Crutch or Coach: The Leaders Follower Dilemma
Being confident of this, that
he who began a good work in you will
carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6, NIV).
We are failing. Failing as
leaders and failing as followers of Christ.
Dr. Richard Krejcir (2005) said, “Growing in Christ is the key to
growing a church; following up, teaching, and mentoring new and seasoned
Christians are the keys to spiritual growth” (p. 1). The process of discipleship, aka mentoring,
training, coaching, and developing individuals into mature Christians, has
taken a backseat to the visually stunning and exciting moments of “altar-call”
conversions. As a result, the difficult,
yet irreplaceable, task of leading and developing people has been lost.
The art of discipleship swings back-and-forth like a pendulum from
being an absentee leader to one creating complete dependence. Obolensky’s “vicious circle for leaders”
highlights a systemic problem leader’s face when discipling men and women in
the church in the area of dependence.
Rather than empowering and facilitating independence, interdependence,
and self-confidence, leaders have made themselves indispensable and, in the
process, have become more of a crutch than a coach.
Obolensky’s (2010) “vicious circle for leaders” describes the
process in which follower’s continually check with leaders for approval. The leader’s response either encourages or
dissuades follower behavior. The model
demonstrates over time, that the follower’s confidence and development become
dependent on the leader’s instruction thereby inhibiting self-confidence and
courage. This vicious circle consists of
five steps set in a continual loop.
Step one begins when the follower “asks for advice and
demonstrates a low skill to the leader.”
Step two happens when the leader “gets concerned” and step three when
the leader “takes a more hands-on approach.”
After that, step four occurs when “the follower’s confidence grows in
connection to the leader” and finally, as a result, step five solidifies the
dependence when “followers thinks they must defer more.”
Does this happen in your organization?
Church culture speaks, encourages, and promotes discipleship. Jesus said, “Therefore, go and make disciples
of all nations” (Matthew 28:19, NIV). In
the process of making disciples, ministry leaders are often caught up into an
endless and “vicious circle” of care.
The circle in ministry looks similar to Obolensky in that a church
member expresses a need; the ministry leader is pulled into the individual’s
struggle; the leader offers encouragement and advice; and the individual then
applies it and things begin to look up.
Experiencing a breakthrough, the individual then leans heavily on the
leader for additional struggles and help.
As stated earlier, church leaders are in the “people-business” and
their hearts genuinely want to help.
This is encouraged. However, this
compassion and empathy must be tempered with boundaries and wisdom. Church leaders and pastors are not to step-in
and stand-in for every problem a member may face. Rather, they should help them understand it
is their “personal relationship” with God and the strength of their faith that should
help them mature and make right decisions.
What are the effects on the
organization?
The Bible regularly refers to people being like sheep. The Apostle Peter said, “For you were like sheep
going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your
souls” (1 Peter 2:25, NIV). In his
article In Praise of Followers,
Robert E. Kelley (2001) said, “Sheep are passive and uncritical, lacking in
initiative and sense of responsibility.
They perform the tasks given them and stop. Yes, people are a livelier but equally
unenterprising group. Dependent on a
leader for inspiration, they can be aggressively deferential, even servile” (p.
143).
Too often, church leaders create people dependent on pastors and
leaders. Rather than being conduits for
people to find their individual strength and purpose, pastors and leaders
answer every call, provide every answer, and rescue members from every
trouble. To be sure, leaders often assist
out of a pure motives. They desire to
help and to care for one another. And,
they should! However, it is incumbent
for leaders to know when to lean in and when to pull back.
This vicious circle of dependency creates a church of immature
Christians. Lacking spiritual
self-confidence and an ability to seek answers and solutions for themselves,
men and women flounder in the face of difficulties and their faith weakens in
the process.
Create a new circle that would promote strong followership and
even leadership at the lower levels of the organization.
A leader never stops learning. In a healthy environment, both leader and
follower are learning together; absent power, intimidation, and
insecurity. One of the most successful
models and circles of discipleship that I have used extensively is Rick
Warren’s model from Saddleback Church.
It is formed like a baseball
diamond with four stages.
They are:
1. Committed
to Membership – Knowing Christ. At this stage, new believers and members
attend a course that helps them understand their recent conversion and the
structure of the church.
2. Committed
to Maturity – Growing in Christ. At this stage, members begin to pursue and
develop in spiritual maturity. They
study the Bible, attend community groups, and meet regularly with a spiritual
mentor and coach.
3. Committed
to Ministry – Serving Christ. At stage three, members have made their
commitment a steady and disciplined part of their life. They begin to step into leadership positions,
delve deeper into their faith, and most importantly, they start focusing on
intentionally serving others.
4. Committed
to Missions – Sharing Christ. The final stage is a place where mature
Christian begin to actively disciple and lead others. This is where their life purpose and
activities begin to flourish and take form.
The title “final stage” is somewhat
of a misnomer because a disciple never completes the growth process. However, they are less and less dependent on
others for their spiritual growth and have matured to a place of self-sufficiency,
i.e., they no longer depend on pastors and leaders for their spiritual
“nourishment” but have taken responsibility for their own progress.
Steve
References:
Kelley, R.E. (1998). In Praise of
Followers. Harvard Business Review, 66(6),
142-148.
Krejcir, R.J. (2005). The Importance
of Discipleship and Growth. Retrieved from
Warren, R. (1995). Purpose driven church. Grand Rapids, MI:
Zondervan.
No comments:
Post a Comment