Month: October 2018

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Response to Daniel’s Rank, Talk, Write

Unit 3 – Rank, Talk, Write

In response to your question, “Is this all learned or can some of these traits come naturally as a church leader?”, I believe all Christians have been given one or more permanent spiritual gifts. The pastor with the spiritual gift of administration/leadership may have a different career trajectory than a pastor with the spiritual gift of helps or mercy.

Your analysis of this article was interesting, and I agree that practice makes you more effective in your vocation. In addition, the point about “incremental fluctuations” I have found to be true in my own life. For example, I’ve come to realize that many people have been changed in good or bad ways because of life experiences.

 

 

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Unit 3 – Rank, Talk, Write

As a business owner, I am always looking for ways to improve my workplace. Gino and Staats’ article, Developing Employees Who Think for Themselves is particularly relevant to my leadership area (2015). The article focuses on three things employers can do to help their employees use critical thinking in their position: Process, Identity and Time.

1. Process

To help employees use critical thinking, Gino & Staats say there needs to be a “shift in ownership of the process from the manager to the worker” (2015). They further state that many “managers punish their subordinates for failing to follow instructions” but then “complain that employees don’t think for themselves” (2015). To achieve a change in process, managers need to focus on the outcome not the process.

2. Identity

Identity is enabling employees to “… bring their true and best selves to work” (Gino & Staats, 2015). Gino and Staats argue that, “People … lose their sense of identity at work [because they] learn how to behave in clearly defined ways” (2015). By giving employees “the ability to reshape [their] actual work,” they are able to use critical thinking in their position (Gino & Staats, 2015).

3. Time

The aspect of time is “allow[ing] individuals to consider how best to complete the work that needs to be done within the constraints of the company and their own lives” (Gino & Staats, 2015). By giving employees time flexibility, a manager gives them the opportunity to think about their tasks a different times.

The focus of this article is the transferral of critical thinking from managers to employees. The authors argue that for the past hundred years, management’s main role was to identify the best processes and then have workers follow the processes precisely (Gino & Staats, 2015). In today’s world, though, the only way for companies to thrive is to get employees to think and not just follow procedure. The authors then state that many organizations merely stress building critical thinking and developing “process-improvement skills” rather than redesigning the actual jobs of their employees (Gino & Staats, 2015). Essentially, jobs need to be redesigned so they give employees ownership over how they perform their job, how they act within their job and how they manage their time while completing their tasks.

Gino, F. & Staats, B. (2015, June). Developing Employees Who Think for Themselves. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2015/06/developing-employees-who-think-for-themselves

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Learning Activity 3

The Skills Inventory indicated I was the weakest on the conceptual and had stronger and equal technical and human skills. Before taking this survey, I felt I was very good at concrete ideas, not abstract ideas so this was not surprising. I was stronger and more balanced between technical and human skills.

On the Style Questionnaire, my relationship score was moderately high. I have many employees who have worked with me for decades, and I believe one of the reasons for their loyalty is I have a balance between rigid performance standards coupled with an informal management style.

I thought my Task Score, which was moderately low, would have been higher because much of my daily routine consists of developing, planning numerous technical designs and processes.

On the Leadership Questionnaire, I was pleased to see that other people’s perception and my self-perception were the exact number. I felt comfortable and encouraged by this. In his book, The Art of Management (1998), Max De Pree says that one of the requirements of leadership is the ability to identify reality. I feel that the correlation between my self-perception and others’ perception of me indicates that, at least in that area, I have a good grasp of reality. Other people’s perception of me reflects my true self.

De Pree, M. (1989). Leadership Is an Art. New York City, NY: Doubleday Business.

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Light From Many Lamps – Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln: Without Divine Assistance, I Cannot Success; With It I Cannot fail

The story begins with the departure of Abraham Lincoln at the railway station from his home of 25 years on his way to Washington, D.C. to be President. While hundreds of people came to send him off, neither his wife or children were there because of his wife’s illness. In his farewell address, he spoke with “sadness, and in great humility” even though he was “tired and distraught” (Watson, 1998, p. 69). In his short speech, he gave credit where it was due and thanked the people there and said he owed them everything (Watson, 1998, pg. 69).

While there are a few leadership lessons in this story, such as humility, giving credit, showing gratitude, etc. I choose to focus on transparency and vulnerability. Lincoln shows transparency and vulnerability by expressing his sadness, and as the author notes “great humility” (Watson, 1998, p. 69). In spite of the fact that he “looked tired and worn … his voice was warm with affection”(Watson, 1998, pg. 69).

The lesson on transparency/ and vulnerability shows how important it is for me as a leader to be deliberately more expressive of my emotions, failures, heartaches, etc. whether it be as a leader of a small group or as a business owner. While many people hide their weaknesses, the emotional circumstances of his departure did not affect Lincoln’s candor. In spite of him showing what many people would call ‘weakness,’ Lincoln was one of the world’s greatest leaders.

Watson, L. (1988). Light From Many Lamps. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster.

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Response to Ccbeau

Blog Post 1

I wholeheartedly agree with Christina’s opinion and experience that there is a huge difference between leaders and managers. I’ve read frequently that leaders know where to go and managers know how to get there. Also, that leaders know what needs to be done and managers know how to do it.

As for Christina’s question, “Have you personally experienced the stark differences between a leader and a manager?” I have 3 great examples in my personal experience of how managers failed as leaders. Each example is a pastor in a large church. The first case, the pastor was a famous preacher, author, speaker, etc. but under his “leadership” the church declined and almost closed because he wasn’t acting as a leader. The second example involved a pastor who was great at interpersonal relationships, an excellent counsellor and a better-than-average preacher. In one month, though, four key leaders all resigned because he was not acting as a leader. The third example, the “leader” who, in essence was a manager, saw an aggressively growing church plateau because he wasn’t acting as a good leader. I think these examples demonstrate what Christina pointed is that there is a major difference between leaders and managers.

 

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Following the Leader

The leader I’ve chosen to evaluate is James MacDonald, founder of Harvest Bible Chapel, a Chicago-based church. The church was started in 1998 and now has over 13,000 people attending local sites. I have followed MacDonald’s work for the past five years and have read two of his books.

The essence of MacDonald’s success and leadership is his clear, simple and aggressive preaching of the gospel. I have heard him speak in person and regularly read his posts on social media and my reading of his books shows his strong allegiance to the Scriptures.

What makes MacDonald’s leadership style distinctive is his emphasis on team leadership and developing leaders rather than recruiting them. A Harvest churches, the elders (who are appointed by other elders, rather than elected by the congregants) have the position for life. I believe that this creates a team mentality, where the elders have to learn to work together. It seems that churches that follow this pattern established by MacDonald have much more influence in the life of the church than other types of evangelical churches. Harvest churches develop their leaders from within instead of recruiting or hiring from outside.

I believe MacDonald excels in leadership development, demonstrated by the fact that he pioneered a months-long training program for church members who have been identified as potential church planters. Unlike many other preachers and teachers, MacDonald  has the drive to develop leaders. He values the potential in people like I do. To me, he is the epitome of candour, directness and pragmatism and his principles are rigidly aligned with Scripture. I believe very strongly that leadership principles that do not align with biblical principles of leadership will ultimately fail or at least be less effective than they could be. My decision to start this leadership program was because of my desire to continue my work in developing leaders within my local church. MacDonald’s focus on developing leaders provides a great model for how to achieve this.

As for James MacDonald’s social media presence, it is simply overwhelming. His Instagram, Twitter and Facebook accounts generally share the same content. There are many pictures, ventures, thoughts, quotes from the Scriptures, etc. – it seems to lack focus and continuity. I’m left asking, “What is the goal of his extensive social media presence?” Is it to provide information about his activities, motivate his followers, educate them? Secondly, I believe his use of social media to motivate and develop leader would be to include more personal information, rather that his “corporate” presence. Because of his “success” as a pastor, author and church planter, many people have a difficult time relating to him. Something I think is valuable for a leader to do is to share failures, dreams, frustrations, etc. I am not suggesting that he share intimate details but rather show more depth and context for his opinions. I believe that this would help his followers relate to him and would show more insight into how he has developed as a leader.