Insights from Quietly Courageous

Good leadership is not enough!  The work of leadership must do more than improve. It must change. It must address ways to effectively address today's emerging challenges and opportunities. It involves learning new leadership skills, mindsets, and approaches. How are you leading differently now than you were 5-10 years ago?  Listed below are few insights from the book, Quietly Courageous. 

1 | Until we see things in new ways we'll be constrained to act in old ways.

• In what ways is reflection, assessment and rethinking build into your planning processes?
• Where do your best ideas come from? What sparks your creating thinking?
• What suggestions do you have for helping leaders question norms, expectations, and assumptions?

2 | Courageous leaders are open to discernment, discovery, and surprise.

•  As we "wonder in the wilderness, what do we need to observe more closely?
• How do we diagnose through the lens of God's mission?
• How do we make plans and move ahead while also staying nimble?

3 | There is no going back because the “back” that is remembered doesn’t exist anymore.

• How do we help people avoid the desire to return to what "was" rather than focus on what "is?"
• How does people's diminished trust in churches and institutions affect how we engage with society?

4 | The average age of members has steadily increased due to decreased involvement of younger generations.

• How do we as a church be relevant AND mission-minded? What do we need to pay attention to?
• How do we define and measure engagement in a time of hybrid church?
• What are a few steps your church could take to be more externally-focused?
• How can we become an inviting church in addition to being a welcoming church?

5 | People need to know their identity, purpose, and context in times of disruption.
How will we now be with God?
How will we now be with one another?
How do we help people make note of the changing landscape, and interpret and plan for these changes?

6 | As landscapes shift, we  must engage in different conversations as a church. 

• How do we help people reframe WHO we are as our community?
• What types of conversations help us understand WHAT God has called us to do?
• What is our response to the question, "WHO is our neighbor?"
• What are we NOT talking about but need to? 
• What are we NOT measuring but need to?

7 | Review Ron Heifetz work on adaptive change during transitions.
Technical work is the application of known solutions to known problems. Technical work leads directly to action.

• If there is a known solution to a known problem, then the responsible act of leadership is to get on with it—act! 
• How do we help people address problems are not known?
• How do we help people learn how to live with a new reality?
• If technical work leads directly to action, then adaptive work requires learning. What types of learning do we need to engage in as a faith community?

8 | Be willing to lead from ignorance and admit, “I do not know.”

• How do we as leaders learn to navigate in the wilderness?
• How do we continue to do God's work in the midst of not knowing?
• What does it mean to be faithful and fruitful today?

9 | Church leaders manage competing commitments of caring for those within our faith community and caring for those beyond the church walls.

• How do you manage this competing commitment?
• What are other competing commitments that affect your life? Your ministry setting?
• How do you creating space in your schedule to reinvent ministry for future generations?
• How do you manage the competing commitments of doing, dreaming, designing, and "sharpening the saw?"