Jane Overstreet (USA) shared from Ezekiel 34:1-5 and how this is still being repeated in 2010.
We then watched a video of a cabinet meeting in Uganda in 1970 led by Idi Amin.
The Survey Results
Dr James Magara (Uganda) the descriptors of the survey are used to describe Christian leaders. In 2008 a primarily web-based survey was done with 1031 leaders distributed across 6 continents (not Antarctica). Age included a wide spread, one-third were female. Professions included business, education, medicine and law. 59.3% had more than 10 years of experience in leadership. The survey was made available in five languages – there was rarely any difference between the results of different language groups.
Dr Magara then took us through the results as outlined in the Advanced Paper – We Have A Problem! – But There Is Hope!:
Characteristics of poor leaders: Pride, lack of integrity, harsh and uncaring
Five most pressing issues: personal pride; lack of integrity; spiritual warfare; corruption; lack of infrastructure
Traits of a Christ-like character: integrity, authenticity, excellent character; servant’s heart and humble; spiritually mature, hear’s God’s voice, holy & prayerful.
Leadership subjects of interest: mentoring/coaching; spiritual formation; people management; conflict resolution; strategic planning.
Causes of failure of Christian leaders: burn-out; abuse of power; inappropriate use of finances; inordinate pride; lack of growth in their spiritual life; sexual sin.
Leadership development opportunities wanted: mentoring; small accountability group; informal discussion with peers; workshops.
Why is there such a shortage of Christ-centred leaders?: so-called “leadership training programmes” don’t really prepare people ot lead in the real world, people have credentials but they can’t lead.
Conclusion
- Too many of our leaders today are not Christ-like
- We are doing a poor job of leadership development through our existing programs today!
We then watched a video clip from Invicta, Does your current leadership look more like Idi Amin or Nelson Mandela?
Christ-like Leadership
We watched a video on the theme of “It’s not about me, it’s about you Lord”, which Branko Bjelajac (Slovakia) linked to 2 Corinthians 4:5-18.
There is a tension between leading and serving – Jesus focuses on serving, which fits with some but not many of the present day leadership models, two key aspects:
- No recognitions or medals. Mary models this for us: “My soul glorifies the Lord” – Luke 1:46.
- The quest for significance – a fractured spirituality is widespread.
Leadership development methods that have been tried and tested
Led by Shamira Manwar-Philip (India).
Character & knowledge: Leader development is a complex and life-long endeavor, but there are some methods that work better than others. Here is an example:
3 main objectives :
- To use Biblical principles focused on integrity.
- To use adult learning methodology within creative curriculum.
- To engage in constant interaction to facilitate mentoring and open discussions.
The Opportunity: to identify and train political grass-roots leaders in India. The curriculum was based around a story of politics and some key activities, e.g. artwork, debates, dramas, and more. Shamira then explained the details of the training programme – it was a bit too quick so not to detailed notes but it was several hundred leaders trained together.
We have a problem:
- Christ-like leadership is not a luxury, but a necessity.
- Providing opportunities for leaders to grow is critical to a healthy, vibrant, transformational, multiplying Church.
- We must be wise stewards of the resources available because the future of the Church is at stake.
- Pray
- Commit to becoming a more Christ-like leader
- Release and enable others, and intentionally find, use and promote the very best in leadership development resources.