Twenty-First Century Leadership

lead

Big Idea: Lead by empowering team members to make decisions and contribute their expertise towards shared goals.


Tonight, I want to discuss how leadership has evolved over the past ten years. This is important because if you try to lead today using yesterday’s methods, you’ll be lost. On my wall at home, I have a map of my neighborhood that’s 70 years old. If I handed you this map today, and you tried to use it to navigate, you’d be lost. You can’t use yesterday’s roadmap to navigate today’s roads. I want to give you a roadmap for how to be a leader in the 21st century.

The principles of leadership never change. Timeless leadership principles can be found in the Bible, such as in the book of Nehemiah. But the methods of leadership change all the time. What I’m going to tell you tonight probably wouldn’t have worked 100 years ago, and what I’m going to tell you may not work in 100 years. But you need to know it today. This is the shape of 21st century leadership, and you need to know it.

I want to begin by asking you to envision someone with the qualities of good leaders from your past. What qualities distinguished them as exceptional leaders?

The modern era's leader excelled in managing structures and offering guidance and regulations. They were commanding. “I’ll tell you what to do. It’s not your place to ask any questions.” He or she knew the answers, sat at the top of the pyramid, and was likely a charismatic person. The leaders of the past spent most of their time giving orders and making sure that their subordinates obeyed. Past leaders made top-down decisions, ensuring implementation through reporting, measurement, and incentive systems. The leader was the decision-maker, and everyone else was the implementer. The leader received information and used their wisdom, courage, and intellect to make the right decisions. The leader was a unique and inspiring figure who motivated others, either through charisma or intimidation, to follow his commands. That’s the image of leadership that many of us carry around with us.

The problem with this model is that it no longer works. Leaders don't always have expertise in every area, nor can they provide their insights instantly when needed. Followers become demotivated when they see themselves as “choiceless doers” forced to carry out rules, regulations, and organizational charts. A past leader weakens their subordinates, becomes overwhelmed, and fosters a culture of mediocrity. The leader of the past will not be the leader of the future.

Today, I want to give you a major transition that you can make to become a twenty-first century leader. This transition can be summarized in 5 words: move from control to collaboration.

As a 21st-century leader, the most crucial shift is from control to collaboration. Old-style leaders believed that people want and need to be controlled and to have decisions made for them. New leaders understand that people want to make their own decisions and have multiple choices. The leader understands that they are not a leader of doers; they are a leader of leaders.

Does the leader retain any control? Absolutely! The leader of a ministry makes the most important decisions, either alone or with others. The leader can set the direction for the ministry while also giving others the freedom to make choices that support this goal. The leader says, “We’re going to cross this river, but you can do it by boating, jumping, swimming or paddling. Just cross the river!”

Example: Sally is planning a Bible class for children whose parents are addicted to Gaither videos. She’s been given a budget and a team to work with her. Sally understands that the purpose of this Bible study is to heal and restore children of parents addicted to Gaither videos. The vision of that ministry is clear. How should Sally proceed?

The old style would have been for Sally to make most of the high-level decisions, then pull her group together and tell them what to do. "Susan, you are in charge of managing publicity. Sheila, you’re in charge of food.” She would have given them some freedom to make choices, but not much. Sheila had the option to choose between French roast and dark roast coffee. But if any decision had to be made, Sally would have been calling the shots.

How should a 21st century leader act? A 21st-century leader understands that team members are often more knowledgeable in specific areas than she is. Sally will gather the team to outline the Bible study goals and encourage open discussion. This is our goal. Now how should we proceed? What can we all bring to the table? How can I help you succeed in reaching our goal?”

If you watched Survivor II last night, the tribes had to build huts. In one tribe, they were lucky enough to have somebody who naturally assumed the mantle of leadership. He just began to direct people to do different tasks. It just emerged that he was the leader of that tribe.

This tribe also had a carpenter who had built many houses before. A twenty-first century leader would have said, “Look, we need to build a hut. You know more than I do about building a hut. I’ve never built a hut before, and you’ve built not only huts but houses. You are responsible for overseeing the construction of the hut. How can I help you?” That’s how a twenty-first century leader would have acted. Unfortunately, he reacted differently. He began to tell the house-builder how to build a hut. He failed to get out of the way of the person who had the greater knowledge, the greater skill.

How do you turn from control to collaboration? It’s simple. Realize that the job of a leader isn’t to have all the answers. Move from centralized leadership to team-based leadership. Stop asking, “How can you help me succeed?” to “How can I as a leader help you succeed?” Transition from seeking authority to establishing trust. See your team members as co-experts, more knowledgeable in some areas than you are, and then give them the freedom to act to meet the team’s goals.

Leonard Sweet writes:

In ecclesiastic ecosystems, people at the lowest levels must be given every decision-making power and entrepreneurial boost to rise to the top; creativity in all staff, including those at the lowest level, must be given free reign; teams must be encouraged to be self-organizing; power and authority must be shared by everyone. (Aquachurch)

If you want to be a controller, then be an air-traffic controller. What’s the job of an air-traffic controller? Not to keep the planes on the land, but to get them off the ground and into the sky. That's the role of "controllers"—they are responsible for giving clearance to individuals for takeoff.

Sweet continues:

The future belongs not so much to the movers and shakers but to leaders who can work in teams. In fact, the movers and the shakers of postmodern culture are teams, which must become the dominant model for ministry and mission. There are no more clergy and laity. There are only ministers. Leadership…is the art of making every member as good a minister as you are endeavoring to be.
Leadership in the modern world was the power of charisma and command. Only a few people had it. These were gifts. Leadership in the postmodern world is collaboration and interaction. Everybody has it.

The best part about this new style of leadership is that it’s biblical. Jesus did it. Jesus was team-work obsessed. He spent his ministry building a team. God exists in the context of a team – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Paul teaches that the church is a team – a team composed of different members who are good at different things. The New Testament says that every follower of Jesus Christ is a leader.

Let’s summarize. What’s new about leadership? What’s changed?

  • Old leadership style – Telling. New leadership style – Asking. “The leader of the past was a person who knew how to tell. The leader of the future will be a person who knows how to ask.”
  • Old leadership style – Knowledgeable. “I know what to do.” New leadership style – Collaborative. “None of us is as smart as all of us.”
  • Old leadership style – Muscle. “I’ve got the power. New leadership style – Relationships. “Together we’ve got the power. Let’s do it together.”
  • Old leadership style – Centralized. New leadership style – Decentralized.
  • Old leadership style – Control. New leadership style – Chaos – but organized chaos.
  • Old leadership style – Self-improvement. New leadership style: Team improvement.
“In a team-player mentality, no leader ever goes to a continuing education event of conference without taking others.” (Aquachurch)

Effective leadership – effective ministry – is going to be team-based. Let me ask you about your own ministry: are you acting as a team? What would change if you were? What new solutions would appear to old problems?

Darryl Dash

Darryl Dash

I'm a grateful husband, father, oupa, and pastor of Grace Fellowship Church East Toronto. I love learning, writing, and encouraging. I'm on a lifelong quest to become a humble, gracious old man.
Toronto, Canada