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It's Time to Take Action to Prevent Leadership Falls
Brian Kreeger 1:23 • September 15, 2021
Over the last 22 weeks
this blog series
has hit a wide array of topics intended to help you be proactive in preventing the fall of nonprofit leaders, especially Christian nonprofit executives.
I began by helping you understand that a fall could happen to you, or in your organization. I wrote about human nature and its effects on all the relationships in and around a nonprofit.
The articles shifted to the many difficulties and challenges in being a leader, and the deep down issues that can occur in their professional and personal lives. I wrote about the temptations that can become a stumbling block, leading to a fall that can easily happen if triggered properly. Above all, I wrote about individual accountability.
I went on to write about the challenges of being part of an accountability structure, most times a board of directors. I wrote about how the attributes of each individual board member define the board as a whole. I tackled the board member conundrum in prioritizing board duties and personal life and how a board member can be torn. I wrote about how almost all leadership falls end up in the lap of the board of directors and are of a personal nature.
But most importantly, I wrote about how these groups, including the community and the leader themselves, must come together to prevent the fall of our leaders by embracing their humanity. Everyone has a role, but we must be courageous, and we must be proactive.
It can be done. It has been done.
(This article is the twenty-third in a series that focuses on starting a conversation centered on preventing the fall of nonprofit leaders. I write it from a Christian perspective, but all leaders will benefit. Be sure to sign up to receive these articles via email every Tuesday at
briankreeger.com.
In addition to receiving these articles two days before they hit social media, you will receive the Contents, Introduction and the Appendix (My story) of my upcoming book,
The Courageous Ask: A Proactive Approach to Prevent the Fall of Christian Nonprofit Leaders.)
So the question is this: What are you going to do about it?
Do the articles of the last 22 weeks get set aside as just another suggestion that won’t actually come to life until it is directly affecting you? Will you go back to sensing something is not quite right in your own life as a leader, or in the life of a leader you are close to, and doing nothing about it? Will you watch leaders fall, and then say things like, “I knew it was coming, something was not quite right.” Will you be part of a body that is tasked with cleaning up a physical and emotional mess even though you saw it coming and did nothing?
After the unfortunate circumstances around the death and ministry fall of an international Christian leader, one board, in part, put out this statement:
“We now know based on the investigation that [our leader] engaged in a series of extensive measures to conceal his behavior from his
family, colleagues, and friends. However, we also recognize that in situations of prolonged abuse, there often exist significant structural,
policy, and cultural problems.
That a leader under our care sinned against others so grievously pains us. We were trusted by our staff, our donors, and the public to mentor,
oversee, and ensure the accountability of [our leader], and in this we have failed. The findings of the investigation have caused us to take an
extensive and humbling look at ways that we have fallen short, made mistakes, and failed to love well.
We regret that we allowed our misplaced trust in [our leader] to result in him having less oversight and accountability than would have been
wise and loving.”1
In other words: “We did not Courageously Ask.”
Honestly, I could have chosen any number of statements from accountability structures after they experienced a leadership fall.
It doesn’t have to be that way.
So, what link on the chain of prevention are you--in whatever context you find yourself? You could be on a board that is watching their leader fall but not talking about it. You could be a leader who is falling but doesn’t know what to do. You could be on a board that has a strong leader who currently seems to do everything with excellence. You could be an onlooker, seeing some peculiar things in your leadership. You could simply be around a leader who needs some encouragement and a “soul care” person.
All of these roles can be a link of prevention if you choose to be on the proactive chain of leadership maintenance.
No matter where you find yourself, your leader or organization needs action. That doesn’t mean getting in their face and pushing them around. It just might mean a text of support, or to let them know they are on your mind. It can be just that simple. But, you may also have some major decisions to make.
And you just might have to Courageously Ask difficult questions of yourself, someone you know, or the leader of an organization you care about. This could be the key to preventing a fall. My hope is that you have been encouraged to make it over that humps of doubt and fear, and are prompted to take the next step.
You might be the one that helps a leader avoid it all. You might be the one that helps save a stumbling leader. You might be the one that prevents a devastating leadership fall.
But you will have to be courageous. You will have to be proactive.
It’s time to start a conversation.
1RZIM International Board of Directors, “Open Letter from the International Board of Directors of RZIM on the Investigation of Ravi Zacharias,” RZIM, accessed February 2021, https://www.rzim.org/read/rzim-updates/board-statement.
Be sure to sign up to receive these articles via email every Tuesday at
briankreeger.com. In addition to receiving these articles two days before they hit social media, you will receive the Contents, Introduction and the Appendix (My Story) to my upcoming book,
The Courageous Ask: A Proactive Approach to Prevent the Fall of Christian Nonprofit Leaders.
Brian@briankreeger.com
#Leadership Fall #Leadership Survival #Nonprofit Relationships #Proactive Approach #Leadership Struggles #Leadership Battles #Christian Executive Leader #Christian Leader #Courageous Ask #Proactive #Proactive Leadership
Executives -pastors or nonprofit executives in our context- are put on a pedestal. It’s not that the typical person necessarily believes they belong there or desires to put them there. But it is human nature that this happens. The general public often places much higher expectations on leaders than they do on themselves. Sometimes it is appropriate, and the leader has put themselves in that position. In some cases, it is simply scriptural. For instance, James 3 points out that those who teach will be judged more strictly, thereby heightening the expectations of those who lead and teach. But what about when we accept, and enact, those elevated expectations and forget the humanity of our leaders? Often a community heaps on a leader the expectation that they are to perform with the perfection of Jesus and not simply be a Jesus follower and disciple just like them, but with a unique calling and heightened responsibility. Too many times when a leader shows human imperfection, the respect we have for them is damaged. Leaders fall under strict judgment, and we forget they are no less fallible than us. The imperfection they have colors any positive experience we would have had with them otherwise. While most of us acknowledge this strict, hypocritical judgment and recognize it as not being how we want to treat our leaders, it is a difficult battle to fight in our own attitudes and minds. No matter who the leader is, they are not Jesus. But please allow me to reverently make some comparisons. (This blog focuses on starting a conversation centered on preventing the fall of nonprofit leaders. I write it from a Christian perspective, but all leaders will benefit. Be sure to sign up to receive these articles via email every Tuesday at briankreeger.com as well as taking a look at previous blog articles. In addition to receiving these articles two days before they hit social media, you will receive the article "5 Early Indicators of a Christian Nonprofit Leadership Fall" along with the Contents, Introduction and the Appendix (My story) of my book, The Courageous Ask: A Proactive Approach to Prevent the Fall of Christian Nonprofit Leaders. )
You are the community, no matter what formal role you play in a particular organization, or if you play any role at all. My blog articles typically focus on the roles the leader and the board have in preventing the fall of Christian nonprofit leaders. But I contend that the community that exists around organizational leaders and boards has a role as well. In fact, a community’s role can many times be much bigger. My next few blog articles will focus on the role of the community in preventing the fall of Christian nonprofit leaders. (This blog focuses on starting a conversation centered on preventing the fall of nonprofit leaders. I write it from a Christian perspective, but all leaders will benefit. Be sure to sign up to receive these articles via email every Tuesday at briankreeger.com as well as taking a look at previous blog articles. In addition to receiving these articles two days before they hit social media, you will receive the article "5 Early Indicators of a Christian Nonprofit Leadership Fall" along with the Contents, Introduction and the Appendix (My story) of my book, The Courageous Ask: A Proactive Approach to Prevent the Fall of Christian Nonprofit Leaders. )
