Archive for June, 2011
Leadership and Argument
Among our challenges as Christians, one of the greatest is in navigating the tension that exists in the world of ideas. It has been my privilege to be at the Acton Institute’s Acton University this week. In one of the opening day’s sessions, Acton co-founder Rev. Robert Sirico related his recent experience writing a piece on the ever-polarizing Ayn Rand. Many of the responses to the article have been strident, but they only make Fr. Sirico’s point for him. (I’ll leave it to readers to discover his point for themselves.)
It is not the aim of this article to take up Ayn Rand’s defense, or that of Fr. Sirico, who is a polarizing figure in his own right. Rather, I want to make the point that Christian leaders need to be willing to enter into the world of ideas and to depart what is too often a world of caricatures. I come to Acton not because I agree absolutely with every presenter, but because it affords me the opportunity to hear presentations from those who capably argue their positions and to engage them myself. Read the rest of this entry »
Leadership Levels: Humility and Magnanimity
Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. -Philippians 2:3
Blessings to all on the feast of our Lord’s Ascension.
Returning to leadership matters, I posted last time about Maxwell’s five levels of leadership. I had some questions at the end, but I’m going to ignore those myself for a bit, in order to develop some more thoughts on this topic. At this point, my thinking may diverge from Maxwell’s. Make of that what you will.
Careful reflection reveals that a leader at a particular level always has the option to lead according to a lower level. As a hypothetical example, a leader at level 4 (who owes his stature to the respect garnered by developing other persons’ abilities) can choose to lead as though he were at level 1, for example, in a fit of pique, ordering rather than requesting a subordinate or teammate or church member to do something, “because I say so,” or “because I am the priest.” Read the rest of this entry »