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The Solution to Nonprofit Leadership Falls
Brian Kreeger • October 13, 2021
Most people acknowledge, with humility, that leaders are human just like you and me.
Leaders can be called and inspired. They can accept love and experience heart-wrenching rejection. They can be strong in conviction and experience self-doubt. They can know God’s solid direction one day and the next day be discouraged with thoughts of giving up. They can humbly but boldly experience God’s immense blessing, and later experience discouragement and anger with God to the same degree.
Leaders can approach life with awe-inspiring humility toward others and God, yet struggle with pride and arrogance. Multitudes of people can continually surround them, but leaders may feel extremely lonely inside. They can be among the most respected in their town, but struggle with insecurity and constant unhealthy self-judgment. They can make decisions with wisdom only God can provide, then make a poor decision without God and destroy it all.
Do you see yourself in any (or all) of the above statements? Yes, leaders, at their core, do not differ from you or I.
(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.)
“Your pastor (or Christian Leader) is more than your church leader,” says Joe Jensen, a former pastor who now works as director of strategic partnerships and church engagement at Barna Group. “He or she is also your brother or sister, a fallible human being in need of the same mercy, compassion, companionship, and encouragement as you.”1
Leader, it’s important
to recognize you can experience supernatural abilities that can only come from God in leading others, but at your core, you are still a fallible human being, and that’s okay.
And for those being led and those around leaders, we must allow our leaders to be human beings and we need to examine ourselves to a level that we do not expect them to be Jesus, but a Jesus follower and disciple just like us, with a unique calling.
Simply put, leaders are human, and we need to allow them to be.
Leadership falls are happening all around us. That’s a simple fact. We all see it. Sometimes it is a big-time national leader who falls and sometimes it is a leader right in our own town. But they are happening.
So, what is the solution
to prevent nonprofit leadership falls? What should everyone, including the leader, do to help prevent these falls?
Here comes the answer….are you ready?
Something.
We all need to do
something: Leaders need to do
something. Boards need to do
something. Congregations need to do
something. Constituencies need to do
something. Communities need to do
something.
I don’t write that answer off the cuff and hap-hazard, as to push the solution off on everyone else. I write it that way because the confidence I have in the above people groups already knowing the solution in their particular situation is very high. But they need the courage and empowerment to move forward.
Something
could be simply sending a text of general support and encouragement.
Something
could be a two sentence paragraph highlighting
something
positive you see in the leader, or just acknowledging how difficult their job must be. It could be
something
as big as confronting a difficult situation. I believe strongly that you know what that
something
is in your heart.
(Shameless plug: I list many role based
somethings in my book,
The Courageous Ask: A Proactive Approach to Prevent the Fall of Christian Nonprofit Leaders.)
It can be so easy,
but many of us shy away from doing
something.
Why?
Yes, most of us will say that when it comes to mind we are in the middle of something else. We may say that we don’t have the time, and we are dealing with so many other things in our busy lives. We will say it is not our business to get involved in a difficult situation. We might even say that we are the ones needing the
something.
These are very true and I find myself saying some of these things myself.
But then I have to ask myself, as a board member, if I have the time to deal with the collateral damage of a leadership fall and everything it will take to re-build. I have to ask myself, as a congregant, what it will take to recover from the pain, the hurt, and the spiritual damage of a leadership fall in my church. I have to ask myself, as a member of the community, how a leadership fall will affect the community for me and my family if leaders fall.
Most of all, I have to ask myself, as a leader, what it will take for me, those loved ones around me, and the community at large to recover if I fall.
Will I have time to do something then?
It takes great focus, intent, and courage to do
something. But you must.
Leaders need each other.
Leaders need the support of their sphere of influence. Leaders need you.
It’s time to consciously be proactive in preventing the fall of our nonprofit leaders.
In fact, while writing this, I shot out a couple 5-10 word texts of encouragement to leaders I know. It took just a few minutes. I don’t know if they needed the text during a discouraging time, or if they simply needed it on a Monday morning to motivate them. Maybe they didn’t need it at all. But I did
something.
Now it’s your turn. Do
something. Maybe even make it a calendar item you do for 5 minutes every couple of days.
Be Courageous.
Be Proactive.
1“Do Christians Consider Their Pastors to be Friends?” Barna Group, October 8,
2019, https://www.barna.com/research/pastors-as-friends/.
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 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.
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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. )
