Realities of leadership
Leadership is necessary and noble work—and risky. Leadership is fundamentally about purpose and possibility, which makes leadership an intimately human endeavor. Leaders are often left exposed, and most knowingly assume this risk for something more. Thus, “clarifying the values that orient your life and work and identifying larger purposes to which you might commit are courageous acts.” (The Practice of Adaptive Leadership, 2009)

Sustaining leadership
Sustainability refers to one’s capacity to add and create value in patterned ways over extended periods. Leaders who are sustained in wellness, spirit/faith, relationship, commitment, impact and performance are more nourished, fulfilled and effective. A leader’s tenure will be determined by a number of factors, both foreseen and unforeseen, such as culture and politics, institutional lifecycle and adaptability, and financial health. The question is whether the tenure ended because of a lack of sustainability. To what extent did one lose resilience, commitment, health, etc., to the point of no longer being able to lead effectively? To what extent was one unaware of one’s own internal operating system and derailed because he/she was unable to see and manage non-strength areas?

There are three core principles to consider in sustaining leadership:

Integration: Linking and bringing into agreement the various dimensions of a whole life with one’s values, strengths, beliefs and sense of purpose; aligning the interior life of leadership with the external demands and concerns of organizational leadership.

Adaptability: The capacity to maintain perspective, accurately assess reality and to clarify values and direction in the midst of that reality.

Resiliency: One’s ability and capacity to recover from adversity and to manage and regulate one’s energy and commitment for sustained productivity and performance.

Leadership is most effective when a leader is adaptive, when one is aware of and aligned with what one values and what one knows to be true about his/her sense of purpose, and when one can effectively recover from the demands and dangers of leadership.

While we have mastered the operational and technical aspects of leadership, we have a long way to go in helping people engage in personal transformation. Consequently, sustaining leadership in the future will depend on our ability to master the development of the interior aspects of leadership. Fundamentally, sustainable leadership is an ongoing conversation with the self and the enterprise so that the capacity of a leader and organization may continue to grow and adapt.

Sustaining heart in the leadership journey
It takes great heart to offer acts of leadership. The stresses of leadership can be severe because leaders are always failing somebody, shouldering the pains and aspirations of a community, and frustrating at least some people within it.

At the heart of sustaining your leadership, then, is preserving your sense of purpose. Commit the time, perhaps with the help of a professional executive coach, to understand the stresses of your particular leadership context. Remember to pace the work and respect the pains and loss of change. Know your tolerances, your triggers and your hungers. Be sure to distinguish your “self” from your role. Listen to yourself as data, and trust it. Have a sanctuary and use it. Lastly, surround yourself with allies and confidantes, and know the difference. (The Practice of Adaptive Leadership, 2009)

You and your leadership are valuable. If you care for yourself as you care for others, the gifts, strengths and talents you have been given will continue to be formed and sustained for the important work to which you have been called.

Steve Titus, Senior Consultant, Executive Coach
The Reid Group

Effective mission leaders in higher education and health care have both knowledge of and passion for the high quality, purpose and integrity of their organizations. They typically are trained in ethical principles, have well-honed interpersonal skills, have more than adequate knowledge of either the health care ministry or higher education. In one sense they are like “renaissance” people—well schooled in many disciplines with a holistic approach to their jobs. They relate well to the CEO, CFO, housekeeping staff, receptionists, the senior vice presidents and provosts. They can engage benefactors in conversations which reflect their special interests in the organization.

As the “heart” and “head” of an organization with a passion for the very reason the organization exists, mission leaders focus their efforts in three areas:

1) They build genuine relationships with both internal leaders and community leaders, from the head of maintenance to the mayor of the city, from the student nurse to the major donors, from the lowest paid hourly wage earner to highest salaried staff. People are the most important factor for an organization’s success in fulfilling its mission. People in all kinds of jobs are the focus of the mission leader’s attention.

2) They are dedicated to transforming the organization by deepening its understanding of the implications of its mission. They ask the critical questions: Who is not here at the table or in the room? Who is not being served by the institution? Why aren’t they here? What do we need to do to get them here? Why is this important? In asking these kinds of questions the mission leader becomes a transformative person, empowering the organization to intensify its reason for existence. The responses to the questions can change a “pro-forma” department, unit or organization into one that is creative, challenging, and engaging. The mission leader does not have to have all the answers. But the leader must have the right questions and know when, where and how to ask them. The mission leader knows the reality of the “bottom line,” the essence of the mission and works with others to ensure that there is enough “margin” to splendidly achieve the mission.

3) They model and invite participation and cooperation among all segments of the organization. Mission leaders promote the sharing of meaningful information, explore diverse interpretations, and lift up collaborative approaches involving people across disciplines. They recognize a shared sense of injustice or a common, but under-defined dream and put it on the organization’s agendas at all levels for further discoveries. Increasing the health care institution’s or college’s capacity for change, dealing with loss and hurts, promoting the growth toward the vision of the organization are the paramount responsibilities of the mission leader.

The effective mission leader’s “heart” embraces the institution for all it is and all it can become. The “head” of the mission leader searches out ways to engage the organization in dialogue and planning for a more meaningful and deeper accomplishment of its mission.

Maureen Gallagher, Senior Consultant
The Reid Group

• We gain a solid understanding of our client’s background, situation and desired outcome at the beginning of the engagement.
• We create a team-based approach to each engagement, and involve a broad range of participants in the process.
• We build relationships of trust and respect and create an environment where people feel safe, empowered to take risks and encouraged to “think outside the box.”
• We identify action steps during the project and assist  our clients with implementation.
• We help our clients measure tangible results.

What does our promise of transformation look like to the clients of our core services? A few examples:

Prophetic Planning. A parish was transformed from a place where the Spanish-speaking members felt like “renters” to a place where the Spanish-speaking and English-speaking communities entered into a new partnership in faith. Through the tools of conversation and dialogue, the planning process uncovered both the pain of parishioners stemming from not knowing each other and the excitement and new energy generated when they discovered all they had in common.

Leadership Search. An organization that had several leaders in a short span of time used the opportunity of a planning process to clarify and renew their mission, vision and goals. This lead to a search for a leader who could help them be who they said they wanted to be—an organization with renewed spirit, energy and impact.

Leadership Development.  One of the most popular approaches to Leadership Development is Executive Coaching.  Many of our coaching clients are overwhelmed with the number of simultaneous crises they face and the complexity of the situations they face.  One of our coaching clients appreciated the way she was helped to identify each crisis on its own terms, to explore positive alternatives for action and to choose the most effective response that would transform the crisis into new opportunities for growth in her organization.

Mediation. A family experiencing a breakdown in communication and trust as they struggled with the best way to care for an elderly mother decided to try mediation. With our mediation services, they were able to articulate a shared set of goals—to care for their mother and to repair their own relationships  This led to greater harmony, a more secure future for their mother and more love in the family.

Fund Development. A religious community with aging members and expanding needs contracted with us for a capital campaign. Since they had never sought support from their friends before, they had pretty low expectations of the outcome. Although they launched their campaign rather hesitantly, they ended up raising more than three times their original goal and, just as importantly, unleashed a tremendous amount of goodwill among their friends they had served for so long.

John Reid, Senior Consultant
The Reid Group

There are five key theological concepts that can influence diocesan pastoral planning:

Creation and Incarnation
Teilhard de Chardin’s statement, “By reason of creation and even more the incarnation, nothing is profane for those who know how to see,” applies to parish restructuring. It is a sacred process where the Spirit is engaging the community in helping to design its future. It is the deep respect for the dignity of the human person which is rooted in God’s creating humanity in the divine likeness that sets a planning process grounded in spirituality apart.

The empowerment given by the local bishop; the way the planning process is structured; the dialogue which happens; the accountability embodied in the methodology; and the prayer resources assembled are all based on the belief that all are made to the image and likeness of God and all have a share in the future of the Catholic community.

Trinity—God in Relationship
The mystery of the Trinity is significant to pastoral planning because it is the relationship within the Triune God that calls us to be in relationship with God and one another. Just as the persons of the Trinity share their life in relationship to each other, so we are shareholders in the life of God through the “body of Christ.”
As shareholders in the mission and ministry of Jesus Christ, we need to be involved in planning on how the mission and ministry will be carried out in the local Church. Planning provides a stellar opportunity for the whole body of Christ to work together.

Life-Death-Resurrection of Jesus Christ
At Baptism we are initiated into the life, death and resurrection of Christ. The poignancy of the life-death-resurrection mystery is felt in parish restructuring when people have to share a pastor, when church buildings close and communities are asked to merge and form something new. In the planning process, not to identify the “endings-wilderness-new beginnings” with the life-death-resurrection of Christ is to miss a wonderful, strong and effective way to assist people to develop a sense of direction, purpose and meaning as shareholders in the mission and ministry of the Risen Christ.

The Eucharist and Sacramentality
At Eucharist those who share in the life of Christ gather to hear the Word proclaimed—a Word that is living as it is proclaimed—a Word that fosters the conviction that when God speaks, something happens. Sacramentality refers to the belief that all reality is potentially a reflection of the presence of God and an instrument of God’s saving activity.

How does all this relate to planning? Planning in Catholic Communities is always done in the context of prayer. Rooted in scripture and faith-sharing, the gathered community situates itself in the presence of God and prays for guidance of the Spirit. As people plan and prepare for change, sharing the stories of the past, connecting them to the Scriptures and using the rituals of the Church can be part of any meeting. Prayer and ritual sharing prepares people for greater appreciation of the Eucharist and empowers the shareholders of the mission and ministry of Christ to discern the will of God for them in the future.

Stewardship and the Common Good
In many ways, this principle encompasses the heart of parish reorganization. Good stewardship of resources and promoting the common good are Catholic values which support pastoral planning.

When first encountered in a planning process, working for the common good may seem to conflict with parochial loyalties—”the way we do things here.” But one of the challenges in pastoral planning is moving away from such parochialism and toward what is good for all. The theological tool for achieving the common good is conversation. Kristin Heyer, Professor of Christian Ethics at Loyola Marymount, suggests using the lens of the common good, along with conversation to move from “I want…” to “what would be good for the community to which we belong.”

By incorporating “best practices” from the social sciences and rigorously integrating theological principles and spiritual practices, the challenges facing the Church related to restructuring parishes can be turned into transformative moments for both the hierarchy and the faithful. Along the journey we find many opportunities to grow in appreciation of who we are called to be as Church in the 21st Century in the United States.

Maureen Gallagher, Senior Consultant
The Reid Group

Lucien Roy, Senior Consultant
The Reid Group

It is tempting to give short shrift to the endings and forge ahead into the future with all our New Year’s-resolution-fueled energy. But seasoned leaders know that damage can result when the past is left unresolved.

As we navigate through these dark days of winter, take some time to consider what you need to let go of or say goodbye to:

• Are there unfinished tasks that are burdening you and the organization? Which of these are important to complete, and which need to be let go?
• In working relationships, are there residual hurts or dysfunctional behavior that burden the organization? Are these relationships important enough to resolve the conflicts, or do they need to be let go?

Once we deal with what is ending, we are free to dream, to be “10 times bolder” in our plans for our new beginnings. As one way to start that planning, begin with the end in mind: imagine you are at the end of 2010 and looking back. What are the accomplishments you are most proud of?

In a very real sense, organizations exist in a state of constant transition—something is always changing, ending or just getting started, and the effective leader will be attuned to the dynamics of those transitions all year long. These first days of January, however, offer a special opportunity to step back and gain some perspective on yourself as well as the major changes the organization has had and will experience as you move from 2009 to 2010. Spend some time affirming the good you helped your organization to accomplish and be gentle with yourself as you reflect on your struggles. In addition, take a few minutes to consult with yourself about your deepest hopes for 2010 and include these in the goals you set for the coming year.

When appropriate attention is paid both to what is ending and what is waiting to begin, you set the stage for a very Happy New Year.

John Reid, Senior Consultant
The Reid Group

Too often, leaders view performance evaluation as drudgery and avoid it at all costs. But effective leaders use evaluation opportunities as a way to improve performance. The Reid Group believes that performance evaluation over three- and six-month cycles is an invaluable tool for leaders to reinforce the positive and address the negative.

There are two approaches to organizational evaluation that we have found to be user-friendly:

1. Criteria, evidence, assessment
Identify a set of criteria for measuring performance and assemble evidence showing the degree to which each criterion has or has not been met. Based on the evidence, give performance in each area a rating, using a +3/-3 system:

+1 Performance meets criterion to a minimal degree.
+2 Performance meets criterion to an average degree.
+3 Performance meets criterion to a high degree.

-1 Performance meets criterion to a marginal degree.
-2 Performance did not meet criterion.
-3 Performance is having a negative impact.

2. Ask a series of questions
Conflict

• What is causing conflict, stress, or struggle in the organization?
• What is being done to reduce conflict?
• Which of those strategies is helping the situation, and which is hindering it?

Achievement

• Where are we achieving beyond our goals?
• Where are struggling to achieve our goals?
• What can we do to support success?
• What do we need to do to boost performance in areas that are struggling?

Managing change

• What are the major changes facing us now?
• How well are we managing those changes?
• What actions can we take in the future to be more effective in addressing change?

Regular, effective evaluations are not only a tool for effective leadership. They also enhance organizational learning, fostering greater focus on the mission and vision of the organization and enabling it to be more focused on the future.

John Reid, Consultant, Mediator, Coach
The Reid Group

I presented a workshop on “From Maintenance to Mission: Developing a Parish Strategic Plan” in a new track ICSC created for parish administrators and business managers. I was told to expect about 100 people—and 150 showed up! There were a number of comments along the lines of “It’s about time ICSC recognized our importance,” but the participants also expressed appreciation for ICSC’s efforts to bridge the gap between Stewardship and the business side of parish life.

Another emerging trend in the field of Stewardship is the growing emphasis on balancing Stewardship of Treasure with Stewardship of Time and Talent. The Gallup organization, which has a division focused on faith-based organizations, has adapted its StrengthsFinder assessment tool in an exciting development that is taking off in parishes across the country. StrengthsFinder helps parishes assess the level of engagement of their parishioners in the life of the parish. With this assessment, parishes can create strategies for increasing parishioners’ commitment of time and talent.

Have you noticed other new ideas and trends in Stewardship in your parish or diocese? Add to the dialogue by leaving a comment on this article.

Some Best Practices for Stewardship

A best practice for Stewardship Commissions is to do personal follow-ups with any parishioner who does not submit a stewardship renewal form during the normal fall renewal process. By following up in person, it lets the parishioner know:

• We noticed you did not participate and you have in years past.
• We are calling to make sure all is well with your household…Is there anything the parish can do if there has been a change in their financial status.
• We want to thank them for their support in the past.

Especially in this economy, a parish should never accept no response as acceptable.

What are some of the Best Practices used in your parish or diocese? Share them with all our readers–make a comment on this post.

Carol Guenther, Consultant, Mediator
The Reid Group

Leaders and organizations would do well to keep this in mind when beginning a planning process or dealing with change and transition.  It’s important for leaders to express thanks for the good people and experiences alive in the organizations they care about.  One specific way to do this is through an approach called Appreciative Inquiry.

This approach was pioneered by David Cooperrider and his colleagues at Case Western Reserve University in the early 1980s.  It invites leaders as well as planning consultants to appreciate what is working well, what is already bringing life to an organization.  It contrasts with more traditional approaches to planning processes that usually begin with a focus on the problems or struggles within an organization.

Appreciative Inquiry involves four steps of group reflection:

Discover - appreciate what is

Dream - imagine what might be

Design - determine what should be

Deliver - create what will be

In her book, Appreciative Inquiry in the Catholic Church, Susan Star Paddock illustrates the differences between traditional approaches to planning and change processes and Appreciative Inquiry:

Through using Appreciative Inquiry, leaders help to generate new energy, enthusiasm and passion.  They build on what’s working while exploring ways of creating new possibilities that have the capacity to bring more new life to organizations and the people who work in them.

In this season of Thanksgiving, we are grateful to all of our clients and e-letter readers for bringing new life to those of us who call The Reid Group home.

John Reid
The Reid Group

For people of faith, a central call of the Gospel is to follow in the footsteps of Jesus as “one who serves.” (Luke 22:27) When service is connected to faith, we call it ministry. One of the most important ministries within churches today—and an important responsibility in non-profit organizations—is quality leadership.

There is much to learn from Retired Bishop Vincent Warner of the Episcopal Diocese of Olympia WA who defined nine values of servant leadership that are relevant in the 21st century for leaders in government, business, non-profit and faith-based organizations.

Values of Servant Leadership

1. Servant Leadership insists on collaboration rather than competition; it puts a premium on truthfulness and admitting mistakes.

2. Servant Leadership has the capacity to move to the other side, i.e., to feel with New Testament compassion.

3. Servant Leadership holds accountable, but never blames. Good leadership never blames—blaming is covering up. Accountability offers the possibility for growth.

4. Servant Leadership is willing to compromise with others when appropriate, and therefore, is not in need of always controlling the outcome.

5. Servant Leadership, by letting go of controlling and trusting and validating others, is then possible to be of good cheer—to be joyful. Joy and cheer come from not always having to do it right.

6. Servant Leadership seeks the enhancement of the individual or community as the outcome over productivity.

7. In Servant Leadership, power is for participation not for domination—power with, rather than power over.

8. Servant Leadership systems (local church/dioceses) succeed because they value and validate their members and tell the truth. Systems fail because they exploit the members and hide and conceal.

9. In Servant Leadership, being a servant means putting oneself at risk, with humility and clarity that is cruciformity.

Which of these values speaks to you? We invite you to identify one that you would like to develop more strongly in yourself, and share your thoughts in the comments to this blog.