If
you have been in leadership for any amount
of time, you have most likely at some
point taken a test that assessed your
style of leadership. You can gain
excellent insights through tests like
these. For example, you might find out
that you are strong as a visionary, but
not as an administrator. Or you
might discover that you are a hands-on
rather than a conceptual leader, or that
you tend to reach decisions on an intuitive
rather than on a rational basis.
These
assessments are very valuable. No
one can do everything! As Romans
12:6 tells us, "We have different
gifts, according to the grace given us." A
good assessment tool can help you focus
on how God
"hardwired" you in terms of gifts,
abilities, and capacities. Armed with
this information, you can develop what you
tend to do best and use the gifts of others
to handle what you cannot do.
At
the same time, however, there is a difference
between leadership style and personal
character. Style is neither good
nor bad. It just is, and differences
in style are good for all of us. However,
character is more universal-it has to do
with the image of God within us. The important
thing to know is that your character
will determine your success as a leader
more than your style will.
A
good working definition of character is those
abilities that help us meet the demands
of life. That is to say that
life, especially the life of leadership,
has certain demands, expectations, and
requirements built into it. Whatever
helps you handle these successfully is
part of your character.
The
Greek word for character is translated
in the New Testament as experience (for
example, in Rom. 5:3). The implication
is that our experiences in life help craft
our character.
People who are experienced in healthy
relationships, vulnerability, honesty, acceptance,
and grace will tend to have a more mature and
integrated character than those who only know
how to relate and lead from their head and
intellect.
I
have known several leaders who were amazingly
gifted. However, they lacked the character
to deal with life's challenges, and they
were not as successful as their potential
had indicated they would be. On the
other hand, I have known people whose stars
didn't shine as brightly, yet their insides
helped them achieve phenomenal things for
God and their organizations.
Sometimes
people assume certain character issues
to be a matter of personal style, when
nothing could be farther from the truth. Here
are some examples of character issues not to
be equated with style:
Isolation. When
I consult leaders and their organizations,
I will sometimes hear someone say, "I
am not a touchy-feely person. My style
is to relate to people more from a strategic
or conceptual level." Often,
what is happening is that this person
can't get close to others-he or she avoids
deeper relationships and thinks, "This
is just the way I am." While
it may be true that some people are less
demonstrative than others, leadership
is nevertheless about people and demands
that leaders be able to relate to people
on a real and authentic level.
Often,
when you scratch the surface of such people's
thinking, you find either that they are
afraid to let other people inside their
lives, or that they have never had the
experience of relatedness and find themselves
in a world that is unfamiliar and uncomfortable.
In either case, rather than giving up and calling
their isolation a style, they need to learn
to do what the New Testament teaches us to
do-open up and connect with people on a level
that matters:
We
have spoken freely to you, Corinthians,
and opened wide our hearts to you. We are
not withholding our affection from you,
but you are withholding yours from us.
As a fair exchange-I speak as to my children-open
wide your hearts also. (2 Cor. 6:11-13)
Don't
miss the opportunity to lead people from
the basis of relationship as well as from
a conceptual standpoint.
Fear
of confrontation. I
have also come across leaders who assume
that their gift is more one of encouragement
than of confrontation, and consequently
avoid being direct with people. They
think, "I don't do confrontation-that's
an ability that others have, and I
need to concentrate on what I do
best." When people in an
organization see themselves in this
light, the organization may develop
an unfortunate "good cop-bad cop"
culture. People come to expect that one
leader will build them up, and another will
do the dirty work.
Certainly,
some people are better at direct, corrective
conversations than others. At the
same time, learning to handle difficult
people in difficult conversations is simply
part of operating in the Body of Christ-especially
as a leader. We are to be "speaking
the truth in love" (Eph. 4:15) to
each other, so that all may grow in love
and maturity. So if you find that
this is not something you do well, or it
is uncomfortable, ask people you trust
for help. Leaders who learn to confront
well tend to reach more of their goals
and be more successful in life.
Impulsivity. We
find another example in the leader who
makes snap judgments based on what his
gut tells him, rather than deliberating
and asking for feedback on decisions he
is considering. Sometimes this becomes
framed as intuition or being right- brained. Sometimes
God gets blamed for it, as in God told
me to spend the money this way. While
God certainly leads His leaders, it's also
true that He sometimes takes the rap for
impulsive decisions!
While
there certainly are lots of leaders who
have a strongly intuitive style, this doesn't
mean that the less intuitive leader should
avoid reflection, meditation, thoughtfulness,
or the counsel of wise friends. It
is good to remember that if a course of
action is good and right, then God is in
the middle of it-His truth can never be
at war with itself. Both objective
and subjective realities are one in Him.
So
it is a valuable blessing to learn what
your leadership styles are. At the
same time, pay attention to who you are
as a person, and grow in God's love and
truth.
God
bless,
John
