{"id":35222,"date":"2024-01-25T08:51:59","date_gmt":"2024-01-25T16:51:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=35222"},"modified":"2024-01-25T08:51:59","modified_gmt":"2024-01-25T16:51:59","slug":"elephants-and-lions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/elephants-and-lions\/","title":{"rendered":"Elephants and Lions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Before moving into my current position as an associate Pastor, I had a bizarre, but incredibly powerful dream. According to Daniel Lieberman, and several stories in Jewish-Christian history, dreams can be an effective vehicle for the subconscious or God to get our attention. [i]<\/a>\u00a0This dream may have been the Spirit speaking through my subconscious or just my brain synthesizing some leadership podcasts with a childhood that watched a lot of Jungle Book. Either way, it gave me an insight that would prepare and stick with me for my leadership road ahead. I remember it beginning as a \u201cnormal\u201d dream, the kind that makes sense while you are in it, but not so much after you wake up. As I was somehow standing on my old property in Tennessee where I grew up, I remember the environment around me was utter chaos. Raging water, debris going everywhere, animals running all over the place, then everything slowed down and seemed to freeze.<\/p>\n

As I looked to my right, a massive elephant slowly walked in front of me at a distance. If having an African elephant in southern Tennessee wasn\u2019t weird enough, riding on its back was a lion with its paws crossed. In the dream, I immediately took out my phone and recorded this scene for what felt like a good while. It’s dream time, so who knows! \u00a0The only way I can describe this moment is \u201cmajestic\u201d. It appeared like these animals ripped through the fabric of my dream from another dimension. When I woke up, I couldn\u2019t shake the image of a lion riding on the back of an elephant as well as the way I felt when it happened. In the middle of the chaos, they showed up. All morning it wouldn\u2019t leave my mind. I eventually looked up the meanings of animals and what they might represent. Lions represent \u201ccourage\u201d, as we know from The Wizard of Oz<\/em>, and elephants can represent \u201cwisdom\u201d. As I thought about it more, this scenario was the embodiment of \u201ccourage riding on the back of wisdom\u201d. \u00a0This idea stuck with me to the degree that my wife eventually bought me a little elephant that holds the word \u201ccourage\u201d on top. It sits on my desk in my office as a reminder to balance these two virtues when leading.<\/p>\n

Annabel Beerel\u2019s book, Rethinking Leadership<\/em>, was in the pricier range, but I\u2019m glad I own a copy. It\u2019s a reference I\u2019ll be using for years to come. It covers a lot of territory and reinforces the theme of who we are<\/em> and developing our being<\/em> as leaders, which makes sense why Edwin Friedman\u2019s theories on leadership from Failure of Nerve<\/em> would show up.[ii]<\/a> However, the aspect that I seemed to pick up on the most was her emphasis on courage and wisdom, hence the dream. She says, \u201cLeaders need courage to make wise decisions, not self-interested ones or ones motivated by the need to be liked. This requires setting aside their egos and making choices that could leave them feeling vulnerable.\u201d[iii]<\/a><\/p>\n

Wisdom and courage are essential to navigating the uncertainty of leading others, especially when moving people from a familiar place to uncharted territory. If I am honest with myself, in uncertain times I\u2019m tempted to search for knowledge, when in fact, I may need to pursue deeper wisdom. When it comes to distinguishing knowledge from wisdom, she writes, \u201cCooke-Greuter describes knowledge as knowing patterns, rules, and laws that predict measure, and explain, while having wisdom refers to understanding more deeply, recognizing one\u2019s assumptions, seeing whole dynamic systems, and the stripping away of one\u2019s illusions.\u201d[iv]<\/a> I think wisdom, in contrast to knowledge, is even better explained with the horizontal<\/em> versus vertical <\/em>learning model.<\/p>\n

Horizontal learning:<\/u><\/p>\n

Communication, active listening skills, responding effectively, handling conflict, technical proficiencies.<\/p>\n

Vertical learning:<\/u><\/p>\n

Capacity<\/em> for greater degrees of complexity transforms how<\/em> one thinks, feels, and makes sense of the world, ability to recognize patterns across different data streams, a new change in identity, change in ego structure.[v]<\/a><\/p>\n

With many of the models of development that Beerle mentions like Torbert\u2019s action logic schema or Lawrence Kohlberg\u2019s model of moral development, there seems to be a wall that most of us reach. Beerle says, \u201cBased on Kohlberg\u2019s research, only a small percentage of people reason frequently from stage 5 (less than 15%) and an even smaller percentage from stage 6 (less than 5%).[vi]<\/a> James Fowler, a minister and psy\"\"<\/a>chologist, who was highly influenced by Kohlberg, created the stages of faith model which integrates psychology, sociology, and value systems. Although his theory and research contain 7 stages of development, he found that most of the world operates and is content at stage 3.[vii]<\/a> This seems to reinforce what Beerle says about spiraling up when it comes to vertical learning. \u201cDue to the reinforcement of horizontal models that inadvertently support immunity to change, discussed earlier, many adults plateau at a certain level and remain there without continuing the spiral ascent.\u201d[viii]<\/a><\/p>\n

Our egos would like to think we are all operating at the peak of development. Of course, we are leading from the highest number in all the developmental models! Statistically, that is likely, not true, but just the awareness that there is more growth to be had encourages me to seek vertical learning alongside horizontal. This is where courage<\/em> plays another key role. The list that Annabel gives that supports vertical learning is not for the faint of heart and challenges me quite a bit.<\/p>\n

Factors that support vertical learning:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dynamic interactions that challenge existing values<\/p>\n

Real-time feedback and reflection<\/p>\n

Critical reflection on own action logic and learning processes<\/p>\n

Working on one\u2019s shadow<\/p>\n

Participate in social contexts in which diverse perspectives are represented and discussed<\/p>\n

Associate with others at different development levels<\/p>\n

Learn new values, cultures, and mental models, that contradict your own<\/p>\n

Read widely<\/p>\n

Coaching by someone at a higher action logic<\/p>\n

Etc.<\/p>\n

According to Beerel, these are the practices, experiences, and opportunities that transform our consciousness and move us up the vertical learning spiral. I really like that idea of, \u201cshifting our consciousness\u201d, even if the scientific community is not sure what that is while we attempt to code robots![ix]<\/a> \u00a0Unfortunately, many of the things that do create this inner transformation are extremely uncomfortable. Seeking out contradictory ideas, shadow work, getting real-time feedback, putting ourselves in new environments, etc. \u00a0I pray I hold the courage to not only grow in knowledge, which is important, but spiral up in wisdom <\/em>and increase my capacity for complexity as a Christian, spouse, parent, citizen, leader, and doctoral student! After reading this book it made me more thankful for weird dreams where lions (courage) ride on the back of elephants (wisdom)!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[i]<\/a> Lieberman, Daniel Z. Spellbound: Modern Science, Ancient Magic, and the Hidden Potential of the Unconscious Mind<\/i>. Dallas, TX: BenBella Dooks, Inc, 2022.<\/p>\n

[ii]<\/a> Friedman, Edwin H., Margaret M. Treadwell, and Edward W. Beal. A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix<\/i>. 10th anniversary revised edition. New York: Church Publishing, 2017.<\/p>\n

[iii]<\/a> Beerel, Annabel C. Rethinking Leadership: A Critique of Contemporary Theories,<\/i>\u00a0(New York: Routledge, 2021)\u00a0112.<\/p>\n

[iv]<\/a> Beerle, Rethinking Leadership<\/em>, 380.<\/p>\n

[v]<\/a>\u00a0Ibid., 378.<\/p>\n

[vi]<\/a>\u00a0Ibid., 331.<\/p>\n

[vii] <\/a>Fowler, James W. Stages of Faith: The Psychology of Human Development and the Quest for Meaning,<\/i>\u00a0(First HarperCollins paperback edition. New York, NY: Harper One, 1995).\u00a0172.<\/p>\n

[viii]<\/a>\u00a0Beerle, Rethinking Leadership<\/em>, 380.<\/p>\n

[ix]<\/a> Poole, Eve.\u00a0Robot Souls: Programming in Humanity<\/i>. New York: CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, 2024.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Before moving into my current position as an associate Pastor, I had a bizarre, but incredibly powerful dream. According to Daniel Lieberman, and several stories in Jewish-Christian history, dreams can be an effective vehicle for the subconscious or God to get our attention. [i]\u00a0This dream may have been the Spirit speaking through my subconscious or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":171,"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":[3016,3012],"class_list":["post-35222","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-doctor-of-leadership-3","tag-beerel-dlgp02","tag-rethinkingleadership","cohort-dlgp02"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35222","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\/171"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35222"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35222\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35224,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35222\/revisions\/35224"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35222"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35222"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35222"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}