Piloting Faith: Leading without models...
A Word for the Day...
I am in New York this week, spending time with a business partner planning programming for the coming year. We spent a great deal of the day talking about leadership and personal development. We both work as executive leadership coaches. We are noticing that more and more of the people and organizations we work with understand that leading today means you have to accept the reality that there are no models to copy anymore. No leadership guru is going to give you the answers to your organization's challenges.
Instead, the act of leading is an act of creative improvisation unique to YOU. You are a creator, an artist, creating an organization, congregation, school, team or group that has never existed before in this way and will be doing work that has never been done in the way you will need to do it. You, as a leader, need a new set of skills that we believe start at the level of intuition and self-awakening.
I used to hear phrases like "self-awakening" and roll my eyes. I get it now. After serving in leadership positions for the past 20 years, I now trust what I see, sense and know.
I see that the way we are working isn't working. Our institutions are not working. Our pace of life is not working. Our level of consumption is not working. We need a new way.
I sense that this new way emerges from deep within us and gets expressed in and through our work. It starts with who we are, not what we do.
I know that we are not the first to walk this road. We have stories from our ancestors - old, timeless, archetypal stories - that can offer us wisdom as we navigate this work of leading in an emerging and emergence age.
On March 20-22, 2020, I will be joining psychotherapist Elaine Gibson in hosting a weekend retreat for those who want to go more deeply into this exploration. I hope you will consider being a part of this exploration. If you can't make this one, we will have more opportunities in the future. Men, don't feel left out! Your retreat is coming soon!
Could it be that architecting the world we hope to see - creating heaven on earth - begins for all of us as a spiritual journey of self-discovery? Could it also be that the Spirit is pushing us to wake up to this new call to adventure? In church circles, we like to think that "God is doing a new thing." Maybe we are being called into a new way of seeing and being, one that authentically creates a more just world for all. I am going to trust my gut and say yes to that call. I hope you will join me.
- Rev. Cameron Trimble, author of Piloting Church: Helping Your Congregation Take Flight
Prayer for the Week
God,
In the face of great need,
When the work feels huge
and I feel small,
may I learn of the power of
the mustard seed.
May I trust that my showing up,
Taking root,
Growing branches,
be enough to do
small great things that heal the world.
Amen.
