My initial thought when seeing the \u201ctitle\u201d for our next read in class was to think this would be a leadership book for the soul. Without reading it, I would have labeled it as probably a good book to go on a “soul journey” that would have some type of “restorative” affect on your personhood.\u00a0\u00a0 If you are sensing a slight, lack of interest within me from my description, you would be right. I was hoping, when I had heard that the \u201ctopic\u201d was going to be on leadership and power, the book would take\u00a0leadership and power on, head-on, like a bull-by-the-horns. After all, with all of the political, economic, social, and systemic corruption of our day being created by the evil abuse of power in leadership, surely this would have to be a radically complex book, something almost impossible to read, let alone understand.<\/p>\n
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Well, I must say, I would have to conclude I was right about the \u201ctitle\u201d … but wrong about the \u201ctopic\u201d and the approach necessary to take on the issue of power and leadership head-on. I would label Making Room for Leadership: Power, Space, and Influence<\/em> by MaryKate Morse, a profoundly simple book on power and leadership. I mean simple in two ways: 1. Power and its role in leadership is clearly defined and boiled down to its essence. 2. If the implications and applications of the clear definition and essence are applied, radical change will\u00a0result. As Morse herself notes in her concluding chapter, implying simplicity and eluding to the great challenge of actual application and transformation, \u201cIt\u2019s not hard to read something helpful or inspiring and to imagine how things could be different. It is very heard to integrate premises and ideas into real, everyday, have-your-coffee (or in my case, tea), go-to-work-then-go-to-bed life.\u201d[1]<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n After reading Morse\u2019s book I am really rethinking how I have framed power. I would have to say I have viewed power in leadership as more of an external decision making matter. It has to do with control, decisiveness, authority, even just plain raw horsepower.\u00a0\u00a0 Power that truly changes and creates a new way forward would have to be the exercise of this kind of external power.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Morse\u2019s power is clearly defined as the inner and inter-personal dimensions of humanity. More than control, power is about human dignity. More than decisiveness, power is about human identity. More than authority, power is about worth and contribution and how we understand and exchange these values and virtues with others. Leadership aware of power, exercises their greatest efforts and energies of their influence to these ends if understood and realized. Power in leadership is a stewarded matter.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n This personal realization and rethinking was produced through the situations and settings that Morse unearthed. \u00a0In her examples throughout the book, leadership was truly unfolding and the power dynamics were the greatest active agents in relationships, team and staff interactions, or in board and boardroom meetings.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Coincidentally, one of my greatest wounds in life came as a result of being dismissed from a job by two board members in a boardroom. \u00a0At the time, I was the Director of Next Generation Ministries, a newly created role for me in the midst of a large-church transition while we were between Senior Pastors. I was dismissed because the role I was in was creating too much change in the midst of the transition of the church as a whole. In short what took place was a 7:00pm meeting where I was asked to resign my new position, go back to being the Director of Student Ministries for six months, before I would go off to plant the church I was feeling called to plant at the end of December in that calendar year.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n One of the craziest parts of this situation is there would have been one-hundred and one ways to make the moves the board thought needed to be made, but somehow they managed to do it in a way the ripped the heart out of my wife, Andrea, and I. Basically, I had to either sign the resignation or immediately go clean my desk out and be banned from stepping foot on the property. It was about a 15 minute meeting where they slid the piece of paper across the boardroom table after they went over it and I then had to decide, in the moment, whether to sign and resign or be fired.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I hope at this point I do not have to go into the absolute bizarre details of the blind side this was after 4 years of incredible ministry, being a part of an awesome staff and team that had been through a lot together while our church was going through this transition, not to mention having fantastic relationships with the body as a whole as they had watched me over the last four years go from being a high school teach to the Director of Student Ministries answering a full time call on my life, right? Needless then to say, the wounds were deep and ever since then, Andrea and I have been working through serious leadership trust issues.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Up until this week, I have always framed the power issues we came up against or abuses we felt were more closely related to control, decisiveness, and authority. But I really feel now after reading Morse\u2019s book, I have some reprocessing to do to look at the overall culture I was affected by and how much of that was actually created out of many misunderstandings of power and the interpersonal relationships defined by power, space, and influence. I believe that the nuances of the poisonous leadership culture that existed at this church would so easily be detected to a trained eye watching for the power, space, and influence dynamics that had gone bad.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The church where this all took place is now going on its fifteenth year of being labeled as a church being run by a corporate board of business men who do not have any business running a church, or any organization involving human beings I might add, due to the neglect and actually gross abuse of power. From this experience what Morse says about the epicenter is given great evidence. \u201cOnly on the inside of a group or organization \u2013 only at the epicenter \u2013 can power and influence be observed in its raw form.\u201d[2]<\/a> While most people thought and perceived the church one way due to the staff and ministry leadership, the culture was definitely different at the core through the board of elders.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n After reflecting on this experience I couldn\u2019t agree more with one of Morse\u2019s concluding thoughts. Morse writes, \u201cI honestly believe that learning how to use power is a core competency, second only to an authentic walk with God, that will have a catalytic impact to how we lead.\u201d[3]<\/a> Seems like a good church board retreat topic \u2026 especially at the church where I came from.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [1]<\/a> Morse, MaryKate. Making Room for Leadership: Power, Space and Influence. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Books, 2008. P.196<\/p>\n