Leaders Develop Over a Lifetime.
Robert Clinton reframes a leaders' life in terms of God's
developmental processes.
This leadership model facilitated a reflection on my own story and life experiences that have culminated in producing my personal timeline. It is such a tremendous help in understanding the work of God in my own life. God works differently in each season. The leadership development stages are empirical and easy to identify with.
Who is a leader? Robert Clinton defines a leader as "a person with God-given capacity and God-given responsibilities who influences a
group of followers towards God's purposes for the group" ( Clinton 2012, 110).
His definition is different from the popular notion that a leader must have a
formal position, title, and training. However, he argues that many who are
called leaders in the church and parachurch organizations have no such titles. Clinton
2012, describes developing leaders as a life's process, not just formal
training. Clinton 2012 captures leadership dynamics and provides Biblical
insights into God's patterns and processes to develop a leader (Clinton
2012,10).
Aware that leadership development is a life's process,
leaders must be willing and ready to go through the whole ride. What does the
process look like, and what is the cost? What are the results? Clinton provides insights that will allow one
to persevere through the process. In terms of a lifetime perspective, the view
of leadership is very compelling, especially with the need to allow convergence
"moving into a role that matches one's gift-mix and experiences. It allows
one to consider their individual needs as well as the needs of the organization.
Worth noting is that the development is
a function of events, people to impress leadership lessons upon a leader, time,
and leader response. Processing is central to this theory (Clinton 2012,22).
Leadership emergence theory begins with the concept of
formulating a timeline. Clinton identifies five development phases that leaders
go through:
Phase I:
Sovereign foundations
In this first phase, Clinton expounds on how God providentially
works through the family, environment, and historical context to maximize our
opportunities to know Him and develop into what He desires us to be. The leader
has little control over what happens at this phase, but the building blocks are
there. However, the structure built may not be clearly focused (Clinton 2012, 37-38).
Phase II:
Inner life growth
This phase involves developing a foundational relationship
with God. Clinton argues that at this point, the leader makes their initial commitment
to follow Christ and begin to learn to relate to him in prayer and hear God. This
phase is crucial as God prepares the emerging leader for the next steps in
leadership. There is involvement in some ministry, and they are receiving some informal
training, learning by doing. As the emerging leader identifies their leadership
potential, God uses testing experiences to develop character. Clinton argues that the tests fall into three
categories: Integrity checks, obedience checks, word checks, and the ministry
task. These checks sometimes work together. An emerging leader must learn
obedience to influence others towards obedience. If the emerging
leader does not learn, they will be tested again in the same area (Clinton 2012,38).
We
affirm this from scripture as well, where we see God doing an integrity check
with His servants. For example, Joseph experienced an integrity check on his
character when he was under pressure to succumb to Potipher's wife's demands.
Joseph did not violate his convictions, and God honored his unyielding
character (Gen 39:1-20). Abraham experienced an obedience check-in after receiving
the promised son. God asked him to sacrifice Isaac, whom Abraham knew that his
future line depended on, but he was still willing to obey God (Genesis 22: 1-10).
Phase III: Ministry maturing
At this stage, the emerging leader develops and matures
ineffective leadership. They are starting to experiment with spiritual gifts,
even though they may not know its doctrine. They may get informal training to
be more effective, or the training can take place in vocational, lay ministry,
and or marketplace contexts. Ministry is the focus of the emerging leader at this
stage. Many of their lessons will zero in on relationships with other people or
inadequacies in their life as they will be challenged to respond to conflicts
and authority issues. Clinton holds that at this stage, God is developing the
leader in two ways. Through ministry, the leader can identify their gifts and
skills and use them with increasing effectiveness. In this phase, God is
working primarily in the leader and not through them. This phase can
be very frustrating as the emerging leader is constantly evaluating productivity
and activities while God is quietly evaluating their leadership potential. God
is concerned with who we are, not just what we do (Clinton
2012,38).
Clinton suggests that there are four stages that God develops
the emerging leader in this phase: a) Entry:
God challenges the leader into ministry task, b) Training: God develops ministry
skills, training experiences, and spiritual gifts to enhance their
effectiveness,
c) Relational learning: God enables the
emerging leader to relate to people in ways that will motivate and influence
them, d) Discernment God helps the emerging leader see spiritual principles
that govern ministry that please Him: spiritual warfare, power items, faith,
prayer and influence challenge. Throughout this phase, the emphasis is
faithfulness in ministry tasks and challenges faithfulness in responding to
testing and in developing new skills. (Clinton 2012, 67)
At this stage, the mature leader's responsibility is to openly
and deliberately challenge emerging leaders about specific needs and ministry
opportunities. Clinton suggests that a danger sign indicating a plateaued
leader lacks enthusiasm in challenging and recruiting potential leaders. A
mature leader, at this point, will stimulate the emergence of potential
leaders. (Clinton 2012, 74) At the transition between the early and middle
ministry subphase, the ministry skills process item provides the momentum. A
leader's sensitivity to this item indicates whether they are growing or plateauing.
At this point, Clinton suggests that leaders will need ministry skills and will
opt for formal training if they wish to have a long-term influence. Leaders who
plateau early reveal a familiar pattern. They learn new skills until they can
operate comfortably, but they fail to seek new skills deliberately and
habitually. They coast on prior experiences (Clinton 2012, 75-76).
Phase IV:
Life maturing
In this phase, the emerging leader has identified, and they
are using their spiritual gifts in ministry that is satisfying. Their
giftedness and priorities emerge as they gain greater clarity on life calling
and developing an integrated ministry philosophy. Isolation, crisis, and
conflict take on new meaning. The principle that "ministry flows out of
being" has new significance as the leader's character mellows and matures.
During this phase, the key to development is a positive response to the
experiences God ordains (Clinton 2012,39). The success in this phase is critical
towards convergence.
When people influence other people, conflict inevitably
arises; this may be general conflict "any conflict that is used to develop
leaders in their spiritual life" or ministry conflict "conflicts in
ministry through which the leader learns positive or negative lessons about the
nature of the conflict." Leaders' grasp of these lessons can significantly
affect their future leadership (Clinton 2012, 82)
Conflict is a powerful tool in the hand of God and can be
used to teach leaders lessons that they would not learn in any other way. Conflict may come from without -nonbelievers
or within -believers, but it is necessary. Who we indeed are is revealed in a
crisis as our character is revealed in the process. Clinton argues that "what we are"
in the conflict is much more critical than "what we do." Ministry
conflict processing is to the maturing ministry phase what integrity processing
is to the inner life growth phase. In conflict, processing closure is often
weak. Closure completes an experience to put it behind and gain lessons
from it for the future. One could leave a conflict successfully resolved,
partially resolved, or unresolved, but it is important to have closure (Clinton
2012 82).
Komives and Wagner define conflict as characterized by an argumentative
environment of power, debate, and competition. Members defend opposing
positions on an idea and are pressured to take positions. Therefore, they intentionally
use controversy with civility instead of conflict. They argue that controversy
with civility is characterized by a safe and supportive environment of trust,
respect, and collaboration. Controversy with civility is not just a character
trait but an attitude, a behavior, and a value in the social change process (Komives & Wagner 2017, 154).
Emerging leaders should be mentored to value
differences and build an understanding of differences. They must learn to
value, be comfortable, and embrace differences of opinions rather than avoid or
reduce them. An emerging leader's ability to recognize their worldview and other
people's worldviews and empathize with others to seek understanding facilitates
their development (Komives &
Wagner, 2017, 153). Controversy with civility is significant for leaders in high-power
distance cultures where emerging leaders have to accept without question. This idea
does not devalue traditions and hierarchies; instead, encouraging dialogue,
they practice being leaders who can later hold controversial dialogues with
civility with other younger leaders.
The leader must learn to sense the spiritual reality "spiritual
warfare" behind physical reality and depend on God's power in ministry.
They must also learn to know God's voice in the challenge process items- faith,
prayer, and influence- and the affirmation process items -divine and ministry (Clinton
2012, 85). During this phase, Clinton explains how the leader must learn how to
operate in spiritual gifts that demonstrate the Holy Spirit's power. They also
must learn prayer power-dependence on God's power to solve the problem in such
a way that his leadership capacity, particularly his authentic spiritual
authority, is demonstrated and expanded. Clinton warns that the leader must
heed two cautions concerning the spiritual warfare process; underestimation and
overestimation. (Clinton 2012, 96).
Another area of discernment presented by Clinton at this
phase concerns the expansion of the leader's ministry. In this area, God
concentrates on expanding a leader's discernment regarding their capacity to
lead and influence. This process usually begins with prayer, where the leader
begins to respond to the vision "vision birth." Plateaued leaders
rarely discern or respond to this challenge cluster of items (Clinton 2012, 99).
There are three patterns for terminating the ministry
maturity phase. Two of them leave the leader in the ministry phase, and the
third leads him on to the next phase: Life maturing. First, those who plateau
at some ministry competency level show relatively little ongoing growth in
ministry or spiritual development. Second, some are subjected to discipline limited
or set aside from ministry. The third group reflects on the meaning of ministry
and God's involvement in it plus a significant shift: from competency in "doing."
to effectiveness flowing from "being" due to the leader's reflection
on God's involvement in his life and ministry
(Clinton 2012,103).
Phase V: Convergence
In this phase, God moves the leader into a role that matches
their gift-mix and experience to maximize ministry. The leader uses the best
they have to offer and is free from ministry for which he is not gifted or
suited. Clinton notes that many leaders do not experience convergence for various
reasons; a) hindered by their lack of personal development, b) an organization
may hinder a leader by keeping them in a limiting position, c) other
providential hindrances that may be hard to understand because there is no full
picture.
This phase's primary developmental task is to be guided into
a role and place to maximize effectiveness. God's guidance must be to trust,
rest, and watch as God moves them toward a ministry that embodies all the preceding
phases' development (Clinton 2012,39).
One of the ongoing lessons that Clinton points out is
guidance, which is a crucial element of leadership. God does provide guidance,
but in a fashion that challenges discernment, individual responsibility, and
commitment. Clinton points out six major process items that are frequently used
by God to heighten a leaders discernment for guidance:
a)
Divine Contact-This is a
person whom God brings to a leader at a crucial moment in a development phase
to affirm leadership potential, encourage leadership potential, and guide a
particular issue. Leaders need to recognize that they will often be divine
contacts for others they meet. Therefore, they need to be sensitive to the Holy
Spirit's use of them as divine contacts and recognize this unique way of
influencing (Clinton 2012,112). Stanley and Clinton's description of the
occasional function "counselor and teacher" fit the description. (Stanley
and Clinton 1992,42).
b)
Mentors -mentoring refer to the process and
results of a mentor helping a potential leader. A mentor is a special kind of
divine contact who may offer prolonged help or guidance or be a stimulus for
growth (Clinton 2012,113). Stanley and Clinton refer to this as networking
power, which involves God using mentors or other mature leaders to accomplish a
leader's goals. They hold that our weaknesses, blind spots, limited capacities,
and lack of experience all point to interdependence, which is why they advocate
that connecting with others plays an indispensable role in healthy development.
They describe three groupings of mentors: intensive, occasional, and passive) Furthermore, place them on a continuum ranging
from less deliberate to more deliberate involvement. They further argue that a
leader will rarely find an ideal mentor who can fulfill the whole range of mentoring
functions; one could find someone available to mentor them on a specific need (Stanley and Clinton 1992,41-42).
c)
Double confirmation -This
is unusual guidance in which God makes His will clear by reinforcing it through
more than one source (Clinton 2012,115). Spiritual guides categorized by
Stanley and Clinton in the intensive function could apply to such reinforcements.
d)
Negative preparation - God
prepares someone to accept the next steps of guidance by first allowing them to
go through negative experiences during their present development stage, which
produces an incentive for the leader to move on and seek the next thing that
God has. These negative preparations are frequently seen, particularly in boundary
times between development phases (Clinton 2012,117).
e)
Flesh Act- refers to
those instances in a leader's life when guidance is presumed and decisions are
made either hastily or without proper discernment of God's choice (Clinton 2012,118).
f)
Divine Affirmation -this
is a special; kind of experience in which God gives a leader to have a renewed
sense of ultimate purpose and a refreshed desire to continue serving God.
For a few, Clinton states that there is phase VI- Afterglow,
where the fruit of ministry and growth culminates in an era of recognition and
indirect influence at broad levels. Leaders will be sought after as they will
be a storehouse of wisdom gathered over a lifetime (Clinton 2012, 40).
Quality leadership does not come easily. It requires time,
experience, and repeated instances of maturing processing. Mature ministry
flows out from a mature character, formed in the graduate school of life.
Ministry can be successful through giftedness alone, but a leader whose
ministry skills outstrip his character formation will eventually falter. A
mature, successful ministry flows from one who has both ministry skills and a
character mellowed, developed, and ripened by God's maturing process. Ministry
flows out of being (Clinton 2012, 145).
According to Clinton, only a third of leaders finish well (Clinton 2012,203). His description of the developmental process of the leader from "doing to being" is compelling. His identification of the boundaries/ change signals that many leaders face is very familiar. His call for a paradigm shift from finding meaning and achievement to ministry that flows out of being is appealing and profound. Clinton helps leaders to negotiate these transitions in leadership successfully.
The concept of knowing, doing, and being is rooted in scripture. Jesus talks about himself as being the true vine and we the branches. Bearing fruits is God's fundamental concern for all Christians. "Much fruit" bearing can only happen if we abide /remain in Christ; the word abide/remain repeated ten times. Jesus does not just desire that we bear much fruit but that our fruit would last; this can only flow from abiding. Bearing fruits is a natural result of abiding in Jesus, and it is not a task in itself. The more dependent on the vine leaders become, the more they bear fruit that will last long. As leaders, Jesus warns that we are not supposed to attach others to us but to Jesus, who is the true vine (John 15:1-17).
Conclusion
The third world continues to face a leadership crisis
characterized by burnout and leadership failure, which leads to plateauing,
resulting in being stuck. Traditional leadership theories presented leadership
as girded by a skill set and not a lifetime process. This traditional theory
eventually proves inadequate and unsustainable. The leadership emergence theory
timeline presents the reader with an opportunity to explore their leadership
development journey and help them identify where they are and the next steps to
take for a fruitful ministry or to finish well.
Further research
needs to explore if personality and cultural factors play a role in an individual's
experience within the theory. It is also paramount to explore how this theory
would take shape in a non-Christian setting.
Reference List
Clinton, J.
Robert. The Making of a Leader: Recognizing the Lessons and Stages of
Leadership Development. Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2012.
Komives, S.
R. & W. Wagner. (, 2017). Leadership for a better world: Understanding the
social change model of leadership development (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA:
Jossey-Bass. ISBN-13: 978-1119207597
Sta Stanley P., & J. R. Clinton. (, 1992). Connecting: The mentoring
relationships you need to succeed. Colorado Springs: NavPress. ISBN-13:
978-3909131020
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