Leading Situationally
Leading and managing people is much like managing a garden. Tomatoes are not cared for the same as strawberries. Greens need less attention than beans. Cucumbers will run all over the garden without proper care. Each plant requires a different plan of attack if it is to reach its full potential and be enjoyed as God intended. As leaders, we cast vision and as managers, we develop and implement policies and procedures, provide insight and instruction, play peacemaker and problem solver-sometimes all in the same day.
Yet, each situation is as different as the people involved. Just as growing strawberries cannot be approached with the same strategy as growing greens, not every situation in the church can be approached from the same perspective and use the same tools every time. This is referred to as situational leadership. The situational leader is wise enough to step back, pray, assess the situation, and determine which strategies will garner the best outcome. This type of leadership requires wisdom on part of the leader. James 4:17 instructs the wise person that “the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.” Notice three aspects of the wise person which are directly applicable to managing as a situational leader-open to reason, impartial, and sincere.
Just as growing strawberries cannot be approached with the same strategy as growing greens, not every situation in the church can be approached from the same perspective and use the same tools.
These traits are seen in Bolman’s and Deal’s (Reframing Organizations, 2017) approach to situational leadership. They suggest the effective leader should reframe the situation, that is to step back and see in which of the four paradigms the situation lies (structural, human resource, political, or symbolic). In the structural frame there is a rigid set of ideas or beliefs forming a lens which helps the leader understand the situation (43). If a leader can understand the structure of the situation, he can more effectively manage the situation. By viewing the situation through a human resource frame, the leader tries to understand what the organization and the people in it do to and for one another (114). The human resource frame sees people as individuals in need and if the manager can understand the need he can successfully address the situation. The political frame views each situation as presenting an opportunity to leverage influence for scarce resources and competing interests (279). The manager who operates from a political frame will value compromise and the ability to get individuals to view objectives from another’s perspective. The symbolic frame sees myths and symbols as important in helping individuals understand and make sense of a chaotic world (236). The manager using a symbolic frame understands the value of culture and its holistic impact on the organization. The effective leader will utilize appropriate symbols and give meaning to significant events, ideas, or structures in the organization.
By understanding each of these frames, the pastor can step back from the issue or problem and wisely discern which frame the current system is operating and apply the correct response to address the need. The wise pastor recognizes not all problems are created equal and will seek to wisely use multiple approaches to reach a solution.
In His Grace,
BD
Bolman, Lee and Terrence Deal. Reframing Organizations 6th Ed. Hoboken: Jossey-Bass, 2017.