Leadership Like Saul or David?

On Sunday, I am traveling to Spokane to take part in the inaugural cohort of the Elder Leadership Institute (http://www.whitworth.edu/ELI/), led by Sara and Jim Singleton, Jerry Sittser, and Steve Macchia.  Two ruling elders, our clerk of session, and my wife, Margaret, will be attending with me, along with others from several churches.

As part of our preparation for this one week intensive, our group has read through and discussed the book Unleader: The Surprising Qualities of a Valuable Leader by Jane Overstreet.  The author compares and contrasts the leadership styles of Saul and David from the Old Testament.  Suffice it to say, Saul is lifted up as the not-so-stellar example while David is lifted up as the leader to emulate.  The difference between the two is that Saul's efforts are not in alignment with God, and David, although flawed just like any other human, continually seeks God's guidance and glorification.  Saul pursues his own agenda while David pursues God's, and his leadership flows from his relationship and intimacy with God.

We have had some great discussions about this book, as you might imagine.  Specifically, we engaged in conversations about how we, as leaders in the Church, can better live into the "old" new, biblical model of leadership.  This is a continuation of a journey and exploration about leadership that began with our church's working with TAG Consulting (more on that in a future post!).

Overstreet's book offers some very helpful questions for one to think about one's own leadership style, and to answer the main question posed to the reader, "Does My Leadership Look More Like Saul's or David's?"  Our group agreed that these questions are relevant, not just for those who are in leadership positions within a church, but also for anyone who supervises, oversees, and simply works with others.  The questions are as follows:

• Do I fear people more than God?
• Do I use up or build up people under my leadership?
• Do I put my interests before God's interests?
• Do I lead with integrity?
• Do I let people get close enough to really love me?
• Do I lead from the security of knowing God's love?

These questions have been convicting and encouraging at the same time.  We have been challenged to think about leadership through the lens of the Bible.  We have begun to understand leadership as an extension of the relationship and intimacy we have with God.  We have also talked about incorporating what we have learned/will learn into our elder selection/training at First Presbyterian Church of Yakima.  

I hope that you might find them useful.  They have certainly primed us for helpful conversations.  It should be a great week!