Friday, January 27, 2006

Dysfunctional Leadership Cycle in Elitist Ministries

Dysfunctional leadership cycle in elitist ministries


1. Little or no real accountability of senior leadership to followers.

  • Much talk about accountability, but usually just followers to leaders – not vice versa.

  • Lack of transparency.

  • Highly authoritarian leadership model, without space for open discussion or dissent.

  • Sin and failure covered up rather than dealt with honestly and openly.

  • Promotion based on blind loyalty rather than merit.

  • Senior leaders surrounded and protected by ‘yes-men’.


Apparent strengths:

  • Rapid growth and execution of projects.

  • Lack of open discussion on failures, gives illusion of no failures.

  • Rapid growth and illusion of no failure, encourages more to invest time, money and energy in ministry.

  • Apparent success fuels even more rapid growth.

  • Ministry appears more successful than others and so doesn’t listen.


Weakness

  • People who question problems in ministry get unjustly attacked by leadership.

  • Eventually dissent is silenced as thinking people are demoted or move away.

  • Lots of abused and hurt people leave ministry, but are replaced by others deluded by apparent strengths.

  • Leaders all overwork to produce results and under stress treat people very badly.


2. New leaders taught same elitist/abusive Pharisee model of leadership

  • Those who question and think are not promoted and so don’t get to senior leadership.

  • New leaders are told they are part of an elite within the ministry, which itself is better than other ministries.

  • Arrogance and autocracy grows amongst leadership.

  • Model is justified by apparently brilliant short-term growth results.

3. Crash
  • No one opposes when leader goes off track. Those who do are marginalised.

  • Leader goes further and further off track with scandal and abusiveness.

  • Eventually leader crashes either because of scandal or chronic abusiveness.


4. Aftermath

  • Leader (rather than system) is blamed for crashing.

  • System is not questioned.

  • New leader(s) take over with same elitist/abusive production oriented style.

  • New leader doesn’t know any way to lead except what taught before.

  • Organisation merges with another similar group and/or changes name.

  • Disassociates with former group.

  • A few minor changes in accountability, without addressing core issues.


5. System repeats itself from step 1 again with the next generation of leaders.



Results:


  • Lots of disillusioned and hurt Christians

  • Lots of highly intelligent promising leaders corrupted with elitist/abusive Pharisee style leadership model.

  • Lots of wasted money, time and energy that could have been better invested in God’s kingdom.

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