Leadership and Community…
So a while back I received an email from an acquaintance who is soliciting proposals for a book on leadership. After soaking on it for a while, I came to the realization that I just do not have the time right now to meet the deadlines that are set forward for this project, but it has allowed me the opportunity to do a good bit of thinking about leadership, and how I lead in particular. As I kicked around what I would have to contribute to this project, and what I have to offer when it comes to leadership, my thoughts kept returning to two concepts: strategy and community. What I am hoping to do is start organizing my thoughts on all this, in hopes of being able to speak or write on this somewhere down the road without sounding like a blubbering idiot. I am also hoping that we may be able to start a conversation on what leadership is, whether it is in the context of the church, or in the rest of the world.
This is what I know about leadership:
Leadership is by design a relational experience. You can not lead alone. John Maxwell likes to say a leader with no followers is just going for a walk.
Leadership and strategy are intimately linked. Strategy is the road map that gets you to where you are going. If you do not know where you are going, or how to get there, you really are not leading.
Successful teams have a culture of trust and intimacy that comes only through hard work, both personally and interpersonally. It is only when a group of people (leaders included) are willing to deal with their baggage, and speak openly and honestly with one another that they become a team. Teamwork does not truly happen until people know that they are safe to fail, and free to succeed.
I would love to know a few things from those of you who still read this… (about 5 people since my unplanned sabbatical… life just kinda took off there for a while) First, what do you think of my list? Am I off base, am I missing something? Second, tell me about the leadership communities that you have been a part of, what made the team successful, or not so successful?
Filed under: church, leadership, ministry, religion
Keep going. I like the strategy connection. I was at one place that had “bi-polar vision” as I called it. The vision and the values that established how it’d be achieved seemed to change about every 3-4 months. Very frustrating
what caused that bi-polarness (i like my new word)?