Church leaders are navigating a landscape marked by complexity, uncertainty, and rapid change. In such a world, older models of leadership rooted in hierarchy, charisma, control, certainty, and individual authority are increasingly insufficient. What is emerging instead is a robust vision of leadership that emphasizes relationships, widespread collaboration, shared responsibility, and requires unmistakable humility.<\/p>\n
Humble Leadership<\/em> by Edgar and Peter Schein resonates with other current leadership literature that I have been reading and with my NPO, which focuses on helping church leaders develop collaborative skills. Humble Leadership<\/em> challenges the notion of leadership as the work of \u201cheroic individuals\u201d. Instead, leadership is about the leader’s ability to move beyond command\/control and transactional relationships to connection with others, marked by openness, vulnerability, trust, and mutual respect. In Re-Thinking Leadership<\/em>, the current challenges in our context prompted Annabel Beerel to write, \u201cThere can be no hero to do it all. We need many effective leaders working collaboratively together, complementing one another\u2019s capacities and skills, yet keeping one united goal in mind.\u201d[1]<\/a><\/p>\n While there are many applicable ideas in the book, I will identify two key concepts that will help a leader shift from heroic leadership toward humble leadership. Secondly, I will explore how this might be applied in ministry contexts.<\/p>\n Key Concepts<\/strong><\/p>\n The first concept is the ability to develop \u201csituational humility\u201d.[2]<\/a> This is a leadership skill that involves a leader recognizing they do not have all the answers to a problem and then embracing a path of inquiry through curiosity, seeking the perspectives of others, and identifying unconscious biases.[3]<\/a><\/p>\n The second key concept is \u201cpersonization\u201d\u2014the intentional act of seeing people as whole individuals. The authors elaborate, \u201cA personized relationship is one in which the parties know each other well enough to have built an open, trusting, collaborative connection with each other.\u201d[4]<\/a> The act of \u201cpersonization\u201d moves people in an organization from transactional relationships (Level 1), characterized by professional distance, toward whole person relationships, characterized by psychological safety (Level 2).[5]<\/a><\/p>\n The principles laid out in the book don\u2019t just apply to corporate teams or tech startups\u2014they speak directly to the heart of pastoral leadership, congregational life, and church mission.<\/p>\n From Managing Roles to Shepherding Souls<\/strong><\/p>\n Traditional church structures often mirror corporate hierarchies: senior pastors at the top, followed by staff, volunteers, and congregants. Often, we are recognized by our roles and skills. Humble Leadership<\/em> challenges this model, urging us to move from transactional relationships (Level 1) to personal, trusting ones (Level 2). The authors explain, \u201cThe essence of Level 2 is that the people involved, whether managers, employees, peers, clients, patients, or partners, move from being seen as entities performing roles\u2014just partial or undifferentiated contributors who must be kept professionally distant\u2014to being seen as whole people with whom we can develop personal relationships around shared goals and experiences.\u201d[6]<\/a><\/p>\n In the church, this means knowing your people beyond their roles\u2014not just \u201cthe worship leader\u201d, \u201cthe youth volunteer,\u201d or \u201cthe lead pastor\u201d but Sarah who\u2019s grieving, or James who\u2019s quietly discerning a call to ministry, or Mike who cares for an aging parent.<\/p>\n In ministry, this is the essence of shepherding people. It\u2019s the difference between managing volunteers and shepherding souls.<\/p>\n When we personize:<\/p>\n This kind of leadership doesn\u2019t just build programs, it builds people and community.<\/p>\n This shift mirrors the incarnational leadership of Jesus, who didn\u2019t lead from above but walked alongside.<\/p>\n From Coordination To Collaboration<\/strong><\/p>\n Often, heroic leaders feel that it\u2019s their responsibility to have the vision, solve all problems, and coordinate the church around the fulfillment of the vision. One of the most terrifying things a heroic leader might face is not knowing. However, when a leader is humble enough to be vulnerable, admitting that they don\u2019t know, it creates a space for vulnerability and invites others to collaborate.<\/p>\n When a leader practices situational humility, they are not weak but wise. The authors exhort, \u201cEffective leadership behavior requires situational humility because the information needed to make effective decisions is likely to be widely distributed among members of the team.\u201d[7]<\/a> Humble pastoral leaders don\u2019t resist change\u2014they engage it with openness and courage. They say, \u201cLet\u2019s figure this out together,\u201d rather than \u201cHere\u2019s the plan.\u201d<\/p>\n In the church, collaboration isn\u2019t just strategic\u2014it\u2019s theological. The Body of Christ is made up of many parts, each with gifts to offer. When we lead collaboratively:<\/p>\n Conclusion:<\/strong><\/p>\n The shift from heroic leadership to humble leadership is not merely a tactic for greater ministry effectiveness. It is rooted in theological and relational principles. It calls pastoral leaders to release control, embrace vulnerability, and cultivate trust. It invites us to lead not from above, but alongside\u2014just as Jesus did.<\/p>\n By practicing situational humility and personization, we move beyond managing roles to shepherding souls. We create space for collaboration, where the Spirit speaks through community and every member is empowered to contribute meaningfully to the mission.<\/p>\n In a time when complexity and uncertainty are pervasive, Humble Leadership offers a path forward that is both faithful and fruitful. It\u2019s not about abdicating responsibility; it\u2019s about leading differently and more effectively.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [1]<\/a> Annabel Beereel, Rethinking Leadership (New York<\/em>: Routledge, 2023), 4.<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> Schein and Schein, Humble Leadership: The Power of Relationships, Openness, and Trust, Second Edition, (Oakland, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2018)<\/em>, Kindle, 8.<\/p>\n [3]<\/a> Schein and Schein, Humble Leadership, Second Edition<\/em>, 8.<\/p>\n [4]<\/a> Schein and Schein, Humble Leadership, Second Edition<\/em>, 20.<\/p>\n [5]<\/a> Schein and Schein, Humble Leadership, Second Edition<\/em>, 20.<\/p>\n [6]<\/a> Schein and Schein, Humble Leadership, Second Edition<\/em>, 22.<\/p>\n\n
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