30 Jun 2010
Leadership in Community
The founder’s dilemma
Leading a community is no small task, and no one has all that they need to do the job.
My Dad was the founder of Fusion and of Poatina. Growing up as his son I saw how he carried the burden of both of these things. I also saw clearly that neither he, nor anyone else has all that they need to do the all of the job of leadership.
Vanier talks in his book, Community and Growth, about what it means to be a leader and founder of a community:
At the start of communities, founders base their actions on their own vision. Gradually the people who join them become one body with all the life and inevitable tensions that that must bring. Then founders can not longer behave as if they were the only ones to have the vision. They must listen to the community and respect it’s life and vision. The role of founders is to understand the life of the community and allow it to flourish under their guidance.
Perhaps the hardest thing founders have to do is to accept that the vision of others may reflect the community and its fundamental goals more clearly and truly than does their own.
One of the most important things for people in authority is to be clear about their priorities. If they lost themselves in a thousand details, they are in danger of losing the vision. They have to keep their eyes fixed firmly on essentials. The best authority is the one which does very little itself but reminds others of these essentials in their activities and their life, calls them to assume responsibilities, supports them, confirms them and directs them.
Good leaders are aware of both their strengths and weaknesses. They are not afraid to admit to the latter. They know how to find support and are humble enough to ask for it. There is no perfect leader who has all the gifts necessary for good leadership.
Very interesting! I wonder when I will meet these leaders who are not afraid, humble enough to admit the latter?
Michael Mitchell
July 3rd, 2010 at 8:38 pmpermalink
The bloke who writes this blog would be one of them Michael.
Dave
July 9th, 2010 at 10:43 ampermalink