Leadership Types

I found this very helpful matrix for understanding the kind of leader you are as well as the type of leaders you have around you:

The eight archetypes I have found to be most prominent are:

• The strategist: leadership as a game of chess. These people are good at dealing with developments in the organisation’s environment. They provide vision, strategic direction and outside-the-box thinking to create new organisational forms and generate future growth.
• The change-catalyst: leadership as a turnaround activity. These executives love messy situations. They are masters at re-engineering and creating new organisational ‘‘blueprints’’.
• The transactor: leadership as deal making. These executives are great dealmakers. Skilled at identifying and tackling new opportunities, they thrive on negotiations.
• The builder: leadership as an entrepreneurial activity. These executives dream of creating something and have the talent and determination to make their dream come true.
• The innovator: leadership as creative idea generation. These people are focused on the new. They possess a great capacity to solve extremely difficult problems.
• The processor: leadership as an exercise in efficiency. These executives like organisations to be smoothly running, well-oiled machines. They are very effective at setting up the structures and systems needed to support an organisation’s objectives.
• The coach: leadership as a form of people development. These executives know how to get the best out of people, thus creating high performance cultures.
• The communicator: leadership as stage management. These executives are great influencers, and have a considerable impact on their surroundings.

Working out the type of leader you are and what kind of people you have on your team can work wonders for a team’s effectiveness. It helps in recognising how you and your colleagues can each make their best contributions. Designing an effective executive role constellation will in turn create a culture of mutual support and trust, reduce team stress and conflict, and make for more creative problem solving. Thus by using the psychodynamic approach, paying attention to the underlying drivers of interpersonal, group, and organisational cultural dynamics, individuals, teams, and organisations will benefit greatly.

Manfred Kets De Vries is the Distinguished Professor of Leadership Development & Organisational Change at INSEAD and the Programme Director of The Challenge of Leadership, one of INSEAD’s Top Executive Development Programmes.

Read more at http://knowledge.insead.edu/leadership-management/first-know-yourself-then-your-team-3510#keYg7aUgiXrI6xWR.99

Silence

There are times when we just have to be quiet...

The last months have been particularly deep and impacting. I have known that the last few years have been God very much at work in me for the next 20 years.

This kind of surgery is a mystery. We never really understand it while we are under the divine hand of transformation. It was so obvious that the old me was not quite what was needed for the new adventure.

John told us in his sacred text, that "it is through faith and patience that we inherit the promises". That is not always as easy as we want it to be:

"Faith is the assurance of things hoped for" but what if we do not know why or what God is on about. It is difficult to exercise faith in those times. I found 'trust' as far more empowering travel companion. God does not change. If he has been trustworthy in days gone by, then I can trust him again, even if I could not see clearly. I needed trust in the mists.

Patience is never a friend. We love being the masters of our own destiny, but what if God takes that away? What then? Things are not the same - don't you agree dear reader. This is a different time, a different season, a different age, a different mood governing our world. So patience is not easy.

I found Him in the silence. He was speaking quietly, whispering actually but I was making too much noise. But when I hushed, I heard and now I know why.

genesis DNA Spirit

"God therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit..." Matt 28:19

I love the Holy Spirit.

Coming to faith into both a Reformed theological story as well as a Charismatic experience was an act of divine kindness. I thought everyone believed what we believed and did what we did. It was only after a while that I found, to my surprise, that all did not have the same story.

Now I must say right at the outset, I have a prejudice against the charismatic subculture that has caused so much damage globally. But the sheer beauty, tenderness, intimacy and empowerment that the Holy Spirit brings, is too magnificent to neglect, ignore, hinder. We certainly don't want to be guilty of of believing in the Father, the Son and the Holy Bible [ as a substitute for the Holy Spirit]- either by proclamation or practice.

In our Statement of Faith we wrote:

"We believe the Holy Spirit indwells, sanctifies, leads, illumines, and graciously empowers for godly living and service all who come to faith in Christ. As well as the continuation of all the “charismata” of the Spirit, and that He desires to fill and empower believers for ministry, mission, witness, and for the building up of His church in love."

The Holy Spirit is the third person in the Trinity and deserves to be honored, listened to, heeded, responded and discerned. As this is about our DNA more than our theology allow me to explain.

We simply cannot achieve our divine mission without this third person of the Trinity. We have to surrender our right of prejudice and preference as to what he can do, and how he can do it. That does not mean we cast our brains aside. It does mean that we become students of the scriptures to learn of the ways in which the Spirit has ministered. Then accept the responsibility to be students of church history, to see how he has led the church in days gone by.

The older I get, the more committed  I am to die daily. It is so easy to justify disobedience to cultural sensitivity. That dear reader, dishonors the one we really need to be sensitive to.

Back in the day we borrowed the phrase from some of the British leaders who spoke of being "naturally supernatural and supernaturally natural". There is no room to change voice tone, gain a quiver in our prayers, to shake and somehow do things that appear more mystical. I simply do not see that in the life of Jesus, nor in his ministry. Whenever we are asked about such things I simply look for it in the life of Christ. If it is not there, clear and evident, it may still be God, but we cannot make it the big thing, if it is valid at all.

We want all of the Holy Spirit. We do not want to quench him, hinder him, resist him, prescribe to him, liturgically exclude him! Rather we want to be led by him, walk by him, live by the him, be empowered by him - see him evident in our daily lives, our weekly gatherings, our mission moments. Without him we simply cannot... 

  

genesis DNA Mates

"I used to call you servants... now I call you friends..." John 15:15

This is the glue!

When we began this intoxicating journey of church planting, we were ignorant, naive and passionate. We knew we wanted to "do life with mates". That was not a mantra or an official DNA piece. It was a passion. We were not professionals looking for a promotion or artists looking for a gig. We saw God is "three in one". The beauty, mystery and wonder of the Trinity drove us to believe that the glue of this story was our friendships ["communitas" as Alan Hirsch calls it - friendship forged under fire].

Then we looked at Jesus. The Jesus approach always seemed to be through the door of relationship. From before the beginning, through the beginning "let us make man in our image", the power of relationship was the glue that held every narrative together. When Jesus called the disciples to himself, there was not an employment arrangement with job descriptions. No this was the second person in the Godhead who was inviting 12 men onto a journey, to become friends, find 'communitas' through the depth of his tragedy as they became a true band of brothers "we few, we happy few, we band of brothers" W Shakespeare

I know the modern western church is systems driven. That is not our story. We love what the Australians call 'mateship'.  We love the front door to be real and true relationships. There needs to be a God joining of hearts. This takes time to see if there is substance to this connection.

This is a journey in "mateship". It is not the Chris and Meryl road show. Dear Lord forbid! It is a group of men and women, who God has joined together, sharing a deep and growing love for each other, on mission. Some of us have been friends for over 20 years. We have labored in different vineyards together.  We have walked the streets of foreign cities together. We have shared platforms together. We have planted churches together. We have dreamed together. We have cried together. We have prayed together. We have not always seen eye to eye - but have believed God has affectionately put us together in the looseness of friendships, not the claustrophobia of a system.

Others are newer friendships. Like courting, it is still sometimes a little interesting, even awkward as we take our baby steps forward. That is how these honest, real friendships work. There are days they are remarkably easy, then other days they require effort, labor, clarification, conversation. But if we are in it for the long haul, then it is worth it.

These friendships cannot be idols. Strong mateship can sometimes demand a loyalty beyond the Lord's requirements or  truth honoring. I do not want to live there, nor do we want leaders we are walking with, to ever feel this subtle but deathly pressure.

Having said that, our DNA acknowledges that this relational glue takes time. If it took Jesus 3 years with 12 men and one betrayed him. We accept that those true and deep friendships will take years to form. What we desire, is deep, honest, true, real and authentic relationships that are generous, inclusive and kind.

Leaders and churches that want to journey with us cannot look for membership forms. This is not a club they are joining or a network they qualify to connect with. This is a "A Family of Churches, who share a Common Theology, Together on Mission." There is between 6 months to a year where walking together will require keen steps of coffee, meals, getting to events we are holding, training days we are hosting, getting some of us into the community and see if there is indeed a sharing of heart, a connecting of soul, going on mission together - has God joined us together!? As this happens the other cool conversations can continue - that of theology, ecclesiology, missiology to see if there is more in common than friendship.

We were not designed to do this alone, nor were we architected to live in hierarchy. We were designed to live in a world of love, honor, gift recognition and real true relationships - bringing glory to the Father, proclaiming the great gospel of the Son and doing it all in the power of the Spirit .

I want to do it with mates...

genesis DNA E4

"It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists and some to be pastors and teachers to..." Eph 4:11

When I was first trying to understand the ways of God, I was very intrigued by the story of the Ark. My subsequent study seemed to point to this stunning conclusion - only one seafaring vessel would be able to withstand the forces from below, the power from above and the sheer turbulence at sea level. That was this vessel God designed. That made me sit up and ask: "The church faces similar challenges. Did God give such specifications for her as well?"

The church has been designed to withstand the forces of darkness from below, the weight and glory of God from above, and the turbulence from the daily fight . As specific as God was with the ark, he has not left us guessing. The Ephesians 4 gifts are major contributors to keeping the church-vessel buoyant and on course in this project planet earth.

To spell out what they do in a short blog like this is trying the impossible - so I beg your grace. These ascension grace gifts are those that Jesus distributed to certain folks - not all believers. [This is opposed to the "charismata" gifts of the Holy Spirit available to all]

Here is a very simple [or too simplistic] set of thoughts on each of these E4 gifts:

Apostle - the 'sent ones' who are entrepreneurial masterbuilders, laying foundations in churches so that the gospel can advance to all nations;
Prophets - by "foretelling" and "forthtelling" they are committed to ensuring that the "wells are unblocked and the life of God flows uninterrupted in each believer and in every church";
Evangelists - are proclaimers of the gospel, seeking to reach every man, woman and child with the gospel, being reapers of the harvest whilst seeking to give every believer a passion for this harvest field;
Pastors - their deep felt conviction is to nurture, disciple and walk every believer and church into health, wholeness and maturity;
Teachers -they are guardians of the truth. Their zeal is for accurate exegesis, that the bible is fully understood, communicated and applied, placing it in the context of the day.

For the sake of brevity may I make a few comments to bring clarity and a sense of value to these gifts as we understand it:
*  These gifts are not for all but "he gave some to be...". They cannot be learnt or trained into. They are Christ given and he chooses who he gives them to;
*   These gifts are not the top of the spiritual food chain - the new celebrities in a idol driven culture. They are servants of the Most High and eunuchs to the bride, readying her for her groom;
*   They are not local church offices [like elders and deacons] but are trans-local gifts who dispense their grace to churches, that they have relationship with;
*   In essence their task is not to "guest teach", but rather to provide ongoing collaboration with local churches to encourage, empower and equip them on their journeys;
*   Every church needs all 5 these gifts to invest into their community as they bring vital anchor pieces for health and maturity;
*   Sometimes their ministry simply blesses [it empowers but the E4 gifts and the church are not on the same journey], sometimes these gifts build [meaning their partnership in the gospel is ongoing to construct  both a local and a larger story];
*   Apostles and prophets lay foundations. These are needed when a church is being planted [launched], when a church is being replanted [she has grown stagnant, stuck in old ways], when she entering a new chapter [growth, influence, profile] or when calamity has struck [leadership failure, church split...], then these two gifts are needed on the ground with the community;
*   Apostles have spheres of influence [2 Cor 10] that includes the specific churches that they are working with at present. These other gifts work with them to complete the mission God has given them;
*   The local church is the big story NOT these gifts. This must be maintained at all times!
*   These gifts not only build up the churches but offer the churches a togetherness "together we can achieve more" Terry Virgo;
*   Like Jesus, these 5 [or some say 4 gifts as they see the pastor and the teacher as one office] gifts are there to multiply - like the parable of the mustard seed that becomes a large tree in which the birds make their nests - more churches, more leaders, more nations...

Although this is brief summary, I hope this peaks your interest for more study...

genesis DNA Indigenous

"For God, who was at work in the ministry of Peter as an apostle to the Jews, was also at work in my ministry as an apostle to the Gentiles" Gal 2:8

When Steve Turner wrote: "History repeats itself, has to, no-one listens"... his prophetic poetic heart was calling for moments of deep honest review of all that has gone before. We should benefit from the lessons learnt of days gone by. They are our greatest tutorial.

It is therefore really good to reflect and debrief our story with honesty and biblical transparency. In the heat of the engine room spiking, we were so busy with global evangelization that we did not sit back and consider our ways, reflect on our processes. Why are several decades was what we were doing still so South African? Was that what the Lord required or was it our lack of consideration?

The last few years have been a gift of divine generosity to sit with friends and review a rather remarkable 3 decades of ministry. There have been some amazing moments of God interruptions and Macedonian calls. There have been some painful moments, where the hurt en route, was deeper than ever imagined. But in all of this, God is still great, His Mission is still global renewal, the Gospel is still revolutionary and our Call is still to churches, cities and countries.

As we studied the text, over and over again, certain things seemed to emerge:
*   Jesus raised up 12 men in whom he entrusted this grand assignment to disciple all nations;
*   They were to spearhead this adventure with no one man replacing him as a global pope - one man over all the work of the then church;
*   He also sent other apostles who "fell from the sky" [Michael Eaton] like Paul and Barnabas;
*   Each apostle was given a specific sphere [2 Cor 10] - Paul to the Gentiles, Peter to the Jews were the most obvious;
*   These spheres were not lines in the sand with a spirit of territorialism, rather there was a clear sense that Jesus was the head of the church, no man was;
*   There is a difference between first generation pioneering apostles and the second and third generation apostles - these latter gifts  were to provide apostolic continuity in a multiplied adventure not to simply repeat the legacy of the past;

These and other key moments of reflection began to shape our thinking massively. One of our cornerstone commissions in the unfolding genesis story, is to -

Recognize, raise up and release emerging indigenous apostles, to develop their own journey, in the context in which they minister. When that happens, our work in that area is complete. 

We are pretty passionate about establishing indigenous apostles and apostolic spheres in every context where we currently serve. They know their culture. They understand the storyline of their world. They know the pitfalls of their warfare. They understand the nuances of their context's silent screams. They get the gospel's work in their territory.

When that has been achieved, we will move on to the new place the Father opens up for us. There we plan to repeat this process... and again, and again. As Paul says in Romans 15 "But now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions and since I have been longing for many years to see you, I plan to do so when I go to Spain...: vs 23 - 24.

Like Peter, this apostolic sphere may be among a specific nation or ethnicity or however the Father plans to define it. The very multiplying nature of the heart of God is so empowering. We are not seeking to simply add more churches, nations to our spiritual landscape. Rather we want to follow the example of Christ, to see as many indigenous apostles and their spheres, raised up and released before we too will say: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." 2 Tim 4:7

This is a radical departure from the classic way of building apostolic movements where the emphasis is addition under one leader. That is not our story. As a father I have loved seeing my kids grow up, find their story, leave home and live out their divine global gospel assignment. That is why this approach to biblical apostolicity seems so obvious to us. We are simply repeating what we do at home onto a global stage.

genesis DNA Believe

"But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of... Preach the word, be prepared in season and out of season..." 2 TIm 3:14 - 4:5

When we speak of blurred edges, we do not speak of theology, doctrine, belief. We have some things that we are convinced of. Of our theology we simply place an intentional comma behind our definitions. This is what we believe now, but the knowledge of the Lord is a journey - there is still so much to know of him - how high, wide, deep, long... we are yet to discover.

I had the most wonderful few hours last wednesday with 3 young pastors who have brilliant minds. Their journey's both factual and theological have been very different. However as we sat to write out What we believe... I watched God the Holy Spirit, empower us to find a common / similar set of beliefs, with laughter and amazingly great Starbucks. It was like God grabbed the 4 of us and simply drew us together - from many stories he is creating one.

This is what we believe ...

                We believe the Bible to be the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of God.

We believe that there is one God, eternally existent and co-equal in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in his inauguration of the Kingdom of God, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return in power and glory to consummate the Kingdom.

We believe that for the salvation of lost and sinful people, regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential, and that only by grace through faith in Christ Jesus, and not of any work or merit in man.

We believe the Holy Spirit indwells, sanctifies, leads, illumines, and graciously empowers for godly living and service all who come to faith in Christ. As well as the continuation of all the “charismata” of the Spirit, and that He desires to fill and empower believers for ministry, mission, witness, and for the building up of His church in love.

We believe in the resurrection of both the saved and the lost; they that are saved unto the resurrection of life and they that are lost unto the resurrection of judgement.

We believe in the church, local, global and historical, of which our Lord Jesus Christ is the head. The church is the redemptive community of Jesus called to demonstrate and declare the good news of God’s Kingdom in the world.