A Historical Review of Non-Hierarchical, Collaborative, Leadership

Abstract

A review of the Non-Hierarchical Collaborative Leadership approach from biblical and non-biblical sources from early AD to the present including the benefit, nuances, and drawbacks of this leadership approach.

NHCL

Non-Hierarchical Collaborative Leadership (NHCL) is a prominent style often observed in the life of Jesus, His followers and also in numerous modern-day, non-religious writings on the techniques of leadership and management. Certainly, Jesus was an astonishing leader who captured the attention of both friends and foes. He could not be ignored; His actions were dramatic, His Words were living, and His Presence, arabesque. His pattern of leadership has been modeled theologically and theoretically down through the ages. Both biblical and extra-biblical examples of His effective leadership have been seen in a multitude of historical situations. From the Apostle Paul, through the aggressive disciple Peter, on to leadership authors today, NHCL has been utilized effectively in leading numerous movements and organizations. In addition, the limitations of the use of NHCL will be explored.

Biblical Examples

Jesus Christ summarized late in His ministry the reason He was incarnated - to serve humankind. The “... Son of Man came not into the world to be served, but to serve and to give His life a ransom for many” (English Standard Version, 2001, Matthew 20:28). This attitude was not only seen in his death, burial, and resurrection, but also in His life and dealings with people. More often than not, He taught by soliciting answers to questions He raised. He invited listeners with open-ended questioning to ensure their participation and engagement. True collaboration was modeled in Jesus.

The Apostle Paul mirrored the life of Jesus. “Be imitators of me, as I imitate Christ” (ESV, 2001, I Corinthians 11:1). Paul continually kept in contact with the people and leadership with whom he had ministered. Even writing many of his epistles from prison, often imploring participation and collaboration between believers in the many geographical and cultural churches he planted. “I appeal to you … that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you are united …” (ESV, 2001, I Corinthians 1:10).

Peter, the Rock on which the church would stand, was a stern, no non-sense man, who early in life would default to anger and might rather than collaboration and love. His life took a dramatic turn for the better after Christ ascended to heaven and he ultimately became a gentle, kind follower . His letter to the scattered Christians in northern Asia Minor captured this change in attitude: “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others …” (ESV, 2001, I Peter 4:8-10).

Extra-Biblical Examples

NHCL has been established as an adequate approach to leadership by contemporary authors from the 1960s to today. Douglas McGregor (1906 –1964) was a famous management professor in the field of personal development and motivational theory. He is best known for his development of the Theory X (autocratic) and Theory Y (participative) leadership theory reviewing two different styles.

McGregor speaks of the importance of the trusting, collaborative approach to leadership. Trust means “I know that you will not-deliberately or accidentally, consciously or unconsciously-take unfair advantage of me.” It means “I can put my situation at the moment, my status and self-esteem in the group, our relationship, my job, my career, even my life in your hands with complete confidence” (Vliet, V. V. (2020, July 19). Douglas McGregor biography & quotes - Theory X, Y and Z. Retrieved November 28, 2020, from https://www.toolshero.com/toolsheroes/douglas-mcgregor/).

In the 1970s, author Robert Greenleaf echoes this sentiment in reference to leaders who set the participative tone as leader-servants. “Where there is not community, trust, respect, ethical behavior is difficult for the young to learn and for the old to maintain.” (Robert K. Greenleaf Quotes (Author of Servant Leadership). (2020). Retrieved November 28, 2020, from https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/105978.Robert_K_Greenleaf). Trust is the pre-requisite for effective learning and growth.

The 1980s also brought NHCL to the forefront; Author Lawrence O. Richards, who was born on September 25, 1931, in Milan, Michigan made several contributions to leadership theory. His father was an elder in the local Presbyterian church and his mother often verbalized her faith in the home. In his many books he often spoke of the church as a living organism that required versatile leadership.

The contemporary church, he proposes, “is both organism and institution. As organism, the body of Christ is people in relationship, loving and ministering. As institution, the congregation is people organized to accomplish tasks…. The church as we know it will continue to exist as organism and institution. But in any given congregation one perspective or the other will predominate. Either the institutional elements of the congregational life will support the organic, and shape the faith community experiences at the point of ministry, or institutional concerns will drain the vitality of the local congregation, while agencies become places where information about Christianity is provided, and faith is ignored (Sell, P. W. (2017). Lawrence O. Richards. Retrieved November 28, 2020, from https://www.biola.edu/talbot/ce20/database/lawrence-o-richards).

The 1990s theories on leadership were greatly influenced by Kenneth Blanchard, author of The One-Minute Manager book series. He advocated that leadership is not something you do to people rather something you do with people. One of his famous saying in this regard was, “Servant-leadership is all about making the goals clear and then rolling your sleeves up and doing whatever it takes to help people win. In that situation, they don't work for you, you work for them” (AZ Quotes, (2020, July 16). Kenneth Blanchard quotes. Retrieved November 28, 2020, from https://www.azquotes.com/author/1497-Ken_Blanchard). This collaborative approach was prominent in many corporations during that decade.

At the turn of the century (2000) Larry C. Spears, President and CEO of The Larry C. Spears Center for Servant Leadership listed the top ten virtues of effective leaders as servants. He was also the president and CEO of The Robert K. Greenleaf Center for Servant-Leadership from 1990-2007. A prolific writer who has published widely on this topic.

His list is as follows:

o  Listening

o  Empathy

o  Healing

o  Awareness

o  Persuasion

o  Conceptualization

o  Foresight

o  Stewardship

o  Commitment to the Growth of People

o  Building Community

(Spears, L. C. (2000). Character and Servant Leadership: Ten Characteristics of Effective, Caring Leaders. Retrieved December 10, 2020, from https://www.regent.edu/acad/global/publications/jvl/vol1_iss1/Spears_Final.pdf).

Listening is a forgotten art. Too many times people view discussions as a debate – to win. This leads to formulating your ‘argument’ in your head while the other person is talking. This reduces the ability to really listen and to understand what is being communicated. Partial information leads to sub-par solutions.

Empathy is the ability to see the world from another person’s vantage point. To feel what they feel. Leaders who have this sensitivity skill have the ability to walk in someone else’s moccasins, so to speak. It goes a long way of diluting confusion in communications.

Healing is the power to match the words and attitude you display to the listeners heart-needs. It has a calming factor in people that builds trust.

Awareness allows a leader to better understand the times and seasons they are living in. Brain lateralization studies have shown individuals with a strong right brain dominance have the needed skill to be able to ‘read a room’ which can be applied both to the church and the business board room.

Persuasion is the ability to sift through the context, internal and external atmospheric noise that block a listener from ‘getting it.’ It comes from a sincere heart that personalizes sincerity through verbal, oral and non-verbal communications.

Conceptualization is the ability to grab multiple streams of data (facts, perceptions, energies, myths, and desires) and package them in a simple, visual graphic laced with powerful communitive wording that boil a complex issue into smaller sequential chunks so prudent decisions can be made. This skill will put fear and frustrations to rest.

Foresight can forth-tell; not necessary fore-tell as in predict as a prophet did back in the Old Testament of the Bible. Foresight gives a leader market-awareness, industry-insight and a keenness that positions individuals and companies for success.

Stewardship is the awareness that God almighty is the sole, true owner of all things, both seen and unseen. God owns all the ‘cattle on the field’ (physical possessions) and also the desire to manage (unseen business hope) those cattle for health and ultimate sales to feed humankind. Stewardship gives a leader the strength to let go and let God in a balancing act for the good of all under their care.

Commitment to the Growth of People looks out for the needs of others. Many organizations have inverted the top-down leadership pyramid, where leaders are placed at the bottom as a support, to the executives, who support the management who ultimately supports the (floor-level) workers who add-value ($) to the product or service they provide. Commitment to people recognizes that value is given to the customer at the floor-level and that all personnel above that level is overhead where money is actually spent, not earned.

Building Community recognizes as in the book of Acts that the church is a community where encouragement is its lifeblood. Both the Old and New testaments are replete with examples of leaders lifting the community. The early church did this in unrepentant cities like Corinth, Athens and Rome. This model is to be practiced today in our world of hurt, uncertainty and worry. Building community is a tangible expression of being salt and light as Jesus encouraged.

The leadership development process is at times a paradox. On the one hand strength is made in difficult circumstances. Learning is great in tribulation. That is the negative part. However, God desires leaders with proximity to hurting people. That is the positive part.

Trials can be received with joy when fellow companions of Christ’s love are engaged in partnership. This is the example Christ modeled and the way we are to lead. Non-Hierarchical Collaborative Leadership provides church, family and business leaders the skills needed to navigate this world of confusion as well as make disciples along the journey. NHCL is characterized by the above ten skills that round-out a contemporary leader to be used of God. Although not perfect, like Moses exclaiming God got the wrong man because of his perceived inability to speak; we, too, have excuses to limit God’s influence in our lives and others. Only when we submit in the perfect-participle sense (continually day in and day out) will we, too, experience the fulness of God. More often than not that fulness will be seen in acts of NHCL!

NHCL Drawbacks

NHCL welcomes group members from both profit and not-for-profit organizations to feel a sense of belonging. This is often observed in a willingness to contribute. Blanchard wisely claims none of us is as smart as all of us. This captures the true benefit of NHCL.

However, in moments of crisis NHCL could be perceived as the pooling of ignorance. A simple example: If a fire breaks out in a crowded theater, the last thing an audience member would want would be for the attendant to display NHCL. It is your choice. Please go out whatever exit you want. Obviously, this direction could lead them right to the fire. Instead the prudent thing to do (from the attendant’s perspective) and the loving thing to do (for the audience members) would be to directly, possibly, sternly say, Go out the exit to the right NOW, the fire is on the left side of the building. The perceived ‘rudeness’ could actually be the most thoughtful thing the audience members experience that day because it might have saved their lives.

NHCL has its benefits and some limitations. Both theological and theoretical examples of NHCL have been reviewed for its use and profit. Leaders should use wisdom when to apply it and when to not. Life is full of situations and often requires nimbleness and agility. NHCL offers an effective approach on numerous situations, but not all. Perhaps that is why we are instructed to pray without ceasing because we might just have a ‘fire’ to deal with in the near future.