{"id":21602,"date":"1998-01-01T00:00:00","date_gmt":"1998-01-01T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/1998\/01\/01\/finding-your-leadership-style\/"},"modified":"1998-01-01T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"1998-01-01T00:00:00","slug":"finding-your-leadership-style","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/content\/finding-your-leadership-style\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding Your Leadership Style"},"content":{"rendered":"

A<\/strong> few years ago, I began to notice major differences\nin the ways gifted leaders led their teams. They all had the spiritual gift\nof leadership referred to in Romans 12:8, but they approached the challenges\nof leadership differently.<\/p>\n\n

About the time I was making this observation, the management team at Willow\nCreek gave me a leadership book for my birthday. (The year before, they had\nhired an Elvis impersonator, who burst into my office during a meeting to\nserenade me. Elvis discovered my leadership style in a hurry. He barely made\nit out of my office with his blue suede shoes.)<\/p>\n\n

This year they gave me a more appropriate gift\u2014Certain Trumpets<\/em>,\nby Garry Wills. Wills describes the enormous impact of great leaders whose\nparticular leadership style meshed perfectly with a certain need in society.<\/p>\n\n

For example, when people are being oppressed and want to break free from\nthat yoke, the situation calls for a radical, transforming leader.<\/p>\n\n

In a complex, pluralistic democracy, with thousands of constituencies that\nmust be drawn together to form a government, a political or electoral leader\nis necessary.<\/p>\n\n

In war time, a military style of leadership works best.<\/p>\n\n

During an ideologically intense social struggle, an intellectual leader might\nfit the bill.<\/p>\n\n

Wills effectively argues that there are many different styles of leadership,\nand certain styles fit certain leadership needs better than others.<\/p>\n\n

Over the last few years, I’ve identified at least ten manifestations of the\nleadership gift as it plays out in the church. It’s been helpful to our staff\nto identify our leadership styles and build leadership teams accordingly.<\/p>\n\n

1. Visionary leader<\/strong>\nThese leaders have a crystal-clear picture in their minds of what they want\nto happen. They cast visions powerfully and possess indefatigable enthusiasm\nto pursue the mission.<\/p>\n\n

Visionaries shamelessly appeal to anyone and everyone to get on board with\nthe vision. They talk about it, write about it, burn white-hot for it. They\nare future-oriented, usually idealistic, and full of faith to believe the\nvision can and will be actualized if the dream is talked about and cast often\nenough.<\/p>\n\n

Visionary leaders are not easily discouraged or deterred. In fact, if people\ntell them their dream is impossible, that just adds fuel to the fire in their\nspirit.<\/p>\n\n

Visionary leaders may or may not be able to form teams, align talents, set\ngoals, or manage progress toward the achievement of the vision. But this\none thing is sure: They carry the vision. They cast the vision. They draw\npeople into the vision, and they’ll die trying to see it fulfilled.<\/p>\n\n

I was at a conference with John Maxwell some time back. John was teaching\non vision, and he started his talk on one side of the sanctuary to symbolize\nthe beginning of the vision.<\/p>\n\n

“You have no money, you have no people, you have no faith, but you have the\nvision. So you put one foot in front of the other, and you walk, by the light\nof the vision . …” He began to walk across the stage.<\/p>\n\n

“Then, along the way, as you share that vision, God gives you the faith,\nthe power, the people, the resources . …” Everyone’s eyes were riveted\non John as he made this vision walk. But there was a planter between where\nhe was and where he was headed. Inside, I’m screaming, Watch out for the\nplanter! <\/em>John never saw it. He ran into it and stumbled\u2014but the vision\nwas so powerful that he never stopped speaking, never lost his train of thought.\nI was looking around the crowd, and no one else even seemed to notice!<\/p>\n\n

You know a person is a visionary leader when he trips on the stage and no\none even acknowledges it! It was a picture of the leader who cannot help\nbut pour out the vision, despite any obstacle.<\/p>\n\n

2. Directional leader<\/strong>\nThis style doesn’t get much press, but it is exceedingly important. The\ndirectional leader has the uncanny, God-given ability to choose the right\npath at those critical intersections where an organization starts asking\nhard questions: “Is it time for a wholesale change or should we stay the\ncourse? Do we focus on growth or consolidation? Should we start new ministries\nor deepen and improve existing ones? Should we add facilities or relocate?\nIs it time for some fresh staff, or do we dance with those who brought us\nhere?”<\/p>\n\n

These are directional issues, and they are capable of immobilizing an\norganization. But a leader with a directional style is able to sort the options.\nHe or she can carefully assess the values, mission, strengths, weaknesses,\nresources, personnel, and openness to change of an organization\u2014then, with\nremarkable wisdom, point that organization in the right direction.<\/p>\n\n

Wrong calls at these key intersections can wreck organizations. Shortly after\nSolomon’s death, his son Rehoboam became king. His first critical intersection\ncame almost immediately: a representative group of the people asked for their\nworkloads to be reduced. Solomon had worked people to the point of despair.\nRehoboam had to make a directional call. The older counselors said, “You’d\nbetter ease up on them.” The younger counselors said, “Just load them up.”\nHe made the wrong call at that intersection, and it wrecked the kingdom.<\/p>\n\n

When Willow Creek is at such a crossroads, I will not move in the direction\nI believe God is calling us without the green light from two board members\nwho are strong in directional leadership. Whenever we’ve followed their lead,\nwe’ve made good decisions. Whenever we’ve ignored their advice, we’ve paid\na high price.<\/p>\n\n

3. Strategic leader<\/strong>\nSome leaders have the God-given ability to break an exciting vision into\nachievable steps, so an organization can march intentionally toward the\nactualization of their mission.<\/p>\n\n

Visions are powerful. Visions excite and inspire people. They compel action.\nBut unless people eventually see progress toward the fulfillment of the vision,\nthey conclude the vision caster is just blowing smoke.<\/p>\n\n

A strategic leader forms a game plan everyone can understand and participate\nin, one that will eventually lead to the achievement of the vision. A strategic\nleader challenges the organization to work the plan. She says, “Don’t get\ndistracted. Do what needs to be done to achieve the next step, then the next,\nand we’ll achieve the vision together.” A strategic leader is able to get\nvarious departments of an organization synchronized so that the organization\nis focused toward the prize.<\/p>\n\n

The vision of Willow Creek has been compelling for more than twenty years.\nBut it has been a seven-step strategy, put together by leaders in the early\ndays of our church, that has helped us move toward the achievement of that\nvision.<\/p>\n\n

4. Managing leader<\/strong>\nThere is always discussion in leadership circles about the differences between\nmanagement and leadership. You’ve heard, “Managers do things right; leaders\ndo the right things,” and other delineations.<\/p>\n\n

Those may be helpful, but I’m convinced certain leaders possess the unique\nability to establish mile markers on the road to the destination, then organize\nand monitor people, processes, systems, and resources for mission achievement.\nOld Testament examples include Joseph and Nehemiah.<\/p>\n\n

What’s most amazing to those who don’t have this style is that managing leaders\nderive enormous satisfaction from doing all this managing!<\/p>\n\n

You’d be surprised how many visionary leaders are inept at managing people,\nprocesses, and systems. Many directional and strategic leaders are incapable\nof actually putting the players, resources, and systems in place for the\ngoals of the organization to be achieved.<\/p>\n\n

I’ve often said around our church, “Sooner or later someone’s going to have\nto manage all of this stuff.” We’ve always had an abundance of visionary,\ndirectional, and strategic leaders, but we’ve always had a shortage of managing\nleaders. That has hurt us all along the way.<\/p>\n\n

Managing leaders often aren’t as popular as the leader who can give the big\nvision talk or make the big decision around the board-room table or put the\nbig plan in place. But in the day-to-day world, someone has to manage the\nprocess to make sure we get where we want to go.<\/p>\n\n

5. Motivational leader<\/strong>\nThese leaders possess insight into who needs a fresh challenge or additional\ntraining. They can sense who needs public recognition, an encouraging word,\nor a day off. They know when a pay increase, office change, title change,\nor sabbatical is needed.<\/p>\n\n

Unfortunately, some view the motivational style as a lightweight style of\nleadership. Well, just ask team members how important it is to receive ongoing\ninspiration!<\/p>\n\n

I will follow a leader who will fire me up, call out the best in me, celebrate\nmy accomplishments, and cheer my progress, even if it means a lower-voltage\nvision, an occasional bad call at a crossroads, or a periodic lapse of managerial\neffectiveness.<\/p>\n\n

Motivational leaders know that teammates get tired, lose focus, and experience\nmission drift. Workers wonder if what they’re doing really matters to anyone\u2014or\nto God. Motivational leaders don’t get bitter or vengeful when morale sinks.\nThey see it as an opportunity to inspire and lift the spirits of everyone\non the team.<\/p>\n\n

Jesus was a consistent motivator of the disciples. He changed Peter’s name.\nHe promised his followers a hundred-fold reward in this life and in the next.\nOften, Jesus would take the disciples away and say, “Let’s not take a hill.\nLet’s sleep at the bottom of one. Let’s go fishing, eat, and hang out.”<\/p>\n\n

Some of our teammates would love more than anything else a day with their\nleader around a campfire in an unrushed setting, instead of always being\nunder our command.<\/p>\n\n

Remember the time Jesus said, “I call you friends”? He always promised them,\n“In my Father’s house are many mansions. I can’t imagine spending eternity\nwithout you people around me. You’ll be with me forever.”<\/p>\n\n

Don’t ever look down on yourself if God has given you the motivational style.<\/p>\n\n

6. Shepherding leader<\/strong>\nThis man or woman loves team members so deeply, nurtures them so gently,\nsupports them so consistently, listens to them so patiently, and prays for\nthem so diligently that the mission of the team gets achieved. It happens\nprimarily because of good will in the hearts of those who have been cared\nfor by the shepherd.<\/p>\n\n

I’m on the board of World Vision, an organization that has fed starving children\nfor more than thirty years. They’ve had several different presidents, and\nconstituents have supported the vision, regardless of who was at the helm.<\/p>\n\n

It’s a different dynamic with shepherding leaders and their teams. Team members\nsupport their shepherd<\/em>, and teammates often feel, Whatever cause\nis important to the leader is fine with me. If it’s broadly Christian, if\nwe can accomplish it in community, if we can retain our shepherd, we’ll do\nit<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n

Second Samuel 23 records David’s leadership in the early days. He drew together\nthe lonely and disaffected, then shepherded them deeply and lovingly. One\nnight, he happened to mention that he was thirsty, but his troops were surrounded\nby the enemy. Three members of his team risked their lives to sneak behind\nenemy lines to bring David a jar of water. When they gave him the water,\nhe was so moved by their expression of love that he poured it out as a worship\noffering.<\/p>\n\n

While there are many cause-driven people waiting to be drawn into a mission\nby a visionary leader, there are surprising numbers of community-driven people\nwho want to be shepherded and loved. When they are, they will joyfully pursue\nalmost any kingdom purpose. If you can shepherd a group of people, you’re\na leader, and you can really make a difference.<\/p>\n\n

7. Team-building leader<\/strong>\nTeam-building leaders have supernatural insight into people. They find or\ndevelop leaders with the right abilities, character, and chemistry with other\nteam members. They place people in the right positions for the right reasons\nwho will then produce the right results.<\/p>\n\n

When the team-building leader gets everyone in place, he or she then says\nto the team, “You know what we’re trying to do. You know what part of the\nmission you’re responsible for. You know what part of the vision the rest\nof us are responsible for. So head out. Work hard. Achieve your objectives.\nCommunicate with your co-laborers, but lead.”<\/p>\n\n

The team-building leader might not nurture or manage people well. He or she\nreasons that shouldn’t be necessary. If the right people are in the right\nslots doing the right things for the right reasons, they’ll get the work\ndone without the leader looking over their shoulder. Few things are as exciting\nto me as drawing together the right people, putting them in the right positions,\nthen letting that team play hard and have fun.<\/p>\n\n

8. Entrepreneurial leader<\/strong>\nThese leaders possess vision, boundless energy, and a risk-taking spirit.\nTheir distinguishing characteristic is they function best in a start-up\noperation. They love being told it cannot be done.<\/p>\n\n

But once the effort requires steady, ongoing leadership\u2014once things get\ncomplex and there are endless discussions about policies, systems, controls,\nand databases\u2014the entrepreneurial leader loses energy and may even lose\nfocus and confidence. He or she starts to peek over the fence and wonder\nif there’s another start-up project out there.<\/p>\n\n

Entrepreneurs often feel guilty at the thought of leaving something they\ngave birth to. But if they think, I can’t give birth to something every\nfew years<\/em>, something inside them starts to die. That’s their style. It’s\nimportant in the kingdom.<\/p>\n\n

The apostle Paul was an entrepreneurial leader. He wanted to build churches\nwhere Christ had not been named. He wanted to pioneer them, then let someone\nelse run them so he could move on. He made no apologies for his leadership\nstyle.<\/p>\n\n

9. Re-engineering leader<\/strong>\nSome leaders thrive in a situation that has lost vision or focus, or one\nthat has been staffed inappropriately. This kind of leader says, “Oh boy,\nI get to re-engineer this whole situation.” They find out what the mission\nwas and what it needs to be now. They decide how progress and success will\nbe measured. They love to tune up, heal, and revitalize hurting organizations.<\/p>\n\n

But when the group is running on eight cylinders, re-engineering leaders\nmay not want to lead over the long haul. Often, rather than manage what they’ve\nre-engineered, they look for another project to overhaul. When they find\none, they salivate. “Would you look at that train wreck? I’d love to get\nmy hands on all that twisted metal and human carnage. I could really sort\nthat out and make something great out of that.”<\/p>\n\n

10. Bridge-building leader<\/strong>\nThis leader brings a wide variety of constituencies together under a single\numbrella of leadership so that a complex organization can achieve its mission.<\/p>\n\n

This feat requires enormous flexibility in a leader\u2014the ability to compromise\nand negotiate, to listen, understand, and think outside of the box. It requires\nnot only the ability to be diplomatic; it requires also the gift of being\nable to relate to diverse people.<\/p>\n\n

In a start-up venture, a leader is surrounded by those who share his or her\nvision. Contrast that with a church or parachurch organization made up of\nscores of well-defined constituencies, many of whom care little about the\noverall vision of the ministry anymore. They just want to make sure their\ninterests are served.<\/p>\n\n

I talked to a pastor who said, “I’m dying. The choir wants new designer robes.\nThe youth want a new gymnasium. The missions department wants to give more\nmoney away. The Sunday school department wants more classrooms. The production\npeople want more equipment. The seniors want large-print hymnals, and the\nGen Xers want to turn the board room into a cappuccino bar.”<\/p>\n\n

The variety and velocity of those requests had him imagining each of those\nsubministries as the enemy. But that situation fires up a bridge-building\nleader. A bridge builder becomes the best friend and advocate of all the\nconstituent groups. He or she seeks to unite them and focus their efforts.<\/p>\n\n

Beyond envy<\/strong>\nIt concerns me that there is a certain amount of “gift envy” among church\nleaders these days. God gave each of us our gift mix for a reason. When leaders\nadopt someone else’s style, they miss the unique opportunities God has given\nthem.<\/p>\n\n

I celebrate when I look around the world and see flourishing churches of\nall kinds, with many different types of leaders, because it’s going to take\na variety of churches led by a variety of leaders to reach our world with\nthe love of Christ.<\/p>\n\n

Whatever your style, recognize it, celebrate it, and step up to the plate\nand lead.<\/p>\n\n

Bill Hybels is pastor of Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois.<\/p>\n\n

Copyright © 1998 by the author or Christianity Today\/Leadership<\/em> Journal. For reprint information call 630-260-6200 or contact us<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A few years ago, I began to notice major differences in the ways gifted leaders led their teams. They all had the spiritual gift of leadership referred to in Romans 12:8, but they approached the challenges of leadership differently. About the time I was making this observation, the management team at Willow Creek gave me Read more…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"tax_ctp_authors":[921],"tax_ctp_books":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[154],"tax_ctp_field_guide_subcategory":[],"tax_ctp_field_guides":[],"tax_ctp_format":[131],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[658,156,662],"tax_ctp_tags":[4498,4604,4606,4608,4679,4919,5046,5048,5127,5242],"tax_ctp_topics":[],"class_list":["post-21602","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tax_ctp_authors-bill-hybels","tax_publications-1998-leadership-journal","tax_publications-leadership-journal","tax_publications-winter_1998-leadership-journal","tax_ctp_tags-motivation","tax_ctp_tags-pastor","tax_ctp_tags-pastors-role","tax_ctp_tags-pastoral-care","tax_ctp_tags-prayer","tax_ctp_tags-self-examination","tax_ctp_tags-spiritual-formation","tax_ctp_tags-spiritual-gifts","tax_ctp_tags-teamwork","tax_ctp_tags-vision"],"acf":{"scripture_references":null},"yoast_head":"\nFinding 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