I think it was in an article by Gil Rendle of the Alban Institute that I first saw the difference between leadership and management being described. In “Leadership under Constraints,” he suggests that the difference between leadership and management can be seen in two questions. Managers are encouraged to seek answers to the question, “Are we doing things right?” Leaders seek answers to the question, “Are we doing the right things.” Managers are asked to develop the strategies that can make an existing institution function in a secure and effective way. Leaders are expected to be more visionary and even speculative about the future. Leadership acts in disturbing ways because it expects that the challenges of the future are going to require new and innovative responses. Leaders assume that things cannot continue the way they are even though they are not always sure what are the best things that should be done.
Now think about that with respect to the church. (Although it applies to the society as well.) For the most part, do we not call pastors to be leaders, because in some vague way we understand that we are not where God wants us to be. But when the pastor arrives, do we not expect them to be managers of what is. It would be an unusual congregation that would encourage and support being disturbed and upset. Prophets are rarely asked to manage communities. So the most immediate challenge is to be both a leader and a manager. As a pastor we are asked to help the current church function and meet people’s expectations while at the same time, we need to nudge, encourage, and challenge the congregation to face the future.
When you move above the congregation to the people we call to manage-lead our governing bodies, the challenges get even more extreme. It is difficult for such people to nurture the personal loyalties that can sustain them when they challenge the comfort zones of the church. Rendle suggests that three questions of leadership need to be asked. 1. Who are we. 2. What has God called us to do or be. 3. Who is our neighbor. That is a whole different set of questions than are usually asked when we evaluate the work of our governing body or our church.
