{"id":41172,"date":"2025-03-13T19:38:34","date_gmt":"2025-03-14T02:38:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=41172"},"modified":"2025-03-13T19:38:34","modified_gmt":"2025-03-14T02:38:34","slug":"leading-from-the-inside-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/leading-from-the-inside-out\/","title":{"rendered":"Leading From the Inside Out"},"content":{"rendered":"

While the entrance of diverse knowledge, technology and information has its good aspects, the same can affect culture and the workings of a modern organisation. I\u2019ve had great interest in the topic of organisation culture because I think it does a lot not only to the success of an organisation but also to the local or global impact that an organisation wants to achieve. Culture can create exponential results and positive impact in the world and conversely, a toxic work environment. [1]<\/a><\/p>\n

Even though culture can naturally form within a team, a leader is a critical shaper of organisation culture. As I am wrapping up my current role and preparing for the next, I have been meeting different teams (where I work) and saying goodbye to them. During these meetings we get to talk and share memories of our time together and I realised that I had a lot to do with creating an environment of trust and joy at work. In the daily grind of things, it didn\u2019t seem like anything I was doing was meaningful; but I knew the mountain we needed to scale and managed to rally people around a dream of a vibrant work culture. The personal sacrifice was immense and echoing Simon P. Walker, it came a cost and a good dose of courage. Walker also asserts something that I heard reiterated in all my recent \u201cgoodbye meetings\u201d that \u201cleadership is about who you are, not what you know and what skills you have.\u201d This is quite profound and different from the idea of how a leader is viewed. He seems to create harmony between \u201cthe person\u201d and the \u201crole\u201d and points us to the idea of becoming a better human, always. Even though hearing the wonderful feedback from my team was great, I am more aware that even though technical competency is important to the success of an organisation, what leaves the greatest impact in the lives of those we serve, is the principle of leading out of who we are<\/em>. [2]<\/a><\/p>\n

Backstage work<\/strong><\/p>\n

As a Christian, leading, from the inside out, has implications (for me). For example, in every leadership scenario, there are difficult and trying moments as there are great triumphs; the hills conquered, the rivers crossed and so on. When the tougher times come, does the fruit of the Spirit as outlined in Galatians 5:22- 23 (love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>gentleness and self-control)[3]<\/a> show up in my interactions? Does integrity override instances where there is lack of integrity? Am I cultivating practices that will give me the moral authority to challenge the status quo? Am I doing the hard (backstage) work of examining my actions, intent and behavior? How long am I willing to wait to see the results? Walker references leaders like Martin Luther King Jnr and Moses (in the Bible) who never even saw the \u201cfruit\u201d of their labor. Furthermore, their ambitions came at a huge personal sacrifice and several inflection points where they could have given up and thrown in the towel. On the other hand, Mandela did taste freedom, but it also came at a cost. But locked up in a tiny cell, for 27 years without knowing whether he\u2019d be released or not a lot of backstage<\/em> work was happening. [4]<\/a><\/p>\n

A possible pathway to transformative leadership<\/strong><\/p>\n

Reflecting on the challenges of our time whether in the workplace or handling the issues of our age, I wonder if cultivating these traits as an individual can lead to transformation of our workplaces and societies. If the leaders who were gathered at the infamous meeting a few weeks ago, had wrestled with their inner selves<\/em> as Walker suggests, could the outcome have been different? Can you imagine the positive implications for the world had it been so? Walkers book and my recent interactions are teaching me that the backstage<\/em> life of a leader has significant implications for what we see on the front stage<\/em>. Walker suggests that this hard introspective work can be transformative \u2013 in the long run. He writes, \u201cvirtually every significant decision that has proved to be for the good of humankind has come at a cost,\u201d and that \u201cappropriate leadership, in contrast, involves being open to the other persons agenda, and genuinely responsive to their needs.\u201d Looking at the state of the world, this seems like a radical and unpopular mindset. But not so for the aspirational Christian leader. Paul says in his letter to the Philippians, \u201cDo nothing<\/em> out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather in humility value others above yourselves.\u201d[5]<\/a> Knowing what we know of the world today, could this be a self-differentiator?<\/p>\n

\u201cNever before have we been so aware of the interconnectedness of the choices our leaders make.\u201d Simon P. Walker<\/strong><\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> McCormick, Bruce A., ed. What\u2019s Responsible for Business Success or Failure? It\u2019s– the Organization\u2019s Culture!<\/em> Amherst, Mass: HRD Press, 2008.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Walker, Simon P.\u00a0Leading out of Who You Are: Discovering the Secret of Undefended Leadership<\/em>. Carlisle: Piquant, 2007.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Galatians 5:22-23<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Walker, Simon P.\u00a0Leading out of Who You Are: Discovering the Secret of Undefended Leadership<\/em>. Carlisle: Piquant, 2007.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Phillipians 2:3-4<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While the entrance of diverse knowledge, technology and information has its good aspects, the same can affect culture and the workings of a modern organisation. I\u2019ve had great interest in the topic of organisation culture because I think it does a lot not only to the success of an organisation but also to the local […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":221,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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":[3419,1718],"class_list":["post-41172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dlgp04-leadership","tag-walker","cohort-dlgp04"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41172","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\/221"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41172"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41172\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41175,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41172\/revisions\/41175"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}