Not long ago, I had a conversation with someone at church. He wanted help in discerning where he was being called to serve. He’s a young adult who has shown consistency in worship and participates in ministry. He’s happy to serve, but not ambitious to lead — even though someone tries to recruit him to lead something every Sunday.
I also meet with people who feel they are not asked to do enough. They want a leadership role. They have a certain level of ambition as it relates to ministry.
Today, both in our churches and other organizations, leaders are often selected from among those who are the most ambitious. We assume the people who are most eager to lead should be leaders. Ambition is not all bad, but is it the best indicator of future leadership effectiveness?
Researchers at the Stanford Graduate School of Business conducted a study to examine the relationship between ambition, self-rated leadership effectiveness and team-rated leadership effectiveness. They found that most of the executives in their study ranked high on a scale of ambition; however, the ambitious executives were no more likely to be rated as highly effective leaders by their team than less ambitious colleagues.
What does this mean for congregations?
These findings suggest that we might need to put more effort into encouraging less ambitious people to consider serving in leadership roles. There will always be people who are super confident and eager to lead, but if we rely only on ambition to help us identify the next group of leaders, we might miss gifted but more laidback people. Let’s not forget that some of God’s most effective leaders never volunteered for the job — Moses, Jeremiah and Esther come to mind. It takes time and effort to persuade a reluctant person, but we might need to look for more than ambition to find the leaders God has called.
Prince Rivers
Editor, Alban at Duke Divinity
Resources
Study reveals clergy leaders often lack adequate training in five key areas
Survey respondents identify skill sets they must develop for their complex roles.
By Shari Finnell
Declining volunteerism is changing the church experience
Congregations struggle to maintain educational programs without volunteer support.
By Shari Finnell
Consider the introverts
Leadership comes at all volumes. The church must listen for quieter voices, too.
By Emily Lund
How do you keep great leaders?
Finding good people to serve your congregation or organization isn’t enough, writes a pastor. You also need to develop a strategy to retain them.
By A. Trevor Sutton
P.S.
Are leaders born or made? This is an age-old question. The idea that leadership ability is innate is the basis of the trait theory of leadership. The trait theory suggests that leaders are those born with certain characteristics like attractiveness, intelligence and extroversion. The theory has been debunked by more recent research, but the idea hasn’t completely vanished from popular opinion.
I’ve learned to be prayerful and discerning both when someone seems like a leader or wants a leadership role and when someone doesn’t. It can be a good practice to give potential leaders opportunities to serve in low-stakes, time-limited situations. You’ll see very quickly whether someone is ambitious for the sake of the gospel or for some other reason. You will also see whether the reluctant leader is ready to step up and lean in. Leadership development is not easy, but it’s worth it.
You can always reach me and the Alban Weekly team at alban@duke.edu. Until next week, keep leading!