leadership style

The other day I was having coffee with an old friend who has served several large businesses in a management capacity. He was reading several books on leadership style. He summed up the contents of the books, in particular telling me what he had learned from each. I enjoyed our conversation. At the end of our time together my friend asked me about my own leadership style. I paused. I knew I had one, but was not sure how to put it in words. So as I processed this important question I realized it might be something those I serve might like to know.

I like to lead by example. If I want people in community to be considerate, dedicated, faith filled, think big picture, have fun and be inclusive I need to act in these ways myself. I never ask people to do what I am not willing to do myself (save doing a lot of driving!). Still I know there are times when I fall short. One example among many is that I have a terrible poker face at meetings and I need to roll my eyes less, no I need to stop rolling my eyes. And that is the second thing I try to be as a leader, humble, willing to admit mistakes, flaws and deficiencies. I know very little. What I do know a lot about; sports, politics and religion are not the kind of things that are needed in a moment of crisis. So it is good to know what I know and what I don’t know. Frankly, being aware of this lack of knowledge has made it easier for me to ask others what they know. Critical to my leadership style is asking others their views, what they know that I don’t, and how we can address the challenges we face together (and not roll my eyes when they share what they know to impress as opposed to what they know that help address the challenge).

The third thing I include in my leadership style, which I believe is somewhat unique, is the linkage between the individual need, his/her expression of opinion and the overall larger vision of our community’s life. I know colleagues who spend all their time chasing the one voice, the one person who is happy or sad or angry, and addressing her/his needs. The old expression “squeaky wheel gets the grease” comes to mind. I have colleagues who believe there is a crisis when one loud voice is upset and think their church is living into the Kingdom because one person told him/her things are great. I also know colleagues who are not overly concerned with the one voice and focus their energies on the big picture, the large vision, the mission of their church and how we together can live into that reality.

I admire both type of leaders, one is usually very relationship focused and the other very prophetic and big picture. The church needs both! My own style tends to see the vision as an organic, even messy, patch work of the dreams and aspirations of the collected persons who gather as God’s community. I believe people are motivated by vision, even if their impulse is only to see the person in front of them, the day that just happened. As humans we are both creatures of the moment and beings desperately in search for a vision we are willing to live and die for. As a servant-leader my role is to listen to the individual voices and discern the choruses and what those organic songs appear to be. I listen to all voices but sometimes our voices reflect the common expression of community and sometimes they are our song alone. Both songs are important to hear but the way I respond is different, for the songs of one voice I go, listen, share, and address unique challenges and focus on the person her/himself. When I hear a common song I know I need to integrate it with the large community to see who else wants to join in, become part of God’s choir of angels.

When I came to Bethany a little less than three years ago I discerned a lot of individual voices of pain and joy. I listened and I remembered. Most of these voices were unique and singular. But some voices sounded like other voices and I began to realize there was a song of community at Bethany that existed long before I came and will be sung long after I am gone, but it seemed the song was being sung less as an anthem and more as a “whistle while you work”. I wanted people to know it was our anthem, our song, and to own it, celebrate it, and most importantly, welcome new people to join in (as the Beatles once sang, “look at all the lonely people”). That kind of intentionality is how I see my role, not imposing anything, but rather articulating what I hear, the one voice and the many voices, the song of our collective faith.

I know when I came here there was a minority of people who feared I might change Bethany into something it wasn’t and another minority who hoped I would do exactly that. I have done neither. My work here has been to listen, identify, share what I am hearing, celebrate what I am seeing, call us/challenge us to improve how we live what we profess to believe, and be present at every step of the journey. Obviously I have my own views and opinions of everything from the character of God, to how I like to lead in worship, to the prophetic ways I believe God calls us to live in community. If you have heard me preach you know I am no shrinking violet, if you ask my opinion you will get it, loud and clear. But I am not here to impose, I am here to work with the gifts God gives us, the songs we sing, the events that make us who we are. My role in community is less a manager or a teacher or a counsellor, rather I see myself as someone who listens to the voice and shares the common vision. And what is truly fascinating to me is the way that common vision, that song we sing together, can and does heal the individual pain we share one on one. Never underestimate what God can do in community.

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And that is how I would describe my style of leadership.