Leadership Final

Fix the Woman

Based on a political theory that one's sex can influentce one's abilities in the workplace. In this theory, this accounts for inequalities between men and women. Based on this theory, interventions have been designed and implemented to "enhance" women's abilities in areas they are deemed unequal to men: business, leadership, networking, assertiveness, etc. These interventions are aimed at "fixing women." However, research conducted in the 80s through the late 90s refutes this theory and its practices because they are based largely on white women, and it has resulted in backlash from men who see these programs as giving women an unfair advantage in the workplace. Also, these programs have tended to leave existing power structures in place and underrepresented women continue to be underrepresented.Based on a political theory that one's sex can influentce one's abilities in the workplace. In this theory, this accounts for inequalities between men and women.

BATNA

Best alternative to a negotiated agreement You have to consider the best case scenario if you walk away from negotiating an agreement with someone. Sometimes walking away actually costs more than staying and doing the hard work of negotiating. Example: Scott's homeowner example

Images of God/Jesus from the Interpersonal Perspective

These images are listed as Redeemer, Advocate, Friend, Priest, and Brother

Prophets who engage in "symbolic action"

This can be seen being used by the prophet Nathan when he uses a symbolic story to show King David his own sin. Jesus (as prophet) uses symbolic action and storytelling to change the meaning of things that were spoken of before. Examples: sermon on the mount, Luke 4:16-28

The people entrusted to your care

This generally means that the people who work for you are more than assets or resources. They are real people who need care and guidance, not just direction.This helps to remind leaders how we treat people (and view them as human beings) can have a large impact on how they perform. By viewing the people that work for leaders as real human beings with feelings and full lives, we can start to build trust with our people that can lead for the "Challenge Directly" aspect of leading.

"Build them a golden bridge to retreat."

Ury: When working toward a solution in a conflict situation, one side eventually gets backed into a corner. The only thing left for the opposing party is their pride. Oftentimes, the only thing keeping them from agreement is that agreement will lose face. You have to find some type of mutually agreed solution that preserves their pride. (Throw them a bone. Give them a small victory.) Example: Scott's example about conflict with kids reading before bed

"How do you know when it's time to fire someone?"

WHEN SOMEBODY IS performing poorly and, having received clear communication about the nature of the problem, is showing no signs of improvement, you should fire that person.1)Have I given radically candid guidance? 2) How is this person's poor performance affecting the rest of the team? 3) Have you sought out a second opinion and spen to someone you trust and with whom you can talk through the problem?

Radical candor is "measured at the listener's ear, not at the speaker's mouth."

"It only works if the other person understands your efforts at caring personally and challenging directly are delivered in good faith."This is important because what can seem radically candid to one person in one context may feel too touchy or obnoxious to another context. When we work in different cultures or work with people from different companies, we have to take their context in consideration or we could be offensive.Kim Scott gives 2 examples in the first chapter: The first is the Israeli context where it is respectful to challenge directly, almost aggressively. The second was the japanese context where being polite was the most respectful way.

Uncertain means

"Means" here refers to the means of accomplishing an end. If our means are uncertain, our outcome will be, too. For example, a sermon is a means for spiritual growth. However, a sermon is an uncertain means because, good or bad, I can't guarantee a sermon will make all listeners more spiritually mature. I might think a sermon is good but only a few people grow. I might think it's bad and more or fewer people could grow. And there are extenuating circumstances with people. Maybe someone got in a fight with a loved on the way to church and isn't focusing, etc. When the means are uncertain, the outcome will also be uncertain. Uncertain outcomes are definitive of ambiguity.

"Strong opinions, weakly held."

"Strong opinions" means expressing strong or even outrageous ideas as a good way to get to a better answer or, at the least, an interesting conversation. "Weakly held" means you invite others to poke holes in your strong opinions. This is part of the "listening" component of Scott's "Get Stuff Done" model (see the diagram on page 81). Scott calls it "loud listening" and it stands in contrast to her previous point called "Quiet Listening," wherein one simply listens and provides room for others to speak. Loud listening invites dialogue and opposing viewpoints, and it eliminates guessing what others think because you've provided space on the table for them to speak their minds.

"This conflict will not undo us"

"This conflict will not undo us. The bonds that connect us in Christ are stronger than whatever divides us. This issue is important and we will deal with it without sweeping it under the rug. But this conflict will not undo us." This statement speaks to who we believe is with us - Jesus is with us.

Each stage of grief is a form of avoidance.

Adaptive work and change are painful; as a result, people avoid or resist change because they fear losing. Change requires relinquishing something of value. People will grieve change because they fear losing normalcy, friendships, materials, wealth, status, and etc. Denial- is when people feel the pressure to change but pretend that change is needed. Anger/Blame- Anger happens when they project their fears on another. A leader can't take it personal and must focus on the bigger picture. Blame- is to fault another for causing the pain Bargaining- Its extremely common and requires a leader to help one to discover themselves and the bargaining isn't satisfying. Ex: "If I promise to be good, will you get me out of this?" Depression- Grieving behaviors are designed to stop the pain that leads to one acknowledging the need for change. Depression therefore occurs when one discovers that the problem cannot be ignored. Acceptance- is the tricky process of a person or a people recognizing that they have to deal with the problem. Understanding that grief is a form of avoidance, empowers leaders with the ability to lead and help others cope with their fears of loss as they make meaningful alterations to their behavior. Understanding that grief is a form of avoidance also helps leaders to see that resistance to change are bargaining behaviors. Ultimately, it helps a leader to know how to hang in there as a person or people change.

Avoiding Adaptive Work

Adaptive work is necessary when our deeply held beliefs are challenged. Adaptive work is painful and because of that people tend to resist adaptive work in 2 ways. 1. When people don't feel a problem strongly enough, they default to denial and act like it will just go away, holding the problem at arms length; flight. 2. When people feel the problem too strongly, they become overwhelmed and flight to authority by looking to a leader and saying "tell me what to do and I'll do it - just make it go away....so long as they don't have to change.

Organizations riddled with ambiguity (such as churches, schools, and social service agencies) require interpretative leadership

Ambiguity in organizations leads to the failure of the use of the structural or relational frames, and requires the use of the symbolic frame. In churches, schools, social service agencies, and consulting firms, the situation is full of ambiguity (unclear goals, uncertain means, and multiple constituencies). Example: churches who want to encourage spiritual formation which is an unclear (or unclarifiable) goal; using sermons and bible studies which are uncertain means or methods (not certain the methods will always achieve the goals); and multiple constituencies will interpret the methods and goals differently across the congregation.

Defining Characteristics of the Structural or Organizational Perspective

Bolman & Deal: The Structural or Organizational perspective is a leadership layer/frame/style that inspires action by bringing organizational order, making decisions, forming committees and delegating tasks. (1) organizations are goal-oriented, (2) a division/specialization of labor is key to goal attainment, (3) control over the organization is exercised, (4) personal agendas are set aside, (5) structure follows organizational agenda, (6) structural deficiencies hurt performance, (7) all of this will determine predictability of goal attainment.

"Bosses guide a team to achieve results."

Bosses are responsible for results. They achieve these results not by doing all the work for themselves, but by guiding the people on their teams. Using Guidance (or feedback), team-building, and results. By focusing on these three core responsibilities as a boss, you ensure you are covering the minimal areas that are important to success. A new boss in a group should make sure they are communicating expectations and feedback to the team (guidance), ensure the team is organized and composed of the right people (team-building), and focused on the team's needed results.

"People don't resist change; they resist loss."

Change always requires a loss of some kind. Making a change costs people something, and so they resist that loss, or taking on that cost, required in order to change. Example: When you give up smoking you give up other things: social time, break in work, etc.

Christian leadership: take your story, my story, and our story; weave them together with the biblical story; to create a shared story of future hope.

Christian leadership helps people make meaning and interpret experiences through a biblical framework. We do this through stories, as people are transformed when they can see themselves in a story and then act that story out. Shared stories of future hope take all of our stories and weave them with the biblical story to create a story that helps us to imagine our future together.

"As the boss, you are the editor, not the author"

Coming immediately after the "listen" component of Scott's "Get Stuff Done" model, this means that your job as the boss is to nurture and clarify new ideas. In other words, you're the editor of the conversation, not the author.This is part of the "clarify" component of Scott's "Get Stuff Done" model. Bosses must clarify people's ideas, even the undeveloped ones.

Organizations exist to serve human needs.

From the relational frame, the core reason that organizations exist is to serve people, and not the other way around.

Policy decisions

Decisions that create policy, or set the precedent not just for today, but for all problems like this in the future

Instrumental decisions

Decisions that deal with HOW you are going to do something, the logistical details, how exactly you're going to accomplish something

Programmatic decisions

Decisions that deal with WHAT you are trying to accomplish, what the goal is, what you want the end result to be

Meetings as a Holding Environment.

Gathering people together to discuss roles and responsibilities to turn up or down the heat regarding a project. It exploits the structural frame by discussing policies to help one discover the problem.

"Your job is not to provide purpose but instead to get to know each of your direct reports well enough to understand how each one derives meaning from their work."

Each person looks at their job and finds meaning in their work in a different way. Our job isn't to dictate what that meaning should be. For some it's getting a paycheck and for others it's changing the world in some way.We want to be able to help our people find meaning in their work, but that won't be the same for everyone. By listening and learning how each person finds meaning, we're able to help them and cultivate environments for them to do that in their work.

"Leaders have to fail people's expectations at a rate they can stand."

Failing at a rate that people can stand means gently transitioning the people that are entrusted into your care into understanding that you cannot solve problems for them or take away their pain. As leaders, you have to gradually help the people discover that they need to change. Example: Cutting back to 3 packs a day, then 2, so on...Olive sleep training.

Fiscal decisions

Fiscal decisions are conversations (meeting) or decisions regarding any financial concerns but especially establishing a budget, approving a budget, executing a budget, and budget evaluation.

Policies protect people.

From the relational frame, policies ought to be designed and function in order to meet the needs of people, not the organization.

Unclear goals

Goals we can't specify in detail Example: Spiritual formation is often an unclear goal because we can't exactly quantify people's spiritual growth and/or intimacy with God. We just kind of recognize people's growth when we see it, like the fruits of the Spirit, for example.

Images of God and Jesus in the Symbolic or Cultural Frame

God and Jesus can be seen as teachers or prophets.

"It's not mean; it's clear."

Honesty, done in a productive way, is the kindest thing we can do. This is saying what needs to be said, but doing so in a way that is not destructive but productive. Laying out expectations or speaking truth is not unkind. Telling someone they have broccoli in their teeth is not unkind. It's clear.

Everything is interpreted.

Human behavior dictates that the same events can have very different meanings for different people because of the (different) schema that they use to interpret experience.It is important to understand that this dynamic is at play in organizations, particularly during periods of change and/or ambiguity.

Give feedback immediately...Don't save it up for a 1:1 meeting.

If we save feedback for scheduled 1:1 meetings we will forget some of the reasons and rob the employee to get feedback sooner.

"Back them when they make mistakes."

If we're "giving the work back" to our employees, we need to support staff members and allow them to take risks. Let them know in advance that we support and trust them as they "experiment on the margins" of the company. We do this by avoiding the "reflexitve urge to glare."

No conflict; no honesty

If you have no conflict, you have no honesty because God has created us in diversity. Our differences are part of God's design (1 Corin 12). We can use constructive conflict to promote unity in an honest and intimate community. We must recognize that, in our diversity, we must talk with each other even when we disagree. Example: Jesus Himself initiated conflict throughout the gospel accounts. Some examples include: (1) with the religious leaders of his people, whose interpretation of the Law and whose thoroughly legalistic understanding of religion he opposes vigorously (Mt 5,21-48; Mk 7,1-23)

Jesus in Mark 8: "Who do people say that I am?"

In Mark 8, Jesus asks this question, and uses it as a way to challenge and change the mental models the disciples had. They had one idea of what the titles "Messiah" and "disciples" meant, and Jesus had another. He reshaped their mental models so they understood that the Messiah was a suffering servant rather than a conquering political leader. He asked them to change the model of how they interpreted him, but also how they interpreted themselves.

The first rule in delivering a performance review is "no surprises."

In a formal performance review, there should never be any surprises. If you've been giving regular impromptu guidance, there should be no surprises for your employee.If you are living by Radical Candor, evaluations/reviews should be happening informally on a weekly, sometimes daily basis.Mary was giving a formal counseling to her employee John, and it this session, told John for the first time that he is chronically poor at proofreading his written work. Mary failed the "no surprises" maxim of formal counseling by not giving real-time, impromptu feedback to John in the preceding weeks and months.

Snatching defeat from victory

In talking about adaptive change, Heifetz explains that one of the things you need to do is "ripen" an issue. We have used metaphors about gardeners, including preparing the soil. You can do this by telling stories about this issue, helping people to picture the change. In time, someone will come to you and say that they have an idea, which is what you have been saying. You will want to tell them that it has been your idea all along, but in doing that you will snatch defeat from victory. Instead, allow them to take credit for owning your idea. By allowing others to take credit for your ideas, you enable small wins and you will start to gain momentum. Use their adoption of your idea as an opportunity to build and grow, not to fight over credit. Give God credit for the progress, and connect the person with the larger mission.

Invest in people (Train them and trust them.)

Investing in people means that you give them opportunities to learn and grow.

"First lay the groundwork for collaboration."

It consists of seven steps done in a cycle: 1) Listen to people's ideas and create a culture wherein others do the same; 2) Clarify these ideas so everyone understands their potential usefulness; 3) Debate ideas to test them more rigorously; 4) Decide (i.e. make a group decision on the usefulness of the idea); 5) Persuade those who weren't involved in the previous steps why the decision is a good one so everyone can use it effectively; 6) Execute the decision as a team; 7) Learn from the results of executing it. Now repeat the cycle if necessary

Defining Characteristics of the Interpersonal or Relational Perspective

It empowers through building relationships and its authority is built on charisma, empathy, and trust. An interpersonal or relational leader is empathetic, self-aware, self-reflective, and self-disciplined. Ultimately, it is a people first approach or people oriented. 1. Organizations serve people; 2. When the fit between people and the organization is poor, people suffer; 3. When the fit is good, both benefit; 4. Organizations should form to the needs of people.

Congregations can become trapped within a story.

It is the defining story of an organization's origin, which gives it meaning and serves as its identity. The story is comprised of placeholders that are comfortable with residing in the relics of the past; as a result, they are fearful of change.

Control is the rational response to unpredictability and inefficiency

It is used to ensure that the goals of the organization are going to be accomplished. The idea of control is actually a myth, we cannot 'make' anyone do anything but in the structural frame this is how people guarantee an outcome. Essential to the structural frame.

Care Personally

It refers to a leader's state of being, which is one of genuine care for other people.Caring Personally is about doing things you already know how to do—acknowledging that we're all people with lives and aspirations beyond our shared work.Caring Personally is important because genuine relationships are required for people to flourish.Kim Scott shared the example of her first job, where she worked with diamond cutters, who wanted to know that the company would take care of them if everything "went to hell in Russia." She learned that caring personally for the expert craftsman was important in building the trust necessary to be effective in her role. The craftsmen felt more connected—less alienated from their work—because of Kim's investment in caring personally.

Common lies managers tell themselves to avoid firing somebody who needs to be fired.

It will get better. But it won't get better all by itself. Even if things have gotten a little better, have they improved enough? Somebody is better than nobodyPoor performers often create as much extra work for others as they accomplish themselves, because they leave parts of their job undone or do other parts sloppily or behave unprofessionally in ways that others must compensate for. A transfer is the answer. It feels "nicer" than firing them. This is obviously not so nice for the unsuspecting colleague and is generally a mistake for the person you're trying to be "nice" to as well. It's bad for morale. But keeping someone on who can't do the job is far worse for morale.

"Impromptu guidance really, truly is something you can squeeze in between meetings."

It's important because giving timely guidance is the most valuable. You will be able to immediately praise the good and guide the areas that need correction. Plus, in the time it would take to schedule a meeting you can give the feedback. Don't let the fact that you don't have the solution keep you from giving guidance.Kim Scott (in Radical Candor) encourages bosses to open lines of communication regularly and through impromptu conversations in 3 minutes or less.

Congregations growing in the midst of social change will find themselves "listening to old stories with new ears."

It's the act of retelling, reinterpreting, and recasting the story to provide new meaning. It incites change by serving as an examination of what is possible, which motivates them to make positive changes. Examples: Black, liberation, women's theology

"My efforts to be nice ended with my having to fire him."

Kim Scott shares a story of an employee that she had who did shoddy work for years and she eventually ended up having to fire him. The problem is that she, nor any other member of management, ever had any conversation with him on how to improve or any sort of constructive criticism because they didn't want to be mean. By the time a conversation came about it was too late and what could have previously been corrected could no longer be and he had to be fired. Kim failed him by: never soliciting his feedback, never giving him meaningful praise, never encouraged the team atmosphereThis is ruinous empathy. This is important because as leaders we will often times be tempted to overlook issues because we don't want to be mean by having a corrective conversation. You will lose the other people working for or around you if you are only ever 'nice' at the expense of honest.

Politely persistent

Kim Scott shares this technique when she shares the story of the Japanese context that she worked in. It was culturally appropriate to be very polite, but this team needed to challenge directly. In their own way they used politeness and persistence to challenge and to get the things done that needed to be done. This showed that they cared.

Images of God and Jesus in the Structural Perspective

King, Judge, Sovereign, and Ruler are images of God and Jesus in the structural perspective.

Challenge Directly

Leaders practice this by embracing conflict directly rather than avoiding it, which is often counter-cultural.Challenging others, and encouraging them to challenge you, helps build trusting relationships because it shows (1) you care enough to point out what is and isn't going well, and (2) that you're willing to admit when you're wrong and committed to fixing mistakes.Kim Scott gives the example of Former Secretary of State, Colin Powell, who once remarked that being responsible means others will, at times, be mad at you. Leaders must learn to accept/embrace this, knowing that if it never happens, they probably aren't challenging the team enough.

"Is there anything I could do or stop doing that would make it easier to work with me?"

Leaders set the pace by showing they can accept criticism first. This ties back to week 1 when we learned that leadership begins with listening. After leaving a meeting with clients, a hallway conversation can easily be the environment for a request for feedback. It might take more than one ask, but if a boss is persistent the person they are working with will come up with something and that opens the door for future conversations.

Whenever you want to draw on or change people's beliefs, values, purposes, or identities, you will work in the Interpretative Domain.

Leaders working from the Interpretative Domain help people make meaning by seeing things through a new mental model. This is done using the power of story to reframe a long held belief, understanding, or identity. Transforming mental models is important/powerful because new models change the way people act in the world. Examples: Jesus changed what people thought about Messiah

Don't argue; step to their side

Listen to someone before responding. Then demonstrate that you understand what they're saying by summarizing their message in their terms, not your own, and without your own interpretation/spin on it. If you're in conflict with someone, make sure they realize that you understand their point of view. People need to know you understand before you can actually say, "I understand." Example: "I think what you're saying is" "Tell me if I'm hearing you right"

All loss requires a grief process.

Loss leads to grief, and grief requires time to work through. This process can be seen in the five stages of grief: denial, anger/blame, bargaining, depression, acceptance

"The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality."

Max Depree This is "the process of creating names, interpretations, and commitments...making sense of an action by placing it in a larger frame." It changes the foundation of a person's perception and creating a new meaning. Example: Jesus sermon on the mount

Mental models set expectations

Mental models are categories in which we make sense of the world. Unmet expectations can cause chaos and frustration. Example: the expectation that cars have 4 wheels

Biblical Models of Structural Leadership

Nehemiah, Jethro, and Centurion (Matthew 8). Example: Nehemiah took charge, assessed what was needed, collected resources, and developed hierarchical division of labor to assign work. Jethro advised his son-in-law, Moses, how to divide people so that the burden was spread out more evenly. Centurion said that he had authority to tell people what to do, so Jesus should have that authority over sickness.

Managing someone with low performance but steep trajectory (or high potential)

Nobody is always on a steep or growth trajectory; people's performance changes over time, too. Be careful not to label people as "high performers." Everybody has an off quarter occasionally. To combat permanent labels, Jared Smith came up with the performance ratings "c," "solid quarter," and "exceptional quarter."People go through waves, cycles, and experience highs and lows over the course of a career. Job performance can be affected by working in the wrong role, a transition period, personal problems, and a poor fit

Adaptive work is necessary "when our deeply held beliefs are challenged, when the values that made us successful become less relevant, and when legitimate yet competing perspectives emerge."

The things that we once believed and made us sucessful in our work are now being challenged - this is our sign that adaptive work needs to start. Example: Lifestyle change presented by a doctor

Value the Feminine

One of the three Frames through which we view traditional approaches to gender in organizational change. Using this Frame, organizations celebrate the differences between men and women. This path seeks to value women in the "feminized differences" instead of suppress the "gifts" women bring to the table.

Defines the organization (and everyone in it) in terms of relationships

Organizations exist to serve human needs while providing them with careers, salaries, and other opportunities. People provide organizations with ideas, energy, and talent that are needed for an organization's success.

Theological Tension between Structural and Relational

Our embodied theology is different when we are focusing on goals/success rather than people/relationships.

Policies enact goals.

Policy sets the precedent for the ultimate goal. This is important because in conversations, many people can get confused between policy and instrumental. (Company looking for people to hire that share stories because that's what's important to them)

Radical Candor

Radical Candor is a concept that refers to the leadership act of "caring personally" and "challenging directly." It is a way of being in relationship that builds trust.It is important because the trust that is built through Radical Candor opens the door for the kind of communication that helps teams achieve the results they're aiming for. When Radical Candor is encouraged by leaders, communication flows, resentments come into the light and get resolved, and people begin to love not only their work but whom they work with and where they work.Kim Scott gave the example of when her boss at Google asked to speak with her privately after she'd given a presentation on the performance of one of the company's advertising products. The boss wanted to let Kim know that her tendency to say "um" while speaking "made her sound stupid." The direct challenge to Kim's speech pattern had been preceded by genuine praise for what had gone well in the presentation. But the boss cared enough personally for Kim to give her a direct challenge to help her develop professionally.

A "superstar" as opposed to a "rockstar"

Rockstars are solid as a rock: They love their job and have found their groove. You can rely on them. But they need to be in a role that they want, that matches the skills they want to use. They're comfortable and thrive in their chosen environment. Rockstar = force for stability, ambitious outside of work or simply content in life, happy in the current role. Superstars need to be challenged and given new opportunities to grow constantly. Superstar = change agent, ambitious at work, wants new opportunities. You need a mix of both rockstars and superstars on your team, and it's important to be able to recognize each and know how to manage/lead each based on how they operate. You need both.

"You can approach Radical Candor with your boss in much the same way you did with your team."

Start by asking for guidance before you give it. You want to understand the other person's perspective before you start dishing out praise or criticism, no matter who the person is (boss, employee, peer, etc). Next, don't critique the guidance/criticism; focus on rewarding candor if you get it. Then, ask permission to give guidance to your boss. It is good to start with something small and benign to better understand how the guidance will be received. Always seek to be helpful, humble, do it immediately and in person, praise in public, criticize in private, and don't personalize.

Practice Theory Y rather than Theory X

Theory Y states employees have good intentions and managers should support them. Theory X states employees are lazy and need to be micromanaged.

Leaders make decisions

There are four types of decisions leaders make: Instrumental (How are we going to accomplish this?), Programmatic (What are we trying to accomplish?), Fiscal (anything dealing with money), and Policy (sets the precedent for all situations, not just one).

Technical and Adaptive Change

Technical Change is the next step in the same direction; it is growth on a known trajectory. Adaptive Change is a first step in a new direction; it is transformation to an unfamiliar path. Adaptive change happens when we ask people to adopt new beliefs, pursue better values, or see the ways that they have been doing things will no longer work for them. We cannot use technical means to reach adaptive ends. Example: Discipleship

Leaders cannot use technical means to adaptive ends.

Technical resources will not fix adaptive problems. Leaders can construct environments that will help a person in an adaptive problem along, but they can't fix the problem all together.

Biblical Models of Interpersonal Leadership

There is no clear-cut definition, here - just examples of the Good Shepherd, Barnabas, and Jesus the High Priest.

Defining Characteristics of the Cultural/Interpretative Perspective

The Cultural perspective is centered on meaning-making. It is defined by shared stories, language, and values.It is important to understand this leadership layer because it is the one that leaders of churches often find themselves working from. It is valuable in those contexts because the goals and achievements of these organizations can often be ambiguous; the storytelling is a way to inspire people toward a common vision. 1. What's most important about an event is not what happened, but what it means 2. The same events can have different meanings 3. Humans create symbols 4. Organizational events are more important for what they express than what they produce 5. Culture binds organizations together Examples: Jesus & parables, MLK

Meaning-making leaders often have to create new mental models

The best leaders help change the way we see the world and this is done by changing our mental models or preconceived ideas for how things should be or look based on what we "know" to be true. Example: Jesus sermon on the mount

Ecclesiology inherent to the Structural Perspective

The congregation as an organization is from a structural perspective. With most denominations and churches, there are boards, deacons, elders, bishops, presbyters, committees, departments, divisions, etc. with corresponding policies and procedures to define all the roles and responsibilities for all the positions

Biblical Models of Interpretative Leadership

The prophet Nathan with David, Jeremiah's parables, and the sermon on the mount are Biblical models of interpretative leadership.The interpretive/symbolic frame allows for meaning and direction to be better understood by everyone in the midst of ambiguity. Example: Moses

Christian leaders lead by providing the frameworks that people need to make spiritual sense of the world.

The purpose of Christian leadership is to make spiritual meaning. We help people see how to interpret their daily lives from God's perspective. The best leaders change the way we see the world.This is part of the symbolic frame. We help people interpret their lives, give them tools and frames to understand their world from a Christian/biblical/spiritual perspective. This is done by helping people see their world differently Example: The article gives an example of a church that was struggling with money. Eventually, they realized the key problem was fear—fear that they never had enough money. The leader helped them adopt an outlook that focused on God's abundance. By adopting this outlook, they were able to overcome their fears. The leader helped them see the world differently by framing it in the biblical concept of God's abundance.

Challenging others and encouraging them to challenge you.

This helps build trusting relationships because it shows (1) you care enough to point out both the things that aren't going well and those that are and (2) you are willing to admit when you're wrong and that you are committed to fixing mistakes that you or others have made.Challenging often involves disagreeing or saying no embraces conflict rather than avoiding it. This is key to having an honest, open environment. One aspect of this is when you say something challenging, it will often hurt. The leader's job is to understand that it may hurt the receiver and acknowledge it in the conversation.

"The most important thing [in guiding others] is figuring out how others experience your guidance."

This involves listening to how others feel about the guidance we are providing. Understanding how others experience our guidance is fundamental to caring personally, which is one of the basic tenants of radical candor.Practicing radical candor when giving guidance means that we will help people understand when we are challenging them it is because we care not only about their professional growth, but also about them as human beings. After giving the guidance, the supervisor listened to the employee, sensing how he felt about the feedback. The supervisor emphasized that the feedback was given because the care was for him as a person. The two discussed how they might discuss feedback in the future to improve their communication with one another.

"Here's what I need to do to stay centered: sleep eight hours, exercise for forty-five minutes, and have both breakfast and dinner with my family. If I skip one or two of those things for a day or two, it's OK. But that's the routine."

This is Kim Scott's recipe (from Radical Candor) for staying grounded as a leader. She says this helps her "stay centered no matter what storms are raging."The IS classes at Fuller require us to write our Rule of Life (ROL), this is very similar to Kim's plan for staying grounded.

Experiments on the margins

This is an example of turning down the heat. Little places within an organization where we can test ideas. "Don't make your rookie mistakes in public." Example: Scott teaching his daughter how to drive

Value the dissenter

This is an outgrowth of leadership begins with listening. Valuing those who disagree with us because we have something to learn from them.The danger of conflict is to think that anyone who disagrees with us is wrong and anyone who is wrong is dangerous, and anyone who Is dangerous would be cast out. We end up with an argument that says the best way to preserve what is true and right is to get everyone to agree with me and the best way to get everyone to agree with me is to cast out everyone that does not agree with me. This is deeply unchristian and very foolish leadership. We will continue to learn in life by experiencing and seeing things in a new light. Which means there are things that I am gonna learn where I am presently wrong and I do not yet know it and I am likely going to learn from someone that I currently think is wrong and it turns out that I am actually the wrong one.

Prepare people to fit into the organization

This is birthed from the mindset of the structural frame, not relational. Specialization and the division of labor. Goal and objectives and assigning jobs to people - we assign responsibility. We accomplish our goals by breaking them out into a clear division of labor.

Organizational goals determine individual roles

This is birthed from the mindset of the structural frame, not relational. The organization's goals are the most important thing and so people must be tailored to achieve these goals. People are given jobs based on what is best for the organization, not the other way around. People have to put aside their personal agendas and seek the goals of the organization. The structural frame says to change people so they fit the organization, while the relational frame says to change the organization so it fits the people

"To many bosses, 'recognition' means 'promotion.' But in most cases, this is a mistake."

This is in reference to "rockstars" (defined above.) These people thrive in their current role and are happy in it. Bosses tend to recognize or reward employees for good work with promotions; however, promotions often put these people in roles that they aren't suited for. It is important to know what motivates a person and how best to recognize them for their work in a way that is meaningful, but does not move them into another job that they don't necessarily want. The boss should find other meaningful and significant ways to recognize this person, like a raise or a chance to train if they like teaching, or the chance to present to the company if they enjoy public speaking.

"What matters most about an event is not what happened, but what it means."

This is the most important assumption in the symbolic frame. It means that what the other people in an interaction interpret the event or action to mean is more important than the intended meaning of the initiator.The four steps in this assumption is to (a) recognize what you want to send in an action or message; (b) use a symbol understood by the recipient to communicate the intended message; (c) know what you were intending to communicate; and (d) look for cues for if the message received was different than the intended message Example: Shaking hands

"Bring your whole self to work."

This means modeling the behavior yourself by showing some vulnerability to the people who report to you - or just admitting when you're having a bad day - and creating a safe space for others to do the same.This is part of "Care Personally" where you build trust with your people by being vulnerable and humble about yourself.A boss has a close relative that is very sick. Rather than ignore the subject at work, the boss talks about it with some of his team. This shows that the boss is a real person with real issues. This helps build trust among the team for the boss.

Leave three unimportant things unsaid

This means to practice not saying everything that you are thinking, only say the things that really matter. Radical Candor is not an excuse to nitpick. When you challenge someone directly, it takes a lot of energy - for you and the person being challenged.

"You can't quit smoking for someone else."

This phrase captures the heart of the leader's challenge in ministering through adaptive change. Smoking cessation is an adaptive lifestyle change and though we may encourage and equip someone to stop smoking, we cannot do the difficult work of it for them. Such is the case in all adaptive changes, we cannot "fix" them for another person. Leaders must understand that adaptive changes cannot be addressed through technical means, or solutions that are 'fixable' for people. Example: Mark 8

Don't escalate; educate

This point is about how to use power and authority. It is always tempting for the person with power to make threats which will escalate the situation. It's important because Threats only make it harder to reach an eventual agreement. Threats don't work. Example: Don't say, "If you don't agree, I will walk away and you will be stuck." Power Paradox: the harder we make it for someone to say "no", the harder it will be for them to say "yes". The foal is a mutually satisfactory solution, not victory.

Pacing

Turning up the heat means letting people feel the pinch of reality. It's important to understand that we're not trying to hurt people because reality is already hurting them. Turning down the heat means talking about things we can control (i.e. technical change as opposed to adaptive change) and instituting those changes.

The message sent is not necessarily the message received

What is most important is not what happened but rather what it meant. We can intend to mean something but have actually said something very different. Example: Scott's example of someone bumping into someone else. What does it mean?

Avoid "the reflexive urge to glare."

When authority figures feel the reflexive urge to glare at or otherwise silence someone, they should resist. A glare at an employee can quickly turn into a small loss, even if the employee has made a mistake. One has to get accustomed to getting on the balcony, delaying the impulse, and asking, What is this person really talking about? Is there something we're missing? Leaders have to get up on the balcony to gain perspective on the big picture. By avoiding the urge to glare and by delaying an emotional response to some pushing back against change, it allows the leader to gain greater perspective.

Believes that the dual purpose of an organization is to serve people and to provide people within the organization with a venue to do fulfilling work

When organizations serve people they structure their objectives around people's needs. When that happens, organizations provide fulfilling work for people based on people's skills (and needs) as opposed to the structural frame which might hire people based on how they can serve the organization. (See Defining Characteristics of Relational frame)

Don't reject; reframe.

When someone makes a proposal, don't immediately say no. Find a way to re-frame it. Point out the ways it is moving in the right direction. It's important because it shows the person you heard them and you heard the good in what they said. It communicates you value them even if their idea isn't perfect.

Threats only make it harder to reach an eventual agreement.

William Ury: This quote is grounded in the idea that fear leads to fear and that threats lead to confusion. Instead of threats, seek to respond with a careful description of the issues at hand. After the description, make a statement of invitation. This quote comes from Speed Leas book Leadership and Conflict, and it applies when conflict is directed toward you. This is part of the work of paying equal attention to how you proceed and to what the issues are. Related to this idea of not making threats is establishing boundaries, structuring the process, looking to common goals.

The Sermon as a Holding Environment

With our sermons, we can create an environment in which listeners feel the pinch of reality and are made uncomfortable enough to have to make a change in their lives. However, we can also turn down the heat in a different part of the sermon by discussing technical means to change. Example: Jesus and Parables

"Start by getting feedback."

You must start by soliciting radical candor for yourself. The place to start with instituting a place of radical candor is by getting it yourself - creating a space where you solicit feedback. Don't dish it out before you can take it.Do this in a 1:1 setting by doing the following: a)have a go to question (like "what could I do or stop doing that would make it easier to work with me"), b) embrace discomfort and shut your mouth after you ask that question. After about 6 seconds, people will talk, c) don't be defensive rather listen with the intent to understand- not to respond, d) reward the candor

"If a person is bold enough to criticize you, don't critique their criticism."

Your job when someone criticizes you is to "listen with the intent to understand and then reward the candor," even if it is inappropriate criticism.It is important to foster an environment where criticism, or radical candor, is encouraged. We do that by soliciting feedback ourselves and demonstrating that it is of value to us. However, if we react defensively, the people will not want to offer criticism again.

Ambiguity

ambiguity explains the disconnect between means and goals, cause and effect, solutions that's detached from the problem, etc. Ambiguity is when there is no guaranteed outcome and more than one interpreter. Schools, churches, healthcare settings, consultant firms, and nonprofits are all prime candidates for ambiguity. Ambiguity occurs within or is present within an organization when the following is present: unclear goals (they are unclarifiable goals) uncertain means (is when the methods don't guarantee the desired goals) multiple constituencies (having more than one interpreter judging the goals, success, etc., of an organization The 7 Sources of Ambiguity are the following: We are not sure what the problem is. We are not sure what is really happening. (incomplete info) We are not sure what we want. (multiple and conflicting goals) We do not have the resources that we need. We are not sure who is supposed to do what. We are not sure how to get what we want. We are not sure how to determine if we have succeeded.