Leading is Preventing Sludge Buildup
by Bill Zelazny, District Executive
National Public Radio “Car Talk” hosts, Tom and Ray Magliozzi, were recently asked if there is a problem with just changing motor oil one quart at a time rather than a full change. The car burned oil and the owner needed to add a quart every two weeks. He asked if that eventually would change all the oil so he would not need a full oil change The answer – no. Over time sludge would build up from the unchanged oil and the engine would not run as well as it should.
Sludge build up can happen in churches too. Congregations that were once running nicely start to feel there is no “spirit” in the church, no excitement no “vision” about the church. Things feel like they are just plodding along and the church is not running as well as it should.
The role of congregation leadership is to ensure that sludge does not build up in church life. Unlike maintaining a car however, that does not necessarily mean there needs to be a complete change of things. That rarely works effectively in a gathered community. But it does mean leaders, as Peter Senge, author and founder of Society for Organizational Learning, comments are to be “… those people who ‘walk ahead,’ people who are generally committed to deep change in themselves and in their organizations. They lead through developing new skills, capabilities and understandings….” They explore, encourage and promote alternative scenarios. They look for ways for a congregation to meet the challenges and needs of contemporary society in new ways; ways perhaps never even imagined just a few years ago.
Also, to be most effective in our modern society leadership needs to be understood, as organization consultant Warren Bennis notes, as “an organizational capability and not an individual characteristic.” This means that a congregation leader in the context of today’s organizational requirements cannot go it alone. Today’s leaders need to find ways to incorporate the ideas of different people, some who may be very new to the system and do not follow tradition or old processes. Doing thing as they always have been done is a sure way let organizational sludge build up and that will harm operational and spiritual effectiveness of a church.
An effective leader today
- keeps themselves fresh, not just relying on old habits or skills, and
- moves a congregation to do the same.