{"id":35586,"date":"2024-02-13T06:00:15","date_gmt":"2024-02-13T14:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=35586"},"modified":"2024-02-07T06:21:21","modified_gmt":"2024-02-07T14:21:21","slug":"the-spinning-top-and-not-putting-god-first","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/the-spinning-top-and-not-putting-god-first\/","title":{"rendered":"The Spinning TOP and not putting God first"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I spent much longer reading Leadersmithing by Eve Poole than I had initially planned. Not that I was not intrigued by the book\u2019s title, but that my time commitments were severely restricted due to travel, sermon preparation, leadership teaching sessions, and Conference attendance. However, once I began my elementary and inspectional reading, I had to spend longer due to the sheer volume of theory and practical insight into leadership the author was presenting.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The foundational theory in part one, with the insightful tools associated with what leaders need to be able to do and how leaders really learn, was constructive, and in a world that is VUCA (p8)<\/span>, any summary breakdown is especially welcome. While the Merlin Factor (p9)<\/span>, learning through critical incidents (p10)<\/span>, Joining the dots (p21)<\/span>, and flexing style (p23)<\/span> were especially illuminating, the most pertinent thoughts with part one involved the red queen effect (p15)<\/span>, motivating and influencing others (p21)<\/span> and work-life balance (p31)<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Red Queen effect within Church leadership is a real issue. The Global Journal of Human Social Science suggests that the development of knowledge grows exponentially, stating that knowledge doubles every year and very soon predicts it will double every twelve hours (Pllana, 2019.)<\/span> With such a rapid pace of change, the often attributed Mark Twain saying is true, \u2018Tradition is not wearing your grandfather\u2019s hat, it is buying a new one like he did\u201d (no citation available). The church has to \u201ckeep running in order to stay stationary\u201d (Poole, p16)<\/span>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Motivating and influencing others was a definitive \u201caha moment\u201d<\/span> (Camacho) in leadership for me and correlates with 2 Timothy 2:2, which states, \u201cAnd the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others\u201d. Indeed, you can only deliver through others (Poole, p21)<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Work-Life Balance (p 31)<\/span> is undoubtedly one of the most significant challenges for a leader. The higher the corporate ladder you climb, the more that needs to be done without the joy of the journeyman ideal of \u201csomething terribly clean about just doing a day\u2019s work and getting paid for it without the complexities of vocation, meaning making and purpose\u201d (p 65)<\/span>. In correlation with motivating and influencing others, you can only do more by delivering through others. Many years ago, I asked my father, who was a pastor, to help me understand priorities in the Kingdom of God. I had heard preachers say that God is first, family is second, and ministry is third. My Dad suggested that this response was too narrow and that while God is number one in our lives, we cannot neglect our families and ministries. He suggested a more profound approach to the work-life balance for a pastor. He told me to think about a spinning top on a table. While stationary, the three distinct colours of blue, green and yellow are visible, but once the top spins, all colours blend. My Dad suggested that priorities in work and life are similar. When you are in motion, you cannot pray so much that you neglect your family or do the work of the ministry so much that you neglect time with the Lord in prayer. He suggested that while in heart and worship, God is always first, in the practical aspects of life, seasons\/ times are essential. Sometimes, you need to stop praying and spend time with your family. At others, stop playing golf and get into the prayer closet. This has had a profound effect on my life and ministry.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In the past 28 years of full-time Christian ministry, I have learnt that Eve Poole is one hundred per cent correct in learning through critical incidents (p 14)<\/span>. As a church, we once encountered a PhD graduate who offered, at a significant cost, to teach the church\u2019s senior leadership how to lead more effectively. While being appreciative of the PhD student\u2019s work, his educational life, or more precisely his academic life, had taken him from kindergarten to his doctoral thesis, with no breaks for actual leadership for himself. He knew the leadership theory and excelled in his academic understanding but had no hands-on experience learning through critical incidents. While potentially helpful as a coach in leadership theory, we rejected his offer of help at the time because we needed both the expertise of leadership theory and leadership critical incidents.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In part two, Poole offers invaluable insights and practical guidance for aspiring and seasoned leaders, equipping them with the tools and mindset needed to thrive in today\u2019s complex and ever-changing world. The simple but not overly simplistic profundity of Figure 1 (p X)<\/span>, culminating with the deck of cards metaphor (p 74)<\/span>, is a helpful, go to resources when facing leadership issues associated with sharpness in leadership, physical impact, practical tools and putting others at ease in leadership (see table 2, p 75)<\/span>. Leadersmithing is two books in one. The theory of leadership is part one, and the further reference section is part two. Part two\u2019s critics may cite its reliance on theoretical concepts without sufficient real-world application. It may not provide enough practical examples or case studies to help readers effectively understand how to implement these ideas in their leadership roles. The exercises provided, however, offer enough space for further thought for the discerning reader to create an applicable connection to real-time applications in all walks of life.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Leadersmithing is going to be a definite – go-back to book for me.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

References<\/b><\/p>\n

Camacho, Tom. Mining for Gold: Developing Kingdom Leaders through Coaching. <\/span>London: IVP, 2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

Poole, Eve. 2017. Leadersmithing: Revealing the Trade Secrets of Leadership. Bloomsbury\u00a0<\/span>Publishing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Pllana, Duli. 2019. “Expanding Entire Volume of Knowledge Influences on Incrementing<\/span><\/p>\n

Individual Knowledge.” <\/span>Global Journal of Human-Social Science:<\/span><\/i> H Interdisciplinary 19, no. 8, Version 1.0. Accessed 07\/02\/2024. Publisher: Global Journals. URL: <\/span>https:\/\/globaljournals.org\/GJHSS_Volume19\/5-Expanding-Entire-Volume-of-Knowledge.pdf<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

The New International Version Bible. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2011.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I spent much longer reading Leadersmithing by Eve Poole than I had initially planned. Not that I was not intrigued by the book\u2019s title, but that my time commitments were severely restricted due to travel, sermon preparation, leadership teaching sessions, and Conference attendance. However, once I began my elementary and inspectional reading, I had to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":191,"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":[3045],"class_list":["post-35586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-poole-dlgp03-leadersmithing","cohort-dlgp03"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35586","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\/191"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35586"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35586\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35588,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35586\/revisions\/35588"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}