~790 words → three minutes
Charles Handy taught me this. He died last weekend, and I had meant to post a few thoughts on his teachings.
I mentioned him in this earlier issue as well.
Peter Drucker always said he was an “accidental bystander” to history and change. I feel the same way. I was fortunate to meet many of the leadership/management great thinkers of the last generation, including Peter and Charles Handy.
It wasn’t like I was collecting them like trading cards; it just happened naturally as I worked on multiple projects over the years, primarily at Leadership Network.
(The list includes many long forgotten and others like – Rosa Beth Moss Kanter, Ronald Heifetz, Jim Collins, Warren Bennis, Max Depree, Peter Block, Bill Pollard, and others)
Some of these were practitioners who became known for their leadership philosophies. Others blended academic teaching with observational and consulting work to guide their written reflections on helping others.
Let’s focus on Handy today.
Handy started as an oil company representative in Southeast Asia and then as an economist for an insurer before returning to MIT for further education.
Later, he became “Warden” for St. George’s House at Windsor Castle. In this role, he pioneered some gatherings of executive leaders in a peer forum. This was part of our connection via the Drucker Foundation since Leadership Network did similar things for church leaders.
We had a similar stance of encouraging exploration of thinking and not attributing thoughts or statements to any particular individual.
See website: https://www.stgeorgeshouse.org/Programme-5/ - that’s where this photo came from and learn more about their programs.
In his writings, teaching, and speaking, he took seriously what he observed as what Drucker called “the futurity of present events.”
Here are a few of his sayings and my reflections on them.
“I have been in three different marriages. Fortunately, all to the same lady.”
His writings in this area—here is a sample—inform the deliberate understanding and conversations about the stages of marriage.
This is extremely important when speaking with pastors about their succession plans. I ask them to define the stages of their marriage.
Not all carry around the level of introspection he brought to the issue, but I think the direction of the statement is correct.
Application: As one moves to the next chapter of their ministry, the marriage understandings need to be stated.
Some pastors' spouses frequently tell me, “I married them for better and for worse, but not for lunch every day.”
Here are two from Age of Unreason:
“Ask people, as I have often done, to recall two or three of the most important learning experiences in their lives and they will never tell you of courses taken or degrees obtained, but of brushes with death, of crises encountered, of new and unexpected challenges or confrontations.”
“We learn by our mistakes, as we always tell ourselves, not from our successes; but perhaps we do not really believe it.”
Application:
These quotes remind us that the source of learning is typically thoughtful reflection and analysis of past experiences. The best leadership development involves placing individuals in real-life “line” responsibilities where results matter.
Then, help them reflect on what went right and wrong and what they would try next time to improve.
Remember this also in your internship and residency programs – give them real-line responsibilities. They will not always succeed in the tasks, but help them learn from it with good reflection experiences.
My new advisory counsel service will do some of this with pastors in the future. More to come on that.
On this one, I had to look up a word:
“Any list of desiderata by employees has at its head the opportunity to develop new competences, to have the chance to grow and to enjoy more control over their own work, to make more of a contribution.”
Okay, sub desires by employees, and you get the idea. I think he’s right here. Team members, staff, and pastors want to develop new competencies and grow more than anything else. They want to know they are making a real contribution to the mission.
Everything beyond that, including money and benefits, is hygienic and more than satisfying. Or, more accurately, provide shorter-term benefits rather than long-term satisfaction.
Application:
As you counsel staff about their next step in your ministry, explain the new competencies they will need to learn and develop, their increased boundaries for control, and how their next chapter or season will contribute more to the mission.
I will share a few more Charles Handy thoughts for the New Year's Day issue to ring in the new year.
If you missed this series – check it out:
GRIND: Navigating Guilt, Relentlessness, Isolation, Neglect, and Depletion in Leadership
Understanding the Hidden Challenges of Ministry and Finding a Path to Renewal
From Depletion to Growth: Reimagining the GRIND in Leadership
The Next issue will come a day early – Christmas Eve!