Effective leadership is the essential element in helping congregations navigate the disruption, uncertainty and anxiety that we currently face. The pandemic and denominational split have exacerbated and accelerated the decades long decline experienced by most congregations.
The challenge is to identify the core competencies that congregational leaders need.
These competencies are organized in three stages of leadership[1]:
Each stage has three core competencies as shown here:
The challenge is to identify the core competencies that congregational leaders need.
These competencies are organized in three stages of leadership[1]:
- Lead Self: these focus on deepening one’s own discipleship and are foundational to everything a leader does.
- Lead Others: these develop competence in building teams, addressing challenges and leading change.
- Lead Communities: these focus on the leader’s ability to point everybody in the right direction to maximize their contribution to the mission of the congregation.
Each stage has three core competencies as shown here:
All of the key leadership competencies build toward adaptive, Christian leadership. The present is uncertain and the future is even more so. Adaptive leaders are able to encourage experimentation and innovation, knowing that we hardly know the problem, let alone the solution.
Our focus is to help leaders develop a few things well. We believe these are the competencies – along with whatever technical skills are required – that will make the biggest difference for leaders and their congregations. Each competency is described more fully in the pages that follow.
LEADS SELF
At this stage the focus is on deepening discipleship and competencies are foundational to everything a leader does. The core competencies for leading self are described below and are: Thriving Spiritually, Intercultural Competency and Non-Anxious Leadership.
The core practices include:
- Self Awareness
- Boundary Setting
- Habit Formation
- Deepening Discipleship through Spiritual Disciplines
- Continuous personal (spiritual, physical, emotional) and professional development
- Using the IDI to grow in cultural humility
Thriving Spirituality (Deepening Discipleship)
Leaders with a thriving spiritual life are better equipped to respond to leadership challenges because they know that only the grace of God can equip them and sustain them. They understand that self-care is a part of their spiritual life and is not optional. Their spiritual authenticity is attractive to others and multiplies their impact.
Intercultural Competency
The corporate world has recognized that intercultural competence positively affects the bottom line. The church needs to understand that leaders with intercultural competence build communities of trust and belonging. This helps congregations better understand and engage with our rapidly changing world, as well as helps to establish collaborative relationships that increase community impact.
Non-Anxious Leadership
Leadership through Self-Differentiation is based on the understanding that how one functions in one’s own family of origin affects how a leader functions everywhere else. This, combined with emotional intelligence, enables leaders to remain a non-anxious presence in anxious congregations and denominations. Leading as a non-anxious presence is an important factor in leading change in uncertain times.
LEADS OTHERS
While continuing to grow capacity for leading themselves, at this stage the focus is on building teams, addressing challenges and leading change. The core competencies for leading others are described below and are Trust/Team Building, Positive Intelligence (Resilience/Grit) and Agile/Design Thinking.
The core practices include:
- Leadership through self-differentiation
- Relationship building
- Gathering and organizing people
- Building resilience
- Bold experimentation (risk-fail-learn)
- Curiosity, empathy and humility
- Seeking feedback to improve leadership
Trust and Team Building
According to Patrick Lencioni, trust is the foundation of effective teams. In addition, effective teams engage in healthy conflict, are committed to team goals, are accountable to one another and are results-oriented. Competent leaders not only foster trust, they understand these characteristics and know how to create the circumstances that make them possible.
Positive Intelligence (Resilience/Grit)
If family systems theory and emotional intelligence help one understand how to be a non-anxious leader, Positive Intelligence enables leaders to self-regulate their own automatic reactions so they can lead effectively, even in the most anxious situations. This facilitates resilience and grit, which enables leaders to persist in the midst of overwhelming challenges.
Agile and Design Thinking
Both agile and design thinking change the way leaders approach the challenges their congregations face. They facilitate moving quickly, testing and learning in ways that minimize risk and maximize trying different approaches. This also reduces the perceived risks because small experiments are not as threatening to those who resist change.
LEADS COMMUNITIES
While continuing to grow capacity for leading themselves and others, at this stage the focus is on the leader’s ability to mobilize and inspire discipling leaders so that more transformed lives transform lives. The core competencies for leading organizations or movements are described below and are Vision Casting (Multiplying Leadership), Missional Alignment, and Adaptive Leadership.
The core practices are consistently:
- Communicating clearly and succinctly
- Maintaining strategic focus
- Strengthening systems and processes
- Ensuring sustainability
- Engaging in heromaking
Vision Casting (Multiplying Leadership)
The importance of vision is not that it is correct but that it gets everybody moving toward a preferred future. Leaders need to cast vision because without clarity and focus, congregations get anxious. When vision, agile/design thinking and adaptive leadership are combined, congregations are more likely to move forward, even when they don’t know where it will lead.
Missional AlignmentA mission-focused leader sees everything through the lens of missional alignment. They evaluate everything in terms of whether it furthers the mission or not. Likewise, they maximize team effort by ensuring it is aligned with the mission. This often means saying “No” to activities that seem positive but actually distract from achieving the congregation’s mission.
Adaptive LeadershipAdaptive leaders not only understand the difference between a technical problem and an adaptive one, they are able to marshall the resources to address the latter. They are able to build trust and increase collaboration so that everyone’s voice is heard. This increases the impact of testing new ideas and learning new approaches.
Want to find out more? Email Jack Shitama, Center for Vital Leadership Director, at [email protected]