Page 52 - The Church of Ireland Apologetic for Mission?

In Leadership Without Easy Answers Ron Heifetz says:
In a crisis we tend to look for the wrong kind of leadership. We call for someone with answers, decision, strength and a map of the future, someone who knows where we ought to be going – in short, someone who can make hard problems simple ... we should be calling for leadership that will challenge us to face problems for which there are no simple painless solutions – problems that require us to learn new ways ... Making progress on these problems demands not just someone who provides answers from on high but changes in our attitudes, behaviour and values.76
The environment in which church leadership is worked out has changed. This means
that the skills needed for leadership have also changed. They are more complex and adaptive thinking skills are needed.
In times of uncertainty or in a risk-averse organisation people don’t want questions they want answers. They want to be told that they will be protected from the pain of change. The pressures on leadership become obvious.
Ronald Heifetz clearly recognises the emotional pressures on leadership.
We see leadership too rarely exercised from high office, and the constraints that come with authority go far to explain why. In public life, people generally look to their authorities to solve problems with a minimum of pain, and where pain must be endured, they often expect their officials to find somebody else to bear the costs ... When we do elect activists, we want them to change the thinking and behaviour of other people, rarely our own. We can hardly blame our public officials for giving us what we ask for. 77
The internal (iceberg) and external (societal) challenges of leadership in the Church of Ireland suggest pressures on those who hold such a role. These may include:
a. People feeling discomfited when challenged to rethink entrenched norms, values and beliefs.
b. People feeling discomfited when challenged about things held dear and handed down from previous generations.
c. People feeling discomfited when challenged to go beyond the boundaries of their own constituency and comfort.
d. People feeling discomfited when being exposed to the risk of instability, conflict and resentment arising from the above.
e. Ministering in an increasingly secular society where the place of Church in the community is changing.
f. Moralfailuresthathavetakentheonce assumed automatic authority of clergy away.
g. Showing people the possibilities for the future when all they feel is fear of loss.
h. Fear of being bullied if they cross a line with their people.
The skill set required to pastor is complementary but not identical to that required for leading an organisation to act on what it declares to be a priority.
Are clergy sufficiently skilled or do they have the necessary temperament to fulfill the expected job requirements, particularly those involving inter-personal contact with people who may feel discomfited?
The temptation to ‘leave well alone’ or ‘it will do me my day’, motivated by fear, is understandable. Yet, difficult as it may be, the challenge is still to provide effective leadership and witness to fundamental
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p 2 Heifetz, R, Leadership Without Easy Answers, Harvard University Press, Cambridge Massachusetts , 1994 p 183 Ibid