In my reading of Business leadership: A Jossey-Bass reader, I learned a new concept. Leadership and management are different (Kotter, 2008). The opening sentence of chapter one hit me like a ton of bricks. I worked for a Fortune 500 Company in various capacities from the assembly line to lower management before I accepted God’s call into ministry. I have read many books on leadership, yet, for reasons unknown to me, the revelation of leadership and management being two differing activities never penetrated my psyche.
Reading the opening line of chapter one, I came to the realization that most of what I have been doing in ministry is managing. Digging deeper into the book deepened my conviction of the fact I am performing more of the tasks of a manager versus that of a leader. This thought was disturbing to me; the more I dwelt on the prospects of its truth, the move convicted I became for the need for change in my style of leadership/management. In my experience of twenty years of experience in the ministry, I am convinced many church “leaders” are in the management mode versus being in the leadership mode. …show more content…
That is an insightful question to propose. In a church of less than 500, there usually is not enough funding to add a staff person who would oversee the budgets, the staffing issues, the policies, and other such management tasks needed within an organization. In my ministry, I have made efforts to ensure I am not the one doing everything in the church. At First Christian, we are set up with Ministry Teams who oversee the plethora of ministries we offer at First Christian. Even with that structure, I spend an inordinate amount of time administering management duties. I spend more time putting out fires than setting fires under people in order to motivate them to greatness in their
Reading the opening line of chapter one, I came to the realization that most of what I have been doing in ministry is managing. Digging deeper into the book deepened my conviction of the fact I am performing more of the tasks of a manager versus that of a leader. This thought was disturbing to me; the more I dwelt on the prospects of its truth, the move convicted I became for the need for change in my style of leadership/management. In my experience of twenty years of experience in the ministry, I am convinced many church “leaders” are in the management mode versus being in the leadership mode. …show more content…
That is an insightful question to propose. In a church of less than 500, there usually is not enough funding to add a staff person who would oversee the budgets, the staffing issues, the policies, and other such management tasks needed within an organization. In my ministry, I have made efforts to ensure I am not the one doing everything in the church. At First Christian, we are set up with Ministry Teams who oversee the plethora of ministries we offer at First Christian. Even with that structure, I spend an inordinate amount of time administering management duties. I spend more time putting out fires than setting fires under people in order to motivate them to greatness in their