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A
Postmodern Narrator
by
john o'keefe
I
have always said that truth can be found in the
narrative; that being the case, I believe leadership is
found in the narrator.
Let me explain. For years my wife has been buying me books on leadership –
birthdays, anniversaries, groundhog day (my wife is just
into holidays), when ever the mood hit, I got a new
book, tape, or article on leadership – you name it, I
got it and I read most of it.
But there was a problem, it seemed the advice
never quit fit. Not
matter what I read; it just never felt like the author
was speaking to me, they always seemed to miss the
target. In
fact, they weren’t even speaking about me at all.
That’s when it dawned on me, these authors were
not writing for me, they were writing for the modern
leader, with a modern view of the world, leading modern
people. I
remember when my wife bought me the “21 irrefutable
laws of leadership” by John Maxwell – my first
thoughts were, why 21?
Why not 22 or 20?
Does “irrefutable” mean they cannot be
questioned? Why
laws? Why
not “strongly held suggestions?”
The title alone suggested a strong tie to
modernism, the content assured me of a direct tie.
Postmodern
people are not looking for a CEO, CFO, COO CIO, or any
other 3-letter combinations you can think of that
starting with the big “C.”
Today, we are looking for the poet, the prophet,
and the storyteller – the narrator.
We don’t “lead” people as much as they
listen to the needs of people and guide them along the
path of faith. Modern
leadership tends to be ridged, rule structured and
orderly. One
of the biggest complaints I have concerning modern
leadership is the idea that “people are assets.”
When we see people as “assets” we start to
determine if one person is a “better asset” then
another. We
find new ways of “grading” people based on their
ability to be a “good asset.”
While postmodern leadership tends to be chaotic
and fluid. We
see people as people, limited, hurt, searching,
questioning, people.
We don’t “give directions,” we tell stories
– and modern people have a hard time seeing this –
so the question becomes, how does one lead in a chaotic,
fluid and structures story based reality called
postmodern?
Fluididic
Space:
I
love the idea of “fluiditic
space” – space that is fluid. I first heard of it on Star Trek, The Next Generation I just
thought the word was too cool – it brought forth
images that could hardly be put to words, and it just
fit. The
image of space in flux was truly so very powerful. I like the reality that you could not put your hands on it,
but it was real – that is how I see postmodern
leadership; at some level it is hard to define, but you
can put your finger on it.
I know, many modern minds will have a hard time
getting a grip on the concept of a narrative leadership
model, but it is the best way I can describe what in
truth is fluid and ever changing.
Postmodern leadership to me is like looking at a
lava lamp, it keeps changing as it gets hotter and
hotter (closer and closer), and while it is simply a
stupid lava lamp, you just can’t keep your eyes off
it. To lead
a postmodern people one must keep that fluid nature in
mind. If
you try to make it too solid, you will lose the people
you are trying to bring alone in their walk of faith –
it will backfire on you.
Jesus understood this, and lived as a model for
those of us who seek to lead in a postmodern reality.
While I do not desire to give you a “list” of
does and don’ts, I do want to share with you some
cores I find in postmodern leadership.
Cores
in the Narrative:
I
think primarily, you don’t lead, you example.
Notice I did not say, “you lead by example”
– because that is somewhat impossible, and all the
time doubtful. To
“example” you simply are you.
Be you; be honest; be open; be transparent; be
wounded; be vulnerable; be accepting; be willing to
find; be willing to lose; be willing to seek answers;
just be. Being
“example” is not saying “look at my life, I have
all the answers.”
Being “example” is saying, “look at me, I
mess-up, I fall, I flounder, but what’s cool is people
around me support me, love me and help me find the way
– without judging me.
I don’t
have all the answers, but I am willing to look –
coming with me?”
Here are some “cores” to the “example.”
One
of the first things we need to do as a postmodern
narrator is to let
people function, and not just “give” them a
function. This
means you need to help people find their calling, their
gifts and let them develop that call and gift to best
serve God, themselves and the community.
Modern leadership strives to “fill needs” of
the organization, causing people to given a function.
When the “function” comes from with in, and
not from with out, people are happier, and the
organization benefits in many ways.
Another point, that is closely related to the
“function” aspect of postmodern leadership can be
found in you desire to truly serve the people in the
community. Modern
leadership desires that you serve them; postmodern
leadership is truly defined in your ability to serve
others in the community.
If you are truly helping people to “find their
function” you need to be willing to serve them, and
help them, in their walk.
It requires that you spend time with the people
of the community, and not just a select few.
People need access to you, and not to your
appointment book. I
remember at one church I served a woman came into my
office to speak with me about her being happy she found
our community of faith.
She came in, and started to cry – out and out
ball. Several
people came in and were with her as she started to calm
down. When
she was able to calm down, she told us, “This is the
first time I have been able to just walk into the senior
pastor’s office – I walked past two associate
pastors and three support staff and none of then ‘ran
interference’ for you – I could actually talk with
you.” The
funny thing about it was, we were a “large” (300
people on Sunday morning) and growing fast community of
faith. The
church she came from had 50 people, and she was never
allowed to speak with the pastor.
I believe that for a postmodern narrator to
truly understand the community of faith they serve, they
must believe in them.
Modern leaders usually require that you believe
in them as leaders, postmodern leadership requires that
we, as leaders, believe in the community we serve.
That means we need to invest in them; give them
what we have and be willing to openly discuss issues
with them. We
need not preach to them, use them or require that the
“take” what we desire to offer to them.
This means we, as postmodern leaders, need to
trust the community we serve.
Trust comes in many forms, and one of the most
important is the ability to delegate authority. Modern leadership requires, at a core, the ability for a
person to “submit” to authority.
We find this in the modern saying, “to be a
great leader, you need to be a great follower.”
This is not true, to be a great leader you need
to care. Another
way of developing a true and lasting trust is to openly
and honestly praise the efforts of the people in the
community you serve. To paraphrase scripture, without praise, God’s people
parish – and I have no desire to parish, or cause
others to parish.
Closing:
Modern leadership is relatively selfish; it
truly is. It
seems that the main goal of modern leadership is to make
the leader “look good.”
While the main purpose of postmodern leadership
is centered on making the community look good.
Postmodern leadership is founded in trust and
community. Our
willingness to help people find God’s plan for them
and to trust them today with the outlook of tomorrow.
One of the things we need to do as leaders is
work our way out of a job.
We need to be willing to go that extra mile, and
take that extra walk to be with those we are blessed to
serve. We
need to transfer God’s grace to the people, and not
demand that the people give us their grace.
Postmodern leadership is hard, and is ever
shaping. One
of the realities I face as a postmodern leader is the
understanding that what I do today, may not work
tomorrow – the fluid flux of postmodern leadership.
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