Many of you who follow my blog have heard me talk about functioning in the capacity of “leadership mentor” to students taking leadership study courses at my alma mater, Western Washington University. It’s a role Ive taken on for four years straight now, and one that I very much love. I enjoy the interactions with students greatly and take pleasure in being able to speak positively into the lives of people who will hopefully grow into effectual, respected leaders in whatever area of business they are lead into.
I’m engaging with a new student this quarter who is off to a great start, and in the course of my dialogue with them, was asked about what leadership skills I’ve gained through volunteer leadership. It’s a great question and while not as overtly spiritual in focus as I normally post, I thought it helpful to share, since good leadership is not something given by title or job position. It’s especially valuable in ministerial roles, and those of you reading this who serve in your church might benefit from some of the practical wisdom.
I’ve talked about servant leadership before, and plan on doing so again soon, but for today’s blog, let’s talk about “leading from the middle”, a place where most volunteers will find themselves frequently. Even though this is not explicitly focused on the spiritual, keep that lens ever in front of you… I do. It’s the first and strongest lens that everything else filters through in my reaction with people and it’s important, very important, to keep spiritual focus in this to weed out hubris and selfishness. Here is some of what I’ve written to the student I’m mentoring:
“There are many different schools of thought and practice when it comes to leadership techniques and you can find a myriad of books on effective leadership but possibly the most influential trait I’ve learned in my years is a concept known casually as “leading from the middle”. This is a skill developed in positions where you do not have technical authority over people or situations, but learn to exert your influence in positive directions to help motivate people to accomplish tasks and goals.
Let’s face it… not many of us respond well to ultimatums — the “do it because I said to” style. Our backs stiffen and our hackles raise at the thought of it. Leading from the middle doesn’t require that empty, bludgeoning management style, and yet it effectively accomplishes this: Through motivating, encouraging, and casting vision, you learn to help people WANT to move forward in the direction you’re leading, so you lead without having to be authoritarian. It provides for much better rapport with people, maintains positive relationships, and can be just as effective in accomplishing goals as authoritarian-based styles… people just usually like you and respect you more when you’re a builder of people and not just a drill sergeant.
Transferring that thought to my professional career, consider this: I have the authority by job position to tell people what I want done. In some situations that’s perfectly appropriate, too, and is responded to well. In other, more sensitive situations, as in when people have strong feelings about a subject or project, the authoritarian, heavy-handed approach can cause resentment and bad feelings which affects morale and productivity. It adversely affects strong relationships, too, and good communication and good working relationships are critical for success in initiatives and projects.
So with a “leading from the middle” approach, I’m not overtly directing every nuance of a project but rather stimulating thoughts and conversation, gathering ideas, making people feel valued and engaged and participatory. I’m respecting their own skills and professionalism, letting those who have a vested interest in a decision offer input (while eventually making a final, definitive decision for the sake of the completion of goals and to keep moving forward), and by casting vision and (hopefully) inspiring people to see that vision for themselves, take ownership of their part of it, and then giving them the freedom to flourish in whatever their niche skillset is in fulfillment of the goal/project.
At the end of it all, if done well, you have maintained (or strengthened) the respect of the people you work with, you’ve given them opportunity to excel in their areas of expertise, you’ve shown them respect and you’ve still accomplished the task at hand, and usually with a lot less grief and drama than you might have otherwise.
The trick with this approach is that there’s no conventional way to learn how to do it apart from trial and error. You have to become an intuitive reader of people and their personalities/emotions and learn to see and read into what isn’t always said. You have to be good at gauging people individually and know how to tailor your interactions in a way that the particular person best responds to, and you have to be able to read the mood of a group of people (different skill) and know how to handle leading the group direction. It’ll be a “one step forward, two step back” lesson for a while, but as a leader, if you remain humble, honest, respectful and willing to admit if/when you are wrong, people will give you MUCH more grace than you’d normally be afforded and again (and you’ll hear me say this a lot), you’ll have garnished stronger working relationships, which can really shape the backbone of effective leadership. Financial incentive only garnishes so much support / obedience… but people will follow a loved, respected leader to the ends of the earth of their own free will.
Lastly, an effective leader models the culture and attitude that he/she wants to see, and does it day-in and day-out whether or not they feel like it and whether or not anyone else follows their lead. A good leader doesn’t have to know every answer to every question, but they can still be confident, positive, ready to think, plan, respond or react in helpful ways to the changing tides of business. The leader who can maintain this becomes an anchor that roots their employees on safe waters even during the storms that inevitably rise up in bureaucracy… and whether or not people explicitly recognize that anchor, they do respond to it in positive ways even unconsciously, and almost universally.
Maintaining a positive attitude, especially when learning to lead from the middle and while you are being held responsible for accomplishing projects/goals/etc can be challenging. Often a good leader stands alone while maintaining it, and can’t afford to be part of “the gang” around the water cooler vent sessions. That doesn’t mean that they can’t be a good, empathetic listener, mind you… that’s necessary. But any interaction from the leader’s perspective has to be positive, honest, straightforward and with a good end goal in mind, because just as a good leader can bolster the morale and effectiveness of their team, a bad leader can kill it even faster.”
Let me know what you think about this, and if expounding on Jesus’ model for servant leadership would be of interest too, please.
Blessings over you in the name of Jesus, beloved.
Peter
Chasing Nehemiah 