A Christian Review of Every Leader Needs to Navigate These 7 Tensions
Introduction
Helen Bevan, a Chief Transformation Officer (UK), introduces this research as this, "hundreds of leaders worldwide uncovered 7 core tensions between "traditional" & "emerging" leadership approaches. These tensions create a lot of stress for leaders (who need to be able to work with both)". The following article published by
Harvard Business Review helps leaders to navigate between the 7 Tensions.
Recommend glancing through the article
here before looking into this post.
To review this article as a church leader, the following mind-set and skill-sets are particularly important.
In Ministry Context
The Mind-Set of Both-And
Many church leaders serving in ethnic churches face the tensions of how to adopt their cultural leadership approach among the lay leaders who live and work in America. For example, a local Chinese church with a English speaking congregation and governing board is a bi-cultural leadership setting. Leaders are constantly navigating the tensions between the "clergy" and "laymen" even believing in priesthood of believers, the "way it was" and the "way it should be", the "written words" and the "living spirit", countless examples like these sit not just between leaders' mind but within even one leader's leadership mind. The research say, "Leaders improve their effectiveness not by consistently emphasizing one approach over the other, but by developing the ambidexterity (using both hands equally well) to move between the two as the context requires. The difficulty of achieving this level of cognitive and behavioral ambidexterity should not be underestimated — but it can be achieved, with focused efforts..."
The Skills-Set of Personal Leadership
The article suggests three practical tips for leaders to navigate the tensions.
(1) Self-awareness. Understanding one’s natural tendencies is an important first step. Where is your comfort zone? What’s your default position?...
(2) Learn, adapt, practice.
"Once leaders know their natural tendencies, they can work to develop a portfolio of micro-behaviors to address the tensions that they don’t manage well. This process can be enhanced by formal coaching."
(3) Contextual awareness.
"Becoming a more effective leader means not only expanding one’s current leadership approach to incorporate new behaviors but knowing when to focus more on one side of the tension or the other. This requires both contextual awareness and emotional intelligence"
Ministry Reflection:
The following list is my initial response in navigating the tensions in ministry.
Tension 1: The Expert vs. the Learner
Taking myself as an example I often think in ways of biblical or historical of church governing structure. It takes intentionality to hear the real people and to understand how the church or fellowship have been operated.
Tension 2: The Constant vs. the Adaptor
To some degree this is the most "contradictory" or "ambidextrous" leadership style that I see myself in, "the traditional approach to leadership values decision-making conviction and consistency... the emerging approach recognizes that in fast-changing environments, decisions often need to be reversed or adapted, and that changing course in response to new information is a strength, not a weakness."
Tension 3: The Tactician vs. the Visionary
This is my favorite leadership paradox and particularly true in ministry. From my limited life experience, if you can't be both, just be either one rather than no one. The research says "the traditional approach to leadership
calls for operational clarity and well-defined plans. The emerging approach suggests that leaders require a clear vision for where they want to go, without necessarily needing a concrete roadmap for how to get there." We truly need both the tactician and visionary working together if one cannot be both that at the same time.
Tension 4: The Teller vs. the Listener
In leadership meeting, sometimes I need to remind myself that I need to listen carefully. Even in preparing sermon I need to remind myself to listen. A default teller takes discipline to keep quiet to listen attentively, actively, and empathetically. "The traditional approach to leadership calls for leaders to tell others what to do and how to do it. The emerging approach values listening carefully to others before deciding."
Tension 5: The Power Holder vs. the Power Sharer
As an emerging leader I favor share power until more recently I learned that holding power will allow me to share more when the time is right. This one has a lot to do with the art of delegation (
see my other post). "The traditional approach suggests that leaders must lead from the top, make decisions, and take actions independently. In contrast, the emerging approach values empowering others to achieve goals. If this tension is not managed wisely, leaders run the risk of alienating and marginalizing promising talent."
Tension 6: The Intuitionist vs. the Analyst
A more subjective person naturally rely on intuition and need to value objective facts, opinions, and objections. I benefit from this kind of tension when I work with people different from me. "The traditional approach suggests that leaders build up an “expert gut”
to make intuitive decisions. By contrast, the emerging approach says that leaders should base decisions largely on data... "
Tension 7: The Perfectionist vs. the Accelerator
I take things very seriously in ministry, making many theoretical assumptions, predicting different implications, and often unconsciously being judgmental. This is a good tension to work more with young leaders, "The emerging approach calls for leaders to acknowledge that doing something quickly, and failing fast, is often more important than doing it perfectly. If not managed wisely, leaders run the risk of delaying the launch of key initiatives or directives due to a fear of imperfection. Conversely, bringing initiatives forward without ample consideration and testing can lead to embarrassing results."
It is important to keep in mind that ministry is different from secular organization. God is the ultimate leader. Church leader is a part of the body, having different gifts but serving the same Lord.
