Longing to Lead—Caught Up in Management

Many ministry leaders long for the spaciousness to dream, inspire, and guide their congregations toward a meaningful future, but find themselves caught in a cycle of constant crisis management. I’ve begun to wonder whether we’ve created a false tension between managing and leading. Maybe we don’t need to reduce one to get more of the other.

What’s The Problem?

How can I free myself from the busyness and urgency of management and focus more on leadership? This is perhaps the most frequent question posed by my coaching clients. When I ask them to describe what they imagine doing differently, they talk about finding more time for long-range planning, visioning, inspiring others and disrupting the status quo.

Most leaders long for fewer interruptions, less involvement in problem solving, and more time outside the walls of the congregation. Instead, they feel trapped by the daily demands of staff and volunteer supervision, conflict mediation, meeting management, building problems and handling complaints. These tasks, which they have come to think of as managerial, must be checked off a to-do list before they can begin the loftier work of leadership.

Perhaps it’s time to revisit our definitions of management and leadership, and to explore how our misuse of those terms prevents us from getting what we want.

Management vs. Leadership

According to the Center for Creative Leadership, management is the process of planning and control. Management responsibilities involve organizing, getting things done, and solving problems. Effective managers work through the efforts of others to improve efficiency and accomplish goals. They focus on daily operations and tasks, ensuring that expectations are met and goals are accomplished.

Leadership is the process of people working to achieve something together. It is not a solo effort or the responsibility of a single person at the helm of the organization. Leadership is a social process defined by three outcomes—direction, alignment and commitment. Leadership involves influencing, inspiring and bringing out the best in others. Leaders set clear vision, encourage innovation and support personal and professional growth in others.

Whatever your role in the organization, both leadership and management are required of you. The challenge is to blend the two approaches—to gain clarity about what you are trying to accomplish, and to determine which approach will best serve a moment.

Leadership isn’t something we pursue when time allows, or when the tasks of management are complete. Leadership and management live side by side—often in the same context. We bring a leadership lens when we emphasize direction, alignment and commitment.

• The organization has a shared sense of direction when there is a clear understanding of where time and energy will be spent, what matters most, what we will say yes to, and perhaps as important, what we will say no to.
• Alignment occurs when each person understands their role and how it fits with the work of others. There is an overall sense of coordination and synchronization.
• Commitment is a willingness to prioritize the success of the collective over the success of the individual.

Less Reactive, More Proactive

For most of us, the problem isn’t that we are spending too much time on management. The problem is that we are being reactive—letting crisis choose how we focus our time and energy.

To lead well, you need to become more proactive about choosing your focus. Some space in your schedule is required to gain and maintain perspective. To know what the direction is so you can effectively communicate it to others. To see what is out of alignment so you can invite coordinated effort. To gain clarity about what you are prioritizing, so you can invite others to commit.

Make it a regular discipline to ask, “What is mine to do?” Make sure your primary energy goes towards the things only you can do. Are you head of staff? If so, no one except you can fulfill those responsibilities. Others may supervise an individual, but only you can manage the performance of the team. Others can troubleshoot building problems, but only you can supervise the whole staff. Keep your focus primarily on things only you can do.

Nurturing Presence

The core capacity needed to shift from a management mindset to a leadership mindset is “presence.”

Peter Senge, a behavioral scientist and senior lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management, defines presence as a state of deep awareness that allows individuals and groups to consciously access the emerging future, rather than simply reacting to the present or recreating the past.

Presencing is an inward emotional and spiritual journey that recognizes the need to relinquish control, allowing you to truly see and experience what is emerging. Opening space for greater creativity, you choose to act from the future as it emerges, rather than being captured by the past.

As you begin your week (or month, or year) consider how you will protect time in your calendar and create opportunities to nurture your presence. Set regular blocks of time to pray, meditate, walk in nature or engage in creative acts. Seek out the help of a coach or spiritual director.

And when people ask you to give up the time you have set aside to nurture your leadership presence, fiercely protect that time, much as you would protect the needs of a congregant.

Reclaiming leadership is ultimately not about escaping management but about engaging every moment—every meeting, crisis, and conversation—with greater clarity and intention. When we nurture our presence, we create the internal spaciousness needed to guide others toward shared direction, meaningful alignment, and collective commitment. Protecting time for reflection, prayer, creativity, and discernment is not selfish; it is essential to your leadership effectiveness.