Thoughts on Leadership in Today’s Church...

____________________________________________

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about leadership. It’s probably something many of us have been thinking about considering that the apparent lack of it has plunged business, government and many other trusted institutions in economic chaos.

What Makes a good Leader? Is it the ability to navigate in the choppy waters of change? Do leaders see the hidden opportunity in every setback? You know, the old “silver lining” philosophy. Is there really any such thing as a “born leader”? I’ve even thought about Dilbert.

One of my favorite comic strips is Dilbert. Dilbert’s boss is an empty headed individual who sits behind an empty desk. He never does any work, except to think up useless assignments for his staff. The staff, for their part, largely ignore him and figure out how to get things done in spite of him. Is that how we deal with ineffective leaders? It might shock us to discover there’s more truth in that cartoon than we care to know.

Dilbert’s boss reminded me of a story about a fellow, a supposedly good leader, who had figured out an innovative way to start each work day with an empty desk. He had a credenza behind his desk with 10 stacks of papers on it. At the end of each day, he would pile up the papers on his desk and put the stack at the left-hand end of the credenza. Then he moved all of the other stacks to the right. The one furthest to the right, representing work from 2 weeks ago... he would throw that stack away. Zap... file 13! He was of the opinion that, if he hadn’t touched a document for 2 weeks, he would never need it. His staff, who loved him dearly, made allowance for this questionable habit by quietly backing up all his documents without his knowledge.

Seriously though, what makes a good leader? Let me offer the following portrait of qualities and attributes that might comprise a good, maybe even great leader.

Visionary. Good leaders create a vision, a picture of the future, of where they want to take their organizations. Leaders can improve both the quality and acceptance of the vision by partnering with their peers, the executive team and key employees throughout the organization or even outside consultants. To get the best vision a good leader encourages lots of ideas, because he knows people support what they help to create. Inspirational. Once a vision is established, great leaders can inspire everyone in the organization to get onboard. People in great organizations are passionate about what they do. This inspiration extends to customers, investors, suppliers, boards of directors and all other stockholders. This doesn't mean good leaders have to be charismatic or great public speakers, though some are. Leaders may inspire by example or in more subtle low-key ways. Every word and action demonstrates their passion for the vision. Strategic. Strategic leaders are clear and directly face the strengths and weaknesses of their own organizations, as well as their external opportunities and threats. They think in terms of leverage, fishing where the big fish are and partnering to gain market advantage. While interested in one sale, they would rather create pipelines and strategic alliances that generate thousands, or hundreds of thousands, of sales. Tactical. Good leaders are bottom-line oriented and extraordinarily committed to results. They thrive on facts, figures, numbers and data. They're interested in ROI, ROE and EBIDTA. If not numbers-oriented themselves, they surround themselves with strong financial talent who thrive on this type of analysis. Focused. Once vision and mission, a brief, clear statement of the reasons for an organization's existence are established, good leaders achieve what they set out to do before launching new initiatives. By contrast, poor leaders may have dozens of conflicting programs and priorities running at the same time and crashing into each other. Leaders with too many priorities essentially have no clear priorities at all. Persuasive. Good leaders can bring others to their point of view using logic, reason, emotion and the force of their personalities. They motivate by persuasion rather than intimidation. The key here is the leader speaking from his or her heart. Likable. Good leaders are people-centric. Whatever their background is, they recognize interpersonal communication skills as paramount. They display high degrees of emotional intelligence, and thrive on finesse and likeability. They want to be liked -- and they usually are. Again, the key is what's inside the leader. Likeability comes from the inside out. Decisive. Sometimes shooting from the hip, good leaders can make decisions quickly... often with incomplete data. As Theodore Roosevelt once said, "In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing." Rarely is a leader able to get 100 percent of the information needed for a decision. Good leaders have the uncanny ability to make decisions on “gut” and go... expecting to make minor to major course changes as needed. Ethical. Good leaders are direct and straightforward. They set clear performance expectations and hold people accountable. This requires being direct and truthful, which can be difficult but - more often than not - is natural for the principle-based leader. Good leaders know it's hard to beat the truth. Open to feedback. Good leaders are open and dedicated to lifelong learning. They seek feedback about their performance through direct conversations and objective tools such as 360-degree reviews. Seeking continuous improvement in their organizations, they also seek it for themselves.

Well there you have it... the perfect leader! Personally, I don’t think such a person exists, but if they did, what a leader they would be! A person possessing all these remarkable qualities could do so much for God’s Church! Or could they?

The aforementioned characteristics that may well define the perfect leader in the secular business world... do not necessarily define a capable leader in God’s Church. Such a person possesses what we think are optimal skills that will enable miraculous performance. It’s so easy for us to be lured into believing that these are the attributes of the leaders God wants at the helm of His churches. Christians assume that leaders must have "vision" and all these business-oriented skills in today's church.

God has already provided the vision... long ago. It hasn’t changed and needs no enhancements. Inspiration, Strategy and Tactics... already provided and defined by God. As for a Leader... God provided the very best we could ever imagine, possessing all the essential leadership qualities and attributes needed to accomplish great and even miraculous things... his name is Jesus. He is really the perfect CEO of an organization who’s people have been accomplishing his plan, The Great Commission, for nearly 2000 years.

In the context of our churches, we Christians may not intentionally marginalize Christ, but we do place too much emphasis on humanistic attributes that we think are essential for leaders of God’s Church. We get caught up in our own contributions to God's work and how successful we have been in building His Church. Our tools and measurements, statistics and research studies all suggest we know best how to accomplish His work. So we need to ask ourselves.... what is driving us and our leaders? Is it God and His influence or is it seeking our own glory?

Effective leadership in the church is “vessel oriented”. By the Holy Spirit we are transformed into vessels, molded and shaped by the Holy Spirit into useful tools for God’s purposeful use. A far more simple and humble concept than the complex business-oriented schemes and strategies of man applied in the workings of the Church.

One final thought.... a couple of qualities are missing in the aforementioned list of leadership attributes. These are things you will never find in successful business leaders. They are attributes, if they are to exist at all, only will in leaders instep with the Holy Spirit. The first attribute is a quality defined and emulated by our leader Jesus. Closeness. The elder-shepherd leaders of our churches must know their flocks intimately. Closeness is essential to being a good shepherd. Closeness is only developed through prayer. It requires an understanding of “agape love”... unconditional love that puts others first... before yourself. It is cultivated and worn by humble leaders only through intimacy with God through prayer. The closer you come to God, the closer you can be to His people.

That’s why Jesus could talk about how well the shepherd knew his sheep and the sheep knew the shepherd. The mark of a leader is how well he or she knows those whom they are leading. Without that sense of togetherness trust is always a little out of reach. Closeness is an essential part of shepherding and leadership.

The second essential quality of an elder-shepherd is that of being a good Follower. Following is a key trait for any would-be leader. To be a good leader, one must first be a good follower. Jesus was the ultimate follower... in his humanity, during his earthly ministry and now as He leads His Church from Heaven. Christ obediently followed the Father’s plan... all the way to death on the cross.

An elder-shepherd honors and obeys his Leader, Jesus Christ, in everything he does – in his life, in his interactions with his family, in his interactions with the flock, in the example he sets for all the world to see.  He is always intensely aware that he does not of his own knowledge... know how and where to lead the flock without constantly referring to his Leader's instructions, the Bible, and seeking direction from his Leader in prayer.

God makes the leaders He needs for His Church... His Way!