Starbucks is a strange place to have a threshold experience with the dynamics of power. But on a November day in 2023, at a caf\u00e9 in a town you\u2019ve never heard of, meeting with a courageous leader you\u2019ve never heard of, that\u2019s what happened for me.<\/p>\n
For a long time, I held a pretty unnuanced view that power was simply corrosive, especially when concentrated, and it needed to be leveraged as little as possible in order to minimize trauma. I was forced to start reimagining some of this when I enjoyed a coffee with a friend and mentor of mine\u2014a retired special operations general in the United States military. United States<\/em>. Special operations<\/em>. Military<\/em>. General<\/em>. Those are a lot of \u201cpower\u201d words, representing a great deal of concentrated<\/strong> power. Now, what may be helpful in context here is that this man is one of the most humble and open-handed leaders I\u2019ve known\u2014you wouldn\u2019t know of his storied and highly-decorated past or the billions of dollars in assets he has overseen in global leadership unless someone else told you.<\/p>\n I asked him how he avoided the corrosive effects of power, especially in leadership. First, he invited me to step out of my frame that power must<\/em> be corrosive. Second, we chatted about the most powerful person in history he could think of: Jesus. \u201cJesus had all<\/em> the power, but it wasn\u2019t corrosive to him. Power is not, in itself, good or bad; it\u2019s how you use it. Using power to serve, mentor, empower, protect, and elevate others is good leadership, and it honors Christ.\u201d[1]<\/a><\/p>\n He told me stories of risking his career for what was right in elevating others, of the need to regularly release power because of the cycle of (re)deployments, and of learning to lead others out of his own wholeness. Though he didn\u2019t use the term \u201cundefended leader,\u201d using Walker\u2019s book as a frame, it\u2019s evident to me this is what he grew to model, especially in moments where trust in self and others were required.[2]<\/a> The need for character, or what Walker would say as \u201cwho you are, not what you know or skills you have\u2026.[because] leadership is about trust and it is about power,\u201d was evident throughout our conversation.[3]<\/a><\/p>\n The issue of power and how it\u2019s used is not the only element of undefended leadership Powell highlights, but it is a central one. It appears that how we view power and our use of it is directly related to how we view those around us. Are we more trustworthy than they are? Or they than us? Are we willing to risk, to fail, to disappoint?<\/p>\n It\u2019s worth noting that another intersection in my world is the call to mutual authenticity and trust. I\u2019m currently leading my staff team through Benner\u2019s The Gift of Being Yourself<\/em>; like Powell, he underscores the need to be rooted in something outside of ourselves so that we can truly be<\/em><\/strong> ourselves.[4]<\/a> [5]<\/a> Undefended leaders and authentic ones are in community with and for others. In undefended leadership, there is freedom because of a security of identity that allows us to \u201cbe ourselves\u201d as Christ calls us to life in him. [6]<\/a> In that space, we interact with power very differently than we might otherwise. [7]<\/a> But none of this comes without transformation.<\/p>\n There is both hope and danger in power, and the defended preservation of power has resulted in tremendous, systemic injustices.[8]<\/a> In Reckoning with Power<\/em>, David Fitch notes that there is \u201cpower over\u201d and \u201cpower with,\u201d and long-term \u201cpower over\u201d (that leverages power differentials and guards them, even with good intention) breeds toxicity, dependence, and division.[9]<\/a> \u201cPower with\u201d is the undefended power Walker explores\u2014that which is willing to be released to be released<\/em> as an act of empowerment and development, not simply regained later or leveraged differently. Both Fitch and Walker point to the cross as both an example of undefended power and power with.[10]<\/a> [11]<\/a> Fitch would point out that if this undefended\/power with is not formed in the way of the cross, it will quickly become power over<\/em> with hellacious consequences.<\/p>\n So, it seems that concentrated power can<\/em> be corrosive, but it doesn\u2019t have to be. If we recognize that Jesus is the one who holds power, then it is concentrated with him; he entrusts it to us to use on his behalf as he would use it<\/em>. Here, we see our engagement with power as a stewardship for which we must give an account; \u201call authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me,\u201d Jesus would remind us.[12]<\/a> \u00a0Using that power must be modeled in the way of the cross and in pursuit of thriving for the world; here, in that same authority, Jesus invites us to transformation, where we find undefended spaces of adventure.<\/p>\n —<\/p>\n [1]<\/a> Name withheld, personal communication, November 16, 2023.<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> Walker, Simon P. Leading out of Who You Are: Discovering the Secret of Undefended Leadership (The Undefeated Leader Trilogy, bk 1)<\/em>. Carlisle: Piquant Editions Limited, 2007.<\/p>\n [3]<\/a> Walker, pg. 19.<\/p>\n [4]<\/a> Walker, 216<\/p>\n [5]<\/a> Benner, David G. The Gift of Being Yourself: The Sacred Call to Self-Discovery<\/em>, expanded ed.<\/em> (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2015), 18.<\/p>\n [6]<\/a> Benner, 75<\/p>\n [7]<\/a> Walker, 227<\/p>\n [8]<\/a> Fitch, David E. Reckoning with Power: Why the Church Fails When It\u2019s on the Wrong Side of Power<\/em>. Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2024.<\/p>\n [9]<\/a> Fitch, 12.<\/p>\n