Serving Bread

Leadership Insight 27: Experience AND Judgment

Leadership Insight 20: Ministry of Absence

Leadership Insight 35: Capacity & Responsibility

Published

on July 30, 2008

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There are many working definitions for “leadership.” I recently heard a leader defined as someone who has both the capacity and responsibility to lead. I find this to be a helpful expression of what leadership entails. Dr. Clinton at Fuller Seminary defines it as,

“A leader is a person with a God-given capacity and a God-given responsibility to influence a specific group of God’s people toward God’s purposes for the group.”

I think of capacity as having the resources, training and assets to leverage leadership, whereas I view responsibility as having the authority or vision to influence. Too often leadership is defined simply in terms of tasks and training. This definition is often played out when emerging leaders pursue the knowledge of leadership, thinking it sufficient for influence. In the business world, it’s the myth than a MBA degree will propel you to the upper-echelon’s of influence within your industry. In the Christian world, it may mean the myth that a seminary degree is sufficient when leading a flock. I think of King Herod in the gospels. Commentators say that he was not really a “king.” He may have been trained and given abilities to govern his people, but he lacked real authority to lead people.

Likewise, one cannot simply claim responsibility to lead without the capacity to lead. To take responsibility for the growth of others and the vision of the ministry is important, but without the training and ability to move people toward God’s heart will render that leadership fruitless (in the long run). A biblical example of such a person may be King Rehoboam, who had the responsibility to lead but lacked the capacity (in his case, wisdom) to do so (See 2 Chronicles 10).

Leadership requires both capacity and responsibility. Sometimes I find myself putting more stock in one trait over the other. We must develop both traits in our desire to influence people. In some cases, these traits are developed and learned and in other cases, these traits must be earned. But if we find ourselves in an area of leadership where we either do not feel like we have the capacity to lead or the responsibility to do so, we should pause and and reflect on what kind of leadership we are bringing in that particular context.

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Leadership Insight 24: Offerings

Leadership Insight 36: Leader as player

Leadership Insight 34: In Absence

Published

on July 15, 2008

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So much of what is written about leadership development has been about gaining certain values, doing certain strategies and believing certain assumptions. You can’t really practice leadership unless there are some outward manifestations of our leadership. Our presence in the life of people matters.

But leadership doesn’t just happen in our presence but also in our absence. That’s what a mentor once told me. He challenged me to consider whether ministry happens in my absence. Do I believe God to beÂ responsible for the growth of people and the ministry or do I think it’s about me? Do I believe that people grow because of me or because of God’s power in their lives?

I tend to put too much stock in my abilities and gifts. Not that those things are not important. It is important to develop both of our skills and our gifts. But it’s not just about all that I bring to the table—especially in ministry and Christian leadership. Ministry happens both in our presence and our absence.

It’s easy to develop the ministry of presence. It can be difficult to develop the ministry of our absence. Part of that requires forethought and planning. It requires wise delegation, empowerement and accountability. And most important, it requires trust in God who is far more concerned for the people on my heart than I am.

Today I enter a season where I will be practicing ministry in absence. I begin a six-month Sabbatical which effectively takes me off campus until the Spring Semester. A lot will happen this fall that I will have no control over and may know nothing about. I expect to be surprised in January—pleasantly surprised at the leadership of the young leaders and my staff colleague. And if some things disappoint me along the way, I will have to take it to Jesus and let him speak his words of peace and comfort to me.

I am fully confident that God is at work in people’s lives in incredible ways. And in January, I hope to be reminded that God is able to do much more than I can and that in my absence, people take incredible risks and steps of growth in their leadership.

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Leadership Insight 33: What being sick teaches me about leadership

Published

on July 8, 2008

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I don’t get sick all too often. I usually get sick once a year for a 24 hour period. That has usually been my flirtation with a cold, flu or viruses in general until the past twelve months. I have crashed with a fever three times in the past twelve months. Some of that probably has to do with my three year old who inevitably catches and nurtures viruses from school.

But this year has taught me to pay attention to my body when I’m sick. As I was laying in bed this past week in misery, I’ve thought of the purpose of being sick. Sickness reminds me that the human body is frail and susceptible to all kinds of viruses. Sickness reassures me of my mortality but also of God’s grace—that this is not God’s intention for humanity.

But how is being sick a leadership insight? Being sick forces me to slow down. I’m not very good at slowing down. I get bored easily and I cannot imagine life without doing. Newton’s first law scares me: “A body at rest remains at rest.” My fear in resting my body or my soul is that it will remain in restindefinately . The proverbs warn against the foolishness of laziness and though slowing down or resting is not the same as being lazy, it is difficult for me to separate them.

So from time to time, I need to be forced to rest my body. From time to time, I need to walk in repentance from the deceptions of busyness. Sometimes I wonder whether God has a way of forcing me to rest when I ignore all the other signs to pursue rest.

Resting is an important element of leading myself and leading others. My children teach me how rest and leadership are tied together. They sleep for 12-16 hours a day because their growing body needs the rest. In fact, their physical growth is happening during their sleep. My rest and my growth are tied together. I cannot be reflective or even have desire to do ministry unless I find myself well rested and well loved by God.

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Rules for life

Leadership Insight 32: Strengths Count

Published

on June 17, 2008

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A few years ago, I went through the StrengthsFinder material as part of my continued leadership development. Though I was cognitively aware of the value to develop strengths, the material that we studied as a staff team during that season propelled me to evaluate and recognize gifts and strengths in a new light.

The basic premise of strengths based theory is that rather than work on our weaknesses, we should be developing our strengths. Rather than always focus on how to fix the problems, we should put our energy in making the things that make us thrive be more central to our lives.

What has been helpful in this material is that this leadership tool validates our strengths and urges us to focus more energy in developing them. I think it was back in high school when a teacher mentioned to me that we should not just learn from the sub-par papers that we write, but also from the papers that score us an A. In fact, she said, there is a lot we can learn from our successes. The strengths theory material focuses our energy to learn on our leadership successes and to put them to practice.

Last year, I read Marcus Buckingham’s Go Put Your Strengths to Work. You can get the thesis of this book from just the title. It was helpful to go through his exercises and assess where my passions and joys lie.

This particular theory does have it’s flaws. Though it can be formative, it cannot be the only leadership development principle at work in our lives. Leadership and jobs often require us to put much energy into things that we do not particularly like. They often will force us to develop skills in areas that are not our strengths or even our passions. And sometimes, we need feedback on our weaknesses and we need to face the failures of our live.

But our strengths do count. For too many leaders, their passions, gifts and strengths are glossed over and feedback is often unfairly focused on weaknesses and failures. Leadership is to develop our strengths so that we can multiply them to make an even greater impact.

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Related Posts:

Leadership Insight 3: Character Counts

Leadership Insight 27: Experience AND Judgment

Leadership Insight 31: For better or for worse

Published

on May 20, 2008

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The best corporate leaders never point out the window to blame external conditions; they look in the mirror and say, “We are responsible for our results!” Those who take personal credit for good times but blame external events in bad times simply do not deserve to lead our institutions.

– Jim Collins, “Fortune Magazine” May 8, 2008

It is tempting and common among humans in general to take credit for good times and blame external factors in bad times. But I like Jim Collins’s insight that leaders must take responsibility for both the successes and failures of their institutions. Leadership doesn’t necessarily mean that we thrive on success and only on success in our tenure.

Like a marriage, there will be good times and bad, and leadership is being responsible during both seasons. It is always tempting to give ourselves too much credit when things are going well and to blame everyone but ourselves when things are not going well. If anything, humility may entail that we should err on the side of giving others credit when things are going well and taking responsibility when things are not going well. I’m not suggesting that we engage in some form of poor self image, but that the first question we ask in successful leadership is: How did others contribute to the success of this? And when things are going poorly, we first ask: How did I contribute to this failure?

This is not easy. I rarely want to take responsibility for failure. I fear of what it says about me and my character if I am found to be an imperfect leader. But as Collins says, the people who are not able to acknowledge their responsibilities in failure do not deserve to be in leadership.

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Leadership Insight 27: Experience AND Judgment

Leadership Insight 29: Emotional Intelligence

Published

on April 29, 2008

Leadership Insight 7: Growth-minded Leader

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I’m putting together a teaching seminar for ministry leaders on Emotional Intelligence (or EQ). A few years back, I was sitting in one of my seminary classes when I was introduced to the works of Daniel Goleman on the topic of EQ. I was fascinated by the insights of Goleman into human emotions and it’s effects on our leadership. After taking that class, I developed an Independent Study program with a professor at Fuller Seminary to further study the topic.

What EQ basically says that being book smart (i.e. one’s IQ) is not enough for leadership. Smart people could be terrible leaders if they don’t pay attention to their EQ. After ten years of ministry, I have seen the effects of poor emotional management on someone’s ability to lead, despite their academic intelligence or even leadership potential.

Our emotions matter to our leadership. Poor emotional health or intelligence will trump leadership potential and abilities.

Goleman identifies 6 characteristics of EQ. They are:

Self-Awareness: The ability to monitor our own feelings is important for self-Â understanding. The more we are aware of our feelings, the easier it is for us toÂ make personal decisions.
Managing Emotions: How do we handle lifeâ€™s most disappointing andÂ difficult circumstances? Our ability to manage our emotions allows us toÂ recognize anxiety or irritability, and bounce quicker from lifeâ€™s setbacks.
Self-Motivation: Motivation is a very difficult character to teach. The personÂ who is not motivated will find every excuse to not fulfill his or herÂ responsibility. Self-motivation allows the person to take control of oneâ€™s lifeÂ and decision. They become more and more like the shepherd in John 10,Â rather than the hired-hand.
Empathy: The ability to recognize otherâ€™s emotions and be able to respondÂ well to other peopleâ€™s emotional gauge. Empathy allows a leader to recognizeÂ the mood of the people he or she is leading, and how to properly lead peopleÂ toward vision.
Self-Control: There are many temptations that come our way, and it would beÂ very easy (especially for young leaders) to act on impulsiveness. The leadersÂ who are able to delay gratification and practice self-control will be able toÂ perform better and make better decisions for the greater good, rather than forÂ the good of the moment.
Relational Handling: Like empathy, it is important to handle relationships.Â Conflict resolution is one of the most important character traits of a youngÂ leader who is learning to work on a team and take risks in ministry and vision.

There is a lot to be said about Emotional Intelligence. During my independent study, I devised an assessment, reflections and a growth plan. I’ve uploaded my Emotional Intelligence Seminar. Feel free to download it for personal or team use.

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Leadership Insight 28: Volunteerism

Published

on April 15, 2008

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An element of doing leadership in ministry is that we are often leading people who are volunteering. People are giving their time and energy beyond their other responsibilities. In my case, I am leading people and calling people into leadership who also have to contend with academics, family, and jobs.

Most of the resources and books on leadership tend to focus on the business world, with metrics that measure success along business lines. In business, a supervisor can give financial incentives for people to perform at a higher level. We can’t (or don’t/shouldn’t) do that in ministry.

Leading “volunteers” is difficult because they have less incentive to stay. If someone did not like our vision or my leadership, she could leave and join another campus ministry or perhaps leave the faith altogether. I have had several experiences in the last ten years where someone in my leadership influence walked away. Some organizations and churches may employ pressure tactics and manipulation to make it more difficult for people to leave, but not only does that violate basic Biblical principles, it rarely works in the long run.

As the church, we do have a rich history of the power of volunteerism. The Church is built on the back of “volunteers.” And though the model of church congregations and leadership shortly after World War 2 tended to focus on a pastor doing all the work while the congregation consumed the product that the pastor produced, the tide is turning with more focus on the congregation doing the ministry of God.

For example, at the church I grew up in, the bulletin cites the various leaders of the church. It begins with “Ministers: The entire church”. I think what’s helpful of the emerging church movement is that (at it’s best) it focuses on a community of people doing the work of God rather than focusing on a paid pastor to do that work.

What I am learning about leading volunteers is that there still needs to be an incentive for a volunteer to lead. And that incentive is not monetary or anything that I can offer, but it is God and the goodness of God. In my leadership, I have to create space for people to hear from God and to be excited for the things of God. The best accountability then comes in their desire to know God deeper rather than in anything I can offer them to do their best.

Second, I am learning to listen to people. It is easier for me to set forth my agenda of how I want people to “step up” than to hear how they want to minister. When I create space to hear what moves people and how they want their lives to matter, it allows me to come alongside them and help them articulate and discern God’s calling on their life.

Third, I am learning to learn more about leadership from the organization that knows how to empower volunteers–the church. A couple years ago, Bill Hybels wrote The Volunteer Revolution. But the revolution has been happening for the last 2000 years. One of my historical mentors has been John Wesley. His ministry is but one example of the ways someone empowered volunteers to ministry and bring transformation to their society.

Praise God for the disciples of past, present and future who love Jesus and the mission of God far more than any incentive that could be offered to them!

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Leadership Insight 28: Spring Training

Published

on March 25, 2008

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This week’s leadership insight comes from baseball. I am not much of a baseball fan and am always thankful for friends who feed me enough knowledge to get by and/or inspire me to enjoy it. One of the things that I appreciate about baseball is the season of spring training that just ended.

Wikipedia perhaps summarizes the purpose for this week best when it says, “Spring training allows new players to audition for roster and position spots, and gives existing team players practice time prior to competitive play.” For nearly two months, players re-orient themselves to the game and to their teams. Coaches experiment with new players and new strategies in preparation for the regular season.

I appreciate the spring training season of baseball and its implications for leadership. I don’t know of too many people who set aside a couple months out of their lives every year, to refine their skills, build team unity, and basically train for when it counts. So much of my life feels like the regular season of baseball, where every thing matters. In the regular season, the coaches and players have to be on top of their game to make sure that they have the credentials for the more important part of the season (the part that earns teams a spot in the playoffs and eventually a shot at the championship).

My life constantly operates like I’m in the playoffs or in the regular season leading up to the playoffs. I operate with a level of stress and a paradigm of work where mistakes will cost me, and I have little space to be trained in my craft(s). In other words, it’s easy to go through life without space for training. Baseball is wise to create space for players and coaches to train and improve their game. In fact, some of the more technical positions (like pitchers) require that the players check in a little earlier than the rest of the team. What I like about this is that the more technical our jobs and our ministry assignments, the more training we may need to perform at our best when it counts.

Practically speaking

I appreciate the many opportunities for training with my organization, InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. We have training opportunities throughout the year and more concentrated times in the summers.
Second, I appreciate the resource and further education at Fuller Seminary. By keeping higher education in my life, I have regular input from some of the best thinking Christian professors, and fantastic input from people who are in various ministries.
Third, I am trying to keep up with the discipline of reading a leadership training book on a weekly basis. It has been fantastic to have this influence in my life and really enjoying the things I am learning.
Fourth, I have never done this, but I wonder if it’s fair to carve out a week (or perhaps even longer) once a year, where I am putting myself in training mode. I’m not sure what this looks like, but maybe having space where I am engaging in ministry in a different context and learning from others could be a great input into my life. (Just a thought)

Anyone have any other thoughts and leadership lessons from baseball (or spring training)?

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Related Posts:

Leadership Insight 35: Capacity & Responsibility

Leadership Insight 34: In Absence

Leadership Insight 19: Inspire Ownership

Leadership Insight 27: Experience AND Judgment

Published

on March 11, 2008

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This week’s leadership insight comes from our political landscape. Democratic presidential candidates Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have been jabbing back and forth on the importance of leadership experience when it comes to assuming the role of President.

Clinton released an ad asking the question of who you trust to deal with the unexpected conflict at 3am. Obama, for his part, responded with a similar ad touting not his experience but his judgment in that particular situation.

So which is more important, experience or judgment?

I’m not going to publicize my thoughts of which candidate has the upper-hand in this post, but to say that both experience and judgment are important in leadership. Both are values that require some sort of nurturing to assure that the leader is leading well.

Experience is not necessarily something we can speed up. It is something that comes with time. But experience does not necessarily mean good leadership. Someone can have twenty or thirty years of leadership experience, but still not have the judgment or even the skills to lead. Experience can only be stewarded by regular times of learning and reflection that makes sure that we are learning from our experiences.

Judgment is an important value in leadership that does not necessarily depend on experience or age. We can practice poor judgment, regardless of the kinds of experiences we have had in our lives. However, it seems that judgment is often authenticated by experience. In other words, though judgment is not dependent on experience, it is often enhanced by our experience.

I recognize that as I continue to grow as a minister and leader, I need to steward both judgment and experience. I need to continue to learn from my strengths and weaknesses, successes and failures. I need to learn how to practice judgment and to learn how to make better and better judgment calls.

Senator John McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, claims that if people are looking for both experience and judgment, then he is their man for the job. I suppose voters will decide whether his experience and judgment are right for this job.

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Leadership Insight 20: Ministry of Absence