Leadership Cohort Groups
With Judy Slater
After being a clergyperson in and on the edges of the church for over 40 years, what I have come to understand is that the church is increasingly irrelevant and outdated for so many.
Facing change on an unprecedented scale and exaggerated by the recent pandemic forced upon us, the urgency and possibilities for new ways of being and doing church require us to learn to lead all over again. This is not only true in churches but in many groups, organizations, and places in our world.
Yet, I believe the church has a profound purpose and can be resurrected by empowered leaders who want to lead in a new way, with new tools, new skills, and a new vision with a spirit of adventure, trusting the Spirit that goes ahead of us.
I believe that everyone is a leader. The quote attributed to Gandhi expresses it well, ‘Be the change you wish to see in the world’. This quote is a call to action and a way to find meaning in your life.
Trained in adaptive, missional, and transformational leadership as well as Co-Active leadership, (Co-Active Training International) I offer a variety of tailor-made group leadership training experiences for churches, groups, and organizations from cohort groups, consultations, leadership retreats, seminars, as well as individual coaching for leaders.
The ABC’s of an adaptive leadership vocabulary are introduced with key concepts such as embracing the ‘Newmal’, being Nimble, and offering a ‘Non-anxious Presence, and many more. As a leader, you will learn to work on yourself first and be self-reflexive about your own development as an adaptive leader, while at the same time working in the particular leadership situation you find yourself in.
In a collegial atmosphere in which individual leaders can hold one another accountable, leadership is enhanced through training, book studies, cross context partnerships, discussion, hospitality and vital practices, shared ministry and resources, and welcoming new experiments in mission and beyond.
Here are some things I know to be true:
- Leadership is developed, made not born. A leader is anyone who is willing to take personal responsibility, convene at least one other to work on a tough problem, and persist in the face of resistance.
- Leaders must commit to personal transformation.
- Leaders must know themselves and authentically express themselves.
- Leaders must create and reinforce clarity of behavior, communication, purpose, and shared values.
- Leaders must have strong healthy boundaries, communicate clear expectations, cultivate strong, healthy, caring relationships, all the while staying focused on the mission and purpose.
- Leaders establish, maintain, and change the culture through love. Love precedes change.
- Leaders don’t act alone. To be a leader there must be someone who follows.
- Leaders inspire and ‘give heart’ to the people amidst fear & frailties.
- Leaders must prepare for the unknown, have the ability to innovate, be creative, consider new options, shift habits, beliefs or values, grow deep trust, and have healthy relationships.
- Leadership is taking people where they need to go and yet resist going.
- Leadership is energizing a community of people towards their own transformation in order to accomplish a shared mission in the face of a changing world.
- Leaders embody enlightened & responsible behavior, by setting the tone, inviting collaboration, making decisions, charting a direction, establishing boundaries, encouraging self-expression, restraining threats to the integrity of the whole, and keep the system’s direction aligned with its purpose.
- Leadership is about transformation and mission, about growing and going, about personal development and corporate effectiveness simultaneously.
- Leaders have the capacity to lead a process of shifting values, habits, and behaviors in order to grow and discover solutions to the greatest challenges brought on by a changing world.
- Transformational leadership is always a two-front battle. The challenge of a changing world, unfamiliar terrain, and the test of finding new interventions, along with the community that resists the change necessary for its survival.
- Leadership is challenging and the only way to change what you can deeply about; the future of your own life, your church, your group, your organization, and the world.
If this sounds like something you, your church, your group, or your organization needs… please click on the Get Started button below and leave me a message. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.
On the About Page, listen to The Better Life Show video or other videos to hear more.
And of course, I’ve got a sermon about this I’d love to preach again! – ‘Going to the Other Side’.