Leadership Deficit?
Thomas J. Tierney has written a piece entitled, “Understanding the Nonprofit Sector’s Leadership Deficit.” He points out that even though America’s nonprofit sector is expanding rapidly; they are facing a crisis that could undermine all their good works – a leadership deficit.
A study of organizations with revenues greater than $250,000 a year indicated that those organizations would need to add more than 56,000 senior managers to their existing ranks. Cumulatively, over the decade from 2007 to 2016, they will need to attract and develop some 640,000 new senior leaders—or the equivalent of 2.4 times the number currently employed. To put this challenge in context, filling the gap would require recruiting more than 50 percent of every M.B.A. graduating class, at every university across the country, every year for the next decade. (The Leader of the Future 2 p.96)
So how does all this effect our organization? John Maxwell is famous for saying that “everything rises and falls on leadership.” A lack of leadership will have many repercussions -- low morale, a lack of accountability, poor performance and a culture of mediocrity are just a few.
I am presently working on a leadership recruiting strategy for the army. Next week I speak at a Methodist college in an effort to recruit potential leaders for our organization. The recruiting plan is simple. Go to a college, preach at a chapel service and invite those who want to learn about new ways to serve God to come to a meeting at The Salvation Army. At the meeting, I’ll tell them all about the opportunities that exist within the army. Those that are interested can start participating in Corps worship, leadership training classes as well as serving as they are ready and able. When they finish college, they could possibly be ready for Officer’s Training.
This is just one small way to meet the present and future demand for leaders. Got any other ideas? I would love to hear them.
What are your thoughts on this whole “Leadership Deficit” thing?
A study of organizations with revenues greater than $250,000 a year indicated that those organizations would need to add more than 56,000 senior managers to their existing ranks. Cumulatively, over the decade from 2007 to 2016, they will need to attract and develop some 640,000 new senior leaders—or the equivalent of 2.4 times the number currently employed. To put this challenge in context, filling the gap would require recruiting more than 50 percent of every M.B.A. graduating class, at every university across the country, every year for the next decade. (The Leader of the Future 2 p.96)
So how does all this effect our organization? John Maxwell is famous for saying that “everything rises and falls on leadership.” A lack of leadership will have many repercussions -- low morale, a lack of accountability, poor performance and a culture of mediocrity are just a few.
I am presently working on a leadership recruiting strategy for the army. Next week I speak at a Methodist college in an effort to recruit potential leaders for our organization. The recruiting plan is simple. Go to a college, preach at a chapel service and invite those who want to learn about new ways to serve God to come to a meeting at The Salvation Army. At the meeting, I’ll tell them all about the opportunities that exist within the army. Those that are interested can start participating in Corps worship, leadership training classes as well as serving as they are ready and able. When they finish college, they could possibly be ready for Officer’s Training.
This is just one small way to meet the present and future demand for leaders. Got any other ideas? I would love to hear them.
What are your thoughts on this whole “Leadership Deficit” thing?
posted by Bret at
10:47 PM
4 Comments:
What is wrong in training up leaders amongst those whom God has already sent us? Are we so incompetent in discipling that people don't emerge from that with leadership potential? And can we not see it and develop it?
Perhaps we need to look thoughtfully first at our concepts of Christian leadership, and explore further how we can bring our own people into healthy, positive and life transforming ways of moving us all forward in God's service? I don't want to be led by someone with an MBA. I want to be led by someone who listens, puts the work of God in our movement first before their own agenda, who is fired with passion for building a loving, holy and well-functioning community in which people can find Christ and turn their lives around, one where every church member is finding healing for their wounds while at the same time finding strength and courage for mission, evangelism and the full expression of their gifts and abilities in building God's kingdom. To hold we can't do it is to deny that God is sending us those whom we need to be his smiling face on earth! :0)
By
Eleanor Burne-Jones, at 4:42 PM
By the bay,
Thanks for your comments . . .
Are you suggesting that we don’t recruit potential leaders?
I’m not suggesting that we don’t develop those God has already sent us. I am a strong advocate for “preparing God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.” (Eph 4:12)
One challenge that you’re overlooking is the shortage of leaders in the typical Corps/Church. The idea of leadership development is to take a person who is a 6 or 7 (on a scale of 1-10) and grow them to an 8 or 9. However, if the only people you have to develop are 2’s or 3’s then they will never be an 8. The best they could ever hope to be in terms of leadership is a 4 or 5. 4’s and 5’s don’t cut it when it comes to leadership. There’s a reason many Corps are saturated with a culture of mediocrity.
By
Bret, at 9:36 PM
Hi
I am not familiar with what you have been taught on leadership, so you will have to explain some more. I have every confidence we have people throughout the army who can become effective leaders. I would not classify people this way. Leadership abilities can develop at any stage of life, and through all sorts of circumstances. I've seen some extraordinary abilities emerge in the least promising people if they are given really good mentoring and encouragement. One deficit I see in the army is, frankly, our tendency to see people as intrinsically unable to change. I notice little work is done to develop leadership abilities or spend time with possible emerging leaders to mentor them or explore with them what is needed in leadership.
I have had one very good mentor in this, and she seemed to me to go too far in giving people both leadership classes and leadership opportunities - she got her fingers burned a couple of times! But I think she is essentially right in that we have to learn to think FAR more creatively about how we teach leadership. Everyone should be developed as far as they can go, and then some. We need to set aside assumptions about class, gender, age, and academic ability. We need to rethink the whole way we see leadership in order to be able to nurture leaders, for example in poorer neighbourhoods. While we assume leadership takes college courses and a high level of literacy and skills in articulation, we are denying those communities the right to be led from within their own culture, and we end up putting in people who have not lived as they have, have not faced their problems, and who cannot really model for them the possibility of faith transformation.
I am completely confident we have the leaders we need, either in actuality or in potential. The only thing holding people back is a church culture that needs a rethink.
Come back and argue freely - I can be emailed via the link on my profile. I'm interested to increase my understanding in this whole area. :0)
What criteria are you using to assess leadership potential for example? And is the principle that you are applying that people can only develop so far based on secular leadership research or research in a Christian context?
Warmest blessings,
Eleanor Burne-Jones TSSF( Novice)
By
Eleanor Burne-Jones, at 3:12 PM
Eleanor,
Thanks for writing . . .
I agree that all people can be trained in the area of leadership and that we should start with our own . . . we are doing that. The problem is two fold: 1) there aren’t enough leaders to meet our objectives and 2) some of the people we have simply will not make good leaders.
That’s not being negative, it’s just a fact. There are some people who never make great teachers, pastors, leaders, etc . . . that doesn’t mean they aren’t gifted and capable of excelling in other areas of ministry.
My approach to leadership is to build on peoples strengths. I view church structure and leadership much like a baseball team. Not everyone will be a great pitcher, short stop or catcher, but everyone is important to the team. It’s just a matter of putting the right people in the right place (the coach’s job). No player is more important than the other and no player is “over” the other . . . they all have an equally important place on the team, including the coach.
Thanks for blogging!
Blessings,
Bret
By
Bret, at 8:16 PM
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