, 2017.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

5 Annabel Beerel, Rethinking Leadership: A Critique of Contemporary Theories<\/em> (New York : Routledge, 2021) 112-113.<\/p>\r\n

6 Ibid., 113.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

7 Ibid., 118.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

8 Ibid., 373.\u00a0<\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written against the backdrop of the COVID19 pandemic, Rethinking Leadership: A critique of Contemporary Theories by Annabel Beerel succeeds in its stated goal. In her opening pages, Beerel stresses the need for \u201csharp leaders who are cognitively savvy and emotionally astute\u201d to lead us into the future.[1] She writes to emerging, learning leaders in order […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":186,"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":[2310],"tags":[2977,2489],"class_list":["post-35141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-doctor-of-leadership-3","tag-beerel","tag-dlgp02","cohort-dlgp02"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35141","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\/186"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35141"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35141\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35145,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35141\/revisions\/35145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}