This is the Person in Leadership Blog spot for students in the Person in Leadership class, spring 2011 at Ashland Theological Seminary. This blog will serve as a repository of knowledge on the subject of leadership for students in this class. Students ONLY are allowed to post and add comment on this blog. If you are not a student, you are welcome to read our blog, but we kindly ask that you refrain from participating. This activity is restricted as a class exercise.
Let's start talking about Leadership!
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Dr. Lawson
Looking forward to the class and the experience of blogging!
ReplyDeleteBreaking the mold. If you are like me, and have come to Christ late in life, be assured that there is a reason that you are being called to ministry. As followers of Christ, we are often times called to step outside of our comfort zone, to go against the norm. This can be quite intimidating. I would like to point to Ford Motor Company and the chance they took on their CEO. A number of years ago, Ford saw the need to make a change, their CEO at the time, a French guy, had been driving the company down hill. Bill Ford decided to take a chance and hire Bill Mullalley from Boeing. This was unheard of in the auto industry. No one had ever thought about hiring a non-automotive guy before. Mulalley had saved Boeing from going under as a result of the 9/11 attacks. FoMoCo took a chance and stepped outside of the box and as aresult they hit a home run. Ford was the only company that did not take a hand out from the Gov't when it came time for bail outs. There are many details that I am leaving out, but you get the picture. When Jesus called the disciples, they had to step outside of the box/boat as well. We all know the success story that came from those who followed. So my point is, if you think that its awkward stepping out of your comfort zone, that's normal. Just remember that staying in the norm or comfort zone does not make one grow or expand their horizons. It is good to be stretched, even when it might seem completely out of the ordinary.
ReplyDeleteBlessings Christopher
Ps: You can read more about Ford by googling them or auto world news.
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ReplyDelete“Excellent management can provide excellent results when working within an automated factory and working with machines; but excellent management will not always produce excellent results when dealing with people” (http://druckerphilosophy.com/2011/02/27/powerful-leadership-motivate-their-strengths/).
ReplyDeleteWhen I think of a manager I think of my first boss out of college who was only concerned with my performance and not my development. His main concern was that I met my monthly sales and that I was on time every morning. He seldom affirmed my strengths or challenged me to grow and develop. He was a manager who was concerned about production; not a leader who was focused on development. But how do we lead people rather than manage people? In the above blog, the author insists that leaders need to motivate and encourage people by focusing on people’s strengths rather than their weaknesses. The author claims that when a leader attempts to correct weaknesses, the leader wastes valuable time and often de-motivates people. The author insists that people are best motivated when their strengths are affirmed.
But is leadership primarily concerned with motivation? While I agree that leaders must identify, affirm, and develop the strengths of the individuals they are leading, I also think that leaders must address weakness; specifically when weaknesses demonstrate a need for character development. A leader’s primary goal should not be developing the maximum output of individuals but challenging individuals to develop in a holistic manner to be the people God is calling them to be. Now, I do think that we should be affirming our people’s strengths far more often than we should be challenging their weaknesses. However, if we only focus on developing people’s strengths, I think we are practicing a form of corporate leadership rather than biblical leadership.