Episcopal Church Foundation Vital Practices - Vestry Papers - Facing Leadership Challenges

May 2015
Facing Leadership Challenges

The Wizard of Oz or Dorothy?

Gail Lebert

Is leadership what comes to mind when you think of The Wizard of Oz? For Brian McLaren, the answer is, “Yes.”

Let’s start with the story. The great and powerful Oz has everything in hand. Dorothy assumes that the wizard will solve everything. She confidently states, “I’ll be home for supper.” Off she goes, skipping down the Yellow Brick Road, meeting up with Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion along the way.

Perhaps the most memorable scene in the movie is when little Toto pulls back the curtain to reveal that the Wizard is a rather normal guy, hiding behind an imposing image.

In “Adventures in Missing the Point” Brian McLaren notes the different leadership styles of these two well-known characters and raises the question: “Who should Christian leaders look like: the Wizard of Oz or Dorothy of Kansas?” What characteristics are needed for the leaders of your faith community?

8 Elements of Leadership

What’s your leadership style? Read through the descriptions of the two extremes: McLaren offers an Oz and a Dorothy approach for each of his eight leadership elements. Of course it’s likely you will find that you do not exactly match either extreme – but fall somewhere in the middle. There is no right or wrong answer…just the answer that helps you understand YOU!

Element #1: Bible Analyst or Spiritual Sage

Bible Analyst is someone who stresses the facts, dissects the meaning, and is focused on analysis, information, and wisdom. This is someone who is a technician of the Word.

Spiritual Sage is a leader who wants to reflect character, someone who has values rooted in spiritual practices.

Element #2: Broadcaster versus Listener

Being Big or Broadcaster leads in just that way…BIG. Typically their style is a smooth, booming voice and always believing and acting like they are in front of a big room of people.

A Listener is a leader who is engaging and seeking to discover the needs of others. This leader empowers people. Often you don’t recognize that they are doing anything. In fact, they are listening to people’s words but also their actions.

Element #3: Objective Technician versus Spiritual Friend

Objective Technician is a leader who is ambitious, owns his/her strategic plan and acts as an engineer of the plan.

A Spiritual Friend loves the organization and the goals of the organization, loves the team. This leader is concerned with others as individuals and as a community.

Element #4: Warrior Salesman versus Dancer

Warrior Salesman is leading to win souls. This leader presents the gospel like a sales pitch for heaven.

The Dancer treats evangelism as a dance teacher. They think, “You hear the music I don’t hear. You help me to hear the music, feel the rhythm so that I can move to it.”

Element #5: Problem Solver versus Quest Creator

Problem Solver works to fix the problem. They are the answer person and make specific decisions about solving problems. There is no room for others to solve a problem.

Quest Creator creates new challenges that lead into new possibilities. They change the focus from a negative into an opportunity.

Element #6: Defender versus Exhibitor of Vulnerability

Defender is a leader who defends the status quo and supports his or her own position. Usually they believe the answer lies in what has happened in the past.

Exhibitor of Vulnerability is a leader who admits they are wrong, apologizes humbly, and is open to other perspectives.

Element #7: One who Threatens versus Includer

One who Threatens is a leader who threatens to exclude those who do not follow. Their message is, “If you don’t follow you will be banished." They alienate those who do not follow their vision. They lead others to believe that there is something wrong with you if you do not believe their position.

Includer is a leader who includes the team members in the solution. They find ways to make the sum greater than its individual parts.

Element #8: Solo Act versus Team Builder

The “Solo Act" leader creates dependency by the group on the leader. The leader assumes the burden or the praise when something happens. This leader uses “I" or “my” instead of “ours”.

The Team Builder leader is empowering and enabling. This leader welcomes all seekers without judgment and finds people’s talents and adds them to the team.

Fitting Leadership Style to Needs

This spring in The Episcopal Church of Connecticut, lay and ordained leaders gathered to discuss elements of these two leadership styles.

Several important points came out of our discussion that I believe are critical for leaders in congregations:

First, positives and negatives change depending on a situation, so finding a balance is important. There are some circumstances in a parish or a group when certain traits are needed more than others. Sometimes a Solo Act is needed to make a hard decision and lead people through the decision. Sometimes a Listener is needed to help the parish or group find their own answer, to get to know each other and to support each other in their decisions.

Using The Wizard of Oz as an example, think about the importance of Dorothy listening to each one of her fellow travelers to hear what they really needed, and linking them together as a group to solve their individual challenges together. Listening during vestry meetings or committee meetings is sometimes hard when you want to speak, when you think you have the answer. We also discussed the challenge of recognizing that we need to listen carefully to people who we are not like. Youth need to listen to adults. Adults need to listen carefully to youth. We all need to listen to people with different experiences.

Lastly we discussed the trait of vulnerability. Dorothy is such a great example of that trait. We talked about ways to be encouraged to be vulnerable. Brené Brown’s YouTube videos and books were recommended as a tool.

Consider the Unlikely Leader

“At first glance, Dorothy is all wrong as a model of leadership. She is the wrong gender (female) and the wrong age (young). Rather than being a person with all the answers, who knows what’s up and where to go and what’s what, she is herself lost, a seeker, often bewildered, and vulnerable,” writes McLaren. “Dorothy doesn’t have the knowledge to help them avoid all problems and dangers; she doesn’t protect them from all threats and temptations. But she doesn’t give up, and her passion holds strong, and in the end, they all get what they need.”

Try This

What type of leader does your congregation need? Assess your leadership style:

Go back now and circle which traits you would like to cultivate.
Which trait do you react negatively to?
Which qualities in a leader does your current environment need?

Thanks and kudos goes out to authors Zach Dawes, EthicsDaily.com, and Brian McLaren for their initial writing about this concept.

Gail Lebert has served, since 1996, as a consultant to the Episcopal Church in Connecticut working with parishes in transition. She recently completed a three year term as senior warden at St. James Episcopal Church in Glastonbury, CT. A former publisher/CEO of the Hartford Business Journal, Gail led the transformation of the talented Hartford Business Journal team from a weekly print publication to a business information company, creating over 39 different print, online, and event products.

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