Congregational Life Centre
Our mission is to help leaders acquire
the skills and attitudes they need to lead
Leading the Way
with Margaret Wheatley & Peter Senge
Joyce Madsen
The
conference centre at the University of Calgary Student Centre was packed
last November with people eager to hear from Peter Senge and Margaret Wheatley.
One of the highlights of this event was the evening when both Margaret Wheatley
and Peter Senge were on stage together responding to questions from the
audience. The snippets of wisdom they shared in response to questions were
very insightful.
* To lead is "to step across the threshold".
* Too often leadership development programs are training people to operate at a higher level of management.
* Leadership requires a life-long journey of developing self as oneself. To be a leader one must know one's self. It is founded in self-awareness.
* Leaders who can weather adversity have a spiritual practice. We need a spiritual practice so we don't get swept away by the enormity of the issues of the world which create such strong emotions.
If you reflect on those statements, I'm sure you will agree that there is much food for thought, especially for those working to create a 21st Century church.
These two leaders live and breathe the understanding that if we engage in open, honest conversation with one another we will find how much we have in common. From having aspiration or vision to developing a road map of action they are clear that we need all of our wisdom to succeed.
They had us working in small groups - responding to questions and listening carefully to one another. It was for us a working example of how we believe we need to be in the church. We have long offered programs in how to do circles or small groups.
Peter presents the more academic perspective, with charts and labels. One of the messages that resonated for me was that if we are putting our focus on the internal our focus becomes repositioning and cost and risk reduction; whereas if we focus on the external we are looking for growth. Our experience in the church reflects that image. If we focus on those who are in the church, we tend to be in maintenance mode and we decline - if we focus on Jesus message and look outside we have the opportunity to grow and make new connections.
Margaret has some simple advice regarding where we need to put our time and energy. Her four simple steps are:
1. Notice what you care about
2. Get Started
3. Learn as you go
4. Stay together
Four simple steps to guide you. It is simple - but it isn't easy!
"Leadership Ventures" Congregational Life Newsletter. January 2011. Volume 17 No. 3.