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IN RETROSPECT Listening, plus
By William A. Walker II
Council on Ministries Director
As individuals assume new positions of leadership, it
is most important that they do lots of listening to the people most affected by their
leadership. It goes without saying that listening with great care and objectivity is a
critical skill of a leader. Exceptional leaders know that developing and fine-tuning the
skill is an ongoing process.
Effective leadership requires more, however. For one thing, it requires that the leader
uphold with clarity the vision of the organization, one that has been developed and
approved by the organization’s leaders and stakeholders. That vision sets the
boundaries and priorities that guide the leader’s response as the listening process
unfolds.
When a leader is unclear about those boundaries and priorities, which are demanded by the
organization’s vision, both the leader and vision will soon be destroyed, and
“the people perish.” Why? Because the leader will quickly become the pawn of the
most shrill or urgent voice, even when that voice does not share the vision.
A sense of pastoral care may only make things worse, with efforts to placate leading to
either co-dependency or passive aggression or, worst of all, the leader internalizing that
lack of agreement. The last sells a lot of Maalox! It also chews up a lot of clergy.
The most effective leaders both listen carefully and speak clearly, with authenticity, the
boundaries and priorities determined by the vision.
I do not like the taste of Maalox. How about you?
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