Browsing by Subject "Leadership"
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Item Open Access A Woman’s Place Is in Populism? Female Leadership in the Rise of Right-Wing Populist Movements(2018-01-25) Kaul, AnnaThis research project focuses on the identity formation of female leaders within the patriarchal ideology of right-wing populism. Case studies of Laura Ingraham and Michele Bachmann attempt to explain the emergence of female leaders within a male-dominated ideology. This research may help us better understand the role of women in the rise of right-wing populism and the distinct voices women bring to the movement. The project focuses on debate performances and podcasts produced by the subjects, as well as comparative analysis with Sarah Palin, one of the first female leaders of the right-wing resurgence. The research finds that these leaders purposefully construct an identity tailored to the expectations of their followers, employing a combination of both characteristically masculine, aggressive language and feminine, motherly characteristics. This identity formation allows them to amass followings even within an ideology that discourages female leadership.Item Open Access Adaptive Church: A Practical Theology of Adaptive Work in the Pacific Northwest(2020) Benac, DustinThis dissertation explores the conceptual frameworks, social structures, and practices that organize communities of faith during periods of adaptive change. Combining methods and theories from qualitative research, practical theology, and organizational theory, it undertakes an extended study of two cases in the Pacific Northwest that are responding to adaptive challenges through collaborative approaches to religious organization, education, and leadership. Three interrelated questions organize a descriptive and normative inquiry: (1) What are the challenges confronting communities of faith in a context marked by religious entrepreneurship and a marginal social position for religious organizations? (2) What patterns of actual communal life, organizational structure, and leadership practice (both theoretical and empirical) best support individuals’ and communities’ engagement with the challenges they face? And (3) What implications follow for the practice of leadership and the study of religious organization amid periods of institutional change? An in-depth analysis of the two cases, which are identified as ‘hubs,’ extrapolates a response to the latter two questions, noting the challenges, social structure, practical wisdom, and practices of leadership that organize each site. This dissertation argues ecclesial imagination and Christian practical wisdom order and nurture the conditions, collaborations, and forms of leadership that enable each hub’s adaptive response, thereby enabling communities to live in light of the reality and promises of God.
Four parts encompassing seven chapters advance this argument. Part I is a case description of each hub, introducing the histories, missions, partnerships, and social structures that organize them. Part II continues an in-depth analysis by presenting the challenges and organizational structure that organize their collaborative work. As developed in conversation with Ronald Heifetz’s account of ‘adaptive work,’ seven primary challenges confront these hubs: relational engagement; leadership development; Boundary Zone work; post-Christendom; financial stability; loneliness and isolation; and connection to place. Further, organizational theory provides interpretive insights to describe these hubs as a novel organizational form within a broader organizational ecology.
Part III is a critical and constructive theological account of adaptive work that draws on field-driven concepts in conversation with Craig Dykstra and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. In response to each hub’s stated aim to “reimagine church,” Dykstra’s work directs attention to the diverse “places” (e.g., congregations, higher education institutions, and theological educational institutions) that support adaptive change and how a broader ecclesial ecology serves as a “prism,” refracting leaders’ and communities’ engagement. Further, as explored in conversation with Bonhoeffer’s work, a Christo-ecclesial understanding of communities and organizations provides a basis for the organizational and ecclesial transformation each hub pursues.
Part IV builds a theoretical structure to understand the Christian practical wisdom that sustains conditions for each hub’s adaptive work. Specifically, six modes of leadership offer complementary ways of being with communities, organizations, and neighborhoods: a Caretaker, a Catalyst, a Champion, a Connector-Convener, a Surveyor, and a Guide. The project concludes by drawing out the implications of this analytical and theoretical work for these hubs, for a broader ecclesial ecology, and for the changing landscape of religious life beyond the Pacific Northwest.
Item Open Access An organizational framework for effective conservation organizations(Biological Conservation, 2022-03-01) Jiménez, I; Basurto, XThere is a scarcity of studies on how to design conservation organizations to improve biodiversity outcomes. We use information from four conservation organizations (African Parks, Australian Wildlife Conservancy, Mauritian Wildlife Foundation, and Rewilding Argentina) to update and describe an organizational framework for effective conservation organizations. This framework includes (1) clear and shared proactive vision inspired by innovative on-site senior leadership; (2) high contextuality based on shared leadership, on-the-ground administrative autonomy, and practice-based learning; (3) outstanding and well-communicated conservation outcomes; (4) linkages across-scales to access varied types of resources (i.e. political, social and economic); and (5) long-term financial viability. All these attributes form a dynamic and self-reinforcing “virtuous cycle,” with each attribute being both cause and effect at different moments in time, though the whole process is jump-started by on-site senior leaders. We believe that our framework can help to identify key questions that will facilitate the design and assessment of private and public conservation organizations towards improved effectiveness.Item Open Access Antibacterial Resistance Leadership Group 2.0: Back to Business.(Clinical infectious diseases : an official publication of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, 2021-08) Chambers, Henry F; Evans, Scott R; Patel, Robin; Cross, Heather R; Harris, Anthony D; Doi, Yohei; Boucher, Helen W; van Duin, David; Tsalik, Ephraim L; Holland, Thomas L; Pettigrew, Melinda M; Tamma, Pranita D; Hodges, Kathryn R; Souli, Maria; Fowler, Vance GIn December 2019, the Antibacterial Resistance Leadership Group (ARLG) was awarded funding for another 7-year cycle to support a clinical research network on antibacterial resistance. ARLG 2.0 has 3 overarching research priorities: infections caused by antibiotic-resistant (AR) gram-negative bacteria, infections caused by AR gram-positive bacteria, and diagnostic tests to optimize use of antibiotics. To support the next generation of AR researchers, the ARLG offers 3 mentoring opportunities: the ARLG Fellowship, Early Stage Investigator seed grants, and the Trialists in Training Program. The purpose of this article is to update the scientific community on the progress made in the original funding period and to encourage submission of clinical research that addresses 1 or more of the research priority areas of ARLG 2.0.Item Open Access Before the Next Storm: A Pastoral Approach to Conflict Transformation in the Local Church by Reviving the Old Testament’s Theological Language(2024) Kelley, Wesley GannonLocal churches suffer from insufficient preparedness for intragroup conflict. Thisproblem may be addressed fruitfully by pastors and their local church leaders when they encounter Old Testament narratives of intragroup conflict with their theological imaginations. With the working metaphor of storm preparation, the author examines how imaginative theological speech gives a constructive shape to the local church’s conflict cycles. Drawing from John Paul Lederach’s work on the role of the imagination in conflict transformation and the work of Brent Strawn on the Old Testament’s theological language, the author developed a Bible study that trains participating local church leaders in four elements of conflict preparedness: imaginative theological fluency, Lederach’s conflict transformation skillset, empathic practical wisdom, and the capacity to rehumanize an enemy. The Old Testament is an essential theological resource for the local church cultivating intragroup conflict preparedness, because the Old Testament itself contains many narratives of intragroup conflict as well as rich intertextual theological conversations that illustrate the productive intragroup tensions abiding within God’s people. A pastor may tap into these narratives and conversations creatively in this Bible study to develop participating leaders’ imaginative theological speech about conflict in their own lives. The quantitative and qualitative outcomes of this Bible study’s first iteration in the local church are analyzed and interpreted theologically in order to reimagine the storm metaphor itself. By intervening with the Old Testament’s theological speech during low-intensity phases of a conflict cycle, the pastor weatherproofs their local church leaders before the next storm.
Item Open Access Curating the Pastor's Heart: A Prescription for Renewal Through the Contemplative Lens of Thomas Merton(2019) Griffin, Ruben Anthony“Curating the Pastor’s Heart: A Prescription for Renewal Through the Contemplative Lens of Thomas Merton” argues that one of the most significant problems faced by parish pastors today is that they lead complex volunteer organizations that are shaped by the surrounding culture as much, if not more, than any New Testament paradigm. Pastors are pulled in various directions by the expectations of a culture and members that call for relevance, popularity, and power in ways similar to secular organizations and leaders. These expectations are rooted more in power and acquisitiveness than in the self-emptying Gospel of Jesus Christ. How can parish pastors remain rooted in their relationship with God while facing these demands? Drawing on the work of the philosopher James K.A. Smith, this thesis argues that parish pastors are desiring creatures whose love is formed by their habits, and that parish pastors to rise to the occasion of today’s leadership challenge must cultivate habits that draw them into deep relationship with God. The contemplative tradition explicitly seeks direct experience of God and provides rich resources for the parish pastor of the twenty-first century. “Curating the Pastor’s Heart” then draws on a limited selection from the corpus of the writings of Thomas Merton on contemplation to construct a thematic paradigm of discipleship practice as a resource of hope and renewal for parish ministry. The result is a paradigm that defines contemplation and calls the parish pastor to pursue a contemplative life of integrity, solitude, prayer, discipline and gratitude leading to hope and flourishing in challenging times.
Item Open Access Duty Hours on Surgery Clerkship: From Compliance Nightmare to Leadership and Professional Development Opportunity.(Journal of surgical education, 2023-06) Mikulski, Matthew F; Terzo, Madison; Jacquez, Zachary; Beckerman, Ziv; Brown, Kimberly MObjective
To evaluate the impact of an innovative leadership development initiative in the core surgery clerkship that addressed duty hours compliance and time-off requests.Design
A combination of deductive and inductive analysis of medical student reflections written after rotating on Acute Care Surgery over 2 academic years (2019-2020 and 2020-2021) was performed. Reflections were part of criteria to receive honors and a prompt was given to discuss their experience in creating their own call schedules. We utilized a combined deductive and inductive process to identify predominant themes within the reflections. Once established, we quantitatively identified frequency and density of themes cited, along with qualitative analysis to determine barriers and lessons learned.Setting
Dell Seton Medical Center, Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin, a tertiary academic facility.Participants
There were 96 students who rotated on Acute Care Surgery during the study period, 64 (66.7%) of whom completed the reflection piece.Results
We identified 10 predominant themes through the combined deductive and inductive processes. Barriers were cited by most students (n = 58, 91%), with communication being the most commonly discussed theme when cited with a mean 1.96 references per student. Learned leadership skills included: communication, independence, teamwork, negotiating skills, reflection of best practices by residents, and realizing the importance of duty hours.Conclusions
Transferring duty hour scheduling responsibilities to medical students resulted in multiple professional development opportunities while decreasing administrative burden and improving adherence to duty hour requirements. This approach requires further validation, but may be considered at other institutions seeking to improve the leadership and communication skills of its students, while improving adherence to duty hour restrictions.Item Open Access Faculty Recruitment, Retention, and Representation in Leadership: An Evidence-Based Guide to Best Practices for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion from the Council of Residency Directors in Emergency Medicine.(The western journal of emergency medicine, 2022-01) Davenport, Dayle; Alvarez, Al'ai; Natesan, Sreeja; Caldwell, Martina T; Gallegos, Moises; Landry, Adaira; Parsons, Melissa; Gottlieb, MichaelImproving the recruitment, retention, and leadership advancement of faculty who are under-represented in medicine is a priority at many academic institutions to ensure excellence in patient care, research, and health equity. Here we provide a critical review of the literature and offer evidence-based guidelines for faculty recruitment, retention, and representation in leadership. Recommendations for recruitment include targeted recruitment to expand the candidate pool with diverse candidates, holistic review of applications, and incentivizing stakeholders for success with diversity efforts. Retention efforts should establish a culture of inclusivity, promote faculty development, and evaluate for biases in the promotion and tenure process. We believe this guide will be valuable for all leaders and faculty members seeking to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in their institutions.Item Open Access FAILURE-SPARKED INNOVATION: THE KEY TO ENSURING THE FUTURE OF LOCAL CHURCHES(2021) Edwards, Kaury CharlesWithin the current cultural milieu of eclectic pluralism the Western Church currently finds itself in, innovation must be a central focus within all aspects of ministry in the Christian Church. With the focus that the local church must put on innovation, one aspect that will continually be an important factor is how the Church understands, interprets, and utilizes failure. The challenge for the local church is to rethink its notion of failure which will allow for creativity, new life, and ultimately, transformational innovation. By establishing a proper framework and definition of failure, the Church will be able to embrace good failure and the benefits it can offer. Calling the Church to embrace failure is also a call to embrace innovation and Design Thinking. Good failure is not fully beneficial without these two essential and creative tools. For every church struggling to muster the confidence to dive into creative exploration and experimentation or the minister who wrestles with sustaining a culture open to change and new ideas, applying the principles of innovation and Design Thinking aid immensely on one’s journey towards success. This path towards success will not be simple. At times, the path will be consumed with failure and disruption. Still, good failure must be embraced in order to foster adaptive learning, growth, and mastery. By adopting an innovative culture and leaning into good failure, the Church embraces culture that generates change, pursues excellence, ensures vitality, makes a difference in the world, and seeks to meet the needs of people. As the Church wrestles with failure as a means to produce and promote innovation, the local church responds to God’s call and partners with God in God’s creative and redemptive work throughout the world. Thus, as the Church seeks to continue its impactful work in the world, the Church must establish a sound methodology for innovation and untap the creative fountain of Design Thinking. Throughout the history of the Christian Church, there have been countless extraordinary saints who have innovated, revolutionized, and championed fresh expressions and aspects of the Church. However, while it is important to remember the Church’s noteworthy saints and their significant contributions, we should not forget that there were failures along the way, and these should not be ignored. For the majority of United Methodist ministers, John Wesley is one of the most esteemed and highlighted saints who dynamically revolutionized, innovated, and restructured the Church. Nevertheless, he too experienced failures throughout his life and ministry. Still, with each moment of failure, Wesley pressed on and pivoted to innovate in successful ways that changed the world forever, even birthing and shaping the people called Methodists. In today’s rapidly changing world, local churches need to follow the example of John Wesley – embrace good failure, practice innovation, and restore imagination to ensure their future. Regardless of how fast the world continues to spin, churches must recognize profound changes must be made to establish a sound framework for failure and innovation, foster an innovative culture, and evoke an operational model change that allows the Church to be better than it was yesterday. Ultimately, local churches must awaken its innovative spirit and join God in God’s ministry throughout the world.
Item Open Access FAILURE-SPARKED INNOVATION: THE KEY TO ENSURING THE FUTURE OF LOCAL CHURCHES(2021) Edwards, Kaury CharlesWithin the current cultural milieu of eclectic pluralism the Western Church currently finds itself in, innovation must be a central focus within all aspects of ministry in the Christian Church. With the focus that the local church must put on innovation, one aspect that will continually be an important factor is how the Church understands, interprets, and utilizes failure. The challenge for the local church is to rethink its notion of failure which will allow for creativity, new life, and ultimately, transformational innovation. By establishing a proper framework and definition of failure, the Church will be able to embrace good failure and the benefits it can offer. Calling the Church to embrace failure is also a call to embrace innovation and Design Thinking. Good failure is not fully beneficial without these two essential and creative tools. For every church struggling to muster the confidence to dive into creative exploration and experimentation or the minister who wrestles with sustaining a culture open to change and new ideas, applying the principles of innovation and Design Thinking aid immensely on one’s journey towards success. This path towards success will not be simple. At times, the path will be consumed with failure and disruption. Still, good failure must be embraced in order to foster adaptive learning, growth, and mastery. By adopting an innovative culture and leaning into good failure, the Church embraces culture that generates change, pursues excellence, ensures vitality, makes a difference in the world, and seeks to meet the needs of people. As the Church wrestles with failure as a means to produce and promote innovation, the local church responds to God’s call and partners with God in God’s creative and redemptive work throughout the world. Thus, as the Church seeks to continue its impactful work in the world, the Church must establish a sound methodology for innovation and untap the creative fountain of Design Thinking. Throughout the history of the Christian Church, there have been countless extraordinary saints who have innovated, revolutionized, and championed fresh expressions and aspects of the Church. However, while it is important to remember the Church’s noteworthy saints and their significant contributions, we should not forget that there were failures along the way, and these should not be ignored. For the majority of United Methodist ministers, John Wesley is one of the most esteemed and highlighted saints who dynamically revolutionized, innovated, and restructured the Church. Nevertheless, he too experienced failures throughout his life and ministry. Still, with each moment of failure, Wesley pressed on and pivoted to innovate in successful ways that changed the world forever, even birthing and shaping the people called Methodists. In today’s rapidly changing world, local churches need to follow the example of John Wesley – embrace good failure, practice innovation, and restore imagination to ensure their future. Regardless of how fast the world continues to spin, churches must recognize profound changes must be made to establish a sound framework for failure and innovation, foster an innovative culture, and evoke an operational model change that allows the Church to be better than it was yesterday. Ultimately, local churches must awaken its innovative spirit and join God in God’s ministry throughout the world.
Item Open Access Food, Justice, and the Church: How Local Churches Can Better Serve Black Communities Through Food Pantries—and Why They Should(2022) Jackson, CynthiaThis thesis seeks to examine how churches might better practice Jesus's command to “love your neighbor” (Matt. 22:37) through food pantries that primarily serve Black communities. Although churches believe they exemplify Jesus’s command to love through their food pantry ministry, they are too often offering cheap love—love that is artificial, inauthentic, and unhealthy. Many churches, in my experience, have a transactional approach in their food pantries—they collect and distribute foods that are cheap, processed, and high in sodium and sugar. However, this practice is possibly causing long-term effects that are physically harmful to Black people who regularly receive and consume these kinds of goods. This thesis will examine food insecurity and health disparities that significantly affect the Black community. Second, this thesis will review literature that has contributed to the food justice movement. Third, in conjunction with Matthew 22 and Daniel 1 and ministry examples, this thesis will encourage churches to adopt a relational approach that will lead them to love and empower their patrons and lean into Christianity’s surprise. Fourth, this thesis will offer curriculum to help church leaders enhance their love for God and others. By learning to love more and in new ways, churches can adopt a more relational approach in the food pantry ministry. Last, this research will offer creative models of how churches and organizations have been able to connect their community to agriculture. When churches embody the expansive nature of this love through their food pantry ministry, their fight against the hunger crisis will be more holistic as they will understand the critical correlation between healthy relationships and healthy food distribution. If churches are going to commit to providing food for Black communities, they must integrate equality and justice in their food ministry mission. It is critical for churches to be more thoughtful about how their actions and the ways they give can be rooted more in love and justice. This type of food ministry will require churches to rethink the kinds of food they provide to other people and their methods to collect and distribute foods. This thesis posits that if churches want to better serve Black communities through food pantry ministries, they should consider possible health risks of Black people and how the act of food distribution can reflect the church’s love for God and the hungry.
Item Open Access Good to Great: Quality-Improvement Initiative Increases and Sustains Pediatric Health Care Worker Hand Hygiene Compliance.(Hospital pediatrics, 2017-04) McLean, Heather S; Carriker, Charlene; Bordley, William ClayThe Joint Commission, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the World Health Organization challenge hospitals to achieve and sustain compliance with effective hand hygiene (HH) practice; however, many inpatient units fail to achieve a high level of reliability. The aim of the project was to increase and sustain health care worker (HCW) compliance with HH protocols from 87% (level of reliability [LOR] 1) to ≥95% (LOR 2) within 9 months on 2 pediatric inpatient units in an academic children's hospital.This study was a time-series, quality-improvement project. Interventions were tested through multiple plan-do-study-act cycles on 2 pediatric inpatient units. HH compliance audits of HCWs on these units were performed randomly each week by the hospital infection prevention program. Control charts of percentages of HCW HH compliance were constructed with 3-σ (data within 3 SDs from a mean) control limits. These control limits were adjusted after achieving significant improvements in performance over time. Charts were annotated with interventions including (1) increasing awareness, (2) providing timely feedback, (3) empowering patients and families to participate in mitigation, (4) providing focused education, and (5) developing interdisciplinary HH champions.HH compliance rates improved from an average of 87% (LOR 1) to ≥95% (LOR 2) within 9 months, and this improvement has been sustained for >2 years on both pediatric inpatient units.Significant and sustained gains in HH compliance rates of ≥95% (LOR 2) can be achieved by applying high-reliability human-factor interventions.Item Open Access If Lee Kuan Yew Were A Pastor: Reflections on Lee's Relevance for Christian Leaders(2020) Sudharman, Joshua ShaamPastors, especially senior pastors of churches with larger congregations and staff
teams, have to provide leadership, not only in the typical pastoral sense of
preaching/teaching and counseling/caring, but also in terms of direction and management.
Yet pastors tend to receive inadequate equipping in this third area, and sometimes
flounder when faced with the complexities of their role.
Lee Kuan Yew was an extraordinary political leader and manager, leading the
severely disadvantaged fledgling nation of Singapore from Third World status to First
World in a few decades. Underlying the question of what pastors can learn from Lee,
given that he never professed Christian faith himself, is the principle of discernment
anchored in humility and healthy skepticism: humility to realize non-Christians may be
wiser than Christians in the way they manage their institutional affairs, and skepticism to
know that not everything that “works” in the world is going to likewise succeed in God’s
church.
The first step in discerning what aspects of Lee’s leadership have relevance for
pastors was to construct a biblical/ theological grid by which to evaluate Lee’s leadership.
Shaped by the data available on Lee, this grid had four components - formation,
shepherding, excellence and power – and a broad theological understanding of each of
these themes was outlined so as to serve as a set of criteria in evaluating the applicability
of key aspects of Lee’s leadership.
Lee’s life was examined both in terms of his pre-leadership years and his time in
leadership. The formative experiences of Lee’s life from childhood through to early
adulthood evoke reflections on how one’s own personal history has a shaping influence
on one’s leadership, and where there might be strengths yet to be harnessed, or shadows
yet to be confronted. Lee’s positive leadership traits - as described by himself and others
– are worthy of thoughtful appropriation insofar as they are deemed compatible with
Christian values as identified in the biblical grid. Some features of Lee’s leadership,
which were heavily critiqued by many and are at odds with the principles in the biblical
grid are also identified for reflection.
To deepen and personalize the above leadership reflections, several interviews
with Christians who held significant leadership roles and knew Lee first-hand were cited.
A fictional narrative of an interview with Lee was also incorporated in the final chapter,
which offered the space for imaginatively extending Lee’s leadership in a more
theological vein. In summary, Lee’s complex legacy provides rich material for leadership
reflections by pastors, and the overlap zone between Christian and secular leadership
merits further study and exploration.
Item Open Access Kenotic Leadership: A Model for Clergy(2021) Nyland, AmyLeadership in the church today must be able to adapt to rapidly changing circumstances and availability of resources in order to allow for the thriving of congregations. In order to serve as Christ served, church leaders must be able to empty themselves of old patterns and behaviors that keep them stuck and unable to guide their congregations into deeper relationship with God and active engagement within the community. Leaders must continually let go of what they once knew about the work of leadership, and be willing to embrace change that comes rapidly and challenges them, at times, to change course completely. This is how Jesus led. Jesus emptied himself of the things that were old models of leadership: tyranny, fear, power, and dictatorship and embraced the qualities of adaptability, authenticity, and flexibility which allowed him to minister and lead well in a variety of settings. This is, broadly, how I will define what I call, “kenotic leadership.”
This thesis looks at the concept of kenosis, found in Philippians 2, as a model of values-based leadership that seeks to adapt to a changing world and a changing church through self-examination and release of those characteristics within the leader that stand in the way of authentic presence. Jesus, in choosing a kenosis, or emptying of self, demonstrates the essence of an adaptive form of leadership, leaving behind that which does not serve the present context. I will argue that Christ did not give up any part of his divinity because that divinity is essential to his identity and is his very essence. Using the work of Rowan Williams, I will demonstrate that Christ’s divinity could not have been thrown off but remains an essential part of the human Jesus.
Finally, I will include a course in leadership that I have designed and taught to seminary students based upon the work of this thesis and my DMin program. Through the narrative sections following each week’s lesson plan, I will demonstrate that seminary students respond well to an understanding of leadership that is based in humility and self-awareness and that their preparation for leadership in the church is currently insufficient.
Item Open Access Kenotic Leadership: A Model for Clergy(2021) Nyland, AmyLeadership in the church today must be able to adapt to rapidly changing circumstances and availability of resources in order to allow for the thriving of congregations. In order to serve as Christ served, church leaders must be able to empty themselves of old patterns and behaviors that keep them stuck and unable to guide their congregations into deeper relationship with God and active engagement within the community. Leaders must continually let go of what they once knew about the work of leadership, and be willing to embrace change that comes rapidly and challenges them, at times, to change course completely. This is how Jesus led. Jesus emptied himself of the things that were old models of leadership: tyranny, fear, power, and dictatorship and embraced the qualities of adaptability, authenticity, and flexibility which allowed him to minister and lead well in a variety of settings. This is, broadly, how I will define what I call, “kenotic leadership.”
This thesis looks at the concept of kenosis, found in Philippians 2, as a model of values-based leadership that seeks to adapt to a changing world and a changing church through self-examination and release of those characteristics within the leader that stand in the way of authentic presence. Jesus, in choosing a kenosis, or emptying of self, demonstrates the essence of an adaptive form of leadership, leaving behind that which does not serve the present context. I will argue that Christ did not give up any part of his divinity because that divinity is essential to his identity and is his very essence. Using the work of Rowan Williams, I will demonstrate that Christ’s divinity could not have been thrown off but remains an essential part of the human Jesus.
Finally, I will include a course in leadership that I have designed and taught to seminary students based upon the work of this thesis and my DMin program. Through the narrative sections following each week’s lesson plan, I will demonstrate that seminary students respond well to an understanding of leadership that is based in humility and self-awareness and that their preparation for leadership in the church is currently insufficient.
Item Open Access Lack of cross-scale linkages reduces robustness of community-based fisheries management.(PLoS One, 2009-07-16) Cudney-Bueno, Richard; Basurto, XavierCommunity-based management and the establishment of marine reserves have been advocated worldwide as means to overcome overexploitation of fisheries. Yet, researchers and managers are divided regarding the effectiveness of these measures. The "tragedy of the commons" model is often accepted as a universal paradigm, which assumes that unless managed by the State or privatized, common-pool resources are inevitably overexploited due to conflicts between the self-interest of individuals and the goals of a group as a whole. Under this paradigm, the emergence and maintenance of effective community-based efforts that include cooperative risky decisions as the establishment of marine reserves could not occur. In this paper, we question these assumptions and show that outcomes of commons dilemmas can be complex and scale-dependent. We studied the evolution and effectiveness of a community-based management effort to establish, monitor, and enforce a marine reserve network in the Gulf of California, Mexico. Our findings build on social and ecological research before (1997-2001), during (2002) and after (2003-2004) the establishment of marine reserves, which included participant observation in >100 fishing trips and meetings, interviews, as well as fishery dependent and independent monitoring. We found that locally crafted and enforced harvesting rules led to a rapid increase in resource abundance. Nevertheless, news about this increase spread quickly at a regional scale, resulting in poaching from outsiders and a subsequent rapid cascading effect on fishing resources and locally-designed rule compliance. We show that cooperation for management of common-pool fisheries, in which marine reserves form a core component of the system, can emerge, evolve rapidly, and be effective at a local scale even in recently organized fisheries. Stakeholder participation in monitoring, where there is a rapid feedback of the systems response, can play a key role in reinforcing cooperation. However, without cross-scale linkages with higher levels of governance, increase of local fishery stocks may attract outsiders who, if not restricted, will overharvest and threaten local governance. Fishers and fishing communities require incentives to maintain their management efforts. Rewarding local effective management with formal cross-scale governance recognition and support can generate these incentives.Item Open Access Leadership development for early career doctors.(Lancet (London, England), 2012-05) Coltart, Cordelia EM; Cheung, Ronny; Ardolino, Antonella; Bray, Ben; Rocos, Brett; Bailey, Alex; Bethune, Rob; Butler, John; Docherty, Mary; Drysdale, Kate; Fayaz, Alan; Greaves, Felix; Hafferty, Jonathan; Malik, Aeesha NJ; Moolla, Ahmad; Morganstein, Louise; Pathiraja, Fiona; Shah, Aditi; Sleat, Graham; Tang, Vivian; Yardley, Iain; Donaldson, LiamItem Open Access Leadership for Thriving: A Framework to Lead the Business Community to Sustainable Behaviors(2023-04-25) Olivares, MagdalenaClimate change is a complex problem whose solution is still far from being on track. Although we have advanced a lot in terms of knowledge and awareness of the problem, we are struggling to transition to sustainable actions. Corporations have the key to unleash a substantial potential contribution to facing this challenge moving forward. Developing new business models that move their operations away from current environmental damage is needed. Their potential to leverage their connections with consumers and other stakeholders, educating and influencing them to be part of the solution, and joining efforts to adjust lifestyles and preferences for sustainable consumption also presents a huge opportunity. For these challenges, corporations need to face the transition from a technical to an adaptative approach. But corporations are not prepared to run this challenge on their own; integrating the environmental impact in the business model requires the support of environmental experts. This research is based on the hypothesis that there is an opportunity to enhance sustainable behavior transformation by improving communication and collaboration between business and environmental professionals. With this purpose, the research was done through a qualitative comparative analysis that looks to contrast the perspective and resources those professionals have with respect to climate change, looking for the interconnection of joint possibilities that can be approached in a more collaborative manner. The ecological self maturity, nature experience, and knowledge of environmental professionals make them the best candidates to support corporate change. But there is a learning challenge for environmental professionals as well, since technical acumen is not enough to lead such large and complex adaptative changes in human systems in the corporate world. This framework aims at providing a tool for environmental professionals to effectively hone their skills to lead and communicate with corporate audiences and guide them towards effective actions to tackle environmental change. Leadership for Thriving combines this perspective of leadership and inspiring storytelling with the optimistic approach of the breakthrough movement of thriving, which inspires the examples and reflections of this proposal.Item Open Access Leading from the Edge: Marginal Leadership at Cultural Crossroads(2016) Lee, Hyung JaeIf a church reflects its larger community, it will have more dynamic interactions among different people. Current U.S. communities consist of very diverse people who have different socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds. Since the mid 20th century, various immigrant communities who have dissimilar cultural, religious, and linguistic traditions have accelerated the need of change in American churches. The drastic cultural change has demanded churches to equip their lay and clergy leaders with multicultural competencies for effective ministries.
My thesis explores imaginative leadership in cultural crossroads. Emphasizing the leadership imagination of cross-cultural ministry, I approach it in biblical, theological, and missional perspectives. In this dynamic cultural milieu, the study topic may help the church renew its ecclesial purpose by seeing cross-cultural ministry as a creative opportunity to reach out to more diverse people of God. I begin with a conceptual framework for cross-cultural ministry and cultural intelligence. Then I explain why cross-cultural ministry is significant and how it enhances the spirit of Christ Jesus. As I develop the thesis, I discuss leadership challenge and development in the cross-cultural ministry context. This thesis may contribute to equipping lay and clergy leaders by overcoming the homogeneous ‘in-group’ mindset in the church.
The primary focus is on developing marginal leadership of church in the post-Christendom era. Church leaders must creatively hold the tension between the current church context and Christian faith resources and seek a hopeful resolution as a third way through integrative thought process. While conventional leadership emphasizes a better choice out of the given options, marginal leadership takes time for integrative thought process to seek a new direction for the future. Conventional leaders take the center with their power, status, and prestige, but marginal leaders position themselves on the edge. Leading from the edge is a distinctive cross-cultural leadership and is based on the servant leadership of Jesus Christ who put himself as a servant for the marginalized. By serving and relating to others on the margin, this imaginative leadership may make appropriate changes desired in today’s American churches.
In addition to academic research, I looked into the realities of cross-cultural leadership in the local churches through congregational studies. I speculated that church leadership involves both laity and clergy and that it can be enhanced. All Christians are called to serve the Lord according to their gifts, and it is crucial for lay and clergy persons to develop their leadership character and skills. In particular, as humans are contextualized with their own cultures, church leaders often confront great challenges in cross-cultural or multicultural situations. Through critical thoughts and imaginative leadership strategies, however, they can overcome intrinsic human prejudice and obstacles.
Through the thesis project, I have reached four significant conclusions. First, cultural intelligence is an essential leadership capacity for all church leaders. As the church consists of more diverse cultural people today, its leaders need to have cultural competencies. In particular, cross-cultural leaders must be equipped with cultural intelligence. Cross-cultural ministry is not a simple byproduct of social change, but a creative strategy to open a door to bring God’s reconciliation among diverse people. Accordingly, church leaders are to be well prepared to effectively cope with the challenges of cultural interactions. Second, both lay and clergy leaders’ imaginative leadership is crucial for leading the congregation. While conventional leadership puts an emphasis on selecting a better choice based on the principle of opportunity cost, imaginative leaders critically consider the present church situations and Christian faith values together in integrative thoughts and pursue a third way as the congregation’s future hope. Third, cross-cultural leadership has a unique characteristic of leading from the edge and promotes God’s justice and peaceable relationships among different people. By leading the congregation from the edge, church leaders may experience the heart of Christ Jesus who became the friend of the marginalized. Fourth, the ‘homogeneous unit principle’ theory has its limit for today’s complex ‘inter-group’ community context. The church must be a welcoming and embracing faith community for all people. Cross-cultural ministry may become an entrance door for a more peaceable and reconciling life among different people. By building solidarity with others, the church may experience a kingdom reality.
This thesis focuses on the mission of the church and marginal leadership of church leaders in ever-changing cultural crossroads. The church becomes a hope in the broken and apathetic world, and Christians are called to build relationships inside and beyond the church. It is significant for church leaders to be faithfully present on the margin and relate to diverse people. By consistently positioning themselves on the margin, they can build relationships with new and diverse people and shape a faithful life pattern for others.
Item Open Access Leading the Church by Serving the Mission: Reimagining Servant Leadership(2019) Buchholz, JacobIn 1970, Robert Greenleaf coined the phrase, “servant leadership.” In his book of the same name, Greenleaf argues that leaders must demonstrate unconditional grace and acceptance toward those they lead. Greenleaf’s ideas are still popular today among leaders in both the business and social sectors, but especially in the church. Consequently, many pastors are reticent to use termination as a management technique in favor of attempting to rehabilitate problematic employees. The result, however, is that churches are hindered from achieving their mission by leaders who are more focused on either meeting the needs of their staff or maintaining pleasant relationships than on fulfilling the vision of the church. This thesis attempts to provide a new model of servant leadership that calls on clergy to be devoted to the wider mission of Christ.
The thesis begins by evaluating the crisis that servant leadership creates in the church and the subsequent anxiety that is introduced into the congregation. It then explores a survey administered to clergy across ten denominations that illuminates many of the internal and external barriers in the church that prevent pastors from terminating their staff. Subsequently, the thesis attempts to redeem some of the aspects of leadership that seem to be in tension with the servant leadership model, such as power and authority. Finally, the thesis outlines a new model of servant leadership that retains the best qualities of the servant leadership model but reorients the clergy’s service toward the ultimate mission of the church.
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