Canoeing the Mountains: Christian Leadership in Uncharted Territory

by Tod Bolsinger

And if traditional churches are going to become missionary churches, then pastors must become truly missional leaders of missional communities.

Christian community is not merely about connection, care and belonging. Spiritual transformation is not just about becoming more like Christ as an end in itself.

people, and spiritual transformation is about both individual and corporate growth, so that they—together—participate in Christ’s mission to establish the kingdom of God “on earth as it is in heaven.”

Leadership therefore is about the transformation of a congregation so that they, collectively, can fulfill the mission they, corporately, have been given.

Today, preaching is not leadership but serves leadership.

organizations need to adapt to the changing world around them without losing their core identity, their reason for being, their core values and purpose.

Adaptive challenges, by contrast, are those that “cannot be solved with one’s existing knowledge and skills, requiring people to make a shift in their values, expectations, attitudes, or habits of behaviour.”

Uncharted leadership therefore requires transformation of the way problems have been approached in the past since there is no map for uncharted territories.

a changing environment where there is no clear answer the necessity for both leaders and follower to learn, especially the leader’s own ongoing transformation

the unavoidable reality that a new solution will result in loss

Leadership is energizing a community of people toward their own transformation in order to accomplish a shared mission in the face of a changing world.

about transformation and mission, about growing and going, about personal development and corporate effectiveness—simultaneously.

both leaders and followers will become vastly different people after they have ventured forth to live out the mission of God in a changing world.

Nothing changes until there is a change in behavior. Nothing has changed until people start acting differently.

Transformational leadership begins in technical competence. That is, leadership for transformation starts long before engaging the challenge of uncharted territory.

Transformational leadership is validated in relational congruence.

character, care and constancy.

Relational congruence is a leader’s ability to be the same person in every setting, every relationship, every task. The personal maturity and emotional stability to make calm, wise decisions creates the necessary health and trust in an organization that enable it to “let go, learn as you go and keep going.”

Leadership becomes transformational through the integration of adaptive capacity.

Adaptive capacity is a leader’s ability to help his or her community “grow, face their biggest challenges and thrive.”

We are not adapting to merely survive but to thrive!

We are called to adapt to a changing world because we are called to reach that changing world.

But that is the point. They are experiments.

“If you have someone to show you a few tricks, you can adapt to anything.”

unless we demonstrate that we are credible on the map, no one is going to follow us off the map.

competence.

Usually, before a community of faith will even consider undergoing costly change, there must be a sense that leadership is doing everything within their power and their job description to be as effective as possible.

Very often the underperforming technical leader becomes the scapegoat for the systemic issues of the organization.

leaders must first demonstrate basic stewardship of at least three key areas of ministry.

Of all the competing demands of leadership in every sector, perhaps the most difficult for a Christian leader is when the tough decision that will strengthen or even save the church, organization or institution creates difficulty for individuals. To be sure, these are the hardest decisions I have personally had to make as a leader. Three different times in my pastoral ministry and within the very first year at the seminary, I was part of decisions that led to painful layoffs of beloved dedicated employees. In every case there were some who thought a Christian organization should never do layoffs. (“If we are a family, how can we just let someone go?”) At the same time, we are responsible not only to those who work for the organization but also to those who give to the mission, who are shareholders for the company, who have invested time and resources in an organization that exists for more than giving employment to Christian people.

She was praying that amid all of the things that were changing, I would keep very clear on what wouldn’t or shouldn’t change.

before we are able to help people discover new lessons or insights, we must prove ourselves trustworthy in protecting the core of beliefs that give a congregation its identity.

In order to earn the credibility to lead people into what can be, we have to demonstrate fidelity to what is.

Most real change is not about change. It’s about identifying what cultural DNA is worth conserving, is precious and essential, and that indeed makes it worth suffering the losses so that you can find a way to bring the best of your tradition and history and values into the future.

To be truly credible we also have to be shepherds.

Shepherds don’t just tend the sheep, protecting and caring for them, but they also lead them.

God. If they don’t feel loved, they will likely not let anyone lead them anywhere.

Pastors of congregations need to be both personal and organizational.

failure is a necessary part of learning and therefore a necessary part of leading.

we need to fail with as much credibility and competence as possible.

“We can fail, but we can’t suck.”

“Adaptive processes don’t require leadership with answers. It requires leadership that create structures that hold people together through the very conflictive, passionate, and sometimes awful process of addressing questions for which there aren’t easy answers.”

Convening the team.12 Creating a holding environment of healthy relationships that will keep the work before the people.

along with establishing credibility the leader must build a shared corporate culture of deep trust.

Trust is vital for change leadership. Without trust there is no “travel.” When trust is lost, the journey is over.

“There is only one thing that builds trust: the way people behave,”

they must be a consistent expression of the character and values of the leader.

“Trust is gained like a thermostat and lost like a light switch.”

Relational congruence is the ability to be fundamentally the same person with the same values in every relationship, in every circumstance and especially amidst every crisis. It is the internal capacity to keep promises to God, to self and to one’s relationships that consistently express one’s identity and values in spiritually and emotionally healthy ways. Relational congruence is about both constancy and care at the same time. It is about both character and affection, and self-knowledge and authentic self-expression. Relational congruence is the leader’s ability to cultivate strong, healthy, caring relationships; maintaining healthy boundaries; and communicating clear expectations, all while staying focused on the mission. As one of my clients, a former Army Ranger and West Point graduate said to me, “The mission first; the men always.”

“There is one core principle for developing these relationships. People must be engaged in meaningful work together if they are to transcend individual concerns and develop new capacities.”