The Goehner Group

LEADING BY CREATING CHAOS

…for God is not a God of confusion but of peace…I Corinthians 14:33

 
In 1987, Tom Peters, the management guru of the “era” wrote a book called Thriving on Chaos. His premise was quite simple, “If it ain’t broke you just haven’t look hard enough, fix it anyway.” His concept was that we needed to realize the business world is turned upside down and customer responsiveness, innovation, empowering people and learning to love change were essential to a successful navigation of the times.

Contrast that with the Christian leader who is the cause of the chaos and uses it to solidify his or her control.

How do these people behave and what are the characteristics of a person who leads by creating chaos?

1. Every issue is a crisis- For this person, even the smallest decisions take an inordinate amount of time. It’s time to get away to reflect, for a committee, put off decision and turn the “slightest blip on the radar screen” into an emergency of catastrophic proportions.

2. Keep the staff off guard- This type of leader tends to be very unpredictable. It almost appears he or she is “bi-polar” because you’re not certain which person will show up for work. There is no consistency in work style, personality or behavior. You’re not certain whether you’re working with a live “volcano” or “a quiet mountain stream.”

3. End result is all the power remains in the top person- This type of leader often gives responsibility without authority; second guesses decisions and reminds everyone that they are the final word.

In my years of ministry experience, many of these leaders who have “lived by the sword” end up “dying by the sword.” The departure of this type of leader is rarely pleasant.

NARCISSITIC TO THE CORE

Then he said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” Luke 9:23

Narcissism is defined: “Inordinate fascination with oneself; excessive self-love and vanity.
The Narcissistic Personality is defined: “One who is extremely self-centered and self-absorbed.” In other words, “It’s all about me.”

I remember sitting at the opposite ends of a large conference table with a noted Christian leader several years ago. Throughout the one hour meeting, he kept adjusting the knot in his tie. I began to think he had a nervous tic. At the end of the meeting I stood and glanced behind me, the entire wall was a mirror.

There’s probably nothing more discouraging than discovering that Christian leaders are so self-centered that their ego becomes bigger than the organization. Some of you reading this might protest and say: “Don, how did they get to be a leader?” Frankly, for many of these individuals they did not always behave in this manor. Over time, as they became more popular and rose up the ladder they began to believe they, in their own strength were important.

My experience with narcissistic leaders is, self-absorption and self-centeredness result in one or two outcomes:

1. A sense of entitlement, e.g. “I built the organization and I deserve…” this often leads to an affair, abuse of staff, a salary out of balance with everyone else and a feeling that everything has to come through me and I can be the only spokesman for the organization.
2. Leaders who become “comfort-seeking” rather than “cross-bearing.” Jesus calls us to unconditional surrender and recognition that it’s not about us, picking up our cross and denying ourselves and following him. A good measuring stick for leaders, is how much pain have they experienced and how did they react.

All of us who lead need to remember Job’s words: “He knows the ways that I take when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.” Job 23:10

GO WITH WHO YOU TALKED TO LAST

“No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the Kingdom of God.”  Luke 9:62

I once worked for a leader whose unpredictability was based on one character trait: he responded favorably to the last person with whom he spoke before making a decision.

I’ve observed this same behavior several times in my consulting practice. The outcome is almost always the same: frustration for nearly everyone involved in the process.

What are the principles at work? There are at least two.

The first is an inability to say “no.” As a Christian leader you feel called to meet needs and our basic tendency is to stretch dollars and staff to touch as many lives as possible. It is often hard to say “no.”   In this example of failure I’m discussing, the inability to say “no” is compounded by a desire to want to please everyone and as a result pleasing no one. It is impulse leading in reverse. Acting on impulse is usually defined as “acting without sufficient facts.”  Going with who you talked to last is an inability to sort out facts and reach a tough decision by succumbing to an impulse of “I’m tired of doing all this work…this idea seems good. I’m going with it.”

The second is understanding this behavior is another symptom of fear.  This includes the fear of failure, fear of offending and fear of looking bad.  Healthy leaders make tough decisions after getting the facts, praying, considering the alternatives and deciding what is best for the organization. It takes courage, tenacity, sensitivity and the ability to stick with your decision.

BEHAVING AS A BULLY

“Then summoning him, his lord said to him ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you entreated me. ‘Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, even as I had mercy on you?’ Matthew 18:32-33

One of the saddest experiences I’ve had in my ministry and consulting career is to deal with bullies, particularly Christian leaders who abuse power.  Unfortunately, this type of leader is more prevalent than we would like to admit.

What happens?
1. They are usually, but not always strong leaders who have gone amuck. In other words, they’re basically gifted people who go beyond the realm of good leadership and management to a dysfunctional leadership style.
2. They lead through fear and they flourish best in chaotic organizations.
3. They tend to be extremely defensive.
4. Unfortunately, they’re usually quite insecure.

The outcomes of this dysfunctional type of leader are never very pleasant. Some of the outcomes are:
1. A high rate of staff turnover
2. Low staff moral.
3. Staff mutinies
4. A “head on collision” with the Board
Rarely do these leaders leave under good terms.

Throughout my own history I have had to embolden board members to deal with bullies. In one memorable experience I had to challenge the bully and encourage him to leave the organization.  I recently had a conversation with his successor who has had 13 years of successful ministry leadership. He thanked me for my courage in dealing with his issue several years ago.

Bullies are really people in need of help and afraid to ask for it. Their ultimate success rate is very low.