Leading through Change
It was the Greek philosopher, Heraclitus, who famously said, “the only constant in life is change”. Ministry leaders are no more or less involved in leading change but in light of eternity, the stakes could not be higher.
Transitions in ministry are particularly ripe for change in leadership. Some transitions are personal, involving the leader’s own journey with aging, family dynamics, or life experiences. However, the greatest challenges for ministry leaders often involve transitions within the ministry. A new place of service, replacing staff, financial challenges, decaying infrastructure, and demographical shifts are but a few of the challenges that put great pressure on the leader. And every leader has a new idea or two along the way that needs a deft touch in execution.
Whatever the challenge, the leader would do well to begin with a clear “why?”. It may be a crisis where there is strong agreement or it may be a new idea where there is mixed consensus. In either case, the “why” sets the tone and empowers leaders and followers to act decisively and intentionally. Often, the erosion of support for transitional leadership is due to weak attention to this important first step by the leader. Said another way, step two is to return to step one and make sure you have consistently stated and restated the “why”. One must say this again and again.
One note to the wise here: to the degree that your “why” is spiritual or eternal, your leadership will be more or less effective. If you tie change to worldly things like notoriety or convenience or preference, you will almost certainly not lead well. If you tie change to grander things like the saving of souls or the changing of lives for multiple generations, you are doing exactly what the apostles did in the New Testament. Your ministry is not going to follow you into worldly pursuits for very long. But God will bless your efforts if your work is kingdom-minded.
A successful leader should also pay attention to obtaining support from key stakeholders. Every ministry has people whose influence matters more than others. While unanimity is near impossible in these early stages, it is very difficult to be effective with a go-it-alone strategy. I compare this step to a farmer who spends the winter preparing the soil and his equipment for the planting season. It’s not very glamorous or visible but it’s pretty obvious in April and May as to whether you did anything in January or February to get ready.
As spiritual leaders this must certainly involve prayer. Nehemiah is often celebrated as an expert Old Testament leader. It should be noted that Nehemiah 1 opens in the month of Chislev and Nehemiah begins to pray. Nehemiah 2 opens in the month of Nisan where Nehemiah makes his first appeal to the king. The time interval there is at least four months. Nehemiah prayed four months before he said a word to the king!
Thirdly, it is imperative to involve as many people as possible in the implementation of change. Broad support is often the result of broad participation. Every transition is different but people are far more likely to affirm things in which they have been involved. Few people enjoy a meaningless task but successful change leadership finds ways to spread the work and give ownership across broad groupings of people. Again, see Nehemiah as a clear example.
Lastly, celebrate everything and do it often. Everybody wants to play for a winning team. Remind them they are winning and that even the small things are critical. Celebration is a non-negotiable in successful leadership.
If change is constant, then we owe it to our Lord to lead it well. Talk to Him a lot and find a mentor or two to help you in the hard spots. You are not the first. Happy transitioning!
