Preparing Lay Leaders For Inevitable Push-Back

by Rev. Mark E. Tidsworth, Founder and Team Leader

Prepare leaders for principled, mission-congruent leadership when the inevitable push-back rises.

“Hey, I didn’t sign-up for this.” Unprepared leaders make this kind of statement when the tension starts rising in the congregation due to adaptive change. Remember the productive zone of disequilibrium?

“The optimal range of distress within which the urgency in the system motivates people to engage in adaptive work. If the level is too low, people will be inclined to complacently maintain their current way of working, but if it is too high, people are likely to be overwhelmed and may start to panic or engage in severe forms of work avoidance, like scapegoating or assassination.”

-Ronald Heifitz, Alexander Grashow, Marty Linsky, The Practice Of Adaptive Leadership: Tools and Tactics For Changing Your Organization And The World (Boston: Harvard Business Review Press, 2009), quoted in Farming Church: Cultivating Adaptive Change In Congregations, Mark Tidsworth (Pinnacle Leadership Press, Columbia, SC) 2017, page 38.

When we understand and accept that raising the temperature is necessary for mission-congruent progress, then we are prepared for push-back when it happens. We come to understand and accept resistance as part of the growth cycle.

One of the most helpful ways to prepare leaders for this is to frame the productive tension in the zone of disequilibrium as “growing pains.” Congregational leaders are typically interested in growth, believing that stretching and developing are part of the Christian journey. We expect and hope for growth as we lead forward. So we connect the growth impulse with the awareness that growth involves some level of discomfort. Most of us want to avoid pain as much as possible, yet we are willing to choose experiences which include discomfort in the service of very good causes. When we believe our congregation must adapt in order to participate with God’s activity in our world, then we are willing to tolerate the discomfort this brings. Recently I was with a congregation who was considering changes to their way of worshipping. They were considering including a greater variety of music in their worship, hearing from the younger people among them this musical change added meaning and joy to the worship experience. One older gentleman made the comment, “I’m not really for this change, but if it will help open the door for my grandchildren to worship and engage our church, then I’m willing to go with it.” This grandfather clearly expressed growing pains. This change produced discomfort for him (until he adjusted to the change), yet the discomfort was acceptable in light of its higher purpose.

So, we cultivate strong leadership in congregations when we equip leaders with the awareness that push-back is part of the congregational leadership experience. We come to expect this as typical, normal, and expected. With this understanding we are far more likely to continue onward, living out the principles and mission-congruent actions we previously identified, even when tension rises. In addition, we cultivate leaders through equipping ourselves with specific language and skills for responding when the push-back rises. “Yes, we are putting more budget money into music this year, and here is why.” We cultivate adaptive leaders by equipping them with shared responses for when tension rises. In fact, there are times when adaptive leaders discuss whether to turn the heat up or down. Through concepts like the productive zone of disequilibrium, we are positioned to intentionally consider how much pressure to apply or how quickly to proceed. When congregational leaders can do this, then we are well-positioned to lead and sustain adaptive change.

Source: Cultivating Leadership, Chapter Seven, Farming Church: Cultivating Adaptive Change In Congregations, Mark Tidsworth (Pinnacle Leadership Press, Columbia, SC) 2017, page 38.