Many members of Good Shepherd are involved in a new Leadership Development ministry with me. We're reading books and discussing how the issues raised relate to our church. I'll be posting my review of each chapter here and possible questions for reflection. Whether you're involved in the ministry or not, your comments and reflections are welcomed.
Our first book is Leadership on the Line, Ronald A. Heifitz and Martin Linsky, Harvard Business School Press, 2002.
Introduction... for me the most important passage in the Introduction is on page 5. "None of these people sat on the sidelines day after day. They take pride in their successes, but most carry wounds from the times they gave voice to a point of view that disturbed people. They all wanted their lives and work to matter."
Anyone who has been in a position of leadership has found a time when they were attacked (hopefully not physically) to pointing out the hard truths that others were not willing to face. Truth hurts. It's like looking at a mirror on a bad hair day. Leaders raise the questions that cause reflection and most of us don't like the "man in the mirror." As we proceed in this endeavor we will have to reflect on ourselves and our own image while reflecting on the image that our church presents. Using the word "image" is dangerous in itself since it assumes that we want to present a false sense of who we are. However, when we consider that the image of Christ is the very image we are called to reflect, then we have something to compare ourselves to, measure up to, and strive to lead toward.
Your thoughts?
1 comment:
Hey Dave,
I reread the intro during my week at Missouri Minister's School, and I found the the theme of the week, which was to "Stay Focused on Jesus," resonated well with what you were lifting up concerning the danger of the word "image." We spoke a lot about all the "noise" of ministry this week, the "noise" being all the extra stuff that pastors do in order to please congregants (actually to please our "perception" of what we think the congregants want, or at least to appease our perception of their "image" of us). It was refreshing to be called back to remembering that we should focus on Jesus first, and hopefully that focus will provide us a great starting point in leading forward in the image of Christ.
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