Why Christian Leaders Fail: Reason Eight
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.
Filed under: Articles on February 25th, 2009