Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Creating an enduring & sustainable pathway for developing and releasing leaders.
THE LEADERSHIP
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Creating an enduring & sustainable pathway for developing and releasing leaders
INTrOdUCiNG ROHaN
Rohan became a Christian at the age of 15 and spent the next 5 years negotiating exactly how much of his life he could keep as his own and still look like he was following God wholeheartedly. That game plan didnt work very well at all and at the age of 20 Rohan made a decision to follow God with everything he was and that set the direction for the rest of his life. Rohan Dredge has been in Church ministry since 1996 and has only ever attended three local Churches! His passion is to be able to engage and inspire people to reach to new levels and new heights in their own personal and spiritual journey. Rohan loves the Church and believes IT should be full of people who lead the way in every area of society. In January 2009 Rohan had the privilege of accepting the leadership of Careforce Church in Melbourne, a significant Church in Australia with a great past and trusting God to have an even brighter future. Its a humbling and exciting opportunity to lead a Church and Rohan, along with his wife Megan, continue to be overwhelmed by Gods grace as He prepares the future of the Church. Rohans Ministry is characterised by:
A love for God & people A leadership bias in everything! Transformational communication Focused, relational disciplemaking Coaching & Equipping A consuming passion for the Local Church A desire for Churches & Christians to think AND act Globally.
Rohan believes everyone has in-built purpose and magnificence and he speaks to individuals and groups in order to draw out that potential. He holds a Bachelor of Arts, Diploma of Education, Masters (Educational Psychology), Certificate IV in Workplace Training and is completing a Diploma in Coaching. Rohan has been married to Megan since 1997 and is overwhelmingly in love with her, when not inspiring people to live to their potential he loves the Missions, Aid and Development work he does in Asia, investing in property, the stories movies tell, wakeboarding, Road & Mountain bike riding, Golf, fascinating books, and great coffee. In February 2010 they welcomed their daughter Zarriah Grace (Zarriah means princess of God) to the world and in May 2012 their family was completed with the arrival of their son, Maddox (Maddox means generous & blessed of God) The adventure continues.
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Creating an enduring & sustainable pathway for developing and releasing leaders
1. Are we developing leaders? 2. Are those leaders leading? For a long time?
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Creating an enduring & sustainable pathway for developing and releasing leaders
Model One Leadership Matrix This matrix demonstrates what different styles of leadership accomplish over time and how each can be utilised
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Creating an enduring & sustainable pathway for developing and releasing leaders
QUADRANT ONE
QUADRANT TWO
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Creating an enduring & sustainable pathway for developing and releasing leaders
QUADRANT THREE
Through you, for a short time = Regeneration Action: Fix things fast
From time to time a leader needs to step in a gather a group of people or a team to make something happen, right then and right now. It might be as a result of a staff change, a strategy change, a direction shift or any combination of a number of things. Annually I teach a Leadership Intensive to bible college students. I share this time with one of my colleagues who consistently excels in interactive leadership experiences with the students. One of the most helpful experiences is when the class debriefs on the specific kind of leadership that is needed in specific circumstances. For example, in a crisis or emergency, strong directive leadership is required, not consultative pastoral leadership. Make the wrong call with the leadership style, get entirely the wrong outcome. In this instance you are able to show strong leadership through others to fix things, and fast. This has proven to be helpful in the early stages of a leadership transition that I have been part of. Others with history, relationships and much more credibility and influence can change or transition a situation much faster.
consistent emphasis on integrating new people, activating service and releasing people to ministry. Consistency in leadership development is essential. Simply changing the game plan to the most exciting new venture, the most talked about activity or the next good idea wont create or sustain an enduring leadership pathway. In attempting to develop an enduring leadership pathway throughout the past several years of ministry I will offer a few practical insights that add clarity and focus to the momentum aspects of leadership. Firstly, you have to believe and behave as if leadership development is important. Many of us are confused between leadership and ministry. Ian Jagleman accurately defines activities of ministry as those that build people and activities of leadership as those that build the Church. Leadership builds the people that do the ministry. It forms character, creates capacity and shapes the future by engaging in and developing people to lead in any and every sphere of life. Secondly, you need a pathway for people to be developed as leaders. Organisations must answer in simple and obvious steps How does someone mature into leadership? Is it obvious to those attending? What steps do they take to grow in both their character and their capability? Does the equipping pathway take into account the variety of learning styles? Is enough time given for opportunity and reflection? Leadership must be by design, not default. An outcomes based pathway can aid in the development of that culture. Thirdly, you need an ongoing relational environment for leadership to stay and keep healthy. Rather than set and forget there needs to be an ongoing, dynamic, relational culture that allows for the ebbs and flows of life, seasons, experiences and opportunity to outwork leadership. Just as life happens, leadership needs to be able to flex around and with it. I best experienced this when, in a strategic planning session in our ministry, we identified Leadership as one of our top three issues to solve. As a result we developed a 10 month Leadership Training Course that had a combination of training, mentoring and opportunity to outwork the newly acquired skills. Over three years it radically reshaped our leadership culture and practice of the ministry, and taught us valuable lessons in the process.
QUADRANT FOUR
Through you, for a long time = Multiplication Action: Make things happen
Every great leaders dream, consistent steps in the right direction. Two critical facts play out for leaders in this the fourth and most important quadrant: Direction & consistency. Are you and is your organisation pointed in the right direction? Andy Stanley rightly states that direction beats intention, every time. As we experienced significant growth in the life of a youth ministry I was part of we began to get asked what it was we were doing. I simply said Were taking consistent steps in the same direction. Leaders must be clear on their direction and take consistent steps to get there. One of the ways the multiplication of leaders occurs is through consistency. Consistent emphasis on disciplemaking, consistent emphasis on evangelism,
2012 Rohan Dredge. All rights reserved.
www.careforce.org
www.rohandredge.com
Creating an enduring & sustainable pathway for developing and releasing leaders
How do we get in and out of these quadrants? The cause of this dangerous and unfruitful By you method of leadership can be observed by the four things in this non-exhaustive list.
PROBLEM ONE
An over-emphasis on vision
The exact opposite is also true though isnt it? Many organisations fail without a clear, compelling, ongoing vision of the future to rally around. However, over time more is required than just vision. What is also needed are clear and decisive steps towards the vision becoming a reality. One of the most challenging lessons of the last few years of leadership has been reading, understanding and applying Packards Law in Jim Collins book How the Mighty Fall.
PROBLEM TWO
She doesnt know who I am. She doesnt care who I am. But I have done so much for this church. I have been on staff for nearly twelve years! Right now that doesnt matter. The church will be fine without me. She doesnt need me to be on the team to be who God has called her to be. Gods Church advances without me. God doesnt NEED me, He gives me grace to be used at this time and place. WOW.
It was a disconcerting and empowering experience all at the same time. Note to self: Its not about you: its about the activity of God through you, for others.
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Creating an enduring & sustainable pathway for developing and releasing leaders
PROBLEM THREE
Over emphasis on gifts OTHER THAN LEADERSHIP for leadership responsibility. Churches should be lead by leaders. Full stop. Those leaders need to have the gift of teaching but that gift should not be elevated above the capability to lead. The more emphasis that is placed on gifts other than leadership the less likely the organisation is to be enduring and sustainable. Why? The person at the helm will at some point run out of the capacity to keep leading. A better approach would be to emphasise the importance of the leadership gift and everything else that is required to ensure the character and capability of that leaders will continue to grow and develop. Leaders lead. Let them.
PROBLEM FOUR
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Creating an enduring & sustainable pathway for developing and releasing leaders
Model Two Leadership Development Demonstrating the relationship between character and Capability in Leadership
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Creating an enduring & sustainable pathway for developing and releasing leaders
QUADRANT ONE
Low character and low capability - Damaging Leadership Response - Remove Them Sometimes a subtraction is an addition. Lose a few extra kilograms and add to your quality of life. Lose a headache and add to your concentration. Lose an unhelpful person or group and remove a blockage to the culture of the organisation. Sometimes a subtraction is an addition. Toxic people need to be removed from leadership quickly. The damage of them staying is too great. A person of underdeveloped character and poorly developed skills is simply not well positioned for effective ministry. Remove them. Fast. Alternatively, reposition them in a place where they are able to start or restart a process of leadership and slowly increase in authority and responsibility based directly on their maturity. Develop first, position second.
enamoured by their giftedness over time. Character really does count. And it counts for a long time. In finding a person in a leadership role beyond their character, the key response is discipleship, often without an ongoing role for a period of time. Firm, kind and strong leadership is required here. Holding the mirror up in uncomfortable ways may also be necessary. You will need to show this person the impact of their underdeveloped character and behaviour on others and that there is a clear pathway of maturity and growth for them. This is by no means easy but it is essential.
QUADRANT THREE
Low capability and high character Ineffective Leadership Response Equip Them But they have a good heart is the refrain that plays over and over again in underdeveloped leadership cultures. When someone is a person of high character and is placed in a role where they are nice but not effective, delicate leadership needs to step in and identify that training or transitioning is the most appropriate way forward. This can be one of the most challenging leadership calls in a local church. A good person, a nice person, a person everyone gets on with; repositioning this person is somewhat of a challenge. In this instance the leaders response is to equip them. Employ coaching & mentoring methodologies and be specific about what skills to work on together. It requires time, effort, and humility from everyone involved. As you are equipping remember you cant hire character but you can help them learn new skills. Add new skills to a person with character and you have a 4th Quadrant Leader.
QUADRANT TWO
Low character and high capability Wayward Leadership Response Disciple Them How do you handle those really gifted people with whom you have some questions over their character? Life has woven into its tapestry more gifted people that have derailed through an undeveloped character. The Church is no exception. The adage your gifts take you further than your character can keep you is absolutely true. Many of us have more capability and potential than we do the character to build on. Think for a minute, the people you most admire. Why do you admire them? Every single time I do this exercise I land on a persons character and rarely stay
2012 Rohan Dredge. All rights reserved.
www.careforce.org
www.rohandredge.com
Creating an enduring & sustainable pathway for developing and releasing leaders
QUADRANT FOUR
High character and high capability Fruitful Leadership Response Release Them Character develops over time, but not by accident. Skills develop over time, but not intentionally. Our objective and our responsibility as leaders is to disciple and raise up people who have solid character AND growing skills. Its these people who carry vision and culture further faster. Our whole purpose as leaders is to get to this quadrant in our thinking, our culture and our practice, to create an enduring pathway of leadership development that sees people of mature character and effective skills released to be as good as possible at what they were designed for. This kind of person doesnt happen by accident, they are discipled by design. Disciple them into Christ, not into a person or an organisation. Their discipleship will be expressed in service to people and most likely through an organisation of some kind, but our focus is Christ. When this person is discipled faithfully and consistently they are sharpened and encouraged and give back in far greater measure.
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Creating an enduring & sustainable pathway for developing and releasing leaders
CONCLUSION
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