The Classic 21st Century Church Leadership Mistake
by Rev. Mark E. Tidsworth, Founder and Team LeadeR
In our high change context, it’s fascinating to watch clergy, congregations, denominations, consultants, coaches, and everyone else interested in the Church, wrestle with this increasing need for adaptive change. The road to new effective processes for healthy change is never smooth. We are observing starts, stops, regression, and progress. Typically, we believe we can use the tried and true tools available to us (technical and administrative interventions) for initiating and implementing deep change in congregations. In actuality, the function of those tools themselves are part of congregational systems. Whatever we are currently doing is maintaining the church as it is. Simply ramping up our calls for culture change is insufficient when it comes to actual change. Well-intentioned church leaders are frustrated when their change efforts fail or produce minimal results. With brief investigation, we typically find the adaptive failure resulted from underestimating the magnitude of work involved in implementing systemic change in congregations. Not only is this true for congregational leaders, but also for leaders in general. John Kotter, a savvy change expert describes this well. “A good rule of thumb in a major change effort: Never underestimate the magnitude of the forces that reinforce complacency and that help maintain the status quo.” In fact, underestimating the work required to facilitate deep change is the most common mistake of pastoral and lay leaders when it comes to leading change. Given the times in which we live, we can now describe underestimating the work required for adaptive change as THE classic pastoral and lay leadership mistake of the 21st century thus far.
If underestimating the work of congregational change is the classic mistake when leading congregations forward, then the primary expression of this mistake is implementing change too soon. Pastoral and lay leaders grow excited about something new, launching before the congregational system is prepared to engage this change. Over time, we’ve seen leaders launch change efforts too soon due to a wide variety of beliefs, perspectives, or practices (factors). These factors contribute to adaptive failure. Though they are painful to recognize, knowing them can save us much pain and suffering. Please find these factors simply listed below. They are described in detail in my book Farming Church: Cultivating Adaptive Change In Congregations.
Mistaking inspiration for timing
Exaggerating trust levels in the congregation
Neglecting Leadership Cadre Development
Starting when urgency in the congregation is low
Believing stating the case for change results in sufficient motivation for change
Underestimating resistance to deep change
Ignoring the obstacles and impediments in the way of change
Since the classic adaptive change leadership mistake is underestimating the magnitude of change before us, demonstrated by initiating change too soon, then what are we to do? Nearly all of our experiences with change processes this far into this 21st century are screaming one word loud and clear – READINESS. There are clear and specific leadership actions that cultivate church environments for adaptive change, the antidote for the classic leadership mistake of launching adaptive change efforts when the church is not ready.