Perspectives on Leadership #dminlgp #dmingml
Leadership is one of those things that is not always tangible. It is who we are and what we do that make us leaders, however that doesn't always translate into physical production. The book by Gilbert Fairholm, called Perspectives on Leadership: From the Science of Management to its Spiritual Heart is a great book for every person in a leadership or management role to be familiar with. In his book he looks at the difference between managing roles and leadership roles and then provides some ideas of how the spiritual wellness plays a large role in successful leadership.
Gilbert states, "In all walks of life, leaders' behaviors set the course others follow and determine the measures used to account for group actions (63)." The the difference between a manager and a leader is that a manager is position created to contain and control an environment to keep things in some sort of predictable order. A leader is someone whether in a position of authority or not that is striving to create or implement a better, more efficient, more productive way of doing the task better while making the people doing it better at the task and finding purpose in what they are doing. (74 of 2047).
This is where we come to leadership in America. We have discouraged true leadership and have created managers who think they are leaders. This delusion has created a culture of meritocracy and complacency. Fairholm says that, "Management is a modern creation (830 )". This is has created environments that reward compliance and discourages certain behaviors (838 ). In saying this there is a generation that is ready to lead, to innovate, and be concerned with the relationships that are part of business and the relationships that consumers have with the products.
The nature of leadership is ultimately found in the spiritual relationship. There is a connectedness when leading with spiritual awareness that not only makes you a better leader but will naturally have an effect on the people we are leading. Leadership is modeled, so as a leader we are also teachers, people who set the standards of what is expected and give direction for the future (1493).
In my context of the church, I have also seen this type of manager vs leader struggle appear as church staffs continue to grow larger. There seems to be more and more business types of structures that are growing churches and a lot less people leading. My fear is not church growth but the standards and vision we are setting for the people we are reaching. The Church culture has taught people that we have highly trained and educated people that do the work. They just need to show up and be complacent in the structure.
My hope and prayer is that more leaders would emerge from the church and actually lead people to Jesus, not just our church buildings and programs. We have been given the order from Jesus himself to go and make disciples (Matthew 28:19-20), this is not just for the paid staff but for all who believe in Jesus. Fairholm even states that, "The three spiritual leadership tasks are task competence, vision setting and servant hood (1734)". There is hope for leadership and is starting to be seen all over the world, it is time for us to embrace the call of true leadership in our own lives.
