Friday, June 30, 2006
The Death of Leadership?
Yesterday at Article 6 I briefly opined that there is a difference between leadership and management. This was an idea I started to develop when I appeared on Hugh Hewitt's radio show last April and we discussed some Pentagon leadership. Hugh disagreed with me then, but I think there is a difference in leadership and management.
Managers and management make organizations work. They may even set policy and direction, but such policy and direction is aimed at preservation of the status quo, not at anything new.
A leader on the other hand takes people in new directions. That new direction may be in the how of the organization, not necessarily the what, but it is a new direction nonetheless. A leader inspires, cajoles, and otherwise convinces people about the new direction. Leaders have ideas and sell them. Thus leaders may also work to keep old ideas alive in the face of the onslaught of new, less worthy ideas. The key is leaders convince, manager only operate.
If I may be so bold, I think there is a dirth of leadership these days. The American Episcopal church is dying one congregation at a time. And my beloved PC(USA) is starting down the same road.
These churches are being managed, but no one is leading. No one is willing to "stand in the gap" (sorry Nehemiah) and proclaim, nay, convince people that these directions are ill-advised.
Managing these organizations means that they are willing to bend to accomodate stuff like homosexual ordination and alternate formulations of the Trinity for the sake of holding the organization together. These things happen because schism appears to be the only alternative.
But you see a leader, a real true leader, would find a way, some way to unite the majority of people behind the right idea. A leader would not force schism, he would find a way to win over the opposition.
Sometimes I think we confuse leadership with victory. Leadership is not about winning - it's about convincing. Winning is a personal thing, convincing is a group thing. Winning is about glory, leading is about uplifting.
There are leaders in the church, but they feel stifled by the managers. So, they leave, they do their own thing and get caught in the glory trap. Imagine a Rick Warren inside the Presbyterian or Episcopal church with the guidance and wisodm they could impart to him.
I am praying for leadership right now. I am praying that leadership would emerge in the great institutional churches. I am praying that existing Christian leadership would learn the value of exercising that gift in the preservation of wisdom.
Related Tags: church, leadership, Christianity, denomination, wisdom
Managers and management make organizations work. They may even set policy and direction, but such policy and direction is aimed at preservation of the status quo, not at anything new.
A leader on the other hand takes people in new directions. That new direction may be in the how of the organization, not necessarily the what, but it is a new direction nonetheless. A leader inspires, cajoles, and otherwise convinces people about the new direction. Leaders have ideas and sell them. Thus leaders may also work to keep old ideas alive in the face of the onslaught of new, less worthy ideas. The key is leaders convince, manager only operate.
If I may be so bold, I think there is a dirth of leadership these days. The American Episcopal church is dying one congregation at a time. And my beloved PC(USA) is starting down the same road.
These churches are being managed, but no one is leading. No one is willing to "stand in the gap" (sorry Nehemiah) and proclaim, nay, convince people that these directions are ill-advised.
Managing these organizations means that they are willing to bend to accomodate stuff like homosexual ordination and alternate formulations of the Trinity for the sake of holding the organization together. These things happen because schism appears to be the only alternative.
But you see a leader, a real true leader, would find a way, some way to unite the majority of people behind the right idea. A leader would not force schism, he would find a way to win over the opposition.
Sometimes I think we confuse leadership with victory. Leadership is not about winning - it's about convincing. Winning is a personal thing, convincing is a group thing. Winning is about glory, leading is about uplifting.
There are leaders in the church, but they feel stifled by the managers. So, they leave, they do their own thing and get caught in the glory trap. Imagine a Rick Warren inside the Presbyterian or Episcopal church with the guidance and wisodm they could impart to him.
I am praying for leadership right now. I am praying that leadership would emerge in the great institutional churches. I am praying that existing Christian leadership would learn the value of exercising that gift in the preservation of wisdom.
Related Tags: church, leadership, Christianity, denomination, wisdom
