Shifting Nature of Leadership

As I have begun reading Theory U I noted Scharmer's comments about leadership with interest. I have discovered in facilitating discussions with pastors that the paradigms for leadership are still rooted in the 80s and 90s. Whereas at least some in the business world are beginning to realize that new paradigms are needed, we in the church are still relying, for the most part, on older business models. In challenging pastors to look to the metanarrative of Scripture to guide our understanding of the way we are to lead, I find that Scharmer, though not guided by a biblical metanarrative, presents a way of leading that has correlation with a Scriptural perspective.

So I found this quotation on p. 20 of interest:

"Our old leadership is crumbling similar to the way the Berlin Wall crumbled in 1989. What's necessary today is not only a new approach to leadership. We need to go beyond the concept of leadership. We must discover a more profound and practical integration of the head, heart, and hand -- of the intelligences of the open mind, open heart, and open will -- at both an individual and a collective level."

In heeding his encouragement to go beyond the concept of leadership I have been suggesting to pastors that we rediscover what we have been called to in the church by examining the concept of servantship to the same degree we have studied leadership (though we have primarily engaged leadership in terms of tasks and processes). I believe we will discover more deeply what we are called to than the concept of leadership ever can.

Roland

Thanks Roland

Thanks for setting up this blog, Roland. I look forward to reading and learning together.

Thanks for setting this up

Roland:

We are off and running. I will get the book in the mail to you and update you on the est of arrival. Thanks for setting this up for us.

Conversation Forum for Center for Parish Development Staff

As Center staff we decided that we want to enter into dialogue with one another on various subjects of interest.

For our first conversation we will read together Otto Scharmer's book Theory U: Leading from the future as it emerges (Cambridge, MA: Society of Organizational Learning, 2007)

As we read, we will share out thoughts and interact with one another through this blog.