Rob Voyle's Appreciative Way Blog
Incarnational Leadership
Posted: December 12, 2013 by Rob Voyle
All sustainable change is an inside job
In general the church does a very good job of celebrating the incarnation. Sadly from my observation we don't do anywhere near as well in terms of practicing incarnational leadership. And in many conflicted situations I have been invited into, the failure to practice the incarnation has been at the heart of leadership failure.
Jesus didn't come and inflict salvation on us,
He came and lived as one of us.
At the heart of the incarnation is the process of entering into and joining with the system so that change processes are an inside job. People will naturally resist imposed change, regardless of the change's merits, because its imposition is a profound disrespect or denial of the essential dignity of the recipients of the change.
When joining with a system we need to join with its life-giving core.Then we can make changes that grow the life-giving core.
If we can't value what is life-giving to the people we probably should leave and shake the dust of our feet. If we stay and spend our time judging them for their attitudes and actions we will just end growing their and our ugliness.
People won't change because we judge or hate them,
at least in the direction we would want them to change.
The incarnation, God joining with humanity in Jesus, is a profound expression of God's valuing of humanity. And all those who joined with Jesus, "received him" in John's words, or mutual valuing in the language of the Appreciative Way, he gave power to become the children of God.
Appreciative Tip
In my coaching of clergy engaged in search process I encourage them to ask everyone they encounter in the search process "What do you value about your congregation" and then to prayerfully reflect on the question: "Can I value what they value?" Finding a place of shared value is the essential first step of incarnational leadership.
Exploring what we mutually value has many other benefits. It is likely to result in positive emotion which research shows will open people to greater degrees of creativity which will enable both parties to explore possibilities rather than be stuck in current realities. This will set the tone for a more rewarding conversation regardless of its outcome.
If you would like to learn more about the Appreciative Way of being an incarnational leader I invite you to participate in one of the Appreciative Leadership training programs. See https://www.appreciativeway.com/training/trainingSchedule.cfm for a complete schedule of training events.
In the meantime I wish you lots of love to lead the people entrusted to your care and encourage you to keep asking:
Rob
Previous Posts By Category
Coaching
- I Saw Satan Fall From Heaven
- Church Growth Makes Absolutely no Sense
- Agents of Change or Agents of God, and What's Christmas Got to Do With It?
- Are You Using the Right Map?
- Coaching: Paul's Conundrum Explained
- Goals Must Be Imaginable
- Coaching Next Steps to Achieving Goals
- Shaman 101: Change the Question
- Changing the Paradigm of Blame
- The Sermon I Need to Hear this Christmas
- Blue Christmas Meditation
- What's the Purpose, What's My Purpose?
- Church Growth and Making Disciples
- Thinking about Language: Are People Assets or Treasures?
- Transfiguration and Agents of Transformation
- Managing Resistance to Change
- Ensuring Change is a Blessing
- Growing Leaders Through Intentional Coaching
- Forget Balance, Get Integrated!
- Get Feed-Forward not Feed-Back
- The Power of Great Questions
Forgiveness
- No Reconciliation Without Repentance
- Moving Mountains of Resentment and Uprooting Mulberry Trees of Misery
- Teach Your Congregation to Forgive: Five Week Lenten program
- Forgiveness and Standing Silent Before the Pilates of this World
- Transforming Anger Into Practical Compassion
- Teaching Forgiveness and Staying in Love
- Stick with Love if You Want Others to Change
- I Tried, But I Just Can't Forgive: Part II
- I Tried, But I Just Can't Forgive: Part I
- The Power to Resolve the Past Is Within You?
- Teach Them How to Forgive this Sunday
- Transforming Victim Narratives: Mark 7:24-30
- 9/11: Resentment, Forgiveness, and Reconciliation
Leadership
- Parishioners and Staff are Treasures not Assets
- Anglican Primates: My Appreciative Way Perspective on the Conflict
- Leadership is About Empowering not Controlling
- Who is the Greatest: Calling Forth the Best
- Discovering the Power of an Ennobling Dream
- Incarnational Leadership
- Core Leadership Competencies: Three Ways of Being a Leader.
- Core Leadership Competencies: The Art of Wise Pruning.
- Core Competencies for Being Your Congregation's Chief: Asking Powerful Questions.
- Core Leadership Competencies: Empowering Others
- Core Competencies for Being Your Congregation's Chief
- Creating Sustainable Change through Incarnational Leadership
- The Challenge of Growing the Church
- All Sustainable Change is an Inside Job
- The Importance of Understanding Your Purpose
- Thinking and Acting Like a Leader
Performance Review
Sermon
- Those Damn Foreigners!
- No, You Don't Want to Take Your Ministry to the Next Level
- Why Be Good
- Teach Us to Pray
- We Are God's Chosen People Not God's Protected People
- Easter and Three Stories When Bad Stuff Happens
- An Appreciative Lent
- Remembering Dr. King
- Find Resurrection this Easter not Reincarnation
- Lent, Coaching, Change and Transformation
- Doing the Unexpected this Christmas
- Appreciatively Thinking about Lent and the Ten commandments
- Thinking about Lent, Sin, and Grace
- Lent and an Appreciative Approach to Repentance
Teaching Love
Tigers
Previous Posts By Date
2016
- The Amur Tigers Need You!
- No Reconciliation Without Repentance
- Confessions and Repentance for Election Failure!
- Those Damn Foreigners!
- Moving Mountains of Resentment and Uprooting Mulberry Trees of Misery
- Teach Your Congregation to Forgive: Five Week Lenten program
- No, You Don't Want to Take Your Ministry to the Next Level
- Parishioners and Staff are Treasures not Assets
- Why Be Good
- Teach Us to Pray
- Good Samaritans and What Is Love Calling Us To Do
- I Saw Satan Fall From Heaven
- We Are God's Chosen People Not God's Protected People
- Forgiveness and Standing Silent Before the Pilates of this World
- Transforming Anger Into Practical Compassion
- Teaching Forgiveness and Staying in Love
- Church Growth Makes Absolutely no Sense
- Anglican Primates: My Appreciative Way Perspective on the Conflict
- Stick with Love if You Want Others to Change
2015
- Agents of Change or Agents of God, and What's Christmas Got to Do With It?
- Teaching People How to Say Yes to Sex
- Leadership is About Empowering not Controlling
- Who is the Greatest: Calling Forth the Best
- What in God's name is Going On Here?
- I Tried, But I Just Can't Forgive: Part II
- I Tried, But I Just Can't Forgive: Part I
- The Power to Resolve the Past Is Within You?
- Are You Using the Right Map?
2014
- Christmas: God the slow learner, but thank Jesus, God learns!
- People in the Church Love Change!
- Teach Them How to Forgive this Sunday
- Coaching: Paul's Conundrum Explained
- Goals Must Be Imaginable
- Coaching Next Steps to Achieving Goals
- Mutual Ministry Valuation
- I Hate Performance Reviews: Creating Cultures of Excellence
- Why did Christianity Flourish: The Power of Your Easter Story
- Easter and Three Stories When Bad Stuff Happens
- Shaman 101: Change the Question
- The Search Process: It is not Dating
- Discovering the Power of an Ennobling Dream
2013
- Incarnational Leadership
- Changing the Paradigm of Blame
- Core Leadership Competencies: Three Ways of Being a Leader.
- Core Leadership Competencies: The Art of Wise Pruning.
- Core Competencies for Being Your Congregation's Chief: Asking Powerful Questions.
- Core Leadership Competencies: Empowering Others
- Core Competencies for Being Your Congregation's Chief
- An Appreciative Lent
2012
- The Sermon I Need to Hear this Christmas
- Blue Christmas Meditation
- Remembering Dr. King
- What's the Purpose, What's My Purpose?
- The Language of Growing in Love
- Church Growth and Making Disciples
- Transforming Victim Narratives: Mark 7:24-30
- Find Resurrection this Easter not Reincarnation
- Creating Sustainable Change through Incarnational Leadership
- Lent, Coaching, Change and Transformation
- Thinking about Language: Are People Assets or Treasures?
- From Transfiguration to Tempting Job Offers
- Transfiguration and Agents of Transformation
- Managing Resistance to Change
2011
2010
- The Importance of Understanding Your Purpose
- Thinking about Lent, Sin, and Grace
- Ensuring Change is a Blessing
- Thinking and Acting Like a Leader
- Growing Leaders Through Intentional Coaching
- Forget Balance, Get Integrated!
- Get Feed-Forward not Feed-Back
- Lent and an Appreciative Approach to Repentance
- The Power of Great Questions
The Appreciative Way
Discover the essentials of the
Appreciative Way in this fast
read format book by
Rob and Kim Voyle.
About the Author
Rob Voyle
The Rev. Dr. Rob Voyle is a leader in the development and use of appreciative inquiry in church and coaching settings.
Rob's Approach to Training
- Helpful: Training must provide practical, sustainable solutions for today's challenges.
- Humorous: Creativity and humor go together as people enjoy new insights.
- Healing: I create opportunities for people to experience transformational insights that lead to new ways of living, working, and being in the world.
>>
See more on Rob's
Helpful, Humorous, Healing
approach to training.