{"id":5709,"date":"2015-09-16T08:34:06","date_gmt":"2015-09-16T15:34:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=5709"},"modified":"2015-09-16T08:39:28","modified_gmt":"2015-09-16T15:39:28","slug":"leaders-must-lead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/leaders-must-lead\/","title":{"rendered":"Leaders Must Lead"},"content":{"rendered":"

Edwin Friedman\u2019s book, A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix[1]<\/strong><\/a>, <\/em>sheds light on what I believe to be a major leadership crisis in today\u2019s churches and organizations. \u00a0Lately I’ve noticed that\u00a0there has been so much emphasis placed on servant leadership, gaining consensus, and cultural sensitivity, that people in leadership roles often fail to actually lead teams. \u00a0A leadership position\u00a0should not look like a dictatorship, but it should clearly be differentiated from the role of a follower. Groups\u00a0and individuals need to be directed toward a cohesive\u00a0end goal, and obstacles must be removed to allow them to move forward in the direction and pace in which God is leading them.<\/p>\n

Recently, my research has lead me to explore the concept of shalom<\/em> and stewardship, and what this means within an organizational context. Leading others requires that a leader understand the difference between just keeping peace or status quo and establishing an environment of shalom<\/em>. Leaders aren’t babysitters; they are charged with getting things done. \u00a0Shalom <\/em>dictates\u00a0that leaders engage in and accept healthy conflict, knowing that this will ultimately allow necessary forward movement and will prevent underlying tensions from undermining a healthy state.<\/p>\n

Shalom<\/em> is \u2018a social happening, an event in inter-personal relations\u2019 but the necessary locus and centre of this is the relationship with God through Christ. Shalom<\/em> is a future eschatological hope, not a practical political possibility for the present. As the eschatological goal of our mission, shalom<\/em> in all its aspects must be the model of our activity. It is the direction in which God is going; it must also be the concept which inspires our evangelistic, political and social activity. [2]<\/sup><\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Leaders must cast vision, promote quality, and walk others through work efforts, continuous improvement, and necessary change. Max Depree, in Leadership is an Art[3]<\/strong><\/a><\/em>, notes that leaders are obligated to provide and maintain momentum. Too often, good leadership is equated to those who can keep the peace, and instill a \u201clet\u2019s just all get along\u201d attitude. Yet, shalom<\/em> allows for healthy conflict, which is necessary for driving innovation. Like the Israelites, people\u00a0wander in the desert when they lack clear direction and goals or objectives. \u00a0A person\u00a0fails to lead when they don’t\u00a0take the reigns and live out the role of the leader versus follower.<\/p>\n

Friedman talks about the need for leaders to self-differentiate. It is good when leaders focus on their mission and goals, and they clearly operate within their function and influence. A careful balance is necessary to maintain positive working relationships and to avoid negative politics. \u00a0Those\u00a0who follow shifting trends lack the ability to effectively lead as they don’t have any\u00a0consistency in their approach. For example, servant leadership has some good underlying concepts. However, too many people in leadership roles have latched onto this trend as a personal model, neglecting the longer term and true leadership actions necessary to accomplish objectives. Their pendulum has swung so\u00a0far toward the servant mentality that they fail to give direction and to stand at the head of a team. They become peacemakers and political allies vs. leaders. Friedman talks about the dangers of \u2018peace-mongering\u2019, which is a result of \u2018failure of nerve\u2019. Peacemaking is a good strength, but it is also bad when it\u00a0favors harmony or keeping things calm over making progress and doing what is right.<\/p>\n

Some people and organizations frown upon leaders who\u00a0face resistance from those who are supposed to follow them. The idea that good leaders naturally have followers shouldn\u2019t be applied in all circumstances. Sometimes leaders must be unpopular and stand up against unhealthy norms within an organization. Often, this means a\u00a0risk to job security, safety, or personal reputation in order to do the right thing. This is where the rubber hits the road. Too often people in leadership positions\u00a0back down for fear of consequences, even when they know that there is a right action that should\u00a0be taken. In these instances, personal agenda supersedes everything else. \u00a0Consider how many pastors, faculty, staff, and customers just overlook issues or brush concerns under the rug, as they don\u2019t want to make waves and face resistance. Self doubt comes into play, and personal anxiety can overshadow the leading of the Holy Spirit. \u00a0Sometimes a\u00a0failure\u00a0to do the right thing is due to a fear of\u00a0financial repercussions for an organization.\u00a0 There\u00a0is often a\u00a0false justification contributing to a\u00a0lack of action.<\/p>\n

Overall, Friedman\u2019s book shed light on what could be considered a plague in Christian organizations today. Trends show that people are speaking loudly and saying that \u2018something isn\u2019t right\u2019. Church membership declines, Christian University enrollment numbers decline, and higher percentages of people claim they don\u2019t trust organized religious institutions. Would you trust a leader who has \u2018failure of nerve\u2019? Christ did the right thing. He clearly had good intentions and love for others underlying His leadership actions. Yet, He was controversial, made others angry, and made great waves in systems of injustice. As we strive to be more like Him, may we intentionally and bravely step up and do the right thing. May we resist brushing issues under rugs, and bravely face those day-to-day actions and decisions that are necessary to a diligent pursuit of the mission the He give us individually and at the team or organizational level. I pray He gives us wisdom, and that we obey by having the nerve to stand up and actually lead.<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Edwin H. Friedman, A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix<\/em>, [new ed. (New York: Seabury Books, \u00a92007).<\/p>\n

[2]<\/sup><\/sup><\/a> David Gillett, \u201cShalom: Content for a Slogan,\u201d Themelios: Volume 1, No. 3, Summer 1976<\/em> (1976): 81.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Max De Pree, Leadership Is an Art<\/em> (Studio City, CA: Phoenix Audio, 2007), 1, Electronic Format.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Edwin Friedman\u2019s book, A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix[1], sheds light on what I believe to be a major leadership crisis in today\u2019s churches and organizations. \u00a0Lately I’ve noticed that\u00a0there has been so much emphasis placed on servant leadership, gaining consensus, and cultural sensitivity, that people in leadership roles […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","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":[484,236],"class_list":["post-5709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dawnel-volzke","tag-friedman","cohort-lgp5"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5709","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\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5709"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5709\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5716,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5709\/revisions\/5716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}