On December 18, 2016, the church that I was pastoring experienced a devastating church fire. The fire department fought valiantly but the building couldn\u2019t be saved. Unfortunately, the fire was caused by a person in the church who was later charged with arson. As a result of the fire, we had to move a congregation of 500 people to a school gymnasium, in a neighbouring city in about a month. We also had to find new office space. We also had to navigate the challenge of the arson and its impact on the individual, their family, and the people of our church. Then add to that an insurance claim and a fire investigation.<\/p>\n
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A funny thing happened to me as I watched the building burn. What Dr. David Rock would call my \u2018inner director\u2019, or \u2018executive function, kicked in. On Sunday night at about 10 pm, I stood in the parking lot observing everything but not in a panicked or nervous state. While I had felt anxiety rushing through my system earlier, my brain managed to switch into a strange calm. In his book, Your Brain at Work<\/em>, Dr. Rock writes, \u201cThe executive function, in a sense, sits \u2018above\u2019 your other working-memory functions, monitoring your thinking and choosing how to best allocate resources.\u201d[1]<\/a> He goes on to describe that the best way to think about the inner director is \u201cmindfulness\u201d.[2]<\/a> He describes this as, \u201cbeing aware of experience as it occurs in real-time, and accepting what you see.\u201d[3]<\/a> Mindfulness is something that can be cultivated and practiced so that it can be activated when needed. Rock states, \u201cBy understanding your brain, you increase your capacity to change your brain.\u201d[4]<\/a> As I watched the building burn, I started to think about the courses of action we might need to take as a church. And even though I did this instinctively, I shifted my focus toward possible solutions that we could move toward.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The unfolding days, weeks and months after the fire were a swirl. Important and controversial decisions were to be made, conflict, grief, Christmas Eve services, conflicting advice, a family in crisis, investigations, criminal charges, talking to the local media, people jostling for positions, staff resignations, staff hires and multiple other matters to handle. Instead of going to work on the Monday morning after the fire, I went into my basement, stretched my sore back, and prayerfully meditated on Scripture. It was an act of survival more than an intentional practice, but I kept up that morning habit for a couple of years after the fire. Even though Sabbath practice was threatened by multiple demands, I practiced Sabbath as a resistance against all that threatened to pull me under. Practicing meditative prayer and a sabbath helped me, inadvertently, become mindful during the rest of the week.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n On my worst days, I didn\u2019t activate my inner director and I felt overwhelmed and stressed out. Some days were overwhelming and bad. Other days were some of the best days of leadership. But what made the difference? I found some good answers in this book. He employs the metaphor of a dramatic play to help us understand how the brain works.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n In Act 1, Rock addresses how to help the brain function optimally so that we can make decisions and solve problems when we\u2019re suffering from too much information. Rock writes, \u201cThere is a limit to how much information can be held in mind and manipulated at any one time.\u201d[5]<\/a> \u00a0I realized as I read this book that some of my best practices helped my brain to function optimally in my challenging environment. As I dealt with overwhelming situations, I would get things out of my head and prioritize them. This helps save our limited capacity for the most important functions.[6]<\/a> I \u2018chunked\u2019 things together so that I wouldn\u2019t have to remember everything. He states, \u201cCreating chunks allows you to interact with complex patterns\u2026\u201d[7]<\/a> \u00a0Finally, I put things into sequence. Rock notes, \u201cTaking time to work out the right order to make decisions can save a lot of time and energy overall, reducing unresolved issues in your queue.\u201d[8]<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Next, In Act 2, Rock focuses on regulating our emotions while under pressure. On one occasion, I lost it with someone because they had created a bit of a mess for me to clean up. I had been trying to stuff down my negative emotions and eventually, they came leaking out from the backstage to the frontage of my life.[9]<\/a> Rock says, \u201cWhen the limbic system gets overly aroused, it reduces the resources available for prefrontal cortex functions.\u201d[10]<\/a> To avoid this blow-up, I should have practiced a cognitive change. A cognitive change doesn\u2019t suppress emotion but rather helps the brain shift from an aroused amygdale toward the arousal of the prefrontal cortex.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Thirdly, in Act 3 of the book, he indicates the need for social interaction with others. Rock uses the acronym SCARF (Status, Certainty, Relatedness, Fairness) to describe the interpersonal rewards or threats that are important to the brain.[11]<\/a> It reminded me that the period following the fire was characterized by high conflict. I found that I needed to work hard at building relationships and that my family relationships were of utmost importance. When I didn\u2019t have these kinds of relationships I didn\u2019t thrive as a leader.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Finally, In Act 4, Rock addresses how to facilitate change. He states, \u201cShifting people from a threat state to focusing on what you want them to focus on is the central challenge to creating real change.\u201d[12]<\/a> This happened for us through a process of corporate discernment. Once the dust settled, I led our congregation through an Appreciative Inquiry process to corporately discern our next steps. We held several meetings in which we identified the strengths that were still part of us that we could build on, describe the dream we had, determine the priorities we needed, and design the path forward. Our board took all this input and developed a strategic playbook described in The Advantage<\/em> by Patrick Lencioni.[13]<\/a> This 8-month collaborative process helped turn the focus of the congregation away from the fire and toward the future. When people felt invited into the long-term vision of the church and heard, we could make this important shift. This collaborative process has influenced my NPO significantly as I consider the challenges that leaders are facing in the church in this current season.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n I managed to navigate that time reasonably well but optimizing my brain for performance was unintentional and therefore hit and miss. Understanding how the brain functions and how to change it could help someone become the kind of non-anxious, self-differentiated leader that Friedman describes in A Failure of Nerve<\/em>.[14]<\/a> Not only will this make you a better leader but at the end of the day, your brain will be happier for it.<\/p>\n [1]<\/a> David Rock, Your Brain at Work: Strategies for Overcoming Distraction, Regaining Focus, and Working Smarter All Day Long<\/em>, Revised and updated edition (New York, NY: Harper Business, 2020), 88.<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> Rock, 89.<\/p>\n [3]<\/a> Rock, 91\u201392.<\/p>\n [4]<\/a> Rock, 96.<\/p>\n [5]<\/a> Rock, 20.<\/p>\n [6]<\/a> Rock, 15.<\/p>\n [7]<\/a> Rock, 27.<\/p>\n [8]<\/a> Rock, 41.<\/p>\n [9]<\/a> Simon P. Walker, Leading Out Of Who You Are:Discovering the Secret of Undefended Leadership<\/em>, The Undefended Leader (Piquant Publishing, 2007).Kindle.<\/p>\n [10]<\/a> Rock, Your Brain at Work<\/em>, 108.<\/p>\n [11]<\/a> Rock, 198.<\/p>\n [12]<\/a> Rock, 203.<\/p>\n