Beaner brought out a question about leadership in my depressing confessional about failed leadership (which still has two more installments). It got me thinking about kinds of leadership.
Here are different kinds of leadership off the top of my head:
1. Organizational (CEO, Senior minister, etc)
2. Educational (teaching, not administration)
3. Coaching (athletic, executive, job, etc)
4. Therapeutic (Counselor, friend, etc)
5. Spiritual (spiritual director, guru, etc)
6. Family (Parent, grandparent, spouse, etc)
7. Political
8. Visionary/Charasmatic
Here is another way to look at leadership: contextual effectiveness.
Group Size
1. Large groups
2. Small groups
3. One on one
Toward what end?
1. People movement
2. Connection/Community
3. Growth and/or Healing
4. Innovation
5. Maintenance
OK, I'm doing this on the fly. Give me some help here about leadership. What ideas are coming to your mind?
3 comments:
My thoughts on spiritual leadership...
We are One. The leader and the follower are not separate.
What you teach you learn.
"The answer that I give my brother is what I am asking for.
And what I learn of him is what I learn about myself." (ACIM)
Dr. Paul Faulkner (of Church of Christ fame) always spoke about the difference between LEADERS and MANAGERS...whether in the context of a corporation, a church, a movement, parenting, etc...LEADERS leave behind followers that become LEADERS and who carry on and even advance the work of the LEADER (sounds like what Jesus did, huh?) Dr. Faulkner commented that too many of those who call themselves "leaders" (or who are called "leaders" by others) are really nothing more than MANAGERS. In other words, they deal solely with the here-and-now and when they are gone (dead, replaced, displaced), those who were "followers" fizzle out and die. This sounds like what happens alot of time in churches. These so-called "leaders" never led, they just did their best at "managing" current environments and situations. Nothing wrong with managers; they have their place...but too often, especially in church contexts, we exalt and vote in traditionally men who serve churches as "spiritual leaders" when they are not really leaders at all; they should be called "church life managers." Parents are guilty if we spew out words after words to invoke ourselves as authorities or "family leaders" yet we leave behind children who wish not to carry on the family legacy and honor (there are exceptions).
One thought from that is that the real test of your leadership ability won't be known until after you are no longer leading (either dead, displaced, or no longer needed)...if in your wake, others are inspired to carry on the work, learn more and live better, and if they advance the vision you laid out before them, then you were a leader.
What are we doing, each one of us, to ensure that our most important WORK (ministry, family/parenting) will bear fruit that will last?
Dr. Faulkner's comments that I heard over 15 years still impact the way I plant churches, and even more importantly, how I parent my children.
Just some thoughts,
Randy
The phrase that comes to my mind is "servant leadership", which I guess could be integrated in all these styles. Leading the group by meeting their needs, both individually and as a whole.
Love Randy's thoughts about working yourself out of a job so to say.
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