|
Is
the focus on a single key leader holding back many churches?
In their book Invading Secular Space (Monarch), Martin
Robinson and Dwight Smith make a biblical case for team leadership:
"Robert
Greenleaf, commenting upon the failure of today's Western
organizations to lead with distinction, says, 'Part of the
failure of our institutions to serve with distinction may
be the interaction between two reinforcing elements: low levels
of trusteeship and the concept of the single chief executive.'
Indicating his further distaste for the single-leader system,
he goes on to say, 'To be a lone chief atop a pyramid is abnormal
and corrupting.' (Servant Leadership)
"What
Greenleaf has to say about institutions in general is particularly
true of the church. Not only is the principle of the lone
leader "abnormal and corrupting" but its impact
on those who are the led can be astonishingly painful. Moreover,
the failure to lead well results in the impoverishment of
Christ's people. In such structures, the gifts of the many
are not recognized and developed. The goal is not empowerment
but submission.
"Greenleaf
is correct in his critique of the weaknesses of leadership
in Western institutions. The abnormality of the "man
at the top" syndrome, whether he is called CEO, or President,
or Senior Pastor, is a cancer eating at the health of all
human organization. . . . We are left to die the death of
the strengths and weaknesses of the man at the top!
"This
is not an argument for an absence of leadership, or to suggest
that no one should ever be accountable to a leader, but it
is an argument against the kind of authoritarian leadership
that can brook no questioning, that does not know how to team
build and that fails to understand how humility and leadership
belong together. Not only is the wrong kind of dominating
leadership ineffective, it also violates the picture of leadership
that we see in the New Testament." (Click
here to learn more about the book Invading Secular
Space)
It
seems to me that we need Christian leaders who embody both
ideas — providing strong individual leadership while also
building effective teams and empowering them to share in leadership.
No wonder 21st century leadership is such a challenge!
Michael
Duduit, Editor
michael@leaderlinks.com
www.michaelduduit.com
Please
forward your copy of LeadingNow
to friends and colleagues who are also interested in Christian
leadership issues. Thanks for your help in leading others
to LeadingNow!
Training
for the Contest
In
the March issue of Leader Links,
John MacArthur writes, "The price of victory is discipline.
That means self-control, sacrifice, and hard work. Athletes
in Paul's day trained hard just to be able to compete in the
competition. In order to enter the Isthmian games, athletes
had to give proof of ten months' full-time training. For thirty
days before the event, the athletes trained together daily,
in public view. They followed a staggering regimen of exercise
and discipline that eliminated all but the most devoted. Then,
as now, it was a serious commitment to be a world-class athlete.
"That
was precisely how Paul portrayed the discipline he followed
as a leader of God's people. This was no mere game to him.
He was more serious than any track-and-field athlete. He wanted
to win a race that had far more significance than any arena
sport. Therefore it required even more diligence and discipline.
"'Everyone
who competes for the prize is temperate [moderate, self-restrained,
not given to excess] in all things,' he said in 1 Corinthians
9:25. You can't break the training regimen and win. That is
true not only in athletics. It is true in everything. It is
especially true in leadership."
"Training
for the Contest" is an article by John MacArthur that's
now available in the March 2005 edition of Leader
Links. Go to www.leaderlinks.com
to read this and other articles.
Drucker's
two great insights on CEO's
In
a Feb. 11 article for The Wall Street Journal, Rich
Karlgaard (publisher of Forbes magazine), shared some
insights from a recent visit with management guru Peter Drucker.
Karlgaard
writes, "I visited Peter Drucker on his 95th birthday.
We talked about his great life's work — the study of what
makes an effective executive. He said the good ones tolerate
strength in others; the bad ones don't. Gates has Steve Ballmer.
Michael Dell has Kevin Rollins. Larry Ellison has Jeff Henley.
. . .
"Drucker's
other great insight: Effective CEOs pick two tasks and devote
their energies there. When those tasks are done, they don't
go to #3. They make a new list. One overlooked trick to maintaining
focus, Drucker told me, is to cut travel. "Make your
reports come to see you. Use technology, it's cheaper than
traveling. I don't know anybody who can work while traveling.
Do you?"
The
Leader's Bookshelf
Stan
Toler
The Secret Blend
(Waterbrook Press)
A
delightfully-written parable about building strong relationships.
Stan is a pastor and author of more than 50 books — as well
as a featured columnist for Leader
Links — and anyone who works with people will greatly
benefit from this tale about lasting friendships. In fact,
you'll probably want to buy copies for all the key leaders
in your organization.
Andy
Andrews, author of the best-selling book The Travelers
Gift, says, "In The Secret Blend, Stan Toler
helps us to focus on what matters most: our relationships
with the people in our lives. As we share in the truths that
Joe learns in Mac's coffee shop, we experience a deeper awareness
of our thirst for true friendships and how to obtain them.
I can't wait to share this book with my friends!"
(Click
here to learn more about the book The Secret Blend)
The
Boomerang Principle
John
Maxwell writes, "I am convinced that when people's motives
are pure and they genuinely desire to add value to others,
they cannot help others without receiving some benefit. The
return may be immediate, or it may take a long time, but it
will occur. And when it does, the relationship begins to resonate
with synergy.
"You
are probably familiar with the story of Helen Keller, the
deaf and blind girl whose life was transformed thanks to the
efforts of Anne Sullivan. Keller, who was only seven when
Sullivan came into her life, lived almost like an animal.
But Sullivan taught her to communicate and opened the world
to her. By the time Keller was an adult, she was able to take
care of herself. She went on to receive a degree from Radcliffe
College and to become a famous author and lecturer.
"What
you may not know is that when Anne Sullivan became ill years
later, the person who took care of her was none other than
Helen Keller. The helper became the one who needed help, and
the one to whom she had added value turned around and added
value to her. Invest in others, and like a boomerang, it will
come back to you, sometimes in a most unexpected way."
(from Winning With People, by John Maxwell; Click
here to learn more about the book Winning With People.)
"Good
Leaders make people feel that they're at the very heart of
things, not at the periphery. Everyone feels that he or she
makes a difference to the success of the
organization. When that happens people feel centered and that
gives their work meaning." (Warren Bennis)
|
From
this month's Leader Links
In
an exclusive Leader Links
interview, former executive recruiter Bill Karlson talks
about the importance of passion in the workplace: "There
was a study done recently that said that our economy
is running at about 30% capacity. It's not due to lack
of equipment or lack of lots of other things — people
just don't care about their jobs in the first place.
So if you want a business reason — corporations are
saying, "How do I make a change to get our people
to actually look forward to coming to work so productivity
goes up significantly without adding to cost?"
That's the business reason for it.
"The
other side is that God wants me joyous, happy and free.
He doesn't want me miserable and worrying and stressed
out and tense all the time. I have a personal belief
that we're all here for a mission. The challenge is
that we're given so many more opportunities in terms
of gifts, and skills, and talents and distractions that
we get good at something and we stay there, even though
it's not fulfilling us."
(Go
to www.leaderlinks.com
to read the full interview. Click
here to learn more about Karlson's book Get Top
Dollar in a Job You Love.)
|
In
case you missed the last Leader Links:
•
"Jesus provides us a model of a leader who built a cohesive,
loving team. One incident toward the end of his life is particularly
touching. On the eve of his betrayal, he gathered his team
together in the Upper Room and drew them close with these
words: "I earnestly desire to share this meal with you."
His instructions for the future were specific. They were to
continue this practice of remembering him, in community. Think
of it. The first time communion was ever taken it was a team
experience. And it's supposed to continue to be a team experience.
"Having
just turned fifty, I have recently spent a lot of time thinking
about what is essential to me. I realize that there are really
only two things, besides my family, that really matter to
me. First, I want to do God's bidding for the rest of my life.
That's primary. But in addition to that, I want to do God's
bidding in authentic community with people I love and who
love me." (Bill Hybels on "Building a Kingdom Dream
Team." Click
here to read the article.)
•
"Transformation
is not a function of information, but of exploration with
trust. People must find enough strength in their relationship
with God and their trust of one another to be able to talk
openly, pray, confess, and seek grace and healing if they
are to develop excellence in a leadership transition. The
capacity of a leader, or a group of leaders, to face their
own shadow side through the power of Jesus Christ is critical
to effectiveness in succession planning." (Carolyn Weese
and J. Russell Crabtree on "Principles of Transition,
Jesus Style." Click
here to read the article.)
Remember
that you can always check articles and interviews from past
issues at the Leader Links
archives. Just go to www.leaderlinks.com
and click on the Archives link.
|
