Effective leadership in an ineffective culture
“Every time our church starts moving forward, something happens that sets us back. Our leadership just doesn’t seem to know how to get us over the hump to the next level,” lamented a key lay leader in one of our BCNE churches. I wish this was an isolated incident, but sadly, I have some version of this conversation often.
We live in an era when leadership is in great demand but short supply. The overwhelming challenges facing our culture have made being a leader harder than ever. Because of these challenges, some leaders have given up and are just maintaining the status quo until they can move somewhere else or retire.
Social media has empowered people to appear to be leaders without actually leading. These presumptive leaders can build a “platform” with no accountability and without having to verify if their stories accurately reflect their situation. Once they establish their platform, they use it to set unrealistic expectations for those who are actually leading. These unrealistic expectations cause those actually leading to be discouraged instead of empowered.
In light of these cultural challenges, and the prevalence of false leaders, those trying to actually lead are often confused about how to lead. In my experience, effective leaders need at least three key qualities.
1. A clear vision
To be an effective leader in our current age, one must have a clear vision of what you want to accomplish. There are many problems, challenges and difficulties leaders can help people overcome if the leader has a clear vision of what that solution looks like. But the vision must be clear because people won’t follow out of duty anymore. They want to know their efforts are going to make a difference. Effective leaders cast a vision for what that difference looks like.
2. A plan and the competence to accomplish the vision
People don’t just want a pie-in-the-sky vision that sounds exciting but never actually gets done. They want a leader who can bring the vision to reality. Lots of people can dream big, but fewer people can make the dream become reality. Effective leaders have the ability to craft a plan and also have the competence to work the plan to make the vision reality. Effective leaders don’t just dream, they do what it takes for the dream to become reality.
3. A long term aspect of the vision that remains after the leader is gone
There are many shortcuts leaders can take that appear to successfully accomplish the vision but do not stand the test of time. Visions established on shortcuts designed to give the appearance of immediate results rarely last long-term. Likewise, a vision built only on the strength of a leader’s personality is usually short-lived. There must be a long-term approach that includes leadership development, effective ways to pass the vision on to others and some healthy system or structure in place that will outlast the leader.
Leaders who have these three aspects built into their leadership style will be more effective than leaders without them. As we evaluate our own leadership styles, let us make sure these qualities are growing in our lives so that we can be effective leaders in an ineffective culture.
Dr. Terry W. Dorsett serves as the executive director of the Baptist Convention of New England.