Führung behält seine Bedeutung auch in einer dezentralisierten und vernetzten Welt. Lee Bryant meint sogar, dass soziale Netze neue Chancen für Führung eröffnet.
Vertrauen in Netzen kann Brüche und Koordinationskosten reduzieren...
From "The Business Ethics Blog", by Chris MacDonald, PhD
It's a common refrain. Don't blame the business schools for all the bad stuff happening on Wall Street. It's not the b-schools' fault, because after all, ethics can't be taught. The first bit there is reasonable enough: the recent financial crisis is the result of a complicated convergence of factors, apparently including bad decisions by quite a number of individuals, and some poorly-structured institutions. But the latter part, implying the futility of ethics instruction at business schools, is simply wrong-headed.
For the latest iteration of this mistaken view, check out this opinion piece by Clifford Orwin, professor of political science at the University of Toronto, in the Globe and Mail: Can we teach ethics? When pigs flyEthics is a serious business. And that's why, reading in last weekend's Globe and Mail about the gurgling wave of ethics education sweeping North American business schools, I had to laugh.“MBA programs around the globe,” wrote Joanna Pachner, “are rushing to prove that they teach students to be good – not just rich – by revamping their curriculums and encouraging debates about ethical corporate behaviour.”
I blogged about the MBA ethics oaths here. But Orwin's real focus is on business school curriculum:
I'm not suggesting that business students are bad people, or that those who would teach them to be good are any less competent than the rest of us. It's just that the whole notion of teaching ethical behaviour rests on a fundamental misconception – namely, that ethical behaviour can be taught.
But Orwin's criticism is off-target, for two reasons.
The first problem is that Orwin neglects that the main goal of business education is to teach people management skills. So we can usefully teach people to devise management structures that minimize wrong-doing on the part of their employees, even if we can't change the characters of future managers themselves.--------------------------------------------
Chris's take on the moral psychology of wrongdoing, and the conclusion it implies about ethics education, is adopted entirely from Joseph Heath's wonderful paper, "Business Ethics and Moral Motivation: A Criminological Perspective," Journal of Business Ethics 83:4, 2008. Here's the abstract.
Chris teaches Philosophy, including business ethics, at Saint Mary's University in Halifax, Canada, and a Nonresident Senior Fellow at Duke University's Kenan Institute for Ethics. He is a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Business Ethics.
He was named one of the "100 Most Influential People in Business Ethics", for 2008.
We’ve probably all seen those men who can enter any room and instantly command it. I’m not talking about the loud and boisterous dolt who makes a scene with obnoxious alpha-male jackassery. I’m talking about the man who exudes a silent magnetic charisma that electrifies the entire room just by his presence. People feel better when this type of man is around and they want to be near him.
The benefits of being able to walk into any social situation and completely own it are innumerable. The man who can command a room is more persuasive in his business presentations, easily meets and makes friends, and attracts more women. While many men are born with the ability to charismatically command a room, it can also be learned. Below we’ve provided a few tips to get you started on being El Capitan of any social or professional situation.
Walk in boldly. Many men walk into a room timidly because they don’t want to appear presumptions or self-important. While you shouldn’t barge into people’s home, once you’re invited in, walk in with a bit of pep in your step. You’re supposed to be there, so act like it.
Theodore Roosevelt was a master at walking into a room boldly. In 1881, Roosevelt was elected to the New York Assembly at the age of 23. Accounts from fellow assemblymen on Roosevelt’s first day in office all describe the impressive entrance of the young man. They recall him bursting through the doors and pausing just for a moment so people could soak him in. According to historian Edmund Morris, this became a lifelong habit of Roosevelt’s; he would literally bound from room to room in the White House. Take a lesson from TR: save the walking softly business for your rhetoric.
click here for the full articleWhen Phillips Brooks famously defined preaching as “the communication of truth through personality” I do believe he was talking about your own personality and not someone else's. It has taken me awhile, but I finally feel like I have learned to be myself in the pulpit. Now whether this means my sermons are better or worse I can’t say. But being myself means my preaching is more genuine, more comfortable, and more sustainable. I know I have a lot to learn as a preacher, and I hope that ten years from now I’ll still get those awkward but true compliments–“your preaching has really improved over the years.” But at 32 I feel like I’m finally preaching the truth through my own personality.Like most young preachers, and not a few old ones, I’ve struggled to find my “voice” as a preacher. When I was in college I started devouring the Reformers and Puritans. Everything I read seemed to be either hundreds of years old or was translated hundreds of years ago. As a result, my writing (I wasn’t doing much preaching at the time) sounded like I was aiming for the “just translated from Latin” award. My sentences were often elephantine. The grammar was antiquated and there were simply too many words. A very fine professor who affirmed me in many ways challenged me to write for my own century, not for the century of my heroes. It was painful advice at the time. I wasn’t quite sure I trusted him. After all, wasn’t it a mark of piety to use words like “behoove” “calumny” and “obfuscate”? Well, it wasn’t. I need to be myself and not put on puritan-sounding airs. (Incidentally, my cousin, and classmate during college, had a wonderful t-shirt at the time that read “Eschew Obfuscation.” And he was the one with a girlfriend during all four years! Go figure.)In seminary I began to notice that many of my classmates sounded a lot like their homiletics professors. I still find this to be truth. It doesn’t matter where you go, preaching profs seem to crank out clones. Some of the blame may rest with instructors who place too much emphasis on their way of preaching–usually a way that works great for the teacher but doesn’t fit all the students. But some of the blame rests on the students too. We are desperate to latch on to some model so we end up copying wholesale what we see in those we respect, especially in those teaching us preaching. At Gordon-Conwell I saw lots of mini-Haddon Robinsons. This doesn’t mean all those students will turn out to be bad preachers, but they must realize there is only one Haddon Robinson. And they’re not it!As much as I was blessed by Robinson’s sermons, I was more tempted to imitate other preachers. I’m sure that for the first years of my ministry I sounded at times like a (very) poor man’s version of John Piper. I was listening to so much Piper that I’m sure my prayers, my themes, and even the way I said “Joy!” was Piperesque. Don’t get me wrong, I make no bones about learning from Piper and being influence by him. I’d trade my sermons for his any day. But he’d probably be the first to say, “Preach the same gospel I preach. But you don’t have preach just like me.” It’s taken me several years, but I think I’m finally ok with not being John Piper. I just don’t think I have the same personality, let alone the same gifts.Along the way there have been other famous preachers I’ve wanted to emulate. I wish I could walk through a text and use humor like Alistair Begg (with the accent too, of course). I wish I were as creative in my thinking and as culturally attuned as Tim Keller. I’d love to be as funny and humble as C.J. Mahaney. I’ve wondered at times what it would be like to do in-your-face as well as Driscoll, or be as smart as Carson (I tried saying "Eye-Ziah," but no one was fooled). Hey, I’ve even thought how cool it would be to communicate as cooly as Rob Bell.Over the years, I’ve experimented with several different methods of delivery. I’ve preached without notes, with a half page of notes, and with a full manuscript because some preacher I love preaches each of those ways. But what works best for me and my style, at least at this point in my ministry, is to preach from a full set of notes that alternates between manuscripting and chicken scratch. Homiletics professors might hate me for saying this, but sometimes you just have to figure out what works for you. I’m sure there are certain principles that define all good preaching, but there’s also a whole lot “I’m not sure why, but this works for me.”Since 2002, the year I was ordained, I estimate that I’ve preached almost 500 times (we have an evening service). And I think it took about 450 sermons to find my voice. This isn’t to say all those sermons were bad or untrue to myself. It’s not like I faked a Scottish accent or told stories about growing up in Greenville, South Carolina. But it’s taken me this long to realize the wisdom of Paul’s confession, “By the grace of God, I am what I am.”One of the hardest things for any preacher to learn, especially young preachers, is to simply be yourself. Don’t put on someone else’s passion or humor or learning. And don’t take off your own personality because one of your heroes doesn’t share it exactly. Go ahead and learn from the best. But your congregation needs to hear you on Sunday, not an impression of the preacher you wish you were. Let your person constantly be refined by the Spirit of God, and let the truth of God’s word shine through your own personality. Preach as a dying man to dying men. And don’t forget to be your own man.
#1 – When excuses are made about the way things are instead of embracing a willingness to roll up the sleeves and fix the problem.
#2 – When the church becomes content with merely receiving people that come rather than actually going out and finding them…in other words, they lose their passion for evangelism!
#3 – The focus of the church is to build a great church (complete with the pastors picture…and his wife’s…on everything) and not the Kingdom of God.
#4 – The leadership begins to settle for the natural rather than rely on the supernatural.
#5 – The church begins to view success/failure in regards to how they are viewed in the church world rather than whether or not they are actually fulfilling the Great Commission!
#6 – The leaders within the church cease to be coachable.
#7 – There is a loss of a sense of urgency! (Hell is no longer hot, sin is no longer wrong and the cross is no longer important!)
#8 – Scripture isn’t central in every decision that is made!
#9 – The church is reactive rather than proactive.
#10 – The people in the church lose sight of the next generation and refuse to fund ministry simply because they don’t understand “those young people.”
#11 – The goal of the church is to simply maintain the way things are…to NOT rock the boat and/or upset anyone…especially the big givers!
#12 – The church is no longer willing to take steps of faith because “there is just too much to lose.”
#13 – The church simply does not care about the obvious and immediate needs that exist in the community.
#14 – The people learn how to depend on one man to minister to everyone rather than everyone embracing their role in the body, thus allowing the body to care for itself.
#15 – When the leaders/staff refuse to go the extra mile in leading and serving because of how “inconvenient” doing so would be.
I pray God blesses your ministry at some point with what some call “The Wave.”
The wave is when God seems to do more than you can handle! During the wave, your buildings aren’t big enough, you can’t hire fast enough, you’re just hanging on for life.
This week we’ll talk about how to ride the wave.
Let’s start with some basics:
- You don’t create a spiritual wave, God does. The ride you’ll take isn’t a result of your creative ideas or masterful leadership. God will certainly use those things, but He is the One who causes and directs the spiritual progress.
- You can work with the wave or fight against it. When God is doing something special, you’ll want to cooperate with what He is doing. I honestly believe when God starts to do something new, too many church leaders get afraid and work against what God is trying to do.
- The wave probably won’t last forever. When God blesses you supernaturally, ride the wave. If it starts to die down, don’t try to recreate the wave. Pray for the next one and ride it when it comes.
#1 – Realizes he has nothing to prove!
#2 – Works for the applause of heaven and not for the applause of men.
#3 – Seeks God for direction instead of merely asking Him for permission.
#4 – Doesn’t pretend that he has all the answers.
#5 – Seeks to submit to the Spirit instead of constantly grieving Him.
#6 – Understands that he will go insane if his goal is for everyone to understand him.
#7 – Is willing to repent when he is wrong…and do whatever it takes to make things right.
#8 – Puts personal preferences aside when making decisions that will impact the church.
#9 – Has a sense of desperation for God…fully understanding the reality of John 15:5.
#10 – Refuses to compromise the vision…even when it may be convenient to do so!
Bonus: Doesn’t have the majority of comments on his own blog.
Here are some things one of our worship leaders, Jeremy Irwin, wrote down for me to help our worship leaders, including me, with public speaking on the microphone during worship services. This list is not exhaustive, nor is it gospel. It is simply some helpful thinking points to help worship leaders as they pray, read, explain, exhort, welcome, dismiss and prepare liturgy for their services. Here's what Jeremy gave me:
I'm into simple and concise ideas about leadership.
This even applies to more complex leadership challenges like community building where I have written previously on simple concepts for community building. For example:
Building Community - Trust Begets Trust
where the authors identify trust as a foundation for community and teamwork.Building Community: Thank you as a way of leading
Becky Robinson at the Mountain State University LeaderTalk recently posted four simple ideas for community building. Her ideas match very nicely with my "simple" and accessible ideas for building community. My comments and links to my previous posts are inserted:
Shared relationships. People feel part of a community when they are well connected in relationships... leaders facilitate this interconnectedness. The more people are interconnected, the more likely they are to have a sense of community.
Get to know the people around you. To me, it starts with knowing about their families, even names of spouses and children; it allows you to connect quickly.
Sustain the interconnectedness with smiles and gratitude.
Shared experiences. When people participate in activities together, collaborating as a whole or working in small groups, relationships have a chance to grow. Even after the activity is over, shared memories with others can contribute to a sense of community.
Draw people into your plans and tasks. Collaboration doesn't have to be hard. But is starts best with questions and listening; not telling. Also, let's dispel the myth that collaboration suggests that a leader is soft or weak.
Shared goals and purpose. As people rally around a shared cause or goal, a sense of community builds. People feel emboldened by others who are working toward the same purpose.
I have previously cited the work of Kouzes and Posner who describe the importance of a shared vision across a team or organization. They suggest in their work, "Remember that leadership is a dialogue, not a monologue.... it's about developing a shared sense of destiny. , "
Shared achievement. People enjoy being a part of something bigger than themselves, knowing that their contribution makes a difference. Leaders who recognize a groups' effort build community.
Thanks for reading. Please lead quietly. Don
It has become commonplace to regard managers as inferior to leaders. Leaders are out front getting things done and managers are … what are they doing? This is, in part, due of our proclivity to label people as one or the other. Henry Mintzberg is the antidote to that kind of unproductive thinking. He writes in a book simply titled Managing: “we should be seeing managers as leaders and leadership as management practiced well.” While I have maintained that there is value in separating the functions of managers and leaders for the better understanding of both, in practice, they shouldn’t be two different people. Mintzberg believes that managing is a practice that is learned on the job through apprenticeship, mentorship, and direct experience. He has good cause to assert that we should be more concerned about “macroleading;” people that manage by remote control; too far above it all. “We are now overlead and undermanaged", he writes.”
"By obsessing over the glories of leadership, we lose our grasp on the realities of management. And our leadership is all the worse for it." “The more we obsess about leadership, the less we seem to get.”
Managing is a page-turner (if you’re into this kind of thing). Mintzberg always makes you stop and think. He’s at his best when he’s leveling the playing field. As we’ve stressed on this blog before, leadership isn’t evolving. Leadership (and management) are a fundamental human activity. How they are practiced may change depending on the context, but their essence remains unchanged. Much of what we have to learn and relearn are fundamental principles regarding how people get along and work together.
Managers deal with different issues as time moves forward, but not with different managing. The job does not change. We buy new gasoline all the time and new shirts from time to time; that does not mean that car engines and buttons have been changing. Despite the great fuss we make about change, the fact is that basic aspects of human behavior—and what could be more basic than managing and leading?—remain rather stable.
Mintzberg has distilled management thought into a general model of managing—what do managers do? They operate on three plains of activity, from the conceptual to the concrete: They act through information. They work through people. They manage action directly. And they need to operate on all three planes. “Too much leading can result in a job free of content…and detached from its internal roots.” A blending of all three planes into a dynamic balance is required and is best learned on the job. “No simulation I have ever seen in a classroom … comes remotely close to replicating the job itself,” says Mintzberg.
Read the rest of the review from Michael McKinney on the Leadership Now blog ...
