Leading Ideas with Alan Nelson: Are You A Manager or Leader?
- Posted by: Todd
- Posted on: Mon, January 12, 2009
- Viewed 88
- (2) comments so far
While some suggest the economic tide will turn mid-09, the better experts I’m hearing are saying the recession will run well into 2010, as we experience another wave or two of foreclosures, bankruptcies, and layoffs. That will result in a lot of congregational and organizational pressure. To paraphrase John F. Kennedy (who paraphrased someone else), managers look at things as they are and ask “Why?” but leaders look at things as they might be an declare, “Why not?”
Leadership shines brightest when things are darkest. It differentiates those who manage from those who really lead. Napoleon said, “Leaders are vendors of hope.” People need hope. Regardless of what you think about Obama, the reason he was elected was that he was able to muster more hope among voters than Mr. McCain. Leaders aren’t the people who are more right. They are those who can catalyze more hope. They give people reason to have faith, believe that good things can come, that we can survive the storm.
Most pastors are good a preaching hope from the pulpit, but just as important are the off-stage comments that go on in board and staff meetings, in the lobby, and even at home with your spouse. Keep your fears to yourself. Verbalize your hopes. Don’t use those in your ministry for your own therapy. Unleash your concerns to God. That’s why so many of the Psalms are negative. That’s prayer-apy.
Although pastors like to spiritualize a lot of things, hope as a leader probably has more to do with psychology then theology. People are looking to you for cues to know how they should respond, not just doctrinally correct teaching. Are you a thermostat or a thermometer? It’s a well worn metaphor, but worth a reminder. Thermometers measure the temperature, but thermostats set the temperature. Leaders are thermostats, not thermometers. I imagine you already knew that, but some of the best lessons in life aren’t new, they just remind us of what we already knew.
So as the New Year breaks, one of my resolutions is to lead by verbalizing the positive. It’s good theology (Phil. 4:8) and good psychology that result in good leading.
Alan E. Nelson, Ed.D. is a leadership development specialist and author of a fourteen books for pastors and church leaders. To find out more about him go to http://www.alanenelson.com or his work in raising future leaders at http://www.kidlead.com. The Nelsons live near Monterey, CA.
I couldn’t believe my eyes. I was driving back on the freeway, through Silicon Valley, when I saw a delivery truck on the other side of the road with a big word on it, “HOPE.” It was apparently the name of the charity that collected used items for its thrift store. While I rarely laugh out loud when I’m alone, I did that day because the HOPE truck was behind a tow truck. If only I had a camera.
Given the current economy, I thought it a perfect metaphor for many of us in ministry. I was in Phoenix a few weeks prior, connecting with various churches. One had just laid off nine employees. Another informed staff they needed to cut a big chunk out of their budgets. The next was on a total spending freeze. Still another had long lines of people standing for groceries...
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Gman on Mon, January 12, 2009
Sorry but Hope is theology, not psychology. 1 Corinthians 13 talks about the three shall remain: Faith, hope, and love and the greatest of these is love.
People throw out terms like hope, love, etc. And expect leaders to be their hope, to be their guide. Church leaders give the Hope of Christ. Church leaders point to the ultimate leader - Christ. Church leaders don’t try to preach doctrinally correct teachings, they try to love it.
I think the last paragraph in this story rather concerns me.
Jan on Sat, January 17, 2009
That was my first gut reaction too, Hope IS theology not psychology.
If you have true hope it will affect your world view in multiple ways.
Hope is where the rubber meets the road, it’s when your true values show when things are at their worst.
And you can’t give hope as a leader, unless you first possess it.
I’ve sung in a million funerals. And I can walk into a funeral service and know instantly if the people in the room are Christians. And it’s “the hope that is within you” that reveals itself ultimately in the face of death.
Our trust and hope isn’t in whether the economy is good, it’s in the God who gives us true hope.
We honestly are excited about what God is going to do now in these economic times. We are already seeing people recognize that their survival and future is in God, not in politicians and banks and what you own.
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