Plus ça change...

I'm ploughing my way through the Lord Green Steering Group report 'Talent Management for Future Leaders and Leadership Development for Bishops and Deans: A New Approach'. Now there's a title to excite you about the mission of the church in C21st. I first heard of the report in a Church Times article published last Friday and the report has been put up on the Thinking Anglicans blog. The Church Times also carried a robust critique of the report from one of those it is aimed at, Martyn Percy the  Dean of Christ Church, Oxford.

I'm not sure of the status of the report; some people have seen it and others are completely in the dark. Has it been published? Bishop Pete Broadbent has suggested that if you are in the loop on these things then you will have seen it. I'm fairly well networked in the C of E and I hadn't heard of it until last week, but then I'm just a parish priest so... . Is this how we handle significant reports in the Church of England these days? If so then plus ça change. The response across social media has been mixed and largely based on selective reporting. My own initial response was one of real disappointment, not because I don't believe that leadership training is important, it is, but because of the tone and language of the reports about the report. I will read the report thoroughly and discuss it with colleagues before commenting on its content further.

I would, however, make one observation. The report argues for a much more professional approach to senior church leadership, including change management. If the publication or not of this report is anything to go by, then the first people on the new courses need to be those who are responsible for the way this process has been handled because it has been nothing short of a joke.

Head down and mouth shut

Anyone involved in leadership in public ministry knows there are times when a decision has to be made that may seem on the surface to be wrong, unfair or unpopular. I can think of times in the parish and in my current training role, for example, when I have had to ask someone to step back or step down from ministry. It may be that the person’s personal or family circumstances have changed, or that they have done something which compromises their ability to minister or that they are suffering ill health, there are plenty of reasons. For the individual’s benefit and for the well being of the wider church a decision is taken.

The problem is that for very good pastoral reasons it may not be appropriate for others to know why the person has been withdrawn. To the congregation, parishioners or their colleagues in training, the action may appear arbitrary and unjust. I’ve known the frustration of seeing action taken against someone and feeling it has been unreasonable, though I may not have been appraised of the full facts. But I’ve also had to take action and keep my mouth shut, even when people are accusing me of being unreasonable at best or a ‘little Hitler’ to quote a more extreme response. I’ve wanted to say to the critic, ‘well if you knew this then you wouldn’t be saying that’ but I can’t and I won’t because it might be very damaging to the individual concerned. This is one of the responsibilities and challenges of leadership in ministry.

I learnt an important lesson early in ministry. When I was a curate and someone asked me something difficult or a challenging situation arose, I had the fall back position of saying ‘ask the vicar’. When I became a vicar I discovered that sometimes I had to say no or to make a hard choice, even if it made me unpopular. I could give plenty of examples but I won’t because it would not be appropriate. Those of you in positions of leadership can fill in the blanks.

So the next time I see a senior colleague, say a bishop in the metropolis, taking flak over a decision or a course of action and my temptation is to fire up the computer and express my righteous indignation in blog or tweet, I hope I can take a moment to remember the times I’ve been on the receiving end. It’s hard to keep one’s head down and mouth shut rather than indulge in bouts of self justification but that’s part of the job.

hit the ground kneeling (5)

I spent a very enjoyable time a couple of Saturday mornings ago with some other twits on Twitter. We ended up in a conversation comprised of quotes from The Italian Job. There was one particular quote which stuck in my mind:
Charlie Croker (Michael Caine): It's a very difficult job and the only way to get through it is we all work together as a team. And that means you do everything I say.

The quote seems to sum up many people's approach to leadership and team working, not least in the church. The ideal leader is often presented as a charismatic, dynamic person who others are willing to follow or at least expected to follow. For a long time ordination training bought in to this understanding of leadership; the clergy person as the omnicompetent leader doing everything. Team working and collaboration were given lip service but often meant little more than the vicar having a few helpers who did what s/he said. My heart sinks every time I hear someone exploring a vocation to ministry utter the words ‘well the vicar needs a bit of help’. I hear it far too often and it is sadly sometimes perpetuated by clergy.

This style of leadership reflects an unhealthy symbiotic relationship between clergy and congregations. The vicar is affirmed in their sense of worth, purpose and need to be in charge and the congregation can sit back and let him or her get on with it and if it all goes wrong they have someone to blame. For those interested W. R. Bion has some very interesting inights into this type of behaviour in his work on Experiences in Groups.

Stephen Cottrell calls for a different approach to leadership. In Spoiling The Broth the fifth chapter in his book Hit The Ground Kneeling, +Stephen’s vision of Christian leadership ‘is one that is always drawing more people in, helping them discover their gifts, and constantly expanding and sharing leadership.’

However, this approach to leadership is not an easy option. It involves being prepared to take risks:
‘If we have decided that the only worthwhile goal of our enterprise is success, then it follows that the biggest enemy is failure. But if our goal is to enable each member of the organisation or community to discover their part within the whole – that is, if we hope to be successful and fruitful, but don’t turn it into an idol to which everything else must submit – then it is OK to fail; it is OK to make mistakes; it is OK to take risks.’

Leadership committed to working with others also recognises that everyone has gifts and a part to play. It celebrates the contribution that others make to the whole instead of seeing them as a threat. ‘The cherishing of the gifts of others – even if they outshine us in their own areas – is a vital gift of leadership.’

To return to the film with which I began this post; The Italian Job ends (spoiler alert) with Charlie and his gang in a coach balanced precariously over the edge of a cliff. The gold bullion they have stolen is at one end of the coach and they are all at the other end. No one can move because it will disturb the balance of the coach. How are they going to get out of this dilemma without loosing the gold or their lives? Well it might be that one of the gang has a brilliant idea but the question is this: will s/he have the confidence to share their idea and even if they did would Charlie listen or is he the only one allowed to say ‘Hang on lads; I’ve got a great idea’.

hit the ground kneeling (4)

One of the most striking features of the banking crisis of the last year and more is the fact that so many organisations lost sight of their primary purpose. Building Societies demutualised, chased the high dividends of risky investments and made disastrous acquisitions. They forgot that they were established as mutual societies offering savings and loans to the local communities where they were located. Sadly those same local communities have borne a great deal of the pain of failure in massive redundancies. These companies were betrayed by the hubris of the leaders entrusted with their management who lost focus on what the businesses were all about.

Stating The Obvious is the fourth chapter in Stephen Cottrell’s book Hit the Ground Kneeling:
It is not necessarily the dazzling brilliant insight that marks out the best leaders, but the ability to do the very thing that so many people wearily tell us we mustn’t do: state the obvious.

It is the task of leadership to articulate vision and endlessly recall the community or organisation to its fundamental purpose and values.

A simple test for a Parochial Church Council is to ask it to draw up a mission statement. That sounds like the sort of management speak that Cottrell seeks to debunk, but if a church can’t have a mission statement then we really are in trouble. What is the vision for which the local church exists and how do the activities and practices of the church serve that vision? Does the way the worship space is laid out communicate what the church is about? Does the budget reflect the church’s priorities and values? Would an outsider encountering the church, both building and people, know what the purpose of the church is? The role of the Christian leader is to raise these questions and to work with the church in discovering or recovering its vision. And to work with others in identifying the appropriate ways forwards in order to realise that vision.

Values are also crucial for Cottrell and again the leader has a key role to play:
These values, which define and shape how we do our business, are principles that the community needs to discern together, so that they are truly a shared manifesto. The job of the leader is to articulate and embody both the vision and the values so that they are transparent in the life that person leads and are also the foundation of everything else that happens.

There is a great deal of cynicism about those serving as leaders in public life. People are rightly suspicious of those who purport to espouse certain values and ideals but who seem to be prepared to employ some pretty disreputable methods in order to achieve their goals. I happen to think that most of our leaders serving in public office and those seeking public office genuinely do so for the right reasons, but sometimes their actions contradict their lofty ideals; they don’t embody their values and therefore their statements are in danger of coming across as mere propaganda.

Lesslie Newbigin in his brilliant book The Gospel in a Pluralist Society warns of the problem the church faces in people being suspicious of anyone speaking public truth; people treating what is said as little more than propaganda. We must ensure that the values that we declare and live out really do accord with our vision. Newbigin calls this The Congregation as the Hermeneutic of the Gospel:
I am suggesting that the only answer, the only hermeneutic of the gospel, is a congregation of men and women who believe it and live by it.

hit the ground kneeling (3)

Letting the grass grow under your feet. Actually I’m pretty good at this as my wife will testify. Around this time of year the patch of grass I dare to call a lawn is in need of a cut and I find all sorts of excuses to avoid the trip to the garage to dust down the mower. It’s a sit down job and should be a pleasure but the battery needs charging, the tyres pumped up yada, yada, yada…

Letting the grass grow under your feet is the third chapter of +Stephen Cottrell’s book, Hit The Ground Kneeling, in which he calls for the Christian leader to create space and time for prayer and what he calls 'reconnecting with the vision'. This is done in daily prayer and in a regular pattern of days set aside for the purpose. It doesn’t need saying that this should be a priority, a discipline and commitment, but it does need saying because I find it so hard to do. This is not about doing nothing, although the phrase may give that impression; it demands an effort of will to be still and to rest in God’s presence and it reaps dividends.

'The wonderful thing about this sort of prayer is that it is gloriously affirming; I rest in the presence of God and know myself to be a precious part of God’s creation, but not its centre.'

For +Stephen a monthly away day can be a way of getting back in touch with first love. Reflecting on John’s words to the church in Ephesus Revelation 2:2-5 he comments:

'Whenever I read these words I feel as if they are addressed to me. For I know that I do work hard. I know that I endure and sometimes I even do it patiently! But the real complaint is this: “You have abandoned the love you had at first.” It is returning to this love that will be the seedbed for renewal and change in the future. And all I need to do is find time to remember.'

The secret I’m discovering, or I should say recovering, at the heart of this little book is not inaction, but discerning and prioritising the right sort of action. In order to exercise any kind of fruitful, transforming and enabling leadership, the first foundation stone we lay must be space and time.

hit the ground kneeling (2)

In the second chapter of Hit The Ground Kneeling +Stephen Cottrell debunks another management speak phrase which has crept into thinking about Christian leadership: ‘I need to make my mark’. Cottrell argues that this is not the object of leadership, at least not in the way the phrase is usually understood.

Instead he argues that the aim of leadership is:
‘To enable others to do their very best and to achieve their fullest potential, and for the purpose of your organisation – whatever it is – to be advanced.’
I find this view of Christian Leadership both attractive and liberating. It frees one from the pressure of continually trying to prove oneself to parishioners, colleagues and senior staff and from seeking affirmation of one’s ministry by meeting a false set of criteria. It also affirms a conviction that leadership is to be exercised in collaboration with others not in competition over against others.

This view of leadership challenges a very unpleasant feature of leadership models in which success is measured over and against others. Take for example the television programme The Apprentice. The whole presupposition of the show is that the best apprentice will be the one who succeeds over a period of weeks in out performing the other competitors. On the way the budding apprentices are given tasks where it appears they are working together but actually they are competing with each other and so cliques form, people ‘stitch each other up’, sometimes lie or consciously subvert the task in order to undermine a colleague. Occasionally this behaviour leads to the eviction of the perpetrator but often such behaviour is rewarded. It can make for entertaining T.V., however, I find myself questioning the aims and values of a leader and organisation that encourages such qualities.

So where does one look for affirmation if it is not to be found in making my mark? Cottrell points back to the Baptism of Jesus.
‘For Jesus, this affirmation, which is the wellspring of his ministry, comes in a single defining moment, the effects of which are felt for the rest of his life. As he surfaces out of the waters of baptism, he hears a voice from heaven say, “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased” (Mark 1:11)’

Affirmation in leadership comes from knowing that we are known and loved by the Father and it is out of our relationship with him that all else flows. This does not mean that the Christian leader doesn’t have tasks and responsibilities; it does mean that success in leadership is not measured by the mark that I make and have been known to make in a particular context.

‘The Christian leader – whatever the organisation – can be the still point at the centre of the maelstrom, the one whose judgement can be trusted, the one who is not seeking her own ends or his own self-advancement, but cares for those in their charge. Such leaders have an inner security and peace that is both a gift from God and the most important gift they can bestow on others: they are leaders who allow themselves to be led.’

hit the ground kneeling (1)

I heard Stephen Cottrell, Bishop of Reading, speak at an area clergy study day about a year ago. He explained that as part of his job he gets to see lots of parish profiles; job descriptions for churches seeking a new vicar. Many of them say they want a vicar who is going to hit the ground running but what + Stephen wants is someone who is going to hit the ground kneeling!

Hit The Ground Kneeling is the name of + Stephen's latest book. It’s a small book, only 81 pages, but covers some big issues connected with Christian leadership. I opened the book as I started a train journey today and given its length thought I could read about half of it before reaching my destination. However, the book opens with the suggestion in the introduction that even though it is a little book it is a book to be read slowly. So with that in mind I read the first chapter Jumping Off The Bandwagon.

The basic premise of the first chapter is that a key skill in leadership is listening.
'More than anything else the wise leader, the leader who values the contributions of others and is prepared to let things happen at the right place, is someone who dares to listen….. And good listening takes time'.

I finished the chapter and wondered what to do next to occupy my journey. I’d left my Ipod at home; there was Tom Wright’s book Surprised By Hope which I have been working my way through or some papers I could read. And then I thought: why don’t I spend the rest of the journey putting into practice what I have been reading? So I did and by the time I arrived at my stop I felt it had been time well spent. These words quoted by + Stephen provided particular food for listening and reflection:

'The central question is, are the leaders of the future truly men and women of God, people with an ardent desire to dwell in God’s presence, to listen to God’s voice, to look upon God’s beauty, to touch God’s incarnate Word and to taste fully God’s infinite goodness?...... Their leadership must be rooted in the permanent, intimate relationship with the Incarnate Word, Jesus, and they need to find there source for their words, advice and guidance. Through the discipline of contemplative prayer, Christian leaders have to listen again and again to the voice of love and to find there the wisdom and courage to address whatever issue presents itself to them.'
Henri Nouwen. In the Name of Jesus: Reflections on Christian Leadership.

Seems obvious and surely we should take this as read but reading is one thing, putting it into practice is a different matter.

the undefended leader - sabbatical (2)

My sabbatical began on Saturday 18^th October, though I have only just finished tidying up a couple of pieces of outstanding work. The last few weeks have been fairly exhausting for a variety of reasons; getting everything sorted in the office; visiting school open days in preparation for my daughter’s applications to secondary schools; engaging in a demanding process which had been hanging around for a few months and which has raised various questions for me, not least about my leadership style. Then just as the sabbatical started the whole family went down with a nasty stomach bug which left us all drained and grateful for half term so we could all relax and recover.

Anyway, the main focus of the first week (apart from dealing with family sickness and dihorrea) was participation in a course called The Undefended Leader. I had been aware of this course for some time and a colleague at work who had participated in the course recommended it. The opportunity came up to participate and I thought it would be a good way in to the sabbatical and I was not disappointed.

The Undefended Leader has been developed by Simon Walker and explores our understanding and practice of formation for leadership in ministry, though the same principles have also been used with leaders from a whole range of professions. I’ll try and explain something of the philosophy / theology undergirding the approach and the process as I experienced it. As participation on the course depended on trust and confidentiality I will only refer directly to what happened to me on the course and will try and reflect on some of my own experience and response.

The basic premise of the course is drawn from Genesis 3 and argues that as a consequence of the fracturing of relationships with God, the world around us, our relationships with others and self we each experience the environment around us as unsafe. In this context we develop responses and strategies, leadership egos, which help us to process and make sense of the world around us and try to make it safe. Much of this goes on subconsciously and has an impact on our personality and on our leadership styles. By exploring our personality profile and leadership styles and strategies we can begin to identify strengths, weaknesses and areas where we might respond more effectively and appropriately. An underlying question raised by the course is what is the most important area of development for me as a person and as a leader at this time?

The approach to personality types is different from some others that I have come across as it assumes that our personality types are not given or fixed but can change and develop over time with careful and prayerful attention. This resonated with me because it suggests a need to take responsibility for development and ongoing formation while also emphasising that change is possible by the grace of God.

The course consisted of four days spread out over a week and used a variety of processes and approaches. Before the course began I was invited to complete a landscaping exercise on line and from this a Personal Ecology Profile was drawn up. I’ve done several of these type of profiles before, though the landscaping approach was new to me, and my approach tends to be to just do it and not try and analyse / guess what is being asked of me and why.

During the course aspects of the PEP profile were explored in the light of input about the approach. The course included plenary sessions with teaching about aspects of The Undefended Leader; one to one sessions with a facilitator considering aspects of my personal profile; smaller group discussions; and a sculpting exercise with others in the smaller group.

The first day explored some general principles about leadership formation and the public and private character of leadership. The central image is that each of us has a front (public) stage and a back (private) stage; what we present to others and what we reserve to ourselves. The shape and size of these stages will be different for each of us and some will feel more comfortable on one stage than the other. I found this language particularly helpful and a useful way of talking about and exploring the public and private aspects of my personality traits and leadership style.

The second day developed exploration of the profile and focused on how we see ourselves in relation to others and the established patterns of behaviour we tend towards related to our circumstances. I found this to be the most challenging aspect of the process as it tended to conflict with other feedback I had received about my personality and leadership style. Towards the end of the day I felt I had two choices; either to question the process or to go with it and see what it threw up. However, the choice was taken out of my hands because the next evening I caught what the rest of the family had been suffering from and spent the night being violently sick. As a consequence I spent the next day in bed sleeping and giving no thought to the course or my profile. The rest did me a lot of good and I think a great deal of processing of information and reaction to the course had been going on in the background.

After the two day break the third day was what I took to be the core of the course. In the smaller group we spent the day with Simon Walker learning more about The Undefended Leader and how it came about. The main focus of the day was an exercise where each member of the group was asked in turn to create a sculpture or tableaux of how we saw our ministry and leadership. I had half an hour to create the sculpture using both objects in the room and the other members of the group and then to explore what I had created and to reflect on where I saw God in the sculpture and where I felt He might be asking me to be. The half hour session finished with a time of prayer which I found both affirming and encouraging. This technique, which I believe comes from metaphor therapy, was a fascinating approach which I had not come across before. One of the most interesting personal insights was the way in which I had become much more comfortable exploring aspects of my profile that previously I had wanted to question.

The final day was fairly light and wrapped up the work done during the rest of the week and briefly introduced some material on leadership and power – how we exercise our leadership in the light of our personality profile and what strategies we employ. This is where the meat is to be found for me and I will need to think about how I can explore and develop my understanding of this in the future.

Overall, the course lived up to my hopes and expectations. It confirmed some insights I already had regarding my leadership style but also brought to the surface some things I had not realised were there or had chosen not to examine in detail. I would be interested to see how this approach plays out in secular contexts given that I felt prayer was an indispensible part of the process.

The Undefended Leader - Leading out of Who You Are
The Undefended Leader - Leading with Nothing to Lose