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Leadership 101: Call, Character, and Competence (1)

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In his book on staying fresh in Christian leadership, Paul Mallard starts by reflecting on how Psalm 78 refers to David:

[God] chose David his servant
and took him from the sheepfolds;
from following the nursing ewes he brought him
to shepherd Jacob his people,
Israel his inheritance.
With upright heart he shepherded them
and guided them with his skilful hand.

He notes these three things:

  • Conviction – the awareness that David had of being called and chosen by God;
  • Competence – David led with ‘skilful hand’;
  • Character – he shepherded the people with ‘upright heart’.

For the purposes of this post, I’d adjust Paul Mallard’s terms slightly, preferring ‘call’ to ‘conviction’.

James Lawrence, in Growing Leaders, also highlights the importance of discerning God’s call, developing Christ-like character, and cultivating competence.

All of the leaders I interviewed in my recent research referred in some way to calling. Ruth Haley Barton highlights the profound significance of being called by God: ‘it is a place where God’s presence intersects with a human life.’

Of course the most fundamental call is the call to believe in Christ and follow him. But within that call, one can find the seeds of a subsequent vocational calling. Some people have such dramatic conversion experiences that all of life is reoriented, a new direction and new priorities are set, and it can lead to a path of vocational leadership. The seeds of a call to leadership can be found in their conversion.

Often the call to leadership comes later. Sometimes it can be in the form of a ‘gradual awakening’ to one’s life purpose, though it can also happen in a moment of crisis, say in response to a stirring appeal.

Os Guinness has helpfully distinguished between two kinds of calling: what he calls an original, ‘ordinary’ calling, and a later, ‘special’ calling. The first is a sense of life purpose that comes in response to God’s call to follow him and its implications are lived out even if there is no direct, even supernatural, communication from God about a special calling.

He suggests that this latter ‘special’ calling has to do with tasks and missions given to individuals through some specific communication from God. Reggie McNeal says that ‘the call is the leader’s personal conviction of having received some life assignment or mission that must be completed’.

Much of the biblical narrative reflects the theme of God’s call. From the voice of God addressing the fugitive Adam and Eve in Eden, through the call of Abram to leave the familiar for the unknown, to the invitation of the Spirit and the Bride in Revelation, Scripture is the call of God to his people.

There are remarkable stories of individuals being summoned to a specific role in serving God. Think of Moses and his dramatic exchange with God at the edge of the Midianite desert. Or Isaiah and his life-changing vision of God’s holiness in the Temple. Or Saul who became Paul: the persecutor turned pioneer preacher.

But are these stories meant to be paradigms for today’s leaders? Can a Christian leader lead without having experienced the drama of a Moses- or Isaiah-like call? How might a leader sense the ‘call’?

Traditionally, within the evangelical world at least, there has been what you might term a tri-partite view of the will of God. Which means that God has a sovereign will – his plan for the universe, a moral will – how wants his people to live, and a specific will – his plan for an individual’s life. According to this understanding it is important to discover this specific aspect of God’s will: what is God’s plan for my life? The answer, it is suggested, lies in being able to line up several signposts so they are pointing in the same direction – the bullseye of God’s will. Typically these signposts will include elements such as Scripture, an inner sense of guidance, the advice of others, and, perhaps, circumstances. Mind you circumstances can be tricky things. For every divinely orchestrated open (or closed) door, one needs to remember that the circumstances were pretty conducive for Jonah in his escape from God’s call!

A few decades ago Gary Friesen suggested that some of the traditional evangelical understanding rests on shaky foundations and that an overly subjective sense of calling is hardly enough when it comes to surviving the heavy seas of ministry.

However it remains true that many leaders do experience a subjective sense of call, and find this sense of call a source of stability and confidence when they experience the turbulence of leadership. For example, a high profile leader told me that ‘there’s a real sense in which when I ever go through difficult times, the Lord has nearly always provided me with such a dramatic call to a particular role that I think, you can’t gainsay that, that actually happened.’

McNeal again: ‘Christian leaders certain of their call allow it to become the center of gravity for their life experiences.’

Perhaps the subjective sense of calling, for example as it’s expressed in Frederick Buechner’s famous comment about vocation being at the point where the world’s deep hunger and your deep gladness meet, needs to be balanced by a proactive involvement on the part of the Church and its recognised leaders. Have we grasped the implications of the Holy Spirit’s voice in community in Acts 13?

What is your view of calling? Have you a clear sense of conviction that you are doing what God has called you to do?

 

Leadership 101: The Making of a Leader

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Last week’s post explored some of the questions around the definition of leadership. This week explores another question in the form  of one of leadership’s old chestnuts: are leaders born or made? Apparently a Google search for an answer to the question could fetch you millions of results!

If, with Thomas Carlyle, you subscribe to the Great Man theory of leaders, you’re likely going to say that they are born. They land on the planet, equipped with ‘the right stuff’ and lead simply by living.

It’s probably more than an academic question. After all, why bother with leader development programmes if leaders come pre-programmed to lead? Is there any value in leaders participating in such programmes? On the other hand, if leaders are made (at least in part), even those leaders who are born with an impressive array of leadership traits oozing from their pores will be able to benefit from training or coaching.

Warren Bennis described as ‘the most dangerous leadership myth’ the idea of a genetic factor in leadership. He claimed, instead, that ‘leaders are made rather than born. And the way we become leaders is by learning about leadership through life and job experiences.’

Not everyone agrees, with others suggesting that ‘it seems obvious that leaders are born different from their followers. It is not simply a matter of learning to lead’, or that leaders do need to have the ‘right stuff’ and that this is not equally present in everyone.

Interestingly, a couple of twin studies appeared to demonstrate that genetics do in fact account for part of the picture: around 1/3 of it in fact. Which means that, even if it’s only an inborn predisposition to leadership, leadership capacity is at least partly innate.

But what about the other 2/3 or so? The answer appears to have something to do with an emerging leader’s environment, including their experiences of life and leadership. In research literature these experiences include a range of things like hardships (and that term covers quite a range of events), ‘trigger moments’, bosses, religious experiences, unexpected opportunity, and so on.

One of the terms that has been used to describe some of the experiences that shape leaders is ‘crucible’. The term has been used particularly by Warren Bennis and Robert Thomas in their book Geeks and Geezers (later renamed Leading for a Lifetime: How Defining Moments Shape Leaders of Today and Tomorrow). A series of interviews they carried out with a range of leaders from different eras led them to conclude that every leader appeared to have undergone some kind of intense transformative experience. The nature of these ‘crucibles’, as they called them, were varied. Some were harsh, others much less so.

They came to see crucibles as tipping points ‘where new identities are weighed, where values are strengthened or replaced, and where one’s judgment and other abilities are honed. It is an incubator for new insights and a new conception of oneself.’

Robert Thomas went on to write more on the subject, classifying crucibles as crucibles of new territory, often at the start of a career, reversals and what he called suspension. Importantly, each type of crucible tests the leader’s resilience and what Bennis and Thomas called ‘adaptive capacity’.

It’s an interesting image (one which I have given a fair bit of time to in research with Christian leaders), though it may not tell the whole story of the making of a leader. An understanding of a leadership journey has to take account of more gradual influences: there is an accumulated wisdom to be gleaned along the way and sometimes growth in leadership is incremental more than it is dramatic.

One of the voices that has had much to say about the making of a Christian leader is Robert Clinton who proposed that God develops a leader over a lifetime and that three essential elements interact in the process. By that he means ‘processing’, in other words anything that produces a leadership lesson, time, and the leader’s response to the processing: obviously two leaders can experience similar things yet respond differently and how they respond will affect the impact of the experience on their development.

Reggie McNeal has written a challenging and insightful book on the shaping of a leader’s heart (A Work of Heart). He proposes that the shaping of the leader’s heart is a joint enterprise between the leader and God and it takes place in six different ‘arenas’ that McNeal describes as

  • Culture
  • Call
  • Community
  • Communion
  • Conflict
  • The commonplace

For some time it has seemed to me that the life story of Moses, for all its uniqueness within the Bible’s greater storyline, might serve as a paradigm to help leaders explore their leadership journeys.

His life falls neatly into three stages, each comprising forty years. The formative years are lived in Egypt where Moses grows up as a child of two cultures: cared for by his Hebrew mother and adopted by Pharoah’s daughter; the middle years, years of exile in Midian, are triggered by his clumsy attempt to establish himself as the rescuer of the Hebrews (how many leaders have had to retreat from grand plans because of clumsy presumption!); and it’s only at 80 that he reluctantly, and after much protest, embarks on his leadership years.

Along the way his life is shaped by the influence of others, he encounters God, he experiences the highs of leadership as well as its lows, he behaves well and he behaves badly. All of these things provide fascinating insight into the journey of a leader.

Over the past few years I have been particularly interested in some of the factors in the shaping of Christian leaders. My interest has been in the kinds of crucibles that leaders encounter and the role that these experiences play in the the shaping of their journey.

There are crucibles of new territory. Perhaps in the form of a dramatic, life-changing conversion, or in a call to Christian ministry. There are the steep learning curves, the ‘deep end’ experiences and the dramatic paradigm shifts encountered by some pioneering leaders.

There are reversals. Personal or leadership crises (and at times it’s hard to separate the two as one spills into the other). Opposition, conflict and disappointment all feature.

And there are crucibles of isolation, where leaders are set aside from their leadership roles, perhaps through illness. There is the loss of structure that comes with retirement. There are dark nights of the soul when hope is almost drained away.

All of these things – painful as many of them are – have the potential to shape a leader. At times they test or confirm the leader’s sense of call. At times they may highlight issues of character. At other times they force a leader to define who they are and what their leadership is about. Sometimes they serve to depend and strengthen the leader’s relationship with God.

Leaders don’t simply drop out of the sky, fully fitted with all they will ever need. For sure some of them seem to be born with a clear predisposition to leadership. But there is a journey of shaping and formation and the best leaders will go on learning.

Reflect on your own leadership journey:

  • What were some of the early indicators of your leadership gifting?
  • Who were some of the people who influenced you and encouraged you to get involved in leadership?
  • Can you identify clear stages of your leadership development? What were the major features of each of them?
  • What are some of the most significant things you have learned about leadership, and how have you learned them?
  • Have you encountered any crucibles? What were they, and how have they been part of your shaping?

Leadership 101: What, exactly is leadership?

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leadership-bannerIt was none other than Machiavelli who suggested that ‘there is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in a new order of things.’

But what, exactly is leadership? One count I saw had the number of definitions running act around 1500. It’s been suggested that, like the ancient proverb of the blind men attempting to describe an elephant, leadership has many aspects and none of them by itself appears to be an adequate definition. Warren Bennis suggested that it’s like beauty: hard to define, but you know it when you see it!

The understanding of leadership has developed across the centuries. In the middle of the 19th century, the focus was on leaders themselves, with Thomas Carlyle’s claim that the history of what has been accomplished in the world has essentially been the history of ‘the Great Men who have worked here’. It’s possible to trace the roots of the Great Man theory all the way back to Aristotle and his belief that social rank was determined through one’s superior virtues which, in turn, were the result of one’s birth.

Not unnaturally Great Man theory evolved into the Trait era (although the idea of traits is an ancient idea). The basic quest of students of leadership at this time was the attempt to identify which specific traits separated leaders from non-leaders. If people who became leaders were different from everyone else, what made them different?

The theory ran aground somewhat (at least for a while) when it was suggested that there was no consistent set of traits that distinguished leaders from non-leaders and, significantly, that just because someone is a leader in one situation does not make them a leader in another.

Trait theory never quite went away with some scholars suggesting that attempts to discard it have been too sweeping. Even if it is not possible to establish a definitive list of distinguishing marks, there appears to be evidence that there are some traits that make a significant contribution to a leader’s success.

Nonetheless, the focus of study shifted next to leaders’ behaviour. From one study emerged the idea that there were two dimensions to leadership: some leadership had a strong focus on the people it was leading while other leadership focussed more on the task at hand.

However this was not enough as people came to appreciate that no single style of leadership was universally the best style, regardless of the specific situation or environment. An understanding of leadership needed to take account of the situation in which leadership was being exercised.

Studies and theories continued to develop: from transactional leadership to transforming (and transformational) leadership, and from servant leadership authentic leadership.

Even if we’re unlikely to come up with a single, ‘correct’ definition of leadership that excludes all others, it’s worth making some kind of attempt!

For writers like John Maxwell, it appears to be the irreducible minimum:

Leadership is influence. That’s it. Nothing more, nothing less.

It’s simple and quite memorable, but probably leaves too many issues unresolved. Is all influence leadership? Does the influence of a TV advertising campaign qualify as leadership? Is there a difference between intentional and unintentional influence? To be fair, Maxwell has also been somewhat more nuanced in his subsequent claim that ‘the true measure of leadership is influence’.

Maxwell is not alone in highlighting influence as a key component of leadership. For example, Peter Northouse defines leadership as ‘a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal’, while Howard Gardner describes leaders as ‘individuals who significantly influence the thoughts, behaviors and/or feelings of others.’ What’s interesting about this definition is that it allows Gardner to distinguish between direct leaders (think Churchill) and indirect leaders (think Einstein, whose influence was exercised through his ideas): leadership may be exercised by word and/or personal example.

I think these are all helpful, as long as we recognise the caution that has been noted by some scholars who have suggested that since few social interactions don’t involve influence, we’re not saying much when we say that leadership is influence!

David Starling suggests that ‘leadership is the act or task of making an intentional contribution toward the direction and motivation of a group in the framing and pursuit of a common purpose.’ He argues that good leadership is not an end in itself, but points beyond itself and promotes interests that go beyond its own.

It’s worth noting how his definition highlights both the element of intentionality and the idea of a commonly share goal towards which a group is moving.

Some of the writers I have mentioned are Christians, but it’s worth taking time to reflect on what makes Christian leadership Christian?

Carl Trueman suggests that trends in the culture have affected how the evangelical church has understood leadership. While accepting that Christian leaders can learn from wider aspects of leadership practice, he cautions that Scripture must determine Christian notions of leadership.

Albert Mohler, a fairly powerful leader himself, suggests that while an obsession with leadership in the contemporary church may be both necessary and understandable, this obsessive interest has nonetheless ‘served to distract the church from the nature of leadership as revealed in Scripture’, with Christians tending to draw lessons from various spheres of secular leadership rather than looking to the Bible.

James Lawrence calls for Christian leadership with these distinctives:

  1. It is founded in relationship with God as Trinity;
  2. It is rooted in the Bible and directed by the Spirit;
  3. It is marked by servanthood;
  4. It is shaped by the cross and resurrection;
  5. It is sustained by prayer;
  6. It is lived out personally as part of the community of the church.

‘Leadership,’ he says, ‘is a key factor in the spread of the gospel.’

There have been voices of caution both within the Church and more widely. Barbara Kellerman, a leadership insider who might be running the risk of biting the hand that feed her, critiques the leadership industry’s ‘leader-centrism’ with its implication that those who don’t lead don’t amount to much. It is not enough to focus only on the leader at a time when other factors, such as the rise of the follower, have gained significance, and leaders have less power than previously. In fact, she goes as far as to accuse the leadership industry of being ‘self-satisfied, self-perpertuting and poorly policed’!

David Starling, like Trueman and Mohler, warns about the tendency to swallow the secular concepts of leadership. He notes that for all the talk of ‘leadership’ in Christian circles, there are surprisingly few explicit mentions of the terms leader and leadership in the biblical text. However it is not that there are no leaders or that there are no other images associated with leadership tasks.

After all that, how should we define it?

I think that reaching a definition requires us to consider the relationship between the leader and the followers, the nature and means of the leader’s influence, and the establishment of the goal for which leadership is exercised.

Walter Wright (Relational Leadership) describes it as ‘a relationship in which one person seeks to influence the thought, behaviours, beliefs or values of another person’.

And here is my more clumsy attempt at describing a Christian leader:

A leader is someone who is intentionally influencing a group of people towards an agreed and beneficial goal: Christian leadership means doing that ‘Christianly’!

So what do you think? Here are a few questions to reflect on:

  • How important is leadership? Is it possible to either overstate or understate its importance?
  • What factors need to be considered in understanding what leadership is and how it is defined?
  • How might you define leadership?

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Crucibles of Christian Leadership (journal article)

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The Journal of European Baptist Studies has recently published an article I wrote which basically summarises my work on my thesis.

Here is the thesis abstract:

Among terms used to describe the events and experiences that contribute to the shaping of leaders is Warren Bennis’ and Robert Thomas’ ‘crucibles’. Their use of the term emerged from a series of interviews with leaders who had come of age in two distinct eras: all the leaders interviewed referred to a transformative experience that had contributed to their leadership. The aim of this research was to explore the significance of such experiences in the development of Christian leaders.

A sample of fourteen evangelical leaders was selected and each leader participated in an in-depth qualitative interview. Their experiences were classified using Robert Thomas’ three types of crucible: new territory, reversals and suspension. Analysis of the experiences demonstrated how crucible experiences had a part to play in shaping both the character and calling of a leader: at times crucibles functioned as intensified learning experiences in which a leader’s beliefs took on an existential intensity.

The emerging themes of character and calling are significant in both Old and New Testaments and the project reflected theologically on these. While crucibles may be significant features in the development of a leader, they do not tell the whole story: a range of factors and influences, some of which work in a more gradual way, are also part of a leadership journey.

If you’d like to read a copy, I’ve uploaded a PDF to the Academia website and you can access it here.

Leadership 101: Of writings on leadership, there is no end!

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Quotefancy-1244279-3840x2160To borrow from an ancient preacher, ‘Of the making of [leadership] books, there is no end.’ Not exactly what Quoheleth had in mind, but doubtless he would have agreed.

Statistics from the publishing industry point to a relatively recent surge in interest in the subject. According to Barbara Kellerman, on average three books on leadership were published annually in the early 1980s; by 2012 the numbers were ‘somewhere in the stratosphere’.

No doubt the surge in interest reflects a more conscious awareness of the importance of leaders and leadership, concern, and a degree of handwringing at the apparent lack of good leaders, and all of it spiced up by the emergence of celebrity leaders across several domains.

Including the church.

Perhaps it’s unsurprising that the general interest in the subject is reflected in the culture. Of course, the relationship between ‘biblical’ leadership and more generally applicable principles of leadership can be complex. To what extent are Christians right to mine general leadership material for pearls of wisdom and to what extent is Christian leadership meant to be counter-cultural?

I’m planning to post a series of pieces on leadership over the next few months or so. Actually, I’ve got an idea (two, actually) for a book on leadership and I’d love it if some of you felt free to chip in on the various ‘Leadership 101’ posts as they appear.

Among the subjects I hope to feature are:

  • What, exactly, is leadership?
  • The making of a leader
  • Characteristics of effective leaders
  • Temptations of Christian leadership
  • The leader’s vision
  • The leader and the team

There will be other material on the leadership journey blog, but watch for the ‘Leadership 101’ posts on Thursday evenings – starting this evening.

‘Crucibles’: a conference for Christian leaders

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In February I ran a seminar for Christian leaders at Edenmore Country Club. Three of the leaders who had helped me with my recent research into the experiences that shape Christian leaders allowed me to interview them in front of an audience of over 80 people.

Next month we’re running another version of the event, with a slightly amended team, in County Fermanagh – more easily accessible for leaders living in the West of Ireland.

It will be hosted by Deane Houston and Sam Balmer at the Stables at Derrygore,  Enniskillen and is part of the Stables Seminars for Christian leaders. The cost of the morning will be £20 and includes tea/coffee and a scone on arrival and a sit down lunch at the end of the conference.

Date and Time: Thursday, November 9, from 10 (coffee) until 2.

The morning is aimed especially at Christian leaders and the basic idea is that three seasoned leaders will be talking about their leadership journeys. What was the path into leadership? What have been some of the highlights and challenges along the way? What have they learned and how has God shaped them?

As well as allowing you to glean from the wisdom of the experience of these three leaders, the morning will allow you the opportunity to reflect on where you are in your own leadership journey.

If you’re interested in attending, use the contact section at the bottom of the page and I will send you more information about how to book your place at the event.

The three leaders who will be taking part in the morning are Ken (Fanta) Clarke, Russell Birney, and Roz Stirling.

21768362_1525413160830056_289253881454462859_nBishop Ken Clarke (Fanta) is mission director for SAMS UK. Previously he served as Bishop of Kilmore, Elphin and Ardagy and before that he served several parishes as well as working in Chile. Those who know him – and have seen the fruit of his leadership – will probably be surprised to hear him describe himself as a reluctant leader! A fundamental lesson in his leadership journey has been that even though leaders are called to be shepherds, ‘one of the big mistakes some of us make as leaders is – we have actually forgotten we are still sheep.’ Ken will also be part of the Enniskillen panel.

21950776_1525410117497027_1200663181432158649_oDr Russell Birney is a former Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland and will be one of the three participants in the Enniskillen leaders’ morning. During his years of church leadership, he served congregations in Carrickfergus, Newry and Ballymena. Along the way he learned some powerful lessons about resilience and perseverance in ministry.

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Roz Stirling is director of Cleopas – a ministry dedicated to helping folk, through events like retreats and quiet days, to develop their spiritual lives. Previously Roz worked with UCCF and for over 20 years she led the youth and children’s department for the Presbyterian Church. Roz has always been something of a pioneer in her leadership and her vision for Cleopas came about as a result of her own experience. ‘It was that that completely transformed my understanding of how to be an effective leader for the long haul … because of the need for deep inner resources and walk with the Lord. And the fact that most leadership didn’t nurture that.’ Hence her desire to see leaders resourced for their leadership journeys.

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Leadership 101

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A few months ago I started a series of posts called Leadership 101. The series hit something of a hiatus and there has been a serious lack of posts.  That’s about to be remedied, but to restart the series, I’m first going to be posting the previous posts in the series, starting later today and then running weekly on Thursday evenings.

The Bible and Leadership: a review

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Of the writing of books on leadership, to paraphrase Ecclesiastes, it seems there is no end. That goes for Christian books as well as anything else.

A recent addition to the genre is Derek Tidball’s Lead like Joshua. In the course of 23 chapters, the book moves systematically through the story of Joshua and does a great job of combining careful attention to the biblical text with the author’s ability to draw on his wide experience of leadership as well as various contemporary authors. It’s not as though the world needs another leadership book, but the author believes that too few of them ‘hit the spot’ from a Christian perspective. Too many of them draw freely on secular ideas but fail to deal seriously with the Bible. Too many of them are too complex for the average church leader to gain from them.

Contra those who might wish to argue against the concept of leadership (at least business-style leadership) in the church, Derek Tidball affirms the significance of leadership in Scripture, though he is keen to point out that Joshua ‘was not written as a textbook on leadership for later generations’!

Be careful not to go away from studying Joshua having learned leadership lessons, but having learned nothing about the sovereign Lord who keeps his word and saves his people.

I’d like to say that that is one of the most important sentences in the book, and one which ought to sound a note of caution for anyone who wants to write a book or teach a seminar on leadership from a particular biblical text. I fear it is too easy to fall into the trap of losing sight of the reason particular texts have been given to us!

Lead like Joshua begins with a reflection on what it means for a leader to ‘assume responsibility’ and thereafter the chapters have similar, pithy titles: ‘build foundations’; ‘make decisions’; ‘recall history’; ‘trust God’; ‘demonstrate perseverance’.

By the end of the book, a careful reader could have assembled a 23-point checklist of good leadership practice: a checklist against which to assess his or her leadership.

But the book is more than a checklist! There is careful engagement with the biblical text, along with reflections of Derek Tidball’s considerable experience as an evangelical leader in the UK, and an ability to draw on various key voices on leadership themes. You’ll find author and speaker Gordon MacDonald, leadership writers James Kouzes and Barry Posner and you will even find Sir Alex Ferguson!

Personally I was particularly chuffed to see a chapter devoted to leadership ‘crucibles’ the theme of my recent doctoral research.

Although I was sent a complimentary copy of the book, I am not on commission to suggest that as a new term gets underway, church leadership teams could do worse than set aside time in their regular meetings to work through this book (there are questions at the end of each chapter) in their own context.

Here is the list of chapters:

  1. Assume responsibility
  2. Build foundations
  3. Make decisions
  4. Gather intelligence
  5. Prepare thoroughly
  6. Take risks
  7. Recall history
  8. Gain respect
  9. Surrender status
  10. Trust God
  11. Face failure
  12. Confront sin
  13. Re-energize people
  14. Renew vision
  15. Correct mistakes
  16. Fight battles
  17. Demonstrate perseverance
  18. Manage administration
  19. Honour others
  20. Display compassion
  21. Guard unity
  22. Mentor others
  23. Keep focus

The crucible of success

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A leader’s response to success and prosperity is as significant as his/her response to failure and adversity.

Success can distort our hearts, leading us to forget that apart from God we can do nothing of significance. It can lead us to become proud, not only to forget who God is, but to forget who we are. I spoke to a leader who told me that he had been reluctant to consider himself as a leader (even though he led) and that part of the reason for that was his observation of people whose success and status changed them for the worse: their ego took over as they were increasingly celebrated as leaders.

External success might draw a blind over what may be going on in the hidden parts of our lives. It might even lead us to think that the hidden and inner parts of our lives don’t really matter too much: after all, look at how successful we are. Another leader I spoke to recalled a time when his public ministry was flourishing while his home life was in chaos. The more his ego was stroked as his ministry prospered, the more he worked and the less he invested in his family.

The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and a man is tested by his praise (Proverbs 27:21).

Leadership learnings: Chris Thompson

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Chris Thompson is Ministry Support and Development Co-Ordinator with Youth For Christ, Northern Ireland. Previously he has worked for Waringstown Presbyterian Church and Prison Fellowship.

He told me about his most significant leadership lesson:

My most significant leadership lesson is that people matter and that leadership is about people.

He saw this modelled by his boss at Prison Fellowship.

He said … to me when I first arrived that this is a people ministry. And so how it was structured was that there was an office and there was a drop-in facility, at least people would have dropped in who would have been in urgent need in some ways. And so he would have said, you stop what you’re doing if there’s a people need – you stop what you’re doing and respond to it, no matter how important your tasks are. And he modelled it in the sense that he would have stopped what he was doing and have stopped stuff for days if needs be to respond to a need. So I learned then that the priority of leadership is people and to invest in people.

Leadership learnings: Lee Russell

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Lee Russell Exec Director

Lee Russell is the Executive Director of the Christian Police Association,  a Charity that encourages and supports Christians in the Police Service.  Prior to taking up this role  he served in the Police for 30 years.  Lee holds a Masters Degree from Canterbury Christ Church University.

Here is how he describes his most significant leadership lesson:

The most significant leadership lesson I have learned is not to underestimate someone.  This cuts both ways,  either their ability to do harm or their ability to enhance/develop and support your work/project/plans.  For the purpose of this short viewpoint from me I will concentrate on the positive aspects you can gain if you remember not to underestimate someone. 

I spent my formative working years in a very hierarchical organisation.  However,  what I learned at an early stage is that the level you are in any organisation does not necessarily mean you have the best ideas/abilities/knowledge to progress a given task.  I discovered that you could find people at all levels in your organisation who just “knew” what the answer was and knew the route that needed to be taken to be successful in a given situation.  A good leader will remember this,  will look for those people, and will take risks in pushing a person beyond their colleagues/line managers and their own personal perceptions of their ability.

There are many examples throughout the Bible where our Lord took people who were underestimated by others and by themselves.  Perhaps, Moses is the most obvious example.  However,  I also like the story of the feeding the 5,000 (John 6 1-14). Who would have thought that a small boy bringing his packed lunch of five small loaves and two small fish could have helped Jesus perform a miracle?  Jesus didn’t underestimate anyone!

Leadership Learnings: Sam Balmer

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Sam Balmer, from Enniskillen, is one of three elders in Fermanagh Christian Fellowship. Along with his wife, Louise, he is involved additionally in the work of Bible Educational Services and Sow2Reap Trust.

He shares what he has been learning about leadership: it’s very honest and very personal.

As a direct result of burnout, following a very busy and prolonged period of leadership ministry both in church life and in the charitable sector I learned a number of hard lessons. On occasions these still raise their ugly heads!

I discovered that the success of church and ministries do not depend on me – I realised my acceptance by God was not dependent on my work for God – I learned that identity should be grounded in Christ not in my ministry for Christ – I had to learn to say NO, to rest, to simplify life and not feel guilty about this.

My pride and ego took a hit! Gods work continued and expanded while I was off thus confirming all of the above lessons. Reminding myself of these is necessary from time to time.  Through all this experience God remained faithful and His steadfast love ever bountiful.
He also describes the value and significance of  the ‘amazing’ support of a good wife, family and faithful friends.
Music (via a couple of apps) helped during what he describes as long nights and troublesome days. The Holy Spirit spoke to him as he read the book of Jude, both encouraging him and showing him that God will be victorious.
  • In my need for mercy, peace and love my God is sufficient is supplying these in abundance (v2).
  • In my battle contending for the faith not just publicly but privately as the enemy battles with my mind my God is victorious (vv3,4)
  • v20,21 In my worship as I build myself up, pray, bask in Gods love and wait for His mercy my God is glorified (vv20,21)
  • in my inability to keep myself from stumbling and ultimately present myself before His presence my God is able (v24)
And as a concluding word:
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever (Ephesians 3:20-21).
Amen!

How to make sure your church is unlikely to grow!

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I just came across a helpful guide to preventing the growth of your church – or at least making it hard to draw in any new people. Here is the summary:

  1. Don’t have a website.
  2. If you have a website make sure it looks like a 1970s video game. Better still – don’t update it.
  3. On church answerphone messages do not put service times.
  4. Do not have a notice board by your church building.
  5. If you have a notice board make it unreadable from the road.
  6. Meet in a place different to where you normally meet without putting this on your website or church notice board.
  7. Do not have anyone greeting or welcoming at the church door before the service.
  8. In major holiday and tourism destinations, do not put information in camp grounds, motels, hotels, or tourist offices.
  9. Do not have a New Year celebration.
  10. Do not have an advertisement or presence in local newspapers or radio.
  11. A bonus to make visitors feel extra unwelcome in your club, do not explain unusual practices your church has.

You can read the whole thing here.

Leadership Learnings: Tim Magowan

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Tim Magowan is the Northern Ireland director at Tearfund. He also has a coaching business (check out the link to his Facebook page). Tim shared the following leadership learning which also gives an insight into some of the work in which Tearfund is involved.

Last August, I met Yvette who had lost 8 of her family in the horrors of the conflict in DR Congo.  For the next 8 years, a traumatised Yvette lived on one meal a day…on good days. On the other days, they starved.

Yet, every single day of those 8 years, Yvette had God-given potential within her to bring change. Yvette had the skills of a tailor and the brains to establish a little cooking business, but she didn’t have anyone to unlock that potential within her.

As I spent time with Yvette,  I was reminded that Jesus fed the 5,000 by using what was in the hands of a little boy – 5 loaves and 2 fish (Matthew 14). Following Jesus’ example, local Christians were able to help Yvette use what was in her hands. They gave Yvette $30, alongside some personal and professional support, to set up businesses making doughnuts and women’s clothes. Her eyes lit up with dignity as she described how she now could feed her children better, send them to school and live in a better house.

As a leader, I’ve learnt over the years that each staff member, volunteer and supporter comes with unique gifts and abilities to unlock. It’s led me to listen more and talk less, which has opened up some incredible possibilities: helping to launch Tearfund Ireland and Thrive Ireland to unlock God-given potential in churches in Ireland, mobilising 15 cyclists taking part in our Cycle of Hope raising over £40,000, releasing potential in our incredible team of speakers who help us raise over £150,000 each year. It’s even inspired me to launch my own coaching business so I can help individuals and leaders to unlock their own God given potential.

Leadership Learnings: Alan Wilson

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Alan Wilson* worked as a pastor for just over 20 years: first with Westlake Church in Switzerland, where he spent 17 years, and then with Portstewart Baptist Church on the north coast of Northern Ireland. More recently he has been working on his doctorate, exploring ‘crucible’ experiences in the development of Christian leaders.

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Here are two things he has learned about leadership over the years:

1 – This goes for leadership in any sphere. When you are making decisions as a leader, or a leadership team, be sure to consult with the people who are going to be most affected by the decision. Not to do this is poor leadership and easily leads to hurt, resentment and anger. I have observed it (and been guilty!).

2 – More specifically for Christian leaders, remember that it is not ‘by might, or by power, but by God’s Spirit’ that the work gets done. The lesson is dependence. It hit me several years ago when I was a young leader and our church was struggling. I discovered Paul’s reflection that his (far more intense and serious) experience of difficulty was designed so that he would learn not to rely on himself but on God (see 2 Corinthians 1:9). The verse became part of a season for me – and the other leaders of our church – of intentionally stilling ourselves to listen to God (and finding his blessing on our church).

*Apologies for writing about myself in the 3rd person!

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Leadership Learnings: Philip Emerson

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Philip Emerson is one of the lead pastors at Emmanuel Church in Lurgan, a church that was birthed in his living room, just over 20 years ago.

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I asked him about his most significant leadership lesson and how he had learned it.

I’ve always loved team. You only have to go 3 or 4 words into the Bible and you find team (Father, Son and Holy Spirit). So I think my most significant lesson has been that if you have to not give glory to God for anything – and I don’t think that should happen – it should always go to a team. And I think I’ve always got cautious when I’ve heard people say ‘I’ or ‘my’ idea. And on the back of that, I think, raising another generation of leaders. I think we need to always be looking, fathering. That’s my biggest leadership lesson.

How he learned this?

I think by realising that all of us are smarter than one of us and all of us are smarter than some of us, and the more people I can get round the table talking about an idea, the better the idea becomes. So my ideas actually pale into insignificance and I think that’s been the big learning curve for me in leadership is actually the more people involved in the conversation the better it usually becomes.

Leadership Learnings: Martin McNeely

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Dr Martin McNeely is the minister of Ballykeel Presbyterian Church in Ballymena. He has recently successfully completed his doctorate with Reformed Theological Seminary. I dare say his love of surfing means he’s glad to be in Ballymena which is not too far from the north coast!

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I asked Marty for the most important thing he has learned in leadership and how he has learned it. I don’t know if it has to do with Presbyterian sabbatarianism, but he came up with seven!

Been thinking about this a lot. I would say

1. The most important thing I have learned (via Jack Miller) is to repent. I severely underestimated the ability of my pride and sin at the start of ministry. I also severely underestimated the patience of Jesus in ministry. So repenting of that, and continuing to repent and be aware of sin has been the single biggest thing I have learned in leadership. Allied to that has been the importance of:

2. Praying my way through change, especially loving ‘difficult’ people and seeing the best in them.

3. Building an encouraging team through prayer and having a vision for that.

4. Ongoing learning and reading and regular sabbatical.

5. Lots of leisure time: surfing, rugby coaching.

6. Early morning, regular devotionals.

7. Regular pastoral contact with the flock and the fringe.

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Leadership learnings: Eddie Arthur

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Eddie Arthur describes himself as an agitator and mission thinker, He has been involved with mission for several decades, notably with Wycliffe Bible Translators.

eddie_arthur_2aI asked Eddie to tell me the most important thing he had learned about leadership and how he learned it.

Here is his answer:

Just talking about things doesn’t mean they will happen. You have to take action and, above all, empower your team to move forward and take the flak for them when they do.

I learned this the hard way; by seeing that my good ideas didn’t get put into practice just because I told people about them and we passed motions in meetings. I had to do some work; not just think great thoughts.

Eddie went on to add this second lesson:

Leadership reveals the strengths and weaknesses of your character – but people will take more notice of the weaknesses! You have to learn to use your strengths and develop your areas of weakness. I learned this by seeing my own character flaws exposed to others and to myself. Thankfully God is merciful and so are most of my colleagues!

If you are a leader, how would you answer the question? What has been your most significant leadership learning?

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Leadership learning: making the most of ‘small’ moments

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nigelhamilton11Sir Nigel Hamilton was head of the NI Civil Service for 6 years until his retirement in 2008. He is the Vice Lord Lieutenant of Belfast and has been chair of Ulster Rugby. He and his wife, Lorna, are members of Saintfield Road Presbyterian Church in Belfast.

Recently he attended our ‘Crucible’ leadership morning at Edenmore Golf Club and later he shared with me some of what he has learned through his own leadership experience.

Interestingly, he was keen to mention examples of leadership behaviours which appear small, but he’d want to argue that they are powerful in terms of relationships.

1 – The importance of shaking hands with everyone, not least reaching out to people who are not from our camp. They may even be people who oppose us. Do it, with grace and humility.

2 – The importance of paying attention to some of the people in an organisation who might be viewed as being at a more junior level. Make a point of taking time to talk with the security man or the doorman. Not only are these folk are a point of knowledge in relation to what is going on in the organisation, but they also have a vital part to play in that they often serve as the first point of contact between the organisation and the outside world.

3 – The value of saying thank-you, especially to those who have done something for us. It can be a spoken word or a scribbled note in a card. Not only is it a gracious act, but it can be very affirming to the person we thank.

As you can see, these are often relatively simple gestures. However Sir Nigel suggests that in fact ‘they are more important, initially, than visions, strategies or plans’. Leaders who don’t demonstrate these kinds of characteristics have lost their followers.

Contours of a Leadership Journey

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Having spent time interviewing a number of seasoned leaders about their stories, while researching the theme of leadership crucibles (more of this another time), I noticed these elements that mark a leadership journey

  • Conversion. While all of the leaders I spoke to have had some kind of conversion experience, some of them talk about how radically life changing that experience was.
  • Call. Not everyone has an Isaiah-type experience of call: but some of the leaders I spoke to talked about a dramatic call experience as they listened to a speaker at a conference; another spoke more of a gradual awakening and eventually coming to the realisation: ‘This is what I was born for.’ Others spoke of significant happenings that preceded invitations into particular leadership situations.
  • Not unrelated to the first two themes is the theme of the sovereign providence of God. Sometimes leaders find that their steps are directed by an unseen hand, closing one door to open another.
  • Character and personality. Obviously these terms are not exactly synonymous, but leaders need to be aware of issues around each of them. Some leaders display very clear leadership traits in the way that they are drawn to problems. Character development is important and the leadership journey may also be a journey of character transformation.
  • Paradigm shifts. The average age of the leaders I spoke to was around 61. These leaders have lived and led long enough to experience a changing world and to undergo changes in how they view certain things, like, for example, the work of the Holy Spirit.
  • Crises and challenges. Sometimes these are personal or family related, sometimes they are spiritual and sometimes they have to do with leadership and ministry. Of course a leadership crisis can become a personal crisis as the leader begins to question himself/herself. One church leader spoke of how he discovered that the answer to his leadership crisis was not better leadership technique, but greater dependence on Jesus.
  • The leaders discussed a number of things related to their spirituality. For example, some talked about the love of God, some talked about their experience of the Holy Spirit.
  • The influence of others. Reggie McNeal has written about the significance of Jethro-like characters that cross the path of a leader and the leaders in this research spoke of fathers, of youth leader, and of others who have had significant roles to play along the way. Interestingly two of the leaders (one 60 and the other in his 70s) said that they wished they had had a mentor. (Note that the photo at the top of this may be misleading in this respect: the guy is on his own!)
  • Travel was not a frequent theme, but it was there. It could be negative, with the struggles that go with isolation and culture issues in a different setting; but it could also be positive – some of the leaders spoke of positive experiences as they spent time in other countries.
  • Transitions and progressions. Some leaders spoke of how God uses one situation to prepare you for another. A couple of leaders sensed a widening sphere of influence as they progressed along their leadership path.
  • Retirement is a ‘crucible’; while a retired leader can look back and see how God has been at work, the loss of structure can bring challenges and at the same time opportunities to experience new forms of spirituality.

Do any or many of these resonate with you?