Metaphors for Leading – Leading by Metaphors [1 ed.] 9783737009157, 9783847109150

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Management – Ethik – Organisation

Band 6

Herausgegeben vom Evangelische Bank Institut für Ethisches Management

Stefan Jung / Volker Kessler / Louise Kretzschmar / Elke Meier (eds.)

Metaphors for Leading – Leading by Metaphors

With 5 figures

V& R unipress

This volume was edited by Gesellschaft fþr Bildung und Forschung in Europa (GBFE), Wycliff Germany, and YMCA University of Applied Sciences.

Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind im Internet þber http://dnb.d-nb.de abrufbar.  2019, V& R unipress GmbH, Robert-Bosch-Breite 6, D-37079 Gçttingen Alle Rechte vorbehalten. Das Werk und seine Teile sind urheberrechtlich gesch þtzt. Jede Verwertung in anderen als den gesetzlich zugelassenen FÐllen bedarf der vorherigen schriftlichen Einwilligung des Verlages. Umschlagabbildung: Thomas Vogel, iStock (#962558946) Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht Verlage j www.vandenhoeck-ruprecht-verlage.com ISSN 2198-1477 ISBN 978-3-7370-0915-7

Inhalt

Foreword

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Susanne Krüger Introduction to metaphor

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. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Louise Kretzschmar An ethical analysis of ‘big man’ and ‘inner ring’ leadership in South Africa: The example of Jacob Zuma and the resistance of Thuli Madonsela . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Peirong Lin From stealing someone’s lunch to the inclusion of justice and care: A reflective follower’s interpretation on the self-reliance of Singapore . .

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Dorothy Mmakgwale Farisani Black South African women are not perpetual minors but hard rocks: Recognising leadership through metaphors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Solomon Kgatle The cup and baptism: Metaphors of servant leadership in Mark 10:38–39

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Eberhard Werner Modelling inclusivist friendship in leadership

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

65

Jack Barentsen The pastor as entrepreneur? An investigation of the use and value of “entrepreneur” as metaphor for pastoral leadership . . . . . . . . . . . .

75

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Inhalt

Mathias Nell Military metaphors we lead by : Paul’s self-enactment as a field commander . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Thomas Kröck Masters or midwives? The role of international development workers . . 101 Konstantin Schneider Die Hebamme: Eine Leitbild-Metapher für das Leiten in Gemeinde aus theologischer Perspektive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 Elelwani Farisani The role of the king in the Old Testament and its significance for modern leadership in Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 Peter Westphal Resilient leadership through a system of unique and separated roles: King, Priest, and Prophet as metaphors for counter-balancing leadership functions in organisations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 Christoph Stenschke “Shepherd the Church of God” (Acts 20:28): Pastoral metaphors for leadership in the Bible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153 Emanuel Kessler Herding bees: A metaphor for agile project management . . . . . . . . . 165 Volker Kessler Herding cats: A helpful metaphor for leading academic researchers

. . . 175

Nelus Niemandt “Narraphors” in missional transformation of South African denominations: A herd of buffaloes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187 Christo Lombaard Leading Lady : Lady Wisdom from the Hebrew Bible book of Proverbs as a metaphor for leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201 Martina Kessler Der Mann als Metapher für Leiterschaft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213

Inhalt

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Johannes Reimer The metaphor of father : A comparison of fatherly and paternalistic leadership in mission . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225 Johann Kornelsen The flowing stream metaphor : Leading organisations towards strategic flexibility in a permanently changing world . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 237 Stefan Jung / Kristina Willjes The agile organisation: New metaphors for an old concept?

. . . . . . . 249

Foreword

Metaphors for leading – leading by metaphors Metaphors are great; they are insightful and influential. They help us to understand the world and they influence the world as they interpret and construct reality. Leaders are people who have influence. They will, wittingly or unwittingly, use metaphors while leading and this usage may be good or evil and have either positive or negative consequences. As many metaphors are discussed in this book, it was difficult to decide on how to organise them in a coherent order. After much discussion, the editors agreed to organise the chapters of the book according to the sources from which the metaphors were drawn. Some authors discuss metaphors drawn from social interaction, for example, the ‘inner ring’, inclusion, ‘stealing people’s lunch’, perpetual minors, and baptism. Several metaphors relate to professional life: entrepreneurs; midwives; kings, prophets and priests; and even the military profession. Readers are further introduced to surprising metaphors from the world of animals, such as a ‘herd’ of buffaloes, and ‘herding’ bees, cats, and sheep. Three chapters use metaphors drawn from gender roles, such as father, man, and Lady Wisdom. The final two chapters employ metaphors of motion, namely, a flowing stream and agility. Credit for the choice of the topic for this book must be given to Mats Alvesson and Andr8 Spicer, who edited the book, Metaphors we lead by. This book really was an ‘eye-opener’ for many of us, and its insights inspired our own research. The starting point for this book was a conference on metaphors for leadership, held on 25–27 April 2018, at Karimu in Burbach, Germany. Scholars from four different continents, Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America, attended. Their professional background was very diverse. Apart from many theologians, linguists, computer scientists, and specialists for organisation development attended. This mixture made for a diverse and inspirational atmosphere. Later, authors who had not attended the conference also contributed chapters to the book.

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Foreword

This conference, the fourth international Christian Leadership Conference, was hosted by GBFE, a consortium of ten European Colleges (www.gbfe.eu), together with Wycliffe Germany (www.wycliff.de), and the YMCA University of Applied Sciences, Kassel (www.cvjm-hochschule.de). In addition, six partner organisations or institutions supported the conference. These included the Lutheran School of Theology, Aarhus in Denmark; the North Park University, Chicago, USA; the University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa. Three German partners also supported the conference, the Akademie für christliche Führungskräfte in Gummersbach (www.acf.de), ingenior training & consulting, located in Bruchköbel (www.ingenior.de), and the Theologische Hochschule Ewersbach (www.th-ewersbach.de). We greatly appreciate the support of all these organisations and institutions, some of whom helped to make possible the publication of this book. Special thanks go to the team at the International Conference Centre Karimu in Burbach. It is a marvellous place to host such a conference; the friendly staff and the excellent venue contributed a lot to its success.

The peer review process All the chapters of this book underwent a rigorous academic peer review process. Each chapter was sent to two scholars who are experts in the relevant disciplines or fields of research (the reviewers were not revealed to the authors). These scholars were selected from academic institutions in Germany, South Africa, and the United States and were independent of the publisher and the authors of the book. Although they remain anonymous, we sincerely appreciate the substantial academic peer reviews they provided. Their reviews certainly helped the various authors to revise judiciously their chapters and thereby improved the quality of the book.

Research justification This book is a further publication of the ongoing ‘academic conversation’ between Africa and Europe (and beyond). So far, we have hosted four Christian Leadership Conferences, in South Africa (2013), Germany (2014), Belgium (2016), and again in Germany (2018). The following include some of the publications that have resulted from this co-operation: – Two full issues in an accredited journal (Koers – Bulletin for Christian Scholarship 75(3) [2010] and 79(2) [2014])

Foreword

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– Two books: Barentsen, J.; Kessler,V. & Meier, E. (eds) 2016. Christian leadership in a changing world: Perspectives from Africa and Europe. Leuven: Peeters; and Barentsen, J.; van den Heuvel, S. & Kessler, V. (eds) 2017. Increasing diversity : Loss of control or identity adaptive construction. Leuven: Peeters. The significant diversity and influence of metaphors and, in this instance, metaphors of leadership, have already been outlined above. Because they are important, an academic study of their nature and influence is justified. In this book, various metaphors for leadership are discussed; some are criticised and others are recommended. These metaphors are drawn from a variety of sources and applied to diverse contexts. Various cultures are reflected in the book (e. g. the Netherlands, Singapore, South Africa, and Germany) as are several social contexts such as society, politics, the economy, software engineering, universities, Churches, mission history, etc. The topic of this book provided space for a great deal of creativity, and the authors made the best of this opportunity. New knowledge and insights are presented in the book, and we trust that this will lead to further research. While written with academic rigor for researchers in the field of leadership, this book also seeks to be accessible for practitioners to foster in depth reflection on various forms of leadership practice. We have enjoyed preparing this book for publication and we certainly hope you will enjoy reading it! We trust that this book will create an increased awareness of the metaphors used in the study and practice of leadership. May it inspire leaders to reflect on the metaphors they lead by, and motivate future research. Because many metaphors of leadership are used in our world, some for good and others for ill, it is essential to improve our understanding and usage of these metaphors. Stefan Jung (YMCA University of Applied Sciences, Kassel, Germany) Volker Kessler (Gesellschaft für Bildung und Forschung in Europa, Gummersbach, Germany) Louise Kretzschmar (University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa) Elke Meier (Wycliffe Global Alliance – Europe Area, Burbach, Germany) The editors, March 2019

Susanne Krüger1

Introduction to metaphor

A book covering the proceedings of a conference dealing with leadership and metaphor is called on to provide some sort of definition of metaphor to start with. This constitutes a challenge, because there is no clear and simple definition. It is a very old concept, already described at length by Aristotle. For him, it was a literary device used in good speaking and writing. It was part of figurative speech, used specifically in certain literary styles and contexts, and as such to be distinguished from the literal use of language. More recently, metaphor has been described as something far more widespread and fundamental to human communication. Lakoff and Johnson (1980:3) say that “the way we think, what we experience, and what we do every day is very much a matter of metaphor”. Metaphor has, in turn, been described as part of the domains of semantics, pragmatics, cognitive linguistics, or psychology. Some include parables, similes and metonymy as part of the concept of metaphor, others see them as different parts of figurative speech. The fact is that metaphor is found everywhere: in literature, in letters, in the Bible, and in everyday speech. Metaphor is an integral part of how we express and explain things and it seems logical that it shapes our thinking and understanding as well. For the Christian Leadership Conference we used a fairly wide definition of metaphor. The focus was on leadership and how metaphor can help us understand and describe leadership. Looking at this focus, there are some aspects of metaphor that are worth explaining in this introductory chapter. We definitely understand metaphor more broadly than merely using the meaning of one word or phrase to better describe another word or concept. To quote Lakoff and Johnson (1980:7) again: “Since metaphorical expressions in our language are tied to metaphorical concepts in a systematic way, we can use metaphorical linguistic expressions to study the nature of metaphorical concepts and to gain an understanding of the metaphorical nature of our activities.” 1 Susanne Krüger ; Linguist, Director Wycliff Germany ; Wycliff e.V., Burbach-Holzhausen, Germany ; [email protected].

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This describes very well the goal, the conference tried to achieve. The call for papers stated: “They [metaphors] all help describe the underlying view on leadership and give insight into how leadership is influenced by our metaphorical view of the world.”2 There are many metaphors used to describe leadership. Studying current metaphors on leadership should help us gain an understanding of how the concept of leadership is perceived and understood. On the other hand, discoveries about leadership can be described in new metaphors to help explain abstract concepts and clarify specific aspects that seem worth highlighting. So, what are the foundations for this use and understanding of metaphor? As a very basic principle, we can say that by using a metaphor we use the characteristics of one word or concept and apply it to another word or concept. There are fairly simple and straightforward metaphors like the expression: He has a heart of stone. We know that some characteristics of the word ‘stone’ include hard, cool, and unbendable. If somebody displays similar characteristics in his emotional make-up, we describe this abstract concept of a person’s personality through a concrete example from everyday life. Some metaphors have shaped our vocabulary significantly. Both Lakoff (1980) and Levinson (1983) give examples of this: “Argument is war” is a metaphor seen in most verbs used to describe an argument. We attack an argument or defend our position. We advance a new theory or regroup our thoughts. Indeed, it seems difficult to describe any kind of argument in the English language without using words that can be traced back to language used in war. However, as stated above, metaphor goes beyond using the meaning of one word or concept for something else. Foss (2009:267) describes metaphors as “nonliteral comparisons in which a word or phrase from one domain of experience is applied to another domain”. Hence, metaphor has a lot to do with our experience and world-view. Lakoff and Johnson (1980:5) say : “The essence of metaphor is understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another.” Experience is a crucial part of metaphor. In order to understand and interpret metaphorical use of language, we need to draw not only on our language skills but on our every-day experience, our world-view, and our cultural understanding. The metaphor He has a heart of stone only makes sense, if in our world-view emotions are located in the heart. In many cultures, where this is the case, the metaphor is immediately understood without necessarily thinking about it much. It fits the common cultural understanding. But in some cultures, 2 Niemandt in his chapter describes how the concept of metaphor has recently been further expanded by using the term “narraphor”. Kok & Jordaan (2018:11) apply ideas from Lakoff ’s research into cognitive neuroscience and emphasise that metaphors are always embedded in a particular frame of reference and also ipso facto a result of an embodied experience. They adapted the concept to include the broader idea of “metanarraphor”.

Introduction to metaphor

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emotions are linked to very different parts of the human body, for example the stomach. In such cultures the metaphor would not make sense and could only be understood if explained. So metaphors can tell us something about how we see the world. They can bring deep-seated convictions to the surface; convictions that we might not even be aware we hold. Metaphors can show how we view and define the reality around us. In this sense, the study of metaphor will help us understand the individual or cultural view of an abstract concept like leadership. Alvesson and Spicer (2011:6) say : “We think by exploring unusual metaphors of leadership, it is possible to begin to reveal interesting and perhaps useful aspects of leadership that are frequently missed.” We look at a metaphor and interpret it. This often happens subconsciously as we automatically connect our knowledge, our emotions, and our world-view of one concept to another one. At other times we might very consciously think about the metaphor and interpret it in order to understand better how it might bring clarity to the word or concept it describes. On the other hand, it should be possible to create new metaphors to explain aspects of leadership that might be difficult to explain otherwise. If Lakoff is right in saying that our whole thinking and doing “is very much a matter of metaphor” (see above), then new metaphors should very much support our thinking and understanding of more abstract concepts such as leadership. Schön (1993:137) makes the very compelling argument that metaphor “refers both to a certain kind of product – a perspective or frame, a way of looking at things and to a certain kind of process – a process by which new perspectives on the world come into existence”. He calls this “generative metaphor” (1993:137), a concept taken on by other scholars. The term describes how new metaphors are created and constructed or “generated” in order to see things in a new way. Schön (1993) also describes the necessity to deconstruct metaphors in order to truly come to new understandings. He looks specifically at metaphors describing problems in social policy. Like others before him, he points to the danger of the use of metaphors as they reduce a very complex situation to a more concrete and simple way of looking at it. He points out that if we don’t take the time to understand the metaphor by “renaming, regrouping, and reordering [… its new] features and relations” (1993:156), we run the danger of limiting ourselves to certain aspects of the problem and hindering a process which will truly bring new understandings and, according to his argument, new solutions. So our studies of metaphors concerning leadership will allow us to understand how different people and groups view leadership. They will help us create new metaphors to link concepts of leadership with characteristics of concrete experience and realities. These new metaphors will, in turn, be deconstructed and interpreted by others. A circle of invention, description, and interpretation

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begins that will, one hopes, ultimately increase our understanding of leadership. And consequently, one hopes, make us better leaders.

References Alvesson, Mats & Spicer, Andr8 (eds) 2011. Metaphors we lead by : Understanding leadership in the real world. Abingdon; New York: Routledge. Foss, Sonja K. 2009. Rhetorical criticism: Exploration and practice. 4th ed. Long Grove: Waveland Press. Kok, Jacobus & Jordaan, Barney 2019. The metanarraphors we lead and mediate by : Insights from socio-cognitive metaphor theory in the context of mediation in a VUCA world, in Jacobus Kok & Steven van den Heuvel (eds): Leading in a VUCA world: Integrating leadership, discernment and spirituality. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 1–26. Lakoff, George & Johnson, Mark 1980. Metaphors we live by. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Levinson, Stephen C. 1983. Pragmatics. Cambridge Textbooks in Linguistics. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press. Schön, Donald A. 1993. Generative metaphor and social policy, in Andrew Ortony (ed): Metaphor and thought. 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 137–163.

Louise Kretzschmar1

An ethical analysis of ‘big man’ and ‘inner ring’ leadership in South Africa: The example of Jacob Zuma and the resistance of Thuli Madonsela

1

Introduction

Two metaphors relevant to leadership are discussed in this paper. First, I discuss the metaphor of the ‘big man’ (or woman) and second, the ‘inner ring’. This is because so-called ‘big men’ commonly surround themselves with an ‘inner ring’ of supporters. A metaphor is a figure of speech used to explain a word or concept by comparing it with something else with which it shares some characteristics. In this way abstract concepts about leadership are more easily understood. Metaphors “[…] have the power to both positively create belief and commitment to an idea or practice and negatively to bamboozle receivers into a false position of poor or even detrimental practice” (Lumby & English 2010:116). The aims of this paper are first to describe ‘big man’ political leadership, with reference to ex-President Zuma, and the roles of those in his ‘inner ring’.2 A second aim is to provide an ethical analysis of Zuma’s leadership. Third, I outline the moral resistance revealed in the leadership of the former Public Protector, Thuli Madonsela. The stark contrast of the lives of these public figures clearly reveals the realities of recent South African experience. The methodology used is theoretical; I draw upon the insights of several commentators on socio-political affairs and a range of writers within the academic fields of Christian Ethics and Leadership Studies. The metaphor of the ‘big man’ is not used here in the sense of the ‘Great Man’, an understanding of leadership common in some schools of thought (Meier 2016:113), but refers to dictatorial, authoritarian and hierarchical leadership.3 Those who adopt ‘big man’ leadership do not value organisational ethics (Jung and Armbruster 1 Louise Kretzschmar ; Professor of Theological Ethics; Dept. of Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa; [email protected]. 2 This analysis does not include a discussion of leadership in sectors such as business, religion, and education, but there too ‘big man’ leadership is visible. 3 Sometimes such leaders are also charismatic, but the nature and dangers of charismatic leadership are not discussed here.

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2016:77–91), justice or political accountability, but rather employ loyal followers to protect their own interests.

2

The metaphor of the ‘big man’ in South Africa

Over the centuries many countries have experienced ‘big man’ leadership at one time or another. Recent examples of ‘big man’ leaders in Africa include Idi Amin (Uganda), Charles Taylor (Liberia) and Robert Mugabe (Zimbabwe). However, this paper will focus attention only on Jacob Zuma. Although the paper focuses on ‘big men’, there were women who supported Zuma, benefitted from his patronage and operated as ‘big women’ within their spheres of influence. They included women who hold (or held) high leadership positions in government such as Baleka Mbete (the Speaker of Parliament), Bathabile Dlamini (South African Social Services Agency), Faith Muthambi (Minister of Communications) and Dudu Myeni (South African Airways). Zuma has often been referred to as the ‘big man’, and other synonymous terms were also used to describe him in South Africa, such as ‘Number One’ and ‘uBaba’ (Father). The ‘big man’ syndrome, says Gqubule (2017:206–207): […] is alive and well in crumbling institutions throughout the continent […] [it is] a system that sets up a patron-client relationship characterised by an asymmetry of power. It is an order in which patrons use state resources to buy popularity, political constituencies and loyalty. When the ‘Big man’ is on top of the heap, life is fun, fun is impunity. The sex comes easily, the money is good and the masses offer admiration and affection.

In essence, ‘big man’ leadership is hierarchical and self-serving and it offers patronage and impunity – but only for as long as the ‘big man’ is in power, an unpleasant fact often disregarded by ‘big men’ and their followers. (In February 2018, Zuma was supplanted as the South African President by Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa. Since then, several Commissions of Inquiry have been investigating instances of State Capture and related matters.)

3

An ‘inner ring’ of supporters

3.1

C.S. Lewis

C.S. Lewis (1898–1963) was a professor of Medieval and Renaissance English at Cambridge University, a novelist and public speaker on matters of faith and life.

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He defines the ‘inner ring’ as a secret group, a system or hierarchy within the official systems of the school, the army, government or other institutions: There are no formal admissions or expulsions. People think they are in it after they have in fact been pushed out of it, or before they have been allowed in: this provides great amusement for those who are really inside. (Lewis 1944:4)

According to Lewis, this ‘inner ring’ is characterised by the ‘lure of the caucus’, secrecy, and being ‘in-the-know’ (:5). What makes this ‘inner ring’ powerful and insidious is “the desire to be inside the local Ring, and the terror of being left outside” (:4). Lewis argues that this desire “is one of the great permanent mainsprings of human action” (:6, 7). He goes on to say : “We hope, no doubt, for tangible profits from every Inner Ring we penetrate: power, money, liberty to break rules, avoidance of routine duties, [and] evasion of discipline. But all these would not satisfy us if we did not get in addition the delicious sense of secret intimacy” (:7, my emphasis). He adds, “Exclusion is no accident: it is the essence” (:10). Lewis provides two reasons for arguing that ‘inner rings’ are evil. The first is that the prospect of being admitted to such a ring, or the desire to remain within a ring, inevitably compromises one’s attitudes and behaviour. One may shrug off a good friend, while pursuing relationships with those in the ring, and one may derive “pleasure from the loneliness and humiliation of the outsiders after you yourself were in […]” (:6). In a seemingly innocuous way, a person will be approached by someone who is already in the ring, and such a person will be invited to do something that is not fully within the rules. Because one longs to belong to the ring, one accepts and enters (:8). Once you have been drawn in, you will be asked to do something that is a bit further from the rules, and later on, something further still (:9). In this way, one is corrupted. Lewis states, “Of all the passions the passion for the Inner Ring is most skilful in making a man who is not yet a very bad man do very bad things” (:9). Lewis’s second reason for stating that ‘inner rings’ are evil is because being in a ring is ultimately unsatisfying: The torture allotted to the Danaides in the classical underworld, that of attempting to fill sieves with water, is the symbol not of one vice but of all vices. It is the very mark of a perverse desire that it seeks what is not to be had. The desire to be inside the invisible line illustrates this rule. As long as you are governed by that desire you will never get what you want. You are trying to peel an onion: if you succeed there will be nothing left. Until you conquer the fear of being an outsider, an outsider you will remain. (:9)

Lewis makes it clear that groups of people working together do not necessarily constitute ‘inner rings’. Confidential discussions are sometimes necessary and friendships within institutions can be a good thing (:6). Groups consisting of professionals, craftsmen, and musicians that contentedly operate on the basis of

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mutual respect do not operate in secrecy or deliberately exclude others. Rather, says Lewis, they are “[a] wholesome group of people which holds together for a good purpose […] [they] exclude others because there is work only for so many or because the others can’t in fact do it” (:10). In today’s language, one may speak of a team or a network of people working together in a dedicated, but transparent way. Lewis’s insights are important because no ‘big man’ can become powerful, or remain in power, without the support of an ‘inner ring’. It is a mutually corrupting association. Significantly, the Nationalist Party, which governed South Africa from 1948–1994, had its own ‘inner ring’, the secret society of the Afrikaner Broederbond (Band of Brothers).

3.2

Zuma’s inner ring

Zuma’s supporters are referred to in various ways, including the clique, faction, corrupt elite, and inner circle (Gqubule 2017:4, 141, 194, 224). According to Du Preez (2018), members of this ‘inner ring’ included Des van Rooyen, Bathabile Dlamini, Faith Muthambi, Mosebenzi Zwane, and David Mahlobo. Zuma also gathered around himself a ‘Premier League’, consisting of the premiers of three regions, the Free State (Ace Magashule), Mpumalanga (David Mabuza) and the North West (Supra Mahumapelo), who helped him to manipulate the levers of power within the Party and the country (Gqubule 2017:65–66). They, and many others, were governed by the desire to be part of an inner ring of power and were allegedly willing to do what was morally wrong. According to Du Preez (2018): The stark truth is that under Zuma, South Africa became poorer, more divided, more unstable and more unequal. […] He destroyed many of the hard-won gains our society had made between 1994 and 2009. […] He sat on a throne like a feared king, dishing out and receiving favours and gifts.

The members of his ‘inner ring’ enabled Zuma to become the President of the country in 2009 (Kasrils 2017:70–101, 126–137, 178–186) and to retain this position until February 2018. They literally kept him out of court by refusing to pursue the 18 charges and 783 counts laid against him; technically, he has not yet been proven guilty. Jacques Pauw’s explosive book, The president’s keepers: Keeping Zuma in power and out of jail, provides chilling details of how taxavoiding ‘ganglords’ and Zuma himself were protected by Tom Moyane who was the head of the South Africa Revenue Service (SARS) (Pauw 2017:85–115, 123–139, 165–218). Pauw (2017:200–248) further argues that the State Security Agency was characterised by corruption and wasteful expenditure and that Zuma used people with dubious records to fill important posts in the police and

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the National Intelligence Agency. The book also exposes the role of the Zuma and Gupta family members in capturing the State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) (Pauw 2017:201–209, 270–273, 312; also Johnson 2015:35–40). Zuma survived nine votes of no-confidence in Parliament because African National Congress (ANC) loyalists were persuaded, or compelled, to support him even though reports of widespread corruption were becoming public knowledge. Despite his lack of integrity, the ‘big man’ was not questioned because this could have constituted a betrayal of the collective, undermined ethnic loyalty and displayed failure to be subservient to high ranking leaders (Kretzschmar 2017:59–60, 65–67).

4

The formative factors and moral perils of ‘big man’ leadership

Below, several formative factors are discussed, first, the influence of family, education, and peers, and thereafter, the influence of moral values, virtues, faith, and view of power (Van der Ven 1998; Kretzschmar 2007:24–36).

4.1

Family, education, and peers

Jacob Zuma was born on 12 April 1942 at Nkandla (KwaZulu-Natal). His father died when he was young and his mother worked in Durban to earn money for her family. During his youth, he received little or no formal schooling and at the age of 17 he joined the ANC. In 1963, he was arrested, beaten, kept in solitary confinement and imprisoned. Poignantly, “For the ten years that he was on Robben Island, Zuma never received a single visitor. His mother, on her domestic worker’s salary, was scarcely able to afford the fare. Cognisant of this fact, Zuma wrote to her, telling her to rather keep her income to look after his brothers and sisters” (SAHO 2018). Later, this concern for his family was distorted into gross nepotism. After his release, he travelled to the Soviet Union in 1978 where he received leadership and military training over a period of three months. He remained active in the ANC in various capacities and countries. In 1993, the Motsuenyane Commission reported that the ANC had used torture in its camps and condemned Zuma “for not exercising proper supervision” (SAHO 2018; Pauw 2017:66–69). Nevertheless, he became the Deputy President of South Africa in 1999 and it’s President in 2009. His peers, as we have seen, constituted an ‘inner ring’. Echoing Lewis, Gqubule (2017:70) says that “Zuma appeared to value personal loyalty over qualification or skill. Another sought-after quality seemed to be a willingness to bend the rules to favour members of a patronage network”.

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Louise Kretzschmar

Moral values, virtues, faith, and view of power

Self-mastery and adherence to moral values were not significant features of the Zuma presidency. Zuma valued certain aspects of Zulu culture, strongly coloured by his own perceptions and interests, such as patriarchy, male sexual prowess, and polygamy. Married six times, currently he has four wives (one has died, he is divorced from another, and he is about to marry again). It is estimated that he has fathered over 20 children. In 2005, he was acquitted of a rape charge, claiming that he had had “consensual sex” (Kasrils 2017:112–120, 211). Despite this, many female leaders and members in the ANC Women’s League voted for him in national elections. Why do women, some of whom have been subjected to rape, domestic abuse, and/or have been infected with HIV/Aids by their husbands, support ‘big men’ such as Zuma? Possible reasons are because they gain power via his patronage, they have internalised patriarchy and are fearful of resisting it, and/or because they are vulnerable because of their financial dependency and family relationships. Zuma’s guilt has not yet been proven. Nevertheless, the evidence suggests that biblical moral norms such as, do not commit adultery, steal, bear false witness or covet (Ex 20:13–17) were not observed. Indeed, in March 2016, the Constitutional Court found that he had violated his Presidential oath of office. Nullens (2016:79, 82–94) notes that immoral leadership is a manifestation of sin; it is based on narcissism and short-sighted self-interest, brings suffering to the vulnerable and fails to pursue justice and the common good. What can be said about Zuma’s virtues and character? It would appear that Zuma fell prey to the moral dangers and temptations of leadership, including vanity, greed, a lack of respect for others, the pursuit of self-advantage, seeking the advice of sycophants, and a longing for deference and adulation (Ciulla 2016:18–24). Selfishness was chosen over the common good, honesty and service to the country. Venality, being motivated by money and open to bribery also became a prominent feature of his behaviour. Once leaders no longer listen to criticism or engage in honest self-reflection and instead practice manipulation and intimidation, one can speak of pathological leadership (Lumby & English 2010:65, 98–104). Hence, deceit, denial, and secrecy were primary characteristics of his administration, while integrity, self-knowledge, and transparency were markedly absent. Even on the day of his enforced resignation, he asked “What did I do wrong?” It appears that little or nothing of a religious faith can be detected in his life. One of his well-publicised, but morally dubious, claims was that “the ANC will rule until Jesus comes”. While he did manage to be ordained as an honorary pastor by an obscure, independent charismatic church in Kwa-Zulu Natal, the moral commitment that ought to accompany this position was nowhere to be

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seen. Up until 1990, Zuma was a member of the South African Communist Party, but unlike other leaders such as Chris Hani and Joe Slovo, he did not commit himself to promoting the well-being of his people. How did Zuma and his inner ring use power? Like Robert Mugabe, no distinction was made between self-interest and the public purse. Hence the looting and plundering of state assets continued apace. Kasrils (2017:17, 127–128, 195–196) argues that Zuma and his ‘inner ring’ were driven by a sense of entitlement. Having been deprived earlier in their lives of material goods and freedom, they seized the opportunity to reap the rewards of political power. As Gqubule notes, while corruption is “not a new phenomenon […] such conduct appeared rampant, frequent and brazen, and the Zuma administration appeared to have no compelling societal vision. It seemed to hold power for its own sake, for the economic spoils alone” (Gqubule, 2017:70–71; also see Sebahene [2017] for a discussion of corruption in Tanzania). In contrast to the balance of power stressed in the Old Testament (between kings, prophets, and priests), the separation of power in a democracy (between the judiciary, executive, and legislature) and the African principle of maintaining the harmony, shared humanity, and well-being of the community (Ubuntu), he centralised power into his own hands and that of his ‘inner ring’. Their focus on power, patronage, plunder, and self-gratification meant that the country was not actually governed, let alone governed well (Johnson 2015:96, 135–174).

4.3

The rotten fruit of ‘big man’ leadership

The primary victims of the Zuma administration were the poor, weak, sick, unemployed, and marginalised citizens of the county, especially women and children. Service delivery and employment plummeted while maladministration increased apace. The quality of school education decreased dramatically (Malala 2015:44–58) and the economy slumped (Mbeki & Mbeki 2016:59–100). Taxpayers were enraged and honest members of the civil service dispirited. Mistrust of government increased while business confidence and the value of the currency tumbled. The moral values that are the foundation of public trust and social wellbeing, such as truth, transparency, fairness, responsibility, compassion, and accountability were jettisoned. Is the metaphor of the ‘big man’ necessarily morally flawed? I suggest that those who consider themselves to be ‘big men’ (or women) almost automatically disqualify themselves from becoming moral leaders. The Christian virtue of humility, properly understood to mean that one’s self-perception is grounded in truth, is central to leadership. Despite the acclaim they received from many,

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leaders such as Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, and Thuli Madonsela have not encouraged, let alone required, the adulation that fed the vanity of Jacob Zuma.

5

The moral leadership of Thuli Madonsela

Below the moral leadership of Madonsela is discussed and compared with that of Zuma. She resisted and exposed his unjust and destructive leadership, and she set a very different example of leadership.

5.1

Family, education, and peers

Thuli Madonsela was born in 1962 and grew up in a stable, poor (but not destitute) family in Soweto. Her father, Bafana, “[…] believed in assessing individuals on their inner characteristics and strengths rather than on external frivolities” and her mother “[…] calm, compassionate and deeply spiritual, had given her the gift of empathy” (Gqubule 2017:103). When later asked what had prepared her for the difficult task she had faced as the Public Protector, she mentioned “parenting, change, religion and schooling” (Gqubule 2017:103). After the 1976 student uprisings, she completed her schooling in Swaziland and, in 1987, attained a Bachelor’s degree in Law at the University of Swaziland. In 1990, she graduated with an LLB from the University of the Witwatersrand and holds an Honorary Doctor of Law degree from the University of Cape Town (2015). Like Zuma, Madonsela personally experienced injustice and imprisonment, but she processed this experience in a very different way. Furthermore, as part of the United Democratic Front (UDF), a broad movement of resistance to apartheid, she worked towards a democratic and just South Africa. She aligned herself with leaders within the South African Council of Churches (SACC) who stood for ethical governance, social justice, and a determination to empower the poor. Her studies and the influence of the respected jurists alongside whom she worked to draft the new South African Constitution further formed her moral framework. Her motive was to help the country to avoid the injustices of the past, whereas that of Zuma was to gain and retain political power. When, in October 2009, Zuma appointed her as the Public Protector, he had no idea that she would go on to expose his actions and those of his ‘inner ring’. During her life, Madonsela has toiled together with friends, colleagues, teams, and networks, but these never became the secret and corrupt ‘inner ring’ formed by Zuma.

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Moral values, virtues, faith, and view of power

For Madonsela, moral values were essential. She valued truth and a sense of honour. Her work as the Public Protector was characterised by the moral virtues of integrity, justice, compassion, and dedication. She showed courage by taking on the Zuma government at a time when few other voices of protest within the ANC were to be heard. Her inner strength, calmness, moral clarity, and humility are strikingly different to the vanity and insecurity of ex-President Zuma. Unlike Zuma, Madonsela was a woman of firm Christian faith. In her youth and young adulthood, she experienced support from the faith movements that were part of the struggle and from the ministry of Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Her conviction that human beings are made in the Imago Dei lies at the root of her willingness to expose injustice, protect human dignity, and promote human rights (Gqubule 2017:187). Interestingly, it was the Dominican Order, a group strongly influenced by the Catholic social justice tradition, who requested that her office investigate the relationship between the Gupta family and the state (Gqubule 2017:145, 155). Similarly, the SACC formed an “Unburdening Panel”, based on Galatians 6:2, to investigate matters such as corruption, organised chaos, and inappropriate control within the Zuma administration (SACC 2017). Finally, during her term as Public Protector, Madonsela determined to use her power to do what is right, protect the citizens of the country, be accountable, and hold others accountable (Malala 2015:165–180).

5.3

The good fruit of competent and moral leadership

During her term of office, Madonsela oversaw many investigations into maladministration and corruption. Among the most important were When Governance and Ethics Fail (the South African Broadcasting Corporation), Derailed (the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa), Secure in Comfort (the misuse of State funds for Zuma’s private residence at Nkandla), and State of Capture (the malign influence of the Gupta family). These reports exposed the venality of Zuma and his various ‘inner rings’ to the gaze of the public and played no small role in his subsequent loss of power. Alongside the well-researched reports that emerged from the Public Protector’s office, other individuals and organisations endeavoured to bring an end to Zuma’s Presidency. These included the expos8s of many books and hundreds of newspapers reports. Further, Chief Justice Mogoeng stood firm in upholding the Constitution, leaders within other political parties exposed the wrongdoing of the government, and senior ANC ‘stalwarts’ such as Ahmed Kathrada,

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Matthews Phosa, Barbara Hogan, and Pravin Gordan voiced their opposition to Zuma’s malfeasance. Finally, many members of civil society, including church leaders, also exposed the moral and managerial failures of the Zuma administration.

6

Conclusion

This discussion outlines the toxicity of the ‘big man’ and ‘inner ring’ leadership of the Zuma administration. For them, the pursuit of money and the misuse of power (over the state and women) were central, whereas for Madonsela, humility, integrity, service, and fairness were central. Madonsela’s moral stance, and that of many others, albeit seemingly insignificant at the time, sowed the seeds of the defeat of a corrupt administration. Hence, the power of goodness must never be underestimated. All leaders, and particularly Christian leaders, need to be aware of the perils of the leadership of ‘big men’ (or women) and ‘inner rings’. When leaders are chosen, or supported, members of society need to discern the effects of formative moral factors such as family, education, and the choice of peers. Penetrating questions need to be asked about the moral norms, values, virtues, views of power, and the fruit of aspirant leaders. This discussion reveals that ‘big men’ such as Zuma are actually small men; they are selfish, self-protective, and paranoid. Their leadership is inherently immoral and disastrous in its consequences for the nation. This should alert all to the folly of indiscriminate loyalty to any leader. Madonsela’s example of persistent efforts in resisting the abuse of power needs to be emulated. We cannot abdicate our own moral responsibilities by following a new ‘big man’. If we want our rights to be protected and the well-being of our country fostered, each citizen needs to exercise moral responsibility in their own spheres of influence.

References Ciulla, J.B. 2016. The moral dangers of leadership, in P. Nullens & S. van den Heuvel (eds): Challenges of moral leadership. Leuven: Peeters, 13–27. Du Preez, M. 2018. Zuma’s defiant exit signifies end to 9 of SA’s darkest years. URL: https:// www.news24.com/Columnists/MaxduPreez/zumas-defiant-exit-signifies-end-to-9-ofsas-darkest-years-20180213 [Accessed 13 February 2018]. Gqubule, T. 2017. No longer whispering to power: The story of Thuli Madonsela. Johannesburg: Jonathan Ball. Johnson, R. 2015. How long will South Africa survive? The looming crisis. Johannesburg: Jonathan Ball.

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Jung, S. & Armbruster, A. 2016. Blind spots in ethical leadership: What Christian leaders can learn from organisational leadership, in J. Barentsen, V. Kessler & E. Meier (eds): Christian leadership in a changing world: Perspectives from Africa and Europe. CPSLE, Vol 3, Leuven: Peeters, 77–91. Kasrils, R. 2017. A simple man: Kasrils and the Zuma enigma. Pretoria: Jacana Media. Kretzschmar, L. 2007. The formation of moral leaders in South Africa: A Christian-ethical analysis of some essential elements. Journal of Theology for Southern Africa 128, 18–36. Kretzschmar, L. 2017. Diversity and moral political leadership in post 1994 South Africa: Valuing diversity and promoting justice, in J. Barentsen, S.C. van den Heuvel & V. Kessler (eds): Increasing diversity: Loss of control or adaptive identity construction? Leuven: Peeters, 53–68. Lewis, C.S. n.d. ‘The Inner Ring’. Memorial Lecture delivered at King’s College, University of London, in 1944. URL: http://www.lewissociety.org/innerring.php [Accessed 23 November 2017]. Lumby, J. & English, F.W. 2010. Leadership as lunacy : And other metaphors for educational leadership. Thousand Oaks: Corwin. Malala, J. 2015. We have now begun our descent: How to stop South Africa losing its way. Johannesburg: Jonathan Ball. Mbeki, M. & Mbeki, N. 2016. A manifesto for social change: How to save South Africa. Johannesburg: Picador. Meier, E. 2016. Shedding light on a muddled field: Distinguishing Transforming and Transformational Leadership, in J. Barentsen, V. Kessler & E. Meier (eds): Christian leadership in a changing World: Perspectives from Africa and Europe. CPSLE, Vol 3, Leuven: Peeters, 111–130. Nullens, P. 2016. Let justice roll down like waters: Ethical leadership as generating justice in an evil world, in P. Nullens & S. van den Heuvel (eds): Challenges of moral leadership. Leuven: Peeters, 75–96. Pauw, J. 2017. The President’s keepers. Cape Town: Tafelberg. SACC 2017. SACC Report to the church public on the unburdening panel process Regina Mundi Church, Soweto. URL: http://sacc.org.za/news/sacc-report-church-public-un burdening-panel-process-regina-mundi-church-soweto-may-18-2017/ [Accessed 15 May 2018]. SAHO 2018. Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma. URL: http://www.sahistory.org.za/people/jacobgedleyihlekisa-zuma [Accessed 5 April 2018]. Sebahene, A. 2017. Corruption mocking at justice: A theological and ethical perspective on public life in Tanzania and its implications for the Anglican Church of Tanzania. Langham Monographs: Carlisle. Van der Ven, J.A. 1998. Formation of the moral self. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

Peirong Lin1

From stealing someone’s lunch to the inclusion of justice and care: A reflective follower’s interpretation on the self-reliance of Singapore

1

Introduction

“To steal someone else’s lunch” – A metaphor that has meaning established in the Singaporean psyche since independence. In 2016, Lee Hsien Loong, the current Prime Minister of Singapore, in a conversation with the national trade unions, discussed the importance of self-reliance and told the union that it was important to “steal someone else’s lunch” in the face of competition (Toh 2017). Spoken by the political leader of Singapore, it underscores the great importance of economic self-reliance in Singapore. The main issue that this chapter seeks to answer is: How should the Christian follower evaluate the economic self-reliance emphasised by the political leader of Singapore, and how should he or she act? In addition, what can the Christian tradition offer to the interpretation of the individual follower as he or she contributes to the leadership in the country? This question recognises the value of the Christian view point for public engagement, even in a country as religiously diverse as Singapore.2 For multicultural Singapore, made up of different religious traditions, these different traditions provide different perspectives of truth and grace that can provide resources for the building of society, expressing truth, justice, and love in tangible ways (Poon 2013:14). Religious traditions and resources should not be ignored, as they can contribute to the overall conversation of Singapore’s development. In this chapter, an example of how the Christian vantage point is intentionally engaged is illustrated. This deliberate reflection on one’s faith in

1 Peirong Lin; Affiliated Researcher, Evangelische Theologische Faculteit, Leuven, Belgium, and Research Coordinator and HR Director, World Evangelical Alliance Theological Concerns Department; [email protected]. 2 “Global Religious Diversity : Half of the Most Religiously Diverse Countries are in Asia-Pacific Region” URL: http://www.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2014/04/ReligiousDiversity-full-report.pdf [Accessed 14 August 2018].

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society has also been described as public theology, where faith resources are employed for the common good of society. There are four sections in this chapter. The first section describes the emphasis on economic self-reliance by the political leaders in the development of Singapore. The second section outlines the self-agency that followers have in the overall leadership of Singapore. The third section evaluates the metaphor and self-reliance from a Christian perspective, focusing on who this ‘someone’ is, and finally, the last section provides an alternative interpretation and action with the focus on responsible self-acting as vicarious representation for the other.

2

Emphasis of self-reliance in the development of Singapore by political leaders

Singapore, a city state, was declared independent on 9th August 1965. It was once a British colony and later part of the newly formed federation of Malaya (formed in 1963). As a small country, this independence was not expected but came about as a result of political disagreement between the state of Singapore and the central government of Malaya. It was understood by the ruling government as the only way out of the political deadlock between the leaders of the predominantly Malay Malaysia and the predominantly non-Malay Singapore (History SG 2018a). Lee Kwan Yew, the first prime minister of Singapore, recounted the bleak future he foresaw for Singapore. From his perspective, “Singapore and Malaya, joined by a causeway across the Straits of Johor, had always been governed as one territory by the British. Malaya was Singapore’s hinterland, as were the Borneo territories of Sarawak, Brunei and Sabah” (Lee 1998:21). In addition, at time of independence, Lee Kwan Yew saw Singapore as being surrounded by hostile territory. For him, it is a country of two million Chinese in a geographical area inhabited by 100 million Malay or Indonesia Muslims. Finally, there was also the external insecurity caused by the ‘confrontation’ of Indonesia as well as the uncertain future of the British Entrepot trade, whereby many citizens’ livelihood depended on. (Lee 1998:23)3

As the first prime minister of the independent country of Singapore, Lee Kwan Yew was arguably the most influential leader in Singapore. He was in public 3 “Confrontation” was Indonesia’s response to the formation of the Federation of Malaysia, arising from the British decolonisation process in Southeast Asia. This involved armed incursions, bomb attacks and other subversive acts aimed at destabilising the states that were to be included in the Federation. See “Indonesia announces Konfrontasi” URL: http://ere sources.nlb.gov.sg/history/events/126b6b07-f796-4b4c-b658-938001e3213e [Accessed 14 August 2018].

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service from 1959 to 2009. The political party that he cofounded, the People’s Action Party (PAP), has been in power since independence. For Lee Kwan Yew, the PAP as the ruling party in the government was responsible for the construction of the country. The PAP sets the standards for the entire country of what is right and wrong – down to the minute details. He has acknowledged the extent of intervention the government can have and has been quoted as saying I am often accused of interfering in the private lives of citizens. Yes, if I did not, had I not done that, we wouldn’t be here today. And I say without the slightest remorse, that we wouldn’t be here, we would not have made economic progress, if we had not intervened on very personal matters – who your neighbour is, how you live, the noise you make, how you spit, or what language you use. We decide what is right. Never mind what the people think. (Lee 1987)

One recurring theme for Lee Kwan Yew and the PAP party was the focus on economic self-reliance. At independence, the unemployment rate averaged 14 percent, the GDP per capita was less than $2,700, and half of the population was illiterate (World Development Reports 2009). Despite this gloomy outlook, in his first address to the National Trade Union Council after the country’s independence, Lee Kwan Yew, made clear that from his point of view, “nobody owes me a living; nobody owes my countrymen a living. But we intend to bail ourselves out. We are not looking for anybody to bail us out” (Lee 1965). The survival of Singapore would be due to the hard work of Singaporeans. Singapore would not rely on the support of the international community. Lee Kwan Yew was resolute about ensuring the economic survival of Singapore. Since the initial stages of Singapore’s self-governance, the government set up the Economic Development Board of Singapore, with the purpose to plan, co-ordinate and direct the industrialisation of Singapore (History SG 2018b). There has been a massive improvement in Singapore economically. Singapore prides itself on its economic accolades, being known as one of the best cities with the best investment potential to the most competitive economy in the world (Economic Development Board 2018). In 2017, the GDP per capita was $79,697 (Singapore Statistics 2018).

3

The self-agency of the followers in the overall leadership of Singapore

In recent leadership studies, the overall leadership process has been understood as more than the actions of the leaders. Leadership is ambiguous, dependent not only on the individual leader, but also on the follower and the context (Alvesson & Spicer 2011:29). The dynamics of the different factors have been

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depicted in Figure 1. This implies that despite the focus on economic selfreliance by Singapore leaders, the resulting leadership is also partly dependent on the followers as well as the context in which this leadership takes place. The context and active agency of the followers can alter the overall leadership of the country.

Figure 1: Transmission of meaning in leadership (Alvesson & Spicer 2011:29)

The political leaders’ use of the metaphor of stealing someone else’s lunch as the solution to competition does not necessarily result in the same interpretation by the followers, who in this instance are Singaporean citizens who have a vested interest in the development of Singapore. Factors such as “meanings, intentions, interpretations” can influence the dynamic between the follower and the leader (Alvesson & Spicer 2011:26). This implies that followers can understand the metaphor, but, because of their situation have a different interpretation from the meaning intended by the leader and act differently from what is intended. This is all the more possible in the Singapore context because the Singapore today is vastly different from the newly independent Singapore in 1965 that the PAP first ruled. Singaporeans are also more educated than they used to be.4 Interpretation of meaning is mediated by the relationship followers have with the government leader, and also by age, religious traditions, and life experiences which impact 4 The literacy rate of residents in Singapore was recorded to be 97.2 %. See “Education, language spoken and literacy” Department of Statistics Singapore, https://www.singstat.gov.sg/finddata/search-by-theme/population/education-language-spoken-and-literacy/latest-data [Accessed 14 August 2018].

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the way they understand the country’s context. This difference can result in some followers having a different opinion from the ruling government and therefore acting in a different way.5 In the following section a particular follower perspective to the leader’s message is presented. This is done by first evaluating the metaphor in more detail. This perspective is given by a Singapore citizen born after the independence of Singapore, engaging with her Christian faith in thinking about the development of Singapore. It presents itself as an example of how one engages with one’s faith in the way one evaluates metaphor and the message of the political leaders.

4

Followers’ evaluation of the metaphor “stealing someone else’s lunch”

Metaphors provide glimpses into a presupposed perspective of morality. These metaphors illuminate this particular world and circumstances, which provides additional insights into how the phenomenon should be interpreted (:34). As a powerful cognitive tool (:38), the metaphor “Stealing someone else’s lunch” will certainly remind Singaporeans of Lee Kwan Yew’s words about no one owing Singapore a living. As the basis of the collective thought process, metaphors frame reality and remind citizens of the country’s vulnerability, its start as an independent country, and the difficult fight for survival. This metaphor represents an interpretation of the country’s reality held by the ruling party : the savage global competition where Singapore can only survive if it is the fittest. As this attitude is lauded by the PAP, citizens of Singapore are susceptible to receiving this as truth, concluding that the only way to scratch a living in the competitive world is to steal from someone else. To suggest stealing someone else’s lunch clearly prioritises “lunch” over the manner in which the lunch is achieved. Such a metaphor emphasises economic progress as well as an “ends justifying the means” approach. This emphasis on economic progress for the development of the country draws largely from development theories such as modernisation, neoliberalism, and globalisation. It values rationality in society, working towards creating conditions of freedom in business markets, and profit making through globalisation. It also does not seem

5 As an example, see “Lunch stealing rhetoric not only unethical but unsustainable and likely counterproductive”, Online Citizen, last modified 2 May 2017, https://www.theonlinecitizen. com/2017/05/02/lunch-stealing-rhetoric-not-only-unethical-but-unsustainable-and-likelycounter-productive/ [Accessed 14 August 2018].

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to care about the implications of the pursuit of economic progress. However, such an approach is not without its problems. Firstly, this economic growth is not equally distributed across all levels of society. There is an increasing disparity in the income distribution of residents living in Singapore. The influx of foreign labour as well as the increase in inflation has indirectly resulted in the decrease of real wages of low skilled workers in Singapore, in some cases even resulting in unemployment (Chia 2011). Today, a growing number of households require government support (Tai 2017). This is astounding considering the growth Singapore has enjoyed in terms of its economy, which currently ranks 7th in the world in Gross Domestic Product per capita (Central Intelligence Agency 2017). This inequality has been well documented by Singaporean sociologist, You Yenn Teo, in her book This is what inequality looks like (Teo 2017). In addition, there are also increasing social tensions between locals and foreigners. Foreigners characterised as neither citizens nor permanent residents currently make up almost 30 % of the total population in Singapore (Department of Statistics Singapore 2017). The open economic policy with the higher percentage of foreigners has led to an increased perception of strain on jobs, infrastructure, and housing.6 Economic progress and the insistence on self-reliance is in itself insufficient. The different societal divides: rich/poor, foreign/local, result in people having different propensity to support themselves. The metaphor of stealing someone’s lunch, while highlighting the importance of self-reliance, can further exacerbate the problems related to economic pursuit at all costs. Moving forward, a more nuanced approach to economic self-reliance in the development of Singapore is proposed. This takes seriously the responsibility everyone should have for society, both the leader as well as the individual followers. This involves more than caring exclusively about one’s personal interest and economic progress. As one exists in society, there are responsibilities that one has to the overall society. It is this responsibility that leads the individual to act within society.

5

The responsible self in society

The responsible self understands her/himself as made in the image of God. While personally fallen, this self embraces “the redeeming work of the gospel that restores and fulfils the purpose of humanity – to reflect God’s goodness” (Bonhoeffer 2005:20). Humanity involves more than the individual self, it also 6 See for example Singapore’s Foreigner Problem, https ://thediplomat.com/2014/02/singa pores-foreigner-problem/ [Accessed 14 August 2018].

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includes the society and the people that the self comes in contact with. Bonhoeffer describes the self as a human being, restoring and fulfilling the purpose of humanity, who “lives in encounter with other human beings and that this encounter entails being charged, in ever so many ways, with responsibility [Verantwortung] for the other human being” (:220). Responsibility becomes key in this act of restoration and fulfilment of the purpose of humanity. Acting in responsibility involves represent one’s neighbours in their concrete reality. As one endeavours to live life through Jesus, this includes a life of vicarious representative action. As Bonhoeffer elaborates, vicarious representative action takes place within the context of the world that one is in contact with. The interaction with the other in this world in then reflected on based on the reality of Christ. Jesus entered the world so that we can continue to be human beings before God (:157). This world does not just disappear but is given to us in and through Jesus Christ. Therefore, for one to know how to act in such a context, it is important that the situation is evaluated through the lens of Jesus’ presence. When reality is understood in the light of Jesus, the reconciliation of the world with God in Jesus Christ is taken seriously (:266). It establishes Jesus as the anchor that cannot be done without. This anchor prevents one’s understanding of reality from being a mere ideal or a “worldly principle”, vacillating endlessly between the extremes of submission toward the status quo and rebellion against it (:266). Applying this understanding to the case of Singapore, an individual who seeks to take vicarious representative action for the other should therefore evaluate the relentless pursuit of economic progress by the government in light of the other’s reality. Who are these people? What is their reality? And what does it mean to represent them in this concrete reality? The following section addresses these questions.

5.1

Vicarious representative action in the face of “Stealing someone else’s lunch”

In the metaphor of stealing other people’s lunch made by Lee Hsien Loong, “someone” most probably referred to workers in the region who were involved in similar industries. He referred to factory workers as well as the port industry in countries around the region. For him, individuals from the surrounding countries were “hungry to learn”. They were characterised as productive and willing to change for their work. In describing them, they were seen mainly as competition to Singaporean workers. Little was made of their humanity, or the impact these jobs had on them. Another group of people that this metaphor indirectly related to were those whose jobs were stolen. These included factory

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workers or individuals working in the port industry in the city of Singapore. In making this statement, Lee compared these workers to those in neighbouring countries. He implied that these workers were either not “hungry”, or were unwilling to learn. They were seen to be losing out to their foreign counterparts. What seemed common to both these groups was the primary identification of them based on their economic activity. Evaluating these people in line with Christ’s reality would recognise that these people are worth more than their economic resources. They are people who should be reconciled with Christ and his goodness. The question for the responsible self then is, what specific actions should be taken? One useful framework to analyse this question lies in Bonhoeffer’s understanding of the ‘Ultimate’ and ‘Penultimate’. For him, actions that the responsible self takes lie in the ‘Penultimate’. The ‘Ultimate’, decided by God, involves the justification of sinners, which we all are. This ‘Ultimate’ is the result of God’s grace, where God’s mercy to the sinner is his final word (Bonhoeffer 2005:146, 149). There is nothing that humankind can do to receive this ‘Ultimate’ except faith in the grace of God. Bonhoeffer asserts that while humankind cannot participate in this ‘Ultimate’, there is the ‘Penultimate’ before this ‘Ultimate’ in which the responsible self can be involved. “If a human life is deprived of the conditions that are part of being human, the justification of such a life by grace and faith becomes seriously hindered, if not impossible, making it difficult for the individual to be presented the opportunity of achieving the ultimate” (:160). Acting in the ‘Penultimate’ involves actively working in the world, being “counsellors for worldly affairs […] discover[ing] the divine laws within creational orders such as economy and state; they function in the realm of relative autonomy (Erhaltungsordnungen)” (Nullens 2013:107). In the case of Singapore that seems overtly focused on economic progress, what is recommended for the responsible self is the active promotion of justice and care. This recommendation takes seriously the Singaporean context. The national pledge, a national symbol created shortly after the country’s independence, clearly recognised the collective identity of Singaporeans as ‘We’ and the basis of justice for the country of Singapore.7 While the pledge seemed wary of the potential diverse nature of religion, as described above, religion can also provide further understanding of justice and the collective sense of ‘We’ in the context of Singapore. 7 The Singapore pledge reads: ‘We, the citizens of Singapore, pledge ourselves as one united people, regardless of race, language or religion, to build a democratic society, based on justice and equality, so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and progress for our nation.’ See https:// www.nhb.gov.sg/what-we-do/our-work/community-engagement/education/resources/natio nal-symbols/national-pledge [Accessed 14 August 2018].

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5.2

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Justice

Justice is emphasised because of its recognition that there are existing problems in society. This call to justice has also been sounded by Singaporean theologians.8 It is not new but is once again emphasised as vital for the interpretation of the Christian follower. It is through justice that the powers of evil are countered (Nullens 2016:85). From a Judeo-Christian perspective, justice can be described to be rooted in the inherent rights of human beings simply because of “the worth of beings of their sort” (Wolterstorff 2008:10–11). All people are created in the image of God, and are in return, worthy of justice. It is God who confers the value of worth to human beings because his love seeks to enhance and preserve their wellbeing (:189–190). Therefore, justice as a right is understood as “bestowing of wellbeing on other people’s lives and history” (:189–190). This understanding of justice recognises that all are equal in dignity and should be cared for. The understanding of justice described here moves beyond the legal system of justice, the existing rule of the land. Being legal is not the same as being just. Justice argues for the treatment of human beings as loved by God and for seeking their wellbeing. It is “an act in imitating God as saviour and maker of a covenant with his people” (Nullens 2016:93). Bringing justice to the forefront in society reinstates the value and wellbeing of an individual as more than his or her economic value. This Christian vision of justice, while presenting only a particular vision for justice, presents a basis for Christians to evaluate their current situation and to act upon it. The act of “doing justice, struggling against injustice, was not an optional extra of Israelite faith; here it stood at the very core” (Volf 1996:217). To know God is to do justice (Gutierrez 1988:194). In the same way, the Singaporean Christian should find ways to be involved in pursuing justice for the other. The pursuit of justice can lead to deliverance. “God’s justice is a liberating justice” (Nullens 2016:94). Throughout the bible, one can see examples of God’s preference toward the poor.9 God actively sought to break external systems of injustice. He paid special attention to the vulnerable in society, with Shalom as a means of redistributing social goods and power within society (:94). This pursuit of justice can also bring about deliverance for the other in Singapore. This

8 As an example, refer to Koh, Daniel K.S. & Kwa, Kiem-Kiok (eds) 2009. Issues of law and justice in Singapore: Some Christian reflections. Singapore: Genesis Books, or the discussion of Ngoei 2013:155 who described the need to promote justice in real life examples in Singapore, for example, in the location of housing for foreign workers that revealed the reservations that citizens have against these workers, or the rising income inequality amidst an increasing individualistic faith. 9 See for example Leviticus 19:15, Exodus 23:2, Deuteronomy 1:16, 17.

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deliverance is beneficial for the other to “flourish” and to “develop one’s capacities without external restrains of injustice” (:94).

5.3

Care10

The next concept, care, is emphasised due to its direct focus and action on individuals. Related to the responsible self, care focuses on “attending to and meeting the needs of the particular others for whom we take responsibility” (Held 2006:10). This involves respecting the claims of the particular individuals one is responsible for (:11). This form of ethics values the ties and the relationships constitutive of individuals (:14). It takes seriously the collective ‘we’ within society, “bring[ing] about some good in the person’s life” (Wolterstorff 2008:101). As an intentional act, care involves more than deliberation, wishing the person well. It also includes the act of doing something. In addition, from a Christian perspective, care for someone should not result in harm to someone else. Wronging the other at the expense of the recipient is malformed care as it violates the dignity bestowed to the other by nature of being made in the image of God (:102). Applied to the Singapore context, care that is implemented is more than wishing the threatened workers higher productivity or to be economically sustainable. It takes seriously the dignity and value of these people and works proactively to restore them. Steps need to be taken to evaluate the situation that the individual is in, with action intended to bring good. At the same time, it is also important to note that the explicit wish of “stealing someone else’s lunch” is contrary to the understanding of care. Care does not harm another for the sake of one’s own wellbeing. The idea of stealing another’s lunch from the workers in the region is a form of distorted care for the workers in Singapore. One way that care can be further implemented in the society is through the application of the ethics of care in the public sphere. Key goals of this ethical system include (1) reformulation of policy goals to establish, nurture, sustain and protect relationships; (2) widening the scope of responsibility to include a more problem-oriented view, and (3) providing ways to incorporate contextual considerations (Stensöta 2015:184). These goals respect the situation of the particular within society, recognising relationships as central. In this instance, the particular includes the workers whose livelihoods are threatened. There 10 The ethics of care was initially designed as an alternative ethical system in its own right arising out of the opposition to the deontology of justice. For example, see Giligan 1982. Since then, researchers have recognised the intersection of these two concepts. There is no competition or dichotomy in describing the importance of care and justice in this paper.

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should be a thorough reflection of the challenges these people are facing, followed by the intentional development of policies that take into account the relationships that these people have. Care ethics takes into serious consideration the overall dignity of the individual, recognising that self-reliance and economic progress is broader than the efforts of the individual worker. As an example, Dutch economist Lans Bovenberg developed an alternative perspective of economics that takes seriously the relationality of humans, which he calls the ‘economics of hope’. For him, people are not purely rational, but are influenced by the relationships that they are constituted by (Bovenberg 2017:28–29). The ‘economics of hope’ incorporates different economic models such as self-interest as well as caring about the others (:27). For him, this ‘economics of hope’ consists of three steps. Firstly, it “starts from the ideal of human flourishing and human dignity”. Secondly, this hope is “realistic about the limitations of the rationality, consciousness, and morality of humans. It thus acknowledges that the current situation is far from ideal”. Finally, hope engages in action to bring the actual situation closer to the ideal. These steps are done recognizing that human endeavour faces serious obstacles and remains imperfect (:40).

6

Conclusion

This chapter took a deeper look at the metaphor ‘stealing someone else’s lunch’ coined by the prime minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong. This metaphor highlighted the importance of economic self-reliance made by the leaders of Singapore since her independence. At the same time, recognising that leadership is ambiguous, dependent on the interaction between the leader, the follower(s) and the context, this chapter provides a follower’s interpretation of the message given by the political leader of Singapore. This particular interpretation is made by a Christian follower engaging with her faith. This approach takes seriously the Christian tradition for the furthering of common good in society. Generally, the follower disagrees with the “ends justifying means” approach that seems to be promoted by the Singapore leader. She takes seriously the responsibility of individual followers to vicariously act for the other. Through this analysis, she seeks to encourages other followers to engage critically with their faith in their response to the leaders of Singapore. As followers of a democratic state, there is a role for them to play in the development of the country. What this chapter has not done is to outline policy implications of justice and care for the state of Singapore. This is beyond the scope of this paper. In addition, this would also require more information that is not readily available. What this

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chapter does is suggest key points that should be present for justice and care to be able to truly permeate the Singapore society. Finally, it is also important to note that the focus on recommendations for justice and care made in this chapter do not negate the importance of economic progress in Singapore. As a small city state, economic progress is crucial. What this chapter seeks to do is to recognise that values such as justice and care should also be present in the pursuit of economic progress. This vision provides a broader aspiration for Singapore, taking into consideration justice and care in Singapore’s pursuit of economic progress.

References Alvesson, M. & Spicer, A. (eds) 2011. Metaphors we lead by. Milton Park: Routledge. Bonhoeffer, D. 2005. Ethics. Vol. 6 of Dietrich Bonhoeffer works. Translated by Reinhard Krauss, Charles C. West, and Douglas W. Stott. Edited by Clifford J. Green. Minneapolis: Fortress Press. Bovenberg, L. 2018. Economics as a discipline of hope, in P. Nullens and S.C. Heuvel (eds): Driven by hope. Leuven: Peeters, 21–48. Central Intelligence Agency, 2017. The world factbook. URL: https://www.cia.gov/library/ publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2004rank.html [Accessed 12 April 2018]. Chia, S.Y. 2011. Foreign labour in Singapore: Trends, policies, impacts, and challenges. Philippine Institute for Development Studies Discussion Paper Series 2011(24). URL: http://dirp4.pids.gov.ph/ris/dps/pidsdps1124.pdf [Accessed 12 April 2018]. Department of Statistics Singapore 2017. Population and population structure. URL: https://www.singstat.gov.sg/find-data/search-by-theme/population/population-andpopulation-structure/latest-data [Accessed 25 April 2018]. Economic Development Board 2018. Why Singapore. URL: http://www.edb.gov.sg/con tent/edb/en/why-singapore/about-singapore/facts-and-rankings/rankings.html [Accessed 12 April 2018]. Gilligan, C. 1982. In a different voice: Psychological theory and women’s development. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press. Held, V. 2006. The Ethics of Care: Personal, political, and global. Oxford: Oxford University Press. History SG 2018a. Singapore separates from Malaysia and becomes independent. URL: http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/history/events/dc1efe7a-8159-40b2-9244-cdb078755013 [Accessed 23 April 2018]. History SG 2018b. Economic development board is formed. URL: http://eresources.nlb.gov. sg/history/events/509d1656-8fc5-405f-8eec-ad058d8a540c [Accessed 23 April 2018]. Lee, K.Y. 1965. Speech on the opening of the trade union house. URL: http://www.nas.gov. sg/archivesonline/data/pdfdoc/lky19651015.pdf [Accessed 23 April 2018]. Lee, K.Y. 1984. Speech on how mode of governance must suit needs of its people. URL: https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/lee-kuan-yews-1984-speech-how-mode-gov ernance-must-suit-needs-its-people [Accessed 23 April 2018].

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Lee, K.Y. 1987. The Straits Times. URL: https://www.mfa.gov.sg/content/mfa/overseas mission/abu_dhabi/embassy-events-and-press-statements/2015/201503/the-statesman -who-talked-tough-.html [Accessed 23 April 2018]. Lee, K.Y. 1998. The Singapore story : Memoirs of Singapore. Singapore: Singapore Press Holdings. Ngoei, F.N. 2013. Our pledge: Let hope and charity flourish in this land, in Michael N. Poon: Engaging Society. Singapore: Trinity Theological College, 152–158. Nullens, P. 2013. Towards a spirituality of public leadership: Engaging Dietrich Bonhoeffer. International Journal of Public Theology 7(2013), 91–113. Nullens, P. 2016. Let justice roll down like waters, in P. Nullens & S.C. van den Heuvel (eds): Challenges of moral leadership. Leuven: Peeters, 75–106. Poon, M.N. 2013. Engaging society : The Christian in tomorrow’s Singapore, in Michael. N. Poon: Engaging society. Singapore: Trinity Theological College, 1–22. Singapore Statistics 2018. National Accounts. URL: https://www.singstat.gov.sg/find-data/ search-by-theme/economy/national-accounts/latest-data [Accessed 25 January 2019]. Stensöta, H.O. 2015. Public ethics of care: A general public ethics. Ethics and Social Welfare 9(2), 183–200. Tai, J. 2017. Growing number of young Singaporeans in need, relying on Government handouts. Straits Times. URL: https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/young-and-inneed [Accessed 15 April 2018]. Teo, Y.Y. 2017. This is what inequality looks like. Singapore: Ethos Books. Toh, E.M. 2017. Singapore must ‘steal other people’s lunches’ to stay ahead of competition. Today. URL: https ://www.todayonline.com/singapore/singapore-must-steal-otherpeoples-lunches-stay-ahead-competition [Accessed 15 April 2018]. Wolterstorff, N. 2008. Justice: Rights and wrongs. Princeton: Princeton University Press. World Development Report 2009. Singapore: From slums to world city. URL: http://web. worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTDEC/EXTRESEARCH/EXTWDRS/0,,con tentMDK:23080401~pagePK:478093~piPK :477627~theSitePK:477624,00.html [Accessed 14 April 2018].

Dorothy Mmakgwale Farisani1

Black South African women are not perpetual minors but hard rocks: Recognising leadership through metaphors

1

Introduction

If ever a group of people has endured great suffering in South Africa, it is Black South African women (Wing & de Carvalho 1995:58). This observation is affirmed by Sibeko and Haddad’s assertion that “African women in South Africa have experienced what many womanists and feminists call the ‘triple oppression’ of race, class and gender” (Sibeko & Haddad 1997:84). Apart from the suffering brought on by such oppression, various other factors have contributed to the plight of Black South African women. Among them is the notion of primogeniture – the practice, in some South African cultures, of only males being eligible to inherit chieftaincy. This concept is parallel with the legal concept of “perpetual minority”, which was accepted as part of South African customary law, an area of law which was “used to promote patriarchy and disempower women” (Ezer 2016:66). In spite of the suffering endured by Black South African women, their resilience shines as they lead their families and communities in the fight against injustices and oppression. Regrettably, leadership by ordinary Black South African women has not been given sufficient recognition. This may be due to the fact that the leadership shown by these women has, for the most part, been informal and communal. Women hailed as leaders, and those given recognition, are mainly politicians and those in formal leadership positions. In order to explain the leadership portrayed by Black South African women, the concept of leadership will be examined through the use of two powerful metaphors that are repeatedly used in many South African communities. It has been observed that metaphors assist us in gaining a better understanding of abstract concepts, such as leadership, that may otherwise be too complicated or 1 Dorothy Mmakgwale Farisani; Associate Professor, Corporate Law; Head: College of Law – Academic Quality Assurance and Enhancement, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa; [email protected].

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unclear (Oberlechner & Maer-Schonberger 2002:161). It has further been observed, that metaphors “reveal knowledge that is taken for granted and they often relate to profound meanings that a cultural group understands” (Phendla 2004:163). In this chapter, metaphors of leadership are employed in explaining the leadership shown by Black South African women. Black South African women leadership, both formal and informal, will be discussed, as well as the relevance of the two metaphors that are intended to assist in understanding leadership in the context of Black South African women.

2

The plight of Black South African women and their response

As a result of various factors, Black South African women have found themselves in positions where they have had to fend for themselves as well as for their children and communities. Firstly, Black South African women bore the brunt of the unjust legal system that was imposed on Black South Africans by the apartheid era law (Chauke 2015:35). These women suffered at the hands of the police, who would use excessive force. As leaders of their own families and communities, women at times found it necessary to voice their anger and dissatisfaction by organising and taking part in peaceful protest marches. Such leadership usually entailed their consciously taking the risk that they could become casualties of violence perpetrated by the police. This type of response is still evident in present-day South Africa where women have been at the forefront of protests. Young Black South African women were at the forefront of recent uprisings by students at various universities protesting against unaffordable university fees. Many of these young Black South African women suffered the effects of police brutality, including being tear-gassed and arrested. Secondly, and still under apartheid, the husbands of many rural Black South African women migrated to South Africa’s big cities with a view to improving their job prospects and being able to provide financially for their families. This meant that Black South African women were subject to economic suffering, their husbands and fathers exiled as migrant labour to the economic hubs of the country and thus unable to be physically present to assist with the raising of their children. These women responded by taking on the leadership of their families. They endured the hardships brought about by the long absences of their husbands, many of whom earned very little and would not return home regularly. In spite of their husbands’ and fathers’ extended absences, these women remained committed to their marriages and to their families, even while many of their husbands ran dual households, setting up homes in the urban areas where they found second wives (Bond 2010:48). Rural Black South African women would

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usually continue to take leadership at home, staying in their marriages in spite of being aware of the existence of the second household (Bond 2010:48). Then, as now, Black South African women provide leadership in their households, in both the presence and absence of their husbands, as they nurture their families and ensure that their children go to school. Mothers are usually the primary caregivers in their households, playing the leading role in their communities by shaping the behaviour and morality of their children and of the communities themselves. Thirdly, the apartheid system ensured that Black South African women remained at the bottom of the corporate ladder, by reserving better jobs for other race groups and males. During that time, job reservation for those who were not black was taking place within the bounds of the discriminatory laws of the day. The Constitution (interim and 1996) brought with it the prospect of redress and, in this regard, the Employment Equity Act (Act 55 of 1998) put in place a mechanism that would address and rectify the wrongs of the past. The aim of the Employment Equity Act has been described as: to achieve equity in the workplace by promoting equal opportunity and fair treatment in employment through elimination of unfair discrimination and implementing affirmative action measures to redress the disadvantages in employment experienced by designated groups, in order to ensure equitable representation in all occupational categories and levels in the workforce. (SAICA 2017)

Black South African women have realised that, even though the Employment Equity Act raises the issue of redress, for them to avoid being overlooked when such redress is taking place, they need to respond by ensuring that they acquire the necessary formal qualifications. The increasing numbers of university degrees being attained by Black South African women show that South Africa is in a new era. These advances are reflected too in the growing numbers of Master’s and Doctoral degrees that these women are earning. These positive moves help to entrench Black South African women in leadership roles as the younger generation is encouraged to emulate those who have already succeeded. It must be noted, however, that even though the Constitution and the Employment Equity Act attempt to address equity and promote non–discrimination in the workplace, there are employers who do not comply with the requirements laid down. This makes it impossible to achieve equity in such workplaces and, as a result, many Black South African women are deprived of any chance of leadership in formal structures, despite their potential. The fourth form of suffering endured by Black South African women, in many tribes, can be attributed to the customary practice of primogeniture. This practice has long been entrenched and enforced by the oppressive and patriarchal concept in customary law that a woman is a perpetual minor who can

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neither take part in leadership nor own any property (Perumal 2010:101). The Constitution of South Africa does not allow room for any form of discrimination and, indeed, there are Black South African women who have responded to this form of oppression by instituting legal proceedings to challenge the constitutionality of the deprivation of the opportunity to inherit chieftaincy. As will be seen below, it is now possible to ensure that rightful heirs ascend the throne, regardless of whether they are male or female. The fifth form of suffering has been through the despair that has been brought about by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. This pandemic has infected or otherwise affected many Black South African women, with some ending up having to nurse their loved ones who are victims of HIV/AIDS. Moreover, Black South African women in rural areas have been confronted by the challenges that come with the emergence of child-headed households, a phenomenon that arises when parents are lost, often through HIV/AIDS. This situation puts affected children in vulnerable positions as they must take on the responsibility of parenting their younger siblings while they, themselves, are still in need of parental guidance, love, and protection. Black South African women have taken the lead by informally adopting these child-headed households and ensuring that, whatever they have, they share with these children. Moreover, some even take on the responsibility of providing parental guidance, allowing the children concerned to grow up to be worthy citizens. In responding to this challenge, Black South African women – whose economic status is already low – become even more impoverished, yet they do not allow themselves to turn a blindeye towards childheaded households.

3

Metaphors bear testimony to leadership by Black South African women

In Black South African communities, girls grow up hearing certain metaphors regularly. With regard to leadership by women, there are two powerful metaphors that are instilled in girls. One is “Wathinta abafazi wathinta imbokodo” (You strike the women you strike the rock) and the other is “Mmago ngwana o swara thipa kabogaleng” (the mother of a child holds the knife by the sharp end). As stated above, these metaphors of leadership are used regularly and they have the power to shape the way in which women view themselves. Viewed positively, these metaphors depict women as powerful leaders. Instilling such positive thoughts in girls through these metaphors enables them to become women who do not shy away from leadership. According to Phendla, “Metaphors are powerful reflections of black women’s enormous challenges while facing the multi-

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layered and multiple burdens of oppression” (Phendla 2004:166). This is indeed the case with the experience of Black South African women.

3.1

Wathinta abafazi, wathinta imbokodo

In reaction to and in appreciation of the leadership role taken by women, particularly in the fight against oppression by the apartheid government, the slogan “Wathinta abafazi, wathinta imbokodo” was coined. This metaphor equates the strength of Black South African women as leaders with that of a hard rock. Literally translated, it means “You strike the women, you strike the rock”. An imbokodo is a hard, resistant rock that is very, very difficult to break. In addition to that, a hard rock or imbokodo is something that can be very harmful, or even prove fatal, if thrown at anyone. This metaphor refers to the strength and courage shown by Black South African women as they took part in peaceful protests against the apartheid regime. As imbokodo, Black South African women are tough and courageous. The oppressive apartheid government constantly found itself at the receiving end of this imbokodo. As the police regularly came face-toface with peaceful protests led by women, the imbokodo would hit them by constantly exposing them to the world as the aggressors. The harsh response of the police to peaceful protests against apartheid sent a powerful message to the outside world that exposed the apartheid police as being brutal towards women and children. This negative publicity hit the apartheid regime and showed the world that it was unreasonable and cruel. That was the impact of the imbokodo in leading the fight against oppression. The metaphor refers to the power that Black South African women had (and have) to fight against oppression and it refers to the combined effort made by these women, who joined forces, became influential, and could not be ignored. Moreover, Black South African women also show courage by taking on the roles of both parents in their homes, by striving to ensure that they instil values in their children, and by ensuring that their children receive formal education. An imbokodo will maintain its toughness even in harsh weather conditions. In the same manner, a Black South African woman does not break down and desert her household when she finds out that her husband in an urban area is running a separate household and has another wife and additional children. Moreover, the imbokodo, over and above taking care of her own household, provides for children in child–headed homes. Finally, it has been observed that the metaphor means that “if one strikes the woman, one is striking the rock […] the source of survival, and will thus die!” (Masenya 2009:129). In the discussion above, Black South African women become a source of survival for child–headed households where there is no income.

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The metaphor is a response to the leadership that has been shown by Black South African women who have bravely faced different types of situations and provided hope where there was no hope. It thus affirms the Black South African woman as a leader and demonstrates appreciation for the ability of Black South African women to provide skilful, selfless, quality leadership that can be compared with the leadership of some of the women in the biblical context. During celebrations where women are honoured for their leadership, this metaphor is constantly heard and it instils in girls a positive image of women as leaders.

3.2

Mmago ngwana o swara thipa ka bogaleng

This metaphor literally means that the mother of a child “holds the knife by the sharp end”. It is common cause that a knife is a sharp instrument that cuts and such a cut is very painful. In addition, when holding a knife by the sharp end one is likely to be hurt. The Black South African woman is prepared to be cut by a knife for the sake of her child. The metaphor refers to the strength and courage to face tough, hurtful and potentially dangerous situations, particularly while protecting vulnerable members of the community, and it represents the kind of leadership portrayed by Black South African women. It must be noted here that the African concept of motherhood is extended to include childless women; as an African woman you are expected to take on the role of being a mother to all children. The knife metaphor indicates that Black South African women, as mothers, encounter hardships and take risks for the sake of their own and other people’s children. The metaphor refers to the leadership role taken on by women and the strength or courage demonstrated in their willingness to become the ones who would face even a fate as harsh as a firing squad in order to protect children and vulnerable people. It has been pointed out that, though this metaphor may appear to carry negative connotations, it “may also be seen as a symbol of hope, faith, courage and political activism” (Phendla 2008:23), which is how it is perceived here. The metaphor also shows that Black South African women are willing leaders and that they play a leadership role in attempting to overcome the struggles faced by children, families, and communities. Phendla (2008:23) rightly observes that “holding leadership roles in the lives of these Black women can be likened to holding the sharp edges of knives, where women are cut without mercy”. In the process, they learn to deal with the challenges that come with being leaders, but without becoming casualties of their own leadership roles. They therefore learn to hold the knife in such a way that they are able to navigate through their leadership roles “without being cut” by the sharp end (:22).

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This powerful metaphor is constantly heard when people refer to courageous women. As with the rock metaphor already described, this metaphor may influence a woman to become a leader, be it formally or informally.

4

Perpetual minority of women: A legal concept contradicted by reality

South African oral tradition states that, in customary law, the leader of a family or community is a male figure. This was enforced by the customary law concept that was in place for many years, which stated that a woman was a perpetual minor (Chauke 2015:36). The Native Administration Act 38 of 1927 further enforced this by legislating that Black women were perpetual minors. During the apartheid-era the concept of perpetual minority was used to oppress Black South African women by, among other things, making them fall under the guardianship of their fathers and, once married, of their husbands. It has been observed that “the status of women under customary law is often at odds with reality because of the changing roles of women in the modern world” (Ezer 2016:70). The reality of leadership by Black women, in light of their perpetual minority status, is that whether such leadership be informal or formal, Black South African women have proven that the status of perpetual minority does not belong to them and should have never been associated with them. In post-apartheid South Africa we have witnessed the rise of Black South African women – those who, in the past, may have been better known to some mainly for their culinary and cleaning skills. Black South African women have now moved to highest academic levels and students at South African universities no longer come to their first year lectures with the expectation that lecturers will be predominantly white males, as was the case in the past. In the academic sphere (particularly in higher education), the University of Cape Town has taken the lead through its appointment of Black South African women to the top post of Vice-chancellor. Dr Mamphela Ramphela was the first Black South African woman to hold this post, from 1997 to 2000, and on 17 March 2018, it was announced that Prof Mmamokgethi Phakeng would take up the reins as Vicechancellor from July 2018. Such appointments make it clear that Black South African women are aspiring to fill high profile leadership positions at universities that have traditionally been dominated by males (Kamba 2008:19) and that they are realising these aspirations. Black women are also making themselves heard through their leadership in high offices in the government. The current and the former holders of the position of Public Protector are both Black South African women. Advocate Thuli

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Madonsela, the former Public Protector had a reputation for holding all people accountable without fearing who they were or which positions they held. Some of her accolades include receipt of the Transparency International Integrity award in 2014 (Transparency International Secretariat 2014); being included in the Times 100 list of most influential people in 2014 (Sulaiman 2014) and being recognised by the Tahlberg foundation in Stockholm, Sweden, as one of the world’s “five extraordinary women who are responding to leadership challenges of the 21st century” in 2016 (AFP 2016). Moreover, under the presidency of Nelson Mandela, a trend was set as his cabinet included many Black South African women as ministers and deputy ministers. President Thabo Mbeki followed suit and President Kgalema Motlanthe, during his brief period as president, had a Black woman deputy, former deputy president Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, which was viewed as a positive step (Kiamba 2008:16). During the presidencies of Jacob Zuma and Cyril Ramaphosa, we have continued to see Black women in leadership positions through their appointment to cabinet posts. Some of these ministers have performed very well in their assigned portfolios and have gained respect because of their diligence and exemplary good work ethic. These include Naledi Pandor, Lindiwe Sisulu and Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who have done very well in the past and continue to do so. It cannot, however, be denied that there are Black South African women who have held positions as cabinet ministers and deputy ministers but who have also acted in a corrupt manner and abused their leadership positions. Their behaviour is unwelcome and it does not represent the kind of leadership implied by the two metaphors. Leadership roles filled by Black South African women, both formally and informally, provide clear evidence that the positive connotations of strength and courage that are carried by the two metaphors are real.

5

Challenging male primogeniture through the courts

The concept of perpetual minority goes hand in hand with the belief in male primogeniture, that is, the practice of limiting chieftaincy to firstborn sons. There are two cases that have seen male primogeniture being challenged in court. They are Shilubana and Others v Nwamitwa (4 June 2008) and Mphephu and Another v Mphephu-Ramabulana and Others (30 January 2017).

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5.1

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Shilubana and Others v Nwamitwa

The matter at issue was that the chieftaincy of the Valoyi tribe had been moved from one house to another house, as there were no male heirs in the chief ’s house. The request was for the restoration of the chieftaincy to the original house as, even though there was no male heir, a female heir was present. It was alleged that the custom of male primogeniture did not have a place under the current constitutional dispensation. The matter was heard by the High Court in Pretoria and by the Supreme Court of Appeal before it went to the Constitutional Court, which restored the chieftaincy to the original house. In confirming the decision of the Supreme Court of Appeal and in its ruling, the Constitutional Court emphasised the importance of the right to equality (Perumal 2010:107). It must be noted that the Constitutional Court did not deal directly with the unconstitutionality of succession by males as an infringement of the right to equality (:109). However, in accordance with the ruling, a rightful female heir may ascend to the throne. The outcome of the Shilubana case is welcomed and the decision has been hailed as having made a “contribution towards the development of customary law in South Africa” (Chauke 2015:37).

5.2

Mphephu and Another v Mphephu-Ramabulana and Others

In this particular case, a woman, Masindi, together with others, requested a review of the procedure that was followed in determining who was to ascend to the position of king of the VhaVenda. She questioned the constitutionality of the exclusion of women from becoming successors to traditional leadership positions on the basis that the exclusion was not consistent with the constitutional right to equality. This challenge took place shortly after the position of the King of the VhaVenda was filled. The challenge was not successful and the matter has been referred to the Constitutional Court. The relevance of this case is that, in typical imbokodo fashion, instead of accepting the oppressive succession theory, a Black South African woman who felt entitled to the chieftaincy took a stand and ensured that the matter would be decided by the courts. Together with the Shilubana case, this case serves as an illustration that the days of regarding women as perpetual minors and of depriving them of what they have inherited are gone. The two cases demonstrate the fierce determination of Black South African women to resist oppression.

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The importance of the two metaphors to the leadership by Black South African women

Growing up constantly hearing the two metaphors, Black South African women have shown that the positive message in these metaphors has the power to instil a positive attitude towards leadership. The response to suffering that is demonstrated by Black South African women is typically to embrace leadership with a view to resolving the suffering. It is the type of response that is seen in Luke 8:43–48 (Dube 2002:19–23). The woman in that text experiences extreme suffering from excessive menstrual flow over a long period of time. Instead of waiting for the flow to stop naturally, she takes leadership over her own healing (:19–23). With the type of faith that is mentioned in Hebrews 11:1 she touches the garment of Jesus. As Jesus immediately feels the power moving from Him, the woman is healed. Like the woman in Luke 8:43–48 who took charge of her own healing, instead of succumbing to the suffering being experienced, Black South African women, when faced with suffering, respond in such a way that, in them, we see what Dube refers to as “the oppressed becoming agents of their own empowerment” (:22).

6

Conclusion

From the above, it is clear that Black South African women are as resilient as hard rocks. Moreover, the manner in which they respond to suffering shows that, indeed, they hold the knife on the sharp end, and even though they risk getting cut, they do it anyway. The reality for Black South African women is that, while those who have the opportunities acquire the necessary qualifications and aspire to formal leadership positions, Black South African women in general have consistently resisted oppression by responding through active leadership, even if such leadership has been informal. The idea of women as “perpetual minors” over the years is contradicted by the realities experienced by these women. In spite of the suffering experienced by Black South African women, they (like the woman in Luke 8:43–48) literally empower themselves, they have transcended being wrongly regarded as perpetual minors, and have progressed to holding important leadership positions, both formally and informally. Black South African women are indeed imbokodo and they certainly hold the knife by the sharp end.

Black South African women are not perpetual minors but hard rocks

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References AFP 2016. Thuli Madonsela in world’s ‘Top 5 extraordinary women’. ENCA 13 October 2016. URL: https://www.enca.com/south-africa/madonsela-on-global-list-of-top-fiveextraordinary-women [Accessed 16 May 2018]. Bond, C. 2010. The revolution will be recognized: Black South African women’s fight against patriarchy and apartheid. Undergraduate Honours Thesis, College of William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA. Chauke, M.T. 2015. The role of women in traditional leadership with special reference to the Valoyi tribe. Studies of Tribes and Tribals 13(1), 34–39. Dube, M. 2002. Talitha cum! Calling the girl-child and women to life in the HIV/AIDS & globalization era. Paper presented to the Women’s Commission Meeting of the World Student Federation Johannesburg, 11–12 February 2002. Ezer, T. 2016. Forging a path for women’s rights in customary law. Hastings Women’s Law Journal 27, 65–86. Kiamba, J. 2008. Women and leadership positions: Social and cultural barriers to success. Wagadu 6, 1–22. Masenya, M. 2009. “For better or for worse”: The Christian Bible and Africana women’s reality. Old Testament Essays 22(1), 126–150. Mphephu and Another v Mphephu-Ramabulana and Others (773/2012) [2017] ZALMPTHC 1 (30 January 2017). Oberlechner, T. & Maer-Schonberger, V. 2002. Through their own words: Towards a new understanding of leadership through metaphors. Working Papers, Center for Public Leadership, 160–175. Perumal, D. 2010. Harmonising cultural and equality rights under customary law: Some reflections on Shilubana & Others v Nwamitwa 2009 (2) SA 66 (CC). Agenda 24(34), 101–110. Phendla, T. 2004. ‘Metaphors of leadership, metaphors of hope…’: Life stories of Black women leaders in South Africa. Africa Education Review 1(2), 161–174. Phendla, T. 2008. The paradox of Luselo-Lufhanga metaphors: African women defining leadership for social justice. ISEA 36, 22–40. SAICA South African Institute of Chartered Accountants Employment Equity Act no 55 of 1998. URL: https://www.saica.co.za/Technical/LegalandGovernance/Legislation/Em ploymentEquityActNo55of1998/ [Accessed 1 March 2018]. Shilubana and Others v Nwamitwa (CCT 03/07) [2008] ZACC 9; 2008 (9) BCLR 914 (CC); 2009 (2) SA 66 (CC) (4 June 2018). Sibeko, M. & Haddad, B. 1997. Reading the Bible with women in poor and marginalised communities. Semeia 78, 83–92. Sibanda, S. 2010. When is the past not the past? Reflections on customary law under South Africa’s constitutional dispensation. Human Rights 13(3), 1–5. Sulaiman, P. 2014. Thuli Madonsela on Time 100 Most Influential People list. Brand South Africa, 25 April 2014. https://www.brandsouthafrica.com/governance/development news/thuli-madonsela-on-time-100-most-influential-people-list [Accessed 15 May 2018]. Transparency international secretariat 2014. South Africa’s public protector Thuli Madonsela wins transparency international’s integrity award. Accountability, 17 October

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2014. URL: https://www.transparency.org/news/pressrelease/south_africas_public_ protector_thuli_madonsela_wins_transparency_internatio [Accessed 16 May 2018]. Wing, K. & de Carvahlo, E. 1995. Black South African women: Toward equal rights. Harvard Human Rights Journal 8, 57–100.

Solomon Kgatle1

The cup and baptism: Metaphors of servant leadership in Mark 10:38–39

1

Introduction

This chapter is part of the fourth Christian Leadership Conference theme “Metaphors of leadership or leading by metaphors”. In the chapter, I present “cup” and “baptism” as metaphors of servant leadership in Mark 10:38–39. A literature review on the two verses, Mark 10:38–39, will assist with an understanding of the key message in the text. I will then explore various possible biblical and metaphorical denotations of the “cup” and “baptism”, and apply the implications in Mark 10:38–39 to the matter of servant leadership. The chapter will illustrate that the call by Jesus for his disciples to drink his cup and to be baptised with his baptism is a timely reminder that occupying positions of greatness in the kingdom of God may involve suffering. It is a call for leaders around the world to endure hardship and tribulation with the hope of an eschatological vindication. It is also a call for leaders to embrace a leadership of serving others rather than seeking to attain positions and places of honour. According to Greenleaf (1997:14), servant leaders demand to serve first and to acquire a position later. In other words, they seek primarily to minister and they become great because of their attitude towards serving.

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The context of Mark 10:38–39

Mark 10:38–39 is about Jesus’ response to James and John’s2 request to be seated one on the left and the other on the right in the glory of Jesus (Mk 10:35). Jesus 1 Mookgo Solomon Kgatle; Senior lecturer of Missiology ; Dept. of Christian Spirituality, Church History and Missiology, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa; kgatls @unisa.ac.za. 2 James and John, the sons of Zebedee, were Galilean fishermen and two of the twelve disciples of Jesus (Mk 1:19–20). James, John, and Simon (Peter) comprise a trio that attained a place of prominence among the disciples of Jesus in Mark. They are often found at the centre of

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teaches them the true essence of discipleship in response to their misunderstanding of this concept. Johnson opines: Jesus’ teaching on humble service is nowhere better expressed than in Mark 10:38–39, and it is characteristic of Mark that the pattern of discipleship is service epitomised by Jesus. Jesus is not just an apocalyptic judge but the one who has healed the sick, embraced children and patiently taught his disciples. (Johnson 1972:178)

Williamson affirms that Jesus’ life was one of service and that his death was for others. The supreme service of Jesus Christ was the voluntary giving of his life as a ransom for many (Williamson 1983:190). Mark 10:38–39 is about discipleship as self-denying, as self-risking and as service for the redemption of the world. There are two ideas in the text, lordship and service. Seeley says “the two stand in sharp contrast to one another. The tension between the lordship and service gives the passage much of its force. Unlike those who are regarded as ruling over nations, disciples should become servants in order to be first” (Seeley 1993:234). Another point of discussion arising from the passage is that Jesus teaches his disciples that the places of honour are not his to appoint. In addition, Jesus tells them his expectations of discipleship. They cannot be like the “great ones” of the world, who like to rule over people but need to serve others. According to Geisler (2007:73), the instruction to the disciples is about humility and service. The challenge to the disciples is to a radical and paradoxical form of discipleship called service, of which Jesus is presented as the ultimate example through his suffering and death (Hutchison 2009:54). This re-education on discipleship is particularly emphasised in the central section of the Gospel (Mk 8:22–10:52), with its theme of true discipleship and its use of the suffering Son of Man (Telford 1999:51). The death of Jesus is not only the supreme example of what it means to be “great” in the kingdom of God. According to Stein, greatness is being a servant and slave to all. Jesus illustrated this great service by giving his life as a ransom and a sacrifice for humanity to receive forgiveness of sin and overcome death (Stein 2008:489). Jesus illustrates his love and passion for humanity through redemption by his blood on the cross. He demonstrates that discipleship is about saving the lost and healing the sick. Jesus shows his disciples that the essence of discipleship is to lay down one’s life, given that it was an example meant to be followed. The point here seems to be that “discipleship is a relationship established by the call of Christ and defined by his own faithfulness, not by any merit that can be attributed to the disciples themselves” (Powell 2009:142). important events, such as the raising of the daughter of Jarius (Mk 5:37), the transfiguration (Mk 9:2), and Jesus’ agony in the garden of Gethsemane (Mk 14:3).

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Possible meanings of “cup”

3.1

Biblical meanings of “cup”

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In the Old Testament, several scriptures speak about the cup3 in various meanings. The psalmist speaks of snares, fire and brimstone, and a horrible tempest being rained upon the wicked, and that these tribulations “shall be part of their cup” (Ps 11:6). The psalmist also speaks of the cup of salvation that he uses to call upon the name of the LORD (Ps 116:13). The psalmist further speaks of a cup of joy or salvation (Ps 16:5; 23:5) and a cup of suffering or punishment that God sends to the wicked (Ps 11:6). The metaphor also refers to what God has in store for an individual, whether it is good or bad (Ps 23:5). “Baptism” can also refer to calamity, tribulation and death (Ps 42:7) and both “cup” and “baptism” are symbols of judgement (Ps 75:8). The Prophet Isaiah refers to the suffering of God’s people, which will now be passed to their oppressors (Is 51:71–23 cf Lm 4:21). The prophet exclaims to Jerusalem that this is because they have drunk the cup of the fury and trembling and it has exhausted them (Is 51:17 cf 51:22; Jr 25:15). The Lord uses the cup of trembling to fight anyone who comes against Judah and Jerusalem (Zch 12:2). The Prophet Jeremiah speaks about the “cup of consolation” that serves in the remembering of those who have died. The prophet discourages the taking of this kind of a cup (Jr 16:7). The Prophet Ezekiel attests to the cup of astonishment and desolation that will surprise the daughters of Samaria (Ezk 23:33). Habakkuk speaks of the cup of the Lord’s right hand. This cup is able to bring shame on the glory of people (Hab 2:16). In the New Testament, Jesus asks his disciples if they are ready to drink his cup. Although the disciples answer in the affirmative to Jesus’ question, they seem to misunderstand the meaning of drinking the cup of Jesus. Hence, Jesus says to them that while they shall drink the cup, positions in the kingdom on his right and his left are not his to give, but that they are given by the father in heaven (Mt 20:22–23 cf Mk 10:38–39). The cup also appears as a symbol in the supper of the Lord where Jesus took the cup and gave it to his disciples to drink (Mt 26:27 cf Mk 14:23; 1 Cor 10:16; 11:25–26). The cup in the New Testament attests to sorrow and pain in the same way that it does in the Old Testament. Hence, Jesus prays that the cup passes him by, but he also acknowledges that the will of the Father must be done in his life (Mt 26:39; 26:42 cf Mk 14:36; Lk 22:42). This is the cup of

3 IIot^qiom a cup, a drinking vessel. It is a metaphor for one’s lot or experience, whether joyous, or adverse, divine appointments, whether favourable, or unfavourable, relates to a cup that God presents one to drink, a cup of prosperity and adversity.

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the wrath of God. The cup speaks of indignation that makes people remember the Lord (Rev 14:10; 16:19; 17:4)

3.2

“Cup” as a metaphor

Jesus teaches servant leadership in Mark 10:38–39 through the use of metaphors. One of the metaphors is the cup. The cup offered to James and John is an image for destined suffering (France 2002:416). In Mark’s gospel, the cup appears in the context of great suffering in Jesus’ prayer at Gethsemane (Mk 14:6). In addition, the “cup” is also a Jewish expression for a share in someone else’s fate. The cup itself is a scriptural figure for one’s providential portion, or the lot assigned to one by God, whether good or evil (Alexander 1961:291). Sanner (1979:361) maintains that the cup refers to inward suffering. This usage probably arose from the custom in ancient times that the master of the household distributed to his children and servants an allowance of meat and drink according to their importance. It is the same custom observed for the entertainment of guests (Donahue & Harrington 2002:311). Nouwen (1996:35) says that Jesus’ cup is the cup of sorrow, not just his own sorrow but also the sorrow of humanity. It is the cup of starvation, torture, aloneness, rejection, abandonment, and immense anguish. It is the cup full of bitterness. It is the cup that Isaiah calls “the cup of God’s wrath”. Nouwen (1996:50) continues that Jesus’ cup is also a cup of joy. Jesus’ unconditional acceptance of the will of his father had empowered him to drink his cup, not in passive resignation but with the full knowledge that the hour of his death would also be the hour of his glory. His “yes” made his surrender a creative act, an act that could bear much fruit. This reminds us that the cup of sorrow is also the cup of joy and that precisely what causes us sadness can become a fertile ground for gladness. Indeed, we need to care for each other, to give each other strength and consolation. When we fully realise that the cup of sorrow is also the cup of joy, we will be able to drink it. Jesus’ cup is also a cup of blessings, according to Nouwen (1996:68). Jesus took upon himself all this suffering and lifted it up on the cross, not as a curse but as a blessing. Jesus made the cup of God’s wrath into a cup of blessing. Jesus died for us so that we may live. He poured out his blood for us so that we may find new life. He gave his life away for us so that we can live in communion. He became, for us, food and drink for everlasting life. That is what Jesus meant when he took the cup and said, “This is the new covenant in my blood, poured out for you” (Lk 22:20). Drinking the cup, as Jesus did, is the way out of sin and death. It is the way to salvation. It is a hard way, a painful way, a way we want to avoid at all costs. Often it seems an impossible way. Still, unless we are willing to drink our cup, real

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freedom will elude us. This is not only the freedom that comes after we have completely emptied our cup, but that comes to us every time we drink from the cup of life. Salvation is not only a goal for the afterlife. Salvation is an everyday reality that we can taste here and now (Nouwen 1996:91). The disciples have understood that they are not to seek power or reward in this age, so now they seek it in the age to come! Jesus asks them if they can stand firm in the face of persecution, drink his cup, be baptised with his baptism. They say they can. The disciples do understand that persecution is a consequence of following God’s rule now (Dewey & Malbon 2009:319).

4

The possible meanings of “baptism”

4.1

Biblical meaning of “baptism”

Not only did Jesus ask his disciples if they were ready to drink his cup, but he also asked if they were ready for his baptism4. The disciples answered yes to both questions. However, I want to reiterate that the disciples of Jesus did not understand the question that Jesus was asking – rather, they were thinking about positions on the left and right of Jesus. Jesus had to explain that these positions were not for sale, but that they would be granted only by the father and only to people for whom such positions were prepared (Mt 20:22–23 cf Mk 10:38–39). Baptism represents a triumph over death: Just as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life (Rm 6:4 cf Col 2:12). Baptism may also refer to the believer’s baptism. In Matthew 28:19–20, Jesus says to his disciples: “Go, and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things which I commanded you. Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” This baptism is for those who believe and it is baptism through immersion (Mt 3:16–17; Jn 3:23; Act 8:38; Rm 6:4). The believer’s baptism is different from John’s baptism because a person has to repent of his or her sins to experience it (Act 19:1–5). In this specific context, 4 b\ptisla means immersion, submersion. It is a metaphor of calamities and afflictions. John’s baptism teaches that a purification rite in which persons would confess their sins in order to receive spiritual reformation, obtain pardon for their past sins, and become qualified for the benefits of the Messiah’s kingdom, was soon to be set up. This was a valid Christian baptism and the only baptism the apostles received. There is no record anywhere of their ever being rebaptised after Pentecost. Christian baptism – a rite of immersion in water as commanded by Christ, by which one, after confessing sins and professing one’s faith in Christ, having been born again by the Holy Spirit unto a new life – identifies publicly with the fellowship of Christ and the church.

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baptism attests to regeneration (Rm 6:3–4) and to the remission of sins (Act 2:38).

4.2

“Baptism” as a metaphor

Jesus also teaches servant leadership in Mark 10:38–39 by the use of another metaphor, baptism. The narrative context of Mark supposes that Jesus uses baptism to depict the suffering and death into which he is soon to be “plunged” (Thurston 2002:116). Baptism means to be bathed, but it is also a specific reference to ceremonial washing in terms of the law. This definition of baptism relates to the New Testament’s water baptism that, in a way, symbolises the washing away of sins (Alexander 1961:291). Baptism refers to agony and overwhelming sorrow or outward persecution and affliction (Sanner 1979:361). The metaphor of the “baptism” is a parallel thought. Baptism conveys the idea “to identify with”, showing Jesus’ acceptance of the suffering ahead (Hutchison 2009:62). The baptism that Jesus accepted was not just the water baptism of John the Baptist, but the baptism of fire to which John alluded (Mk 1:8). To “accept baptism” (or “deep water”), the term used in ancient literature for “flood” or “getting soaked”, is to accept God’s way of suffering. Since Jesus applied the cup uniquely to himself, baptism is best taken here as his submission to the Father’s will in facing the cross (Mk 14:36). The image of baptism reminds the baptised that they have been baptised into the death of Christ. Certainly, James underwent martyrdom (Act 12:2). John’s fate, however, is uncertain. Thus, the New Testament alludes to baptism as the meaning of suffering. It is clear that anyone who seeks the prestigious seats of glory is, in fact, asking to take part in Jesus’ death. The baptism of Jesus is not as simple a matter as James and John perceive it to be; it is deeper than what they bargain for, and it refers to exceedingly difficult times.

5

Metaphors of servant leadership

The term “servant leadership” has, according Kgatle (2017:286), been a trademark of Greenleaf ’s5 since the 1970s and has become the epitome of the concept. 5 Robert K Greenleaf coined and modelled scholarly research of this study in the late seventies. For this reason, servant leadership is now known as his leadership theory and practice. He is also known as the founder of the servant leadership movement and the Greenleaf Centre for Servant Leadership. In his book, Servant Leadership: A journey into the nature of legitimate power and greatness, he concluded that a great leaders are seen as a servants first and that simple fact is the key to their greatness (Greenleaf 1997:7).

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Greenleaf spoke, wrote and lived servant leadership. Greenleaf also emphasised that service to one’s followers is a priority that contrasts with personal agendas and power. Becoming a servant leader begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve. One is then inspired to make a conscious choice towards leadership. A servant leader is sharply different from someone who is a leader first and foremost, perhaps because of a need to assuage an unusual power-drive or to acquire material possessions (Greenleaf 1997:13). Servant leadership, in the words of Northouse (2004:2), is not about position but manifests in terms of the power relationship that exists between leaders and followers. What is new in this chapter is how the concept of servant leadership relates to the concepts of “cup” and “baptism”. “Cup” and “baptism” are metaphors for servant leadership because suffering is the cost of participating in God’s kingdom (Burge & Hill 2012:1036). Jesus demonstrates that servant leadership is about suffering and sacrifice (Kgatle 2016:104). Both baptism and the cup remind us forcibly, by their symbolism, of the cost of following Christ; the servant must be like his Master. The cup of suffering and the baptism – both of death and of empowerment for mission – are the means of fellowshipping with him and are the only way to follow him (Hooker 1991:246). When applied to servant leadership, the use of both cup and baptism in Mark 10:39 suggest that leaders should participate morally in Jesus’ passion. They should do so as an expression of sharing in his fate (William 1984:379). Servant leaders should be willing to suffer with Jesus, or to share in his suffering on the cross of Calvary. Servant leaders should lead the same way that Jesus led his disciples. What this means is that to drink the cup is to partake in the suffering of Jesus. To be baptised in His baptism is to sink deep into his suffering. If baptism means immersion, then to be baptised into his suffering means to accept an immersion into the trials and tribulations of Jesus. Servant leaders in our time should not be interested only in positions of leadership but should be prepared to take part in Jesus’ suffering too. The call for James and John to take part in drinking Jesus’ cup and to be baptised in his baptism is a call to a kind of servant leadership that sees the person concerned sharing the suffering of Jesus before occupying any position. Servant leadership in this context is “suffering servanthood” precisely because Jesus’ cross defines the meaning of service (Tan 2009:88). The cross-shaped pattern of servant leadership is every bit as radical as it was on Golgotha. In today’s culture, many leaders still gravitate toward patterns of leadership oriented along the lines of dominance, control, and power. This happens when Christians find themselves pressured to adapt to the world’s mould – or when they deliberately adopt the world’s way of doing things. Servant leaders should be willing to go through difficult times and tribulations in life. A servant leader does not live to please others, but to please God.

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This means that servant leadership is a willingness to live a life of pleasing God at all times. Such willingness may result in the servant leader experiencing persecution from a number of directions. Suffering does not only mean a life of poverty, sickness, or death. It also implies persecution because the leader follows Jesus. Leaders should align themselves to God’s plan and programme for their lives and should identify with Jesus’ suffering. The cup and baptism are not only symbols of suffering but of eschatological vindication. In counterpoint to the persecution and trials that the servant leader will experience, there will also be the reward of serving others. The cup and baptism refer not only to sorrow but also to the eschatological vindication that Christ will ultimately grant to all believers and his church. The main purpose of the cup and the baptism of Jesus is the salvation of his people. Anyone who is willing to share the cup and baptism of Jesus will receive salvation of their own soul.

6

Conclusion

This chapter has explored various possible biblical and metaphorical denotations of the “cup” and “baptism” referred to in Mark 10:38–39. It has applied the various possible implications of these terms to servant leadership in the contemporary world. Furthermore, the chapter has demonstrated that “cup” and “baptism” are metaphors for servant leadership. It makes a call to leaders to apply the metaphors of the “cup” and “baptism” in servant leadership, calling them to endure hardship and tribulation in their leadership. It is a call for leaders to remember that participating in the fate of Jesus has the promise of eschatological vindication and reward for faithful service.

References Alexander, J.A. 1961. The Gospel according to Mark. London: Banner of Trust. Burge, G.M. & Hill, A.E. 2012. The Baker illustrated Bible commentary. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books. Dewey, J. & Malbon, E.S. 2009. Mark, in D.L. Petersen & G.R. O’Day (eds): Theological Bible commentary. Westminster : John Knox Press. Donahue, J.R. & Harrington, D.J. (eds) 2002. The Gospel of Mark. Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press. France, R.T. 2002. The Gospel of Mark: Commentary on the Greek text. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans. Geisler, G.L. 2007. A popular survey of the New Testament. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Books.

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Greenleaf, R.K. 1997. Servant Leadership: A journey into the nature of legitimate power and greatness. New York: Paulist Press. Hooker, M.D. 1991. The Gospel according to Saint Mark. London: Hendrickson. Hutchison, D. 2009. Servanthood: Jesus’ countercultural call to Christian leaders. Bibliotheca Sacra 166(1), 53–69. Johnson, S.E. 1972. The Gospel according to Saint Mark. 2nd ed. New York: Adam & Charles Black. Kgatle, M.S. 2016. Servant leadership in Mark 10:35–45 applied to African Pentecostal Christianity. Doctoral dissertation, University of Pretoria. Kgatle, M.S. 2017. Servant Leadership: Son of Man as minister and life giver in Mark 10.45. Journal of Pentecostal Theology 26(2), 286–298. Northouse, P.G. 2004. Leadership: Theory and practice. 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Nouwen, H.J. 1996. Can you drink the cup? Notre Dame, Indiana: Ave Maria Press. Powell, M.A. 2009. Introducing the New Testament: A historical, literary, and theological survey. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic. Sanner, A.E. 1979. The Gospel according to Mark. Kansas City : Beacon Hill. Seeley, D. 1993. Rulership and service in Mark 10:41–45. Novum Testamentum 35(3), 234–250. Stein, R.H. 2008. Mark. Louisville, Kentucky : Baker academic. Tan, S. 2009. The primacy of servanthood, in E.O. Jacobsen (ed): The three tasks of leadership: Worldly wisdom. Grand Rapids, Michigan: William B. Eerdmans, 77–90. Telford, W.R. 1999. The theology of the Gospel of Mark. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (New Testament Theology). URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139163750 [Accessed 12 December 2018]. Thurston, B.B. 2002. Preaching Mark. Minneapolis: Fortress Press. Williamson, L.R. 1983. Interpretation: A Bible commentary for teaching and preaching. Atlanta: John Knox.

Eberhard Werner1

Modelling inclusivist friendship in leadership

1

Towards friendship as inclusive leadership

In this article we approach the notion of friendship as a core model (German: Leitbild) towards inclusive leadership. As will be shown, this model is useful to bridge the life-worlds of people with and without bodily or mental impairments, it also goes beyond the scope of the relationship of people with physical or bodily impairment as the principles introduced are adaptable to marginalised people in general (e. g. migrants, foreigners, minorities). One step further and inclusion in general becomes a discourse for inclusivist leaders of the different life-worlds by aiming at mutual understanding. Having that in mind, we will exemplarily address inclusive leadership given by the Abled as well as by the Disabled, since both struggle with inclusion due to their limited expectations of the other based on experience and biases. The metaphor of “friendship as inclusive leadership” stands for an attempt to approach the other as a human, equal in rights and dignity but different in appearance and dependency. In other words, “inclusivist leadership” is a metaphor, a pictorial notion, of a methodology permeating society. Social constructivism presents the approach. The principle of the Golden Rule leads into the application of inclusivist leadership. The examples given here are also applicable to marginalised groups (e. g. migrants, minorities) in general, mainly if recognised as “Other”.

1 Eberhard Werner ; Theologian and Missiologist; Summer Institute of Linguistics, Dallas; [email protected].

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The discourse of the Dis/Abled – “otherness” versus “normalcy”

Nowadays inclusion is politically a strongly developed approach towards people with physical or mental impairment. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities (CPRD; 2006; 92 signatories) introduced the principle of “inclusion”. It was ratified by Germany, the UK and the US in 2009 (German: UN–BRK). The underlying assumption of “inclusion” is towards an inclusivist change of society not just by physical arrangements but also by deepseated thought processes that will result in a shift of what is considered “normal” or “standard”. The shift in meaning is inclusive in so far that the “disabled” are the measurement of what is physically and mentally acceptable and what will fall outside. The sociological benchmarks that are active against inclusion are “discrimination”, “marginalisation”, and “exclusion”. Every time such processes are accelerated, the discourse of “normalcy” versus “otherness” comes into play. We find similar processes with other social groups. Sexual orientation is one of those areas of life that provoke refusal and worse. There the discourse is about denial of homosexual or bisexual relationships based on monogamy or heterosexual relationships as a default. In effect the victims are experiencing refusal, mockery, and discrimination in their thread of life. It is for this reason that inclusion becomes a metaphor for transformational, inclusivist, and person-oriented thinking. How does that relate to our topic here? Leadership in politics, economics, education, and social institutions (e. g. scientists, teachers, managers, NGO heads etc.) involves those crucial segments of society that above all are communicating these social benchmarks. Leadership especially comes into play, as it is not just a promoting but also an implementing force. Leaders are responsible for setting up, overseeing and supporting social environments for specific needs. Regarding the area of disability studies, the metaphor of inclusion – a political metaphor because it is understood as a concept coming out of political correctness – directs the leaders to think holistically about their audience, their goals, and the transformation of society by their influence. This is not to say that leaders need to influence, or manipulate, or dictate inclusion on their followers. Not at all. It is rather the associated effect of inclusive leadership that signals inclusion as the direction. Which model of leadership would most appropriate to translate the metaphor of inclusion into societal reality? The recently discussed scientific models of leadership include the trait model, the attribution model, the transformational model, the post-heroic model, and more recent “(neo-)charismatic, transformational and symbolic models” of leadership (see Alvesson & Spicer

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2011:13–15, 18). Having these models in mind one must be aware that research on leadership for the most part ignores the perspective of the followers, and how they view “leadership”. Thus, all definitions lack an important point of view. The social constructivist approach, which was introduced as part of the latter models, is based on the charismatic, the symbolic, and the attribution model (:18). It is of interest here as it implies a collectivist and therefore inclusivist principle. With this tendency in mind, social constructivism is for example used in the education of translators to stimulate a mutual process of qualitative improvement. Thus, the translators start translating a text (simultaneous or consecutive interpreting or translating) together with other translators. They step back and discuss the process, the experience, and the results together. A text is thus finalised only after common consent and the observed behavioural effects are taken into account for the next translation task (e. g. Kiraly 2000). In translation as an intuitive task, the peer group as a whole takes the control of quality. Leadership mirrors the intuitive task; this is one reason why it lacks a final definition. Social constructivism aims at tasks to be met, but the processing individually taken is up to the person(s) in charge – the leader(s). This is why a “shared” approach or one driven “by consent”, such as social constructivism, is helpful. For the task of inclusion, this seems even more valuable as partners with different social prestige or status are longing for goals that would profit all. Nevertheless, the disabled partner is not able to change his environment or the mind-sets of the Abled. Thus, viewed from the perspective of the person with physical or mental impairment, the starting position is between unequal partners. To understand the fact of inequality we must have a look at some specific factors that determine the discourse between the Dis/Abled. First, we need to keep in mind that the encounter between the Abled and the Disabled person is highly loaded emotionally. Both sides come with high resentments and prejudices based on fear or ableism (Abled) and negative experience such as discrimination (Disabled). Research demonstrates that physical handicap (bodily and mental), as a variation from the “normal”, leads to reactions that range from ignorance, turning away, disgust, or nausea to shock (Cloerkes 1985:2). Second, the aesthetic factor should not be underestimated. Physical appearance, such as burn injuries, missing or deformed extremities, or the use of laborious aid devices (e. g. heart-lung machine, voice generator) provoke fear of contact and lead to isolation of the disabled. The media reporting on Joachim “Joe” Deckarm, a former Handball player (coma and mental handicap; born 1954; accident 1979), Niki Lauda, a former three times F1 World Driver Champion (facial burn injuries; born 1949; accident 1976), Samuel Koch (quadriplegic; born 1987; accident 2010), or recently Michael Schumacher (coma; born 1969; accident 2013) as well as the caution and reluctance of Western media exemplifies the marginalisation of physical demolition and

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deformation. The metaphors of “cripple, gimp” (for lame people), “derp, moron, dimwit, idiot, (re)tard, schizo, dickhead” (for mentally handicapped), “dwarf, midget” (for small in stature), “mole” (for blind people), or endless others used to generalise people affected underlie the broad social divide linguistically and in thinking. These swearwords complement the terminology of political correctness so far as they could be used both positively or negatively, regarding the context they were addressed in. For instance, the expression “persons with impairment!” as used here with quotation marks and exclamation mark, in a pamphlet of a right-wing party would clearly be indicating a target group negatively, whereas otherwise it would be a politically correct description. The term “idiot” used by politically radical disabled persons serves as an identification marker against the Abled, but would be offensive if the Abled used it (other examples below). Both linguistic areas (swearwords and political correctness) express metaphors and as demonstrated could be used either in inclusion, as in political correct terminology, or exclusively, as with swearwords. The dark side of inclusion is represented by those linguistic areas that demonstrate the taboo (“off to gassing”), the space of no-go (“cripple party”) or the limitations of societal acceptance (“not this freak”). This is important as far as linguistic assaults are often taken up by radical segments of a movement, such as the so called “cripple movement” from the 1970s and 1980s. The lead metaphor “a club for every cripple” rhymes in German “Jedem Krüppel seinen Knüppel” and expresses physical rebellion against societal exclusion from the public realm by refusal, ableism, discrimination, extradition, or ignorance. For more information see Cripple movement (2010). Thus, using swearwords as identifiers changes the underlying meaning of a metaphor into its “shadow” that is the converse. However, a right wing pamphlet stating “every cripple – one too much” demonstrates the importance of the associated co- and con-text of metaphors. Having set the scene, obviously the tense encounter between the Dis/Abled needs to be overcome by an approach that engages both parties. The social constructivist model allows for mutual participation. In leadership, the metaphor of inclusion becomes a reality by mutual advance in learning and reflection. The leadership model that best fits this approach is based on a post-heroic, transformational approach as follows.

3

Leadership as friendship – The metaphor of the Golden Rule

The Golden Rule is the law of reciprocity. It serves as a foundational policy towards inclusive leadership, thus becoming a pictorial symbol for human rights. In this it stands for good behaviour and conscience alignment, as well as highly ethical thinking and high morale. The Golden Rule is known as a religious

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or cultural directive and states “one should treat others as s/he wants to be treated”, or by negative approach that “one should do nothing that s/he does not want to be done to her/himself”. A third more emphatic form would be “to wish for others what you wish for yourself”. The basic principle of empathy towards others is stated in many religions and was defined by Jewish Jesus of Nazareth as a summary of the Jewish Law (Torah): “Do to others what you want them to do to you. This is the meaning of the law of Moses and the teaching of the prophets” (Mt 7:12; Lk 6:31). Christian leadership uses “love your neighbour”, “the love of God” and “the Golden Rule” as instructions of guidance (Lingenfelter 2008:30–31; Franklin 2017:22–23). However, “the love toward God” expressed from an anthropocentric point of view, as taken in the gospels of the New Testament, reflects the Golden Rule from a spiritual perspective. The “Golden Rule” is also mirrored in the directive policy of “keep hold of your eyes, your hands, and your loins” as expressed in Zoroastrism/Parsiism-influenced sects or religious groups (sometimes reduced to “keep hold of your mouth and hands”). The thus expressed basic Humanist condition of equality of all persons levels the encounter of power and authority. This is congruent with inclusive leadership. A leader as primus inter pares (first among equals) is addressing the needs of the followers. In an inclusive context, leadership is asked to act on different levels. There is the level of dealing with one’s own, the disabled leader’s, handicap. In addition, inclusive leadership has to take into account whether the action/care can be completed by the leader him/ herself, or whether it is aided by assistance (e. g. a care person, mobility or sense supporting aids). Lastly, such leadership includes the effort of reflection to recognise if the task was understood and how it is best realised by the person addressed to. If leadership takes into account that the followers need their time to reflect and execute their needs to set the physical and mental environment everybody will gain from the insights learned by the overlapping of the different life-worlds. A broader reality of human existence will open up. By the way, similar experiences occur in inter- or cross-cultural leadership situations, if the team building process stumbles over linguistic or cultural hurdles. The idea of leadership as friendship aims at a trust-based and authentic relationship. Thus, trust is the essential factor and equality or the same social status comes secondary, if at all. Authenticity is the main trust-building factor. It describes friendship based on real interest in the other person. Friendship taken from this perspective becomes a symbol for mutual communication, reflection and empathy. This sort of discourse is also an intercultural approach used in multi-cultural leadership teambuilding (Lingenfelter 2008:99). We talk about a long-term dialogue. It starts with a work relationship and moves into a personal, although work based, relationship. Thus, the interest is not, as in sports, hobbies, or sexual relationships, on the other as a physical colleague, but it is – as in

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politics, the public, or at work – on the other as a mentally-task-oriented colleague. The saying “A friend close by is better than two far away” is expressing the important proximity factor of a work relationship. A friendship-oriented relationship starts by accepting the mutual dependence of leader and follower (sometimes the employee). It goes on by building trust through a mutual and reciprocal labour-oriented advance in which both partners address their different status, their goals and limitations. The story of Jesus of Nazareth exemplifies friendship in religious terms in the gospels. In modelling leadership he trained his disciples by asking for their ongoing imitation of him, thereby preparing them for autonomous action, and addressing a strong team approach based on friendship as a life-sharing community (Krallmann 1992:55, 58, 157). Friendship builds on an ongoing relationship. The example of a leader who shares his life, to some degree, with the followers, is a model to the social constructivist approach as part of a collectivist-team principle. This limitation is not just reflected by Jesus of Nazareth who still kept his secret – divine – life in the relationship to the Transcendence (e. g. Lk 6:12), but more so in the limitation that even life-sharing community is temporary due to changing life-conditions, with the exception of marriage or non-formalised-cohabitation. The social constructivist approach starts with a so-called progress plan. It is mutually developed, but initiated by the leading party. The multi-stage monitoring mechanism is handled in different steps. Each asks for mutual evaluation of the process and the relationship as such. Thus, not only a product-oriented process is effective, but also a participant-oriented relational one, in which all parties involved have a say. This way of reflection is not just building trust but also empathy as the power and authority of controlling and leading to some degree is shared. In case of an inclusive approach the process also allows for the special needs of partners that are dependent on assistance, technical aid, or longer reflection phases. During the evaluation phase, these needs do become part of the process as such. The expression “Not about us without us” is thus put into practice as the physical or mental impairment is taken into consideration without putting pressure on the party relying on special needs.

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Expanding the metaphor of “normalcy” – inclusion: bridging the divide

On the one hand an over-idealisation of the approach is not helpful, on the other hand the gain by both parties – here the encounter of the Dis/Abled – by the overlapping of their life-worlds and realities needs to be emphasised. The definition of societal “normal, normalcy”, or “standard” is expanded to, or switched

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towards, those elements of society that are formerly considered the “other”, or outsiders forced into “otherness”. Unlike (re-)integration or participation, the approach of inclusion widens the perceptions of “normal, normalcy” or “standard”. Thus, the focus is not on “returning something that was lost” but on expansion. Inclusion into the socially accepted body (society) of “the other” as part of society as opposed to daily experienced exclusion reflects back on one’s own bodily and mental fragility. The self-awareness and acceptance that every physical or mental impairment can potentially happen to oneself, dear relatives, or closely related persons is essential to building trust and empathy. Self- and social reflection as a required value is elementary but at the same time dangerous as the normal reaction of humans lies in the repression of unpleasant thoughts and long-term refusal or ignorance of the source of such thoughts – the Disabled. Friendship based on the Golden Rule becomes an antidote to such feelings and a central vision for inclusive leadership. In other words, the inclusivist leader follows the imperative of self-reflected intuition based on the assumption that her/his perception of life and the world follows the Golden Rule as a directive to the encounter with all other humans. In the friendship as leadership principle, the handing on of power and authority is basic to those parties that bridge the life-worlds of the Dis/Abled. The ideal of “one world, one humanity, and one vision” is hereby realised by a “heterogeneous unity principle” (in contrast to the homogenous unity principle2). Inclusion becomes a paradigm to empower the person with physical or mental impairment by involving her/him in the process of decision-making. If this person is the leading party, the metaphor challenges to bridge their own limitation(s) towards the life-world of the Abled. Literature or disabled persons themselves seldom reflect this. The risk of arrogance or ignorance also affects the disabled leader, even more so as s/he is under social pressure to prove performance capability where society assumes restriction. In such conflict encounters, often the only resolution is by (un)continuous dismissal of the other as arrogant. Thereby, the suspicion of discrimination, on both sides, comes to mind.

2 The Homogenous Unity Principle (HUP) was introduced to social sciences by McGavran who postulated that any single ethnicity needs to be addressed as a whole to trigger a mass movement within that ethnicity. He was coming from a religious point of view and talked about religious or ideological conversion. The heterogeneous unity principle instead talks about human diversity and variation which is addressed by inclusive leadership. McGavran, Donald A. & Wagner, Peter C. [1970] 1990. Understanding Church Growth. 3rd rev. edition. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans.

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Conclusion – metaphor(s) of inclusion

We conclude that “inclusivist leadership” represents a metaphor for a sensitive and balanced relationship of a different power encounter. Its focus goes beyond the life worlds of disabled people; however, however, they provided the basis for the discussion in this chapter. Inclusion in itself stands for a pictorial notion to “inclusivist leadership”, while at the same time Disability Studies ask for “inclusive leadership” by inclusivist leaders. The latter term describes a reciprocal relationship of the Dis/ Abled aimed at bridging the life-worlds of both parties. The discourse of the Abled and the Disabled in daily life is determined by discrimination, refusal, ableism, and ignorance. On the one hand, the Abled leader is asked to widen her/ his focus towards people that work with assistance, use medical aids or take longer in instruction or performance to accomplish tasks. On the other hand, disabled leaders encounter the life-world of the Abled by letting go off, at least to some degree, the tough shell, which they have developed as a reaction to discrimination and high expectations of work performance due to physical or mental limitations. Inclusion in itself becomes a metaphor for a win-win situation to both parties and society, as the realisation and understanding of “normalcy” versus “otherness” merges to some degree. Bridging the divide is defining anew the perception of “normal” by opening up the peer group to those social elements that were formerly excluded. Otherness is less experienced as an excluding factor but more as a social marker of the broad human diversity. In the social constructivist approach, people with and without physical or mental impairment are heading forward together. During the process, led on the basis of mutual understanding, the tasks are fulfilled together following a jointly formulated protocol. Ongoing phases of evaluation are used not just to reflect the process but also the relationship of the leader and the followers. In the process of encounter the stance of “normalcy” is widened or rather shifted towards “otherness”. The perception of “normal” includes those that need assistance or longer mental processing. The task of leadership includes the ability to work with people of different backgrounds (also cross-culturally). Perceptions of society and the world are expanding towards the full representation of human variation and diversity. The metaphor of inclusion becomes a tool to present the full social cross section of the people we live with. The inclusivist leader represents the engineer of bridge building by friendship and is at the same time achieving the work tasks by mutual agreement and full participation of the followers that mirror all social segments.

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References Alvesson, Mats 2011. Leaders as Saints: Leadership through moral peak performance, in Mats Alvesson & Andr8 Spicer (eds): Metaphors we lead by : Understanding leadership in the real world. London: Routledge, 51–75. Alvesson, Mats & Spicer, Andr8 2011. Theories of leadership, in Mats Alvesson & Andr8 Spicer (eds): Metaphors we lead by : Understanding leadership in the real world. London: Routledge, 8–30. Cloerkes, Günther 1985. Einstellung und Verhalten gegenüber Behinderten: Eine kritische Bestandsaufnahme internationaler Forschung. 3rd expanded ed. Berlin: Marhold. [Engl.: Attitude and behaviour toward the disabled – A critical reflection of international research]. Cripple movement 2010. https://sonderpaedagoge.quibbling.de/geschichte/wiki/index. php?title=Kr%C3%BCppelbewegung [Accessed 12 December 2018]. Derrida, Jacques 1967. Of grammatology. Paris: Les Pditions de Minuit. Fletcher, Joyce K. & Käufer, Katrin 2003. Shared leadership: Paradoxes and possibility, in Craig L. Pearce & Jay Conger (eds): Shared leadership. Thousand Oaks: Sage, 21–47. Franklin, Kirk J. (ed) 2017. Towards global missional leadership: A journey through leadership paradigm shift in the Mission of God. Oxford: Regnum. Jäkel, Olaf 2003. How can mortal man understand the road he travels? Prospects and problems of the cognitive approach to religious metaphor, in Kurt Feyaerts (ed): The Bible through metaphor and translation: A cognitive semantic perspective. Oxford: Peter Lang, 55–86. Kiraly, Don 2000. A social constructivist approach to translator education: Empowerment from theory to practice. Manchester : St. Jerome. Krallmann, Günter 1992. Mentoring for mission: A handbook on leadership principles – exemplified by Jesus Christ. Hong Kong: Jensco. Lakoff, George & Johnsen, Mark [1980] 2003. Metaphors we live by. London: The University of Chicago Press. Lingenfelter, Sherwood G. 2008. Leading cross-culturally: Covenant relationships for effective Christian leadership. Grand Rapids: Baker. Massa, Dieter 2000. Verstehensbedingungen von Gleichnissen: Prozesse und Voraussetzungen der Rezeption aus kognitiver Sicht. TANZ – Texte und Arbeiten zum neutestamentlichen Zeitalter 31. Tübingen: A. Francke Verlag. [Engl.: Understanding conditions of parables: Processes and conditions of reception from a cognitive perspective]. Moss, Candida R. & Schipper, Jeremy 2011. Introduction, in Candida R. Moss & Jeremy Schipper (eds): Disability studies and biblical literature. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 1–11. Pielenz, Michael 1993. Argumentation und Metapher. Tübingen: Gunter Narr. [Engl.: Argumentation and Metaphor]. Platzner, Robert L. 1999. In the cleft of a rock: Metaphors of divine concealment and disclosure in the Hebrew Bible, in Ralph Bisshops & James Francis (eds): Metaphor, canon and community : Jewish, Christian and Islamic approaches. Religion and Discourse 1. Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 29–37. Spradley, James P. 1980. Participant observation. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.

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Stoltzfus, Tony 2005. Leadership coaching: The disciplines, skills and heart of a Christian coach. Virginia Beach: Transformational Leadership Coaching. Yukl, Gary 1989. Managerial leadership: A review of theory and research. Journal of Management 15, 215–289.

Jack Barentsen1

The pastor as entrepreneur? An investigation of the use and value of “entrepreneur” as metaphor for pastoral leadership

1

Introduction

Religious leaders face major changes due to sweeping religious and societal developments in most societies. These changes are typically described as individualisation, deinstitutionalisation, and secularisation. Digital technologies have added such terms as digitalisation, informatisation, and the rise of the network society. Many leaders and scholars of leadership have noted that this is changing the landscape for leadership significantly, moving away from so-called top-down, hierarchical styles of leadership to more collaborative and shared forms of leadership with greatly more empowered followers (Kellerman 2012; Barentsen, van den Heuvel & Lin 2017). Religious leaders and their faith communities naturally participate in these cultural changes. The socio-religious identities of faith communities frequently become unstable, requiring religious leaders and followers to rethink and reestablish a sense of corporate identity that is relevant in changing circumstances (Barentsen 2015). Across the Western world, a flood of new church initiatives has resulted: Emerging Church in the US, Fresh Expressions in the UK and Germany, and Pioneer Places in the Netherlands (Goodhew, Roberts & Volland 2012; Pompe, Todjeras & Witt 2016; Blok & Vlaardingerbroek 2016), all broadly summarised under the label “missional church”. These developments prompted further studies on the changing role of religious leaders (Barentsen 2016; Branson & Mart&nez 2011; Doornenbal 2012; Niemandt 2013). This chapter investigates how religious leaders in traditional and new types of ministry portray their own leadership in terms of innovation, and through the metaphor of “entrepreneurship”. By means of qualitative field research, 1 Jack Barentsen, Professor and Chair of Practical Theology and Researcher Institute for Leadership and Social Ethics, at the Evangelische Theologische Faculteit, Leuven, Belgium; Extraordinary Associate Professor of New Testament and Practical Theology of the North-West University, Potchefstroom, South Africa; [email protected].

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consisting of interviews and a survey, this chapter inquires into the potential and limitations that the metaphor of entrepreneurship offers for establishing and legitimating innovative forms of religious ministry and leadership (see also Zscheile 2014).

2

Entrepreneurship in religious leadership

The UK has several voices that address changes in religious leadership (Pickard 2009; Leach 2006). However, little empirical research has been conducted, with the notable exception of Michael Volland. His professional doctorate at St. John’s College of Durham University focused on investigating the entrepreneurial practice of Anglican priests in the diocese of Durham. He approached 30 respondents with questions about entrepreneurship, and selected 18 that were identified as potentially entrepreneurial. These 18 took the First Screening Entrepreneurial Indicator (FSEI). Seven priests that scored high were selected for in-depth interviews. Volland reworked his dissertation into a very accessible book (Volland 2015). He claims that “entrepreneurship is a gift of God to his Church” in a time of rapid, discontinuous and disruptive change (:2, 7). Volland’s interest is framed by the 2004 Anglican report Mission-Shaped Church: Church Planting and Fresh Expressions of Church in a Changing Context, which highlights entrepreneurship both in newly planted and established churches. He signals mixed responses to this term, both positive for the impulse of renewal and negative because of association with an enterprise culture that values money-making and greed. To counter potential objections, Volland first offers a brief study of Jesus’ teaching. He concludes that, although Jesus can be very critical of trade and wealth creation, he seems not to object when entrepreneurship is made to serve kingdom purposes. Volland believes the word can be very helpful for churches in envisioning new styles of leadership for new patterns of community formation. Working through some entrepreneurship literature, Volland explains that most entrepreneurs are motivated by getting things done, doing challenging or new things, and by being autonomous. He finds no commonly accepted definition, although most agree that the term revolves around initiative, risk and innovation. Volland adapts a standard textbook definition on entrepreneurship: A person who habitually creates and innovates to building something of recognised value around perceived opportunities. (Volland 2015:36, citing Bolton & Thompson 2004:16)

Based on these studies, Volland defined an entrepreneurial priest as

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a visionary who, in partnership with God and others, challenges the status quo by energetically creating and innovating in order to shape something of kingdom value. (:3)

Working with this definition, the FSEI, and his interview data, Volland identified a number of major themes that emerge from his research. The following findings are relevant for the research reported in this chapter : – All seven respondents were very positive about the label entrepreneur (:75). This is not surprising, since a positive FSEI score was required for being selected for further participation. But it is still significant that they embraced this term, sometimes even with reservations for what the term might mean to others in their hierarchy or congregation, and how they might be perceived. – One entrepreneurial priest was never asked to share her experiences with others in the diocese, because they didn’t know what to do with her. Although the label was meaningful to the leaders themselves, it didn’t always bring broader recognition within the region (:99). – The label “entrepreneur” allows leaders in this category to tell their story, to gain a voice. Without this category or a similar one (like “missional leadership”) these voices would be lost in structures where more traditional voices dominate the leadership discourse. Thus, this label can be a critical tool to raise awareness of how some people respond to change and innovative leadership. Convinced of the value of entrepreneurship, Volland offers suggestions for how the Anglican Church (and other churches) can encourage those with entrepreneurial gifts to serve in ministry. Volland thus engaged in empirical work to not only understand but also to promote “entrepreneurship” as a value or model of religious leadership that is helpful in developing new strategies for building or revitalising religious communities and their leadership.

3

“Entrepreneur” as a metaphor for religious leadership

In Volland’s project, the label “entrepreneur” begins to function as a metaphor for particular forms of innovative religious leadership as distinct from more traditional forms of leadership. His intention is clearly to heighten its value. Yet, he approaches this term not so much as a metaphor within religious leadership discourse, but as a descriptive label to identify and highlight particular styles of religious leadership. Given the description above of the changes in Western societies in general and in religious communities and leadership in particular, I concur that using the label “entrepreneur” is a convenient way to address certain

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aspects of religious leadership that merit more attention. This relates to such aspects as the ability to recognise new opportunities for religious communities, the need to innovate, willingness to take risks, skills in networking and bringing people and resources together – all typical characteristics of entrepreneurs. When considering its use as metaphor, “entrepreneur” is evidently more than a functional description. Depending on the speaker, the audience, and the context, talking about “the religious entrepreneur” may be a way to validate or legitimate a particular leadership style vis / vis more traditional or less innovative styles of religious leadership. Some speakers may claim legitimacy for their own innovations or their newly recognised opportunities by attaching this label to their leadership. Others might claim a place or social status amidst other religious leaders with different styles of leadership – which in turn may be an argument for denominational recognition and funding. Yet again, others may use “religious entrepreneur” with negative or pejorative connotations; the entrepreneurial religious leader is dismissed as unfaithful to time-honoured theological traditions. Such uses move beyond functional description to value a particular style of religious leadership positively or negatively, and they impact how power and authority are constructed in social interaction and discourse (Griffin 2002). As Volland already noted, particular usages of “entrepreneur” may sustain or change a network of authority and power within faith communities and denominations. In their review of theories of metaphor, Alvesson & Spicer (2011) distinguish three basic theories: the correspondence theory, the domains-interaction model, and conceptual metaphor theory. They adopt the second approach, investigating how source and target domains interact. Following this approach, the source domain for “entrepreneur” is business; the target domain is the religious domain, where pastors play a significant role. The domains-interaction model then investigates how new meaning is created by metaphor, that is, how new meanings of “pastor” and “pastoral leadership” are created by combining “pastor” with the concept of “entrepreneur” (Alvesson & Spicer 2011:41–44). In other words, the pastor is not an entrepreneur in the normal business sense of the word, because the opportunities that pastors recognise or the risks they take are not primarily financial or economical but religious, social and relational. Using “entrepreneur” in the religious domain implicitly compares the pastor to the business entrepreneur, so that some aspects of the target domain (pastoral leadership) are highlighted by implicit or explicit comparison with the source domain (business leadership). Thus, “I am an entrepreneurial pastor” is not only a functional description in terms of a set of characteristics that qualify the business entrepreneur, but the saying creates new meaning or significance for particular aspects of pastoral leadership by metaphorical extension. Therefore, any usage of “entrepreneur” to describe certain activities or leadership in a

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different domain, such as the religious domain within which pastors function, is metaphorical by nature according to the domains-interaction model of metaphor. Such would also be the case with pastors saying “I am a shepherd”, “I am a coach”, etc.

4

Survey and research plan

This raises a number of new questions. How would pastors use “entrepreneur” in relation to their own ministry, including those who are not pre-selected as entrepreneurial? How does the use of this label influence the self-perception of pastors as well as their relationships with local “followers” and other church leaders? I thus initiated an empirical study to investigate whether and how pastors use the label “entrepreneur” in relation to their practice of religious leadership. My aim is to understand how religious leaders create new meaning for their leadership, both socially and religiously, in a quickly changing society that seems to require innovation to maintain viability. Although religious leaders may be entrepreneurial without being innovative, for instance in more traditional church planting projects, many of today’s pioneers combine entrepreneurial activity with new patterns of community formation, so that entrepreneurship and innovation often run parallel (Barentsen 2016). Thus, the central research question is: “To what extent does the metaphor of ‘entrepreneur’ influence pastors or pioneers of experimental or innovative faith communities in their leadership perceptions, as compared to pastors of established churches?” In the background, I was wondering whether the metaphor of “entrepreneur” would allow especially younger pastoral leaders to gain a more positive sense of leader identity as compared to the more traditional leadership roles and identities practiced within a church setting. The research question compares pastors of pioneering communities with pastors of established churches, and asks of each group to what extent pioneers and pastors perceive themselves as being entrepreneurial and innovative. This resulted in the following main survey questions, scored on a Likert scale: Q1. To what extent is your ministry experimental or innovative? Q2. Do you see yourself as an “entrepreneur” in your current ministry? Q3. Do you think that others see you as an “entrepreneur” in your current ministry? Q4. Do you think that being innovative is important for pastors today? The survey did not define “entrepreneur”, for the goal was not to investigate precisely which dimensions of business entrepreneurship are operative in pastoral leadership, but to discover new meaning or value that users gained by using

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this metaphor. Thus, the survey also included half open questions about what two or three other metaphors respondents often used to describe their ministry, and how they would describe being an “entrepreneur” in ministry in a few words (along with two or three opportunities and dangers). These open questions generated rich data which merit further analysis and reporting than the space of this chapter allows.2 In broader entrepreneurship research, “typical explanatory variables include age, gender, race, education, earnings, capital assets, previous professional experience, marital status, professional status of the parents, and scores from psychological tests” (Freytag & Thurik 2007). Within the limitations of the current project, only a few of these variables could be adapted and investigated: age, gender, education, ministry role, country of residence, and denomination.3 This allows our results to be compared to results in the field of business entrepreneurship (see below). A pilot was conducted between January 5 and February 5, 2018, and the main responses were collected between February 13 and March 28. Responses were solicited using a snowball method through mailings of the survey within the researcher’s own professional and international networks and by various pushes via the researcher’s accounts on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. The next two sections present and analyse the data. The discussion will situate the results in the literature on pastoral leadership and innovation.

5

Profile of the respondents

A total of 172 valid responses were available for analysis.4 What do we know about the respondents and their ministries? – The average and median age of the respondents is 45 years. – The majority of the respondents is male (M=90 % F=10 %). – 15 % of the respondents consider themselves church planters, pioneers or evangelists; the remaining 85 % are pastors. – Most respondents have finished a bachelor or master degree (High School 6 %, Bachelor 36 %, Master 44 %, DMin 3 %, PhD 10 %). – Respondents currently work in the Netherlands and Belgium (43 %), Germany and Switzerland (29 %), the US & Canada (16 %), and the UK (5 %), with eight individuals from other countries. 2 Publication is planned for 2019 and 2020. 3 Since this research deals with personal data, ethical clearance was registered with the ETF research committee. 4 A total of 192 responses came in. Several were excluded because respondents were not working professionally in a local ministry as religious leader or pastor.

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– Most are Evangelical or Baptist (70 %). Other denominations represented included Reformed/Lutheran (19 %), Charismatic/Pentecostal (7 %) and Anglican/Episcopal (4 %). Note that the distribution across various categories is not always very even. This represents in part the strategy for recruiting respondents, starting with the researcher’s own networks, asking to have the survey recommended to colleagues in the respondents’ networks, and working through social media. Respondents came almost exclusively from North-western Europe and North America. Also, Roman Catholic and Orthodox traditions are almost entirely missing (except for two RC individuals). In spite of these limitations, the respondents represent a reasonably diverse sampling of pastors and pioneers, sufficient for this explorative project. The diversity of respondents and their ministries allows this survey to surface interesting trends that will be recognisable in many churches in these countries. It is also significant that across all the variables, the median for age is generally between 45 and 47, with a few exceptions: – Educational level: respondents with DMin are significantly older (median age = 57). – Country of residence: respondents from Romania and Belgium are older (58 and 51, resp.), from Switzerland younger (40). – Denomination: Anglican/Episcopal respondents are older (median age = 50), Charismatic/Pentecostal respondents are substantially younger (38,5). These numbers (N=172) represent more than a small local sample, but are insufficient for broad generalisations, which would require more widespread sampling and many more responses. For phenomenological research in practical theology, however, these are quite significant numbers, which also allow the data to be compared to broader (sociological) research into entrepreneurship. Thus, although these data cannot be pushed to yield generalisations for pastors or church planters generally, whether by denomination, country or age, in their broader ecclesiological and sociological context the data yield insights into potential trends and issues. Conclusions derived from the data may provide helpful insights for numerous pastors and their ministries.

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Results in context5

Responses to the four main survey questions will now be presented and compared with business entrepreneurship research to discern particular trends and developments. This will expand Volland’s research and provide a wider basis for conclusions and implications.

6.1

Gender and age

GENDER. Both males and females report that they are slightly more positive than neutral about their entrepreneurial status and level of innovation (Q1–Q36), although all definitely agree that pastors should be innovative (Q4). Interestingly, female respondents (only 10 % of the total) rated themselves slightly more innovative and entrepreneurial than male respondents. AGE. When scores for Q1–Q3 are averaged per age group (21–30; 31–40 … 61+), a bell curve results. The youngest and oldest age groups consider themselves least entrepreneurial or innovative, while the 41–50 age group rates themselves fairly entrepreneurial. Thus, respondents considered themselves most entrepreneurial at the mid- to late career stage. Remarkably, all ages definitely agree that innovation is important for pastors (Q4), and this score increases slightly with age. These are interesting findings when compared to entrepreneurship generally (Grilo & Thurik 2008:1119). Usually the peak in entrepreneurial activity occurs between ages 25–35, while men are generally more inclined towards entrepreneurship than women. These differences may reflect that religious entrepreneurship is usually not primarily driven by economic opportunity or need for income, which are early career priorities for professional development; rather, as a quest for religious significance and relevance, religious entrepreneurship may rise to prominence later in one’s career. Moreover, as a field of employment, religious institutions and communities often attract second career switchers after an early career in another field. Next, female pastoral leaders may be slightly more entrepreneurial in the ministries that are represented, precisely because they represent a minority of professionals in a field that in many quarters is largely structured by male leadership. Women in such 5 With gratitude to Liesbet Duerinck van Gysegem for her assistance. 6 Q1, Q2, etc. refers to the main survey questions 1, 2, 3 and 4 (see explanation above in section 4, “research plan”), p. 79.

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leadership structures may function more often as pioneering leaders and examples for other women than their male counterparts, thus highlighting a dimension of entrepreneurial leadership. These suggestions are necessarily speculative, since further statistical research is needed to corroborate these data.

6.2

Educational level

The responses do not exhibit a clear pattern relative to increasing levels of education. High School and Doctor of Ministry graduates rate themselves least entrepreneurial, while Bachelor or Master graduates are moderately positive about their entrepreneurship. Surprisingly, PhD graduates consider themselves moderately entrepreneurial (same as Bachelor graduates), but they expect to be perceived as quite entrepreneurial (Bachelor graduates are slightly negative about this). The difference in self-perception as entrepreneur between DMin and PhD graduates is significant; it may reflect the difference in median age (57 and 47 respectively), but it may also reflect the DMin orientation towards professional implementation, while PhDs generate new knowledge, increasing expectations, especially from others, that they will innovate. This appears to be similar to the variable results on how educational levels affect entrepreneurship (Grilo & Thurik 2008:1119). Therefore, educational level does not appear to correlate closely with levels of innovation and entrepreneurship.

6.3

Ministry role

Respondents who identified themselves as pioneer, evangelist or church planter were taken together as one group of pioneers. It is no surprise that those who label themselves “pastors” (85 %) score neutral in rating themselves on innovation and entrepreneurship, while pioneers (15 %) rate themselves rather positively on these dimensions. The percentage of pioneers (15 %) is a little high compared to national averages of entrepreneurs in relation to the total work force in a number of EU countries. Table 1: Percentage of entrepreneurs as compared to the total work force (figures from 2002–2004, Freytag & Thurik 2007:121) Germany and Austria 8–9 % Belgium and the Netherlands Portugal and Spain

11 % 13–14 %

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Given the number of respondents to the current survey, there is no reason to assume that entrepreneurship is at unusually high levels in the religious sector (15 %) as compared to other sectors in these EU countries (8–14 %). Perhaps this simply reflects the inclination of pioneers to participate more willingly in a survey about entrepreneurship and innovation than the average pastor.

6.4

Country of current residence

Respondents from Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland report neutral to negative self-perceptions of entrepreneurship, with respondents from Belgium and especially Canada reporting positive self-perceptions. It is difficult to correlate this with national statistics on business entrepreneurship. Yet, the low selfratings for entrepreneurship in the US sample are surprising, since that country generally rates high in levels of business entrepreneurship. This may be because Christianity and church attendance are still culturally accepted in many parts of the US, perhaps reducing the need to be entrepreneurial. However, entrepreneurial religious leadership is very much a part of Christian cultural heritage in the US, as the voluminous literature about church renewal in the US testifies. It is also possible that ratings of religious entrepreneurship should be interpreted as pastors comparing themselves to national tendencies towards general entrepreneurship. Thus, low ratings by pastors may not indicate a low level of religious entrepreneurship generally, but only low as compared to national averages for general entrepreneurship in their country of residence. Thus, at least some US pastors do not consider themselves very entrepreneurial as compared to the average US business entrepreneur, although they may be much more entrepreneurial than some of their European counterparts. This, however, needs further investigation with more extensive data sets.

6.5

Denomination

Anglican/Episcopal respondents (almost all from the UK) rate themselves fairly positively in entrepreneurship, in parallel with UK ratings for business entrepreneurship. Reformed/Lutheran respondents, mostly from Germanic countries, rate themselves slightly negative, also in parallel with the general ratings for Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. Evangelical/Baptist respondents rate themselves somewhat positively, while Charismatic/Pentecostal respondents rate highest; these respondents originate from various countries so that correlation with national figures is not possible. However, perceptions of entrepreneurship may correlate with characteristics and ideologies in the reli-

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gious sector. In earlier qualitative research, I found that pastors, that were change agents in their church, spoke about their own change management quite differently. A Presbyterian pastor described his change management as incremental change in comparison to his Presbyterian tradition; a Baptist pastor described his similar change management as a significant disruption from previous leadership. They framed their change management in a way that made them credible change agents within their own religious tradition (Barentsen 2015). Whether this is the case on a larger scale bears further investigation, but it seems quite intuitive that the Charismatic/Pentecostal group, with its theological emphasis on renewal and transformation, is significantly more positive about entrepreneurship than the Reformed/Lutheran group.

6.6

Summary

In summary, the data presented offer a limited and still speculative portrayal of pastoral leaders and their self-perception as entrepreneur or as innovator. The more traditional framing of leadership within religious communities, and the relatively high numbers of second career switchers into the sector, may explain the higher ratings in religious entrepreneurship for female professionals (but the sample is very small) as well as for mid to late career professionals. Education and country of residence appear to have varying effects on religious entrepreneurship that cannot be easily explained. However, ratings of religious entrepreneurship by denomination may be correlated with different denominational orientations towards tradition and renewal. In context with other theological and sociological data, as well as by further research, these data have some significance, which will now be discussed.

7

Discussion: The value of the metaphor “entrepreneur”

According to the domains-interaction model, if pastors use the term “entrepreneur” to describe their own leadership, they transfer it from the business to the religious domain and create new meaning for their religious leadership. To explore this new meaning, the survey included the open question: “What 2 or 3 words best describe being an ‘entrepreneur’ in ministry?” Responses centred on terms like innovative (creative, visionary), initiating (risk-taker), and courageous (bold, progressive), even for those who did not see themselves as entrepreneurs. Creativity and courage are not, of course, unique to entrepreneurs, but the label “entrepreneur” has entered theological discourse about pastoral

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leadership as a way to highlight innovation and creativity in new missional opportunities as practiced by some religious leaders. A personal question in this research was whether this label might be especially useful to younger and more experimental pastoral leaders. The survey results indicate otherwise, since early career professionals rated themselves lowest in terms of innovation and entrepreneurship, most likely focusing on getting established and building credibility. Instead, mid- to late career pastors as well as pioneers are most positive about their entrepreneurial potential. Interestingly, late career people generally still consider themselves innovative, but not entrepreneurial, reflecting perhaps cultural attitudes towards old age. A few further responses to open survey questions indicate that the label “entrepreneur” gives some people the opportunity to think outside of the box, to search for new ways to increase the relevance of the church, or to experiment in ways that would otherwise be considered unfitting – which is way of legitimising innovation and experiment in a sector that is often known for its conservatism. A key leadership skill is to frame one’s ministry in such a way as to gain the best possible footing for leadership and for implementing change in one’s context (Barentsen 2011:55–62). Thus, self-ratings about innovation and entrepreneurship reflect one’s cultural understanding of entrepreneurship in relation to one’s religious context, one’s tradition and one’s perceived basis for leadership legitimacy. Further analysis of open survey questions revealed a number of business terms: money making, risk taking, planning, purpose driven, manager, organisation developer. Respondents who did not identify as entrepreneur listed more business terms in their responses than those who identified as entrepreneurs. These survey results also revealed theologically sensitive terms: listening, visionary, creative, founder, empowerment. Here the reverse pattern is observed: those who identified as entrepreneur listed more such terms than those who did not. It appears, then, that those who more readily identify with entrepreneurship are more likely to attach potentially spiritual meanings to “entrepreneur”, thereby enhancing their self-understanding and role in innovation. Those who do not readily identify as “entrepreneur” seem more likely to attach business terms to the metaphor, perhaps thereby affirming their commitment to traditional religious leadership styles as distinct from other, secular forms of leadership. One’s interpretation of “entrepreneur” in ministry may thus well correlate with particular theological beliefs about one’s role as leader and innovator. Further qualitative research is needed to investigate this in greater depth. “Entrepreneur” is neither a biblical metaphor nor a significant theological term. Yet, a brief review of Christian history demonstrates the entrepreneurial nature of various Christian movements: the rise of Pauline communities in the Greco-Roman world, the rise of monastic movements and various religious or-

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ders, the Reformation with its many institutional and personal renewal movements, the missionary movements of the 18th century, church planting movements in the twentieth century, and many more. Thus, entrepreneurship is no stranger to the Christian tradition, and it would be an interesting angle from which to conduct further research. Moreover, entrepreneurship and innovation connect with the theological priority of reform, renewal, and conversion. Thus, entrepreneurship is often valued by religious leaders who recognise the need and opportunities for innovation in their particular context. This is, of course, part of the dynamic of “entrepreneur” as metaphor. Depending on cultural embedding and personal context, some dimensions of entrepreneurship rank as more important than others. In connection with one’s understanding of the need for leadership and innovation in one’s ministry, entrepreneurship then takes on more positive or more negative meanings. Finally, 80 % of all respondents agree or strongly agree that pastors should be innovative. It is perhaps a sign of western culture that one should believe in progress, change and innovation, regardless of how well one adapts to the fast rate of change. In this context, “entrepreneurship” may be a helpful metaphor if it serves to highlight how religious leaders walk a tight rope between tradition and transformation, with our culture continually pulling in the direction of transformation. This falls short of Volland’s enthusiastic endorsement and recommendation of the metaphor, as noted above, but it clearly adds more nuance to the debate about and use of the metaphor of “entrepreneur” as a meaningmaking metaphor for religious leaders.

References Alvesson, Mats & Spicer, Andr8 2011. Metaphors we lead by : Understanding leadership in the real world. London: Routledge. Barentsen, Jack 2011. Emerging leadership in the Pauline mission: A social identity perspective on local leadership development in Corinth and Ephesus. Eugene: Wipf & Stock. Barentsen, Jack 2015. Church leadership as adaptive identity construction in a changing social context. Journal of Religious Leadership 15(2), 49–80. Barentsen, Jack 2016. Practising religious leadership, in J. Storey, J. Hartley, J.-L. Denis, P. ’t Hart & D. Ulrich (eds): Routledge companion to leadership. London : Routledge, 206–277. Barentsen, Jack; van den Heuvel, Stephen & Lin, Peirong (eds) 2017. The end of leadership? Leadership and authority at crossroads. Christian Perspectives on Leadership and Social Ethics. Vol. 4. Leuven: Peeters. Blok, Oeds & Vlaardingerbroek, Matthijs 2016. Survivalgids pionieren: Praktijkverhalen van creatieve gemeentestichting. Arnhem: Vindingrijk.

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Bolton, Bill & Thompson, John 2004. Entrepreneurs: talent, temperament, technique. 2nd ed. Oxford: Routledge. Branson, Mark & Mart&nez, Juan 2011. Churches, cultures, and leadership: A practical theology of congregations and ethnicities. Downers Grove: IVP Academic. Doornenbal, Robert 2012. Crossroads: An exploration of the emerging-missional conversation with a special focus on ‘missional leadership’ and its challenges for theological education. Delft: Eburon. Freytag, Andreas & Thurik, Roy 2007. Entrepreneurship and its determinants in a crosscountry setting. Journal of Evolutionary Economics 17(2), 117–131. Goodhew, David; Roberts, Andrew & Volland, Michael 2012. Fresh! An introduction to fresh expressions of church and pioneer ministry. London: SCM Press. Griffin, Douglas 2002. The emergence of leadership: Linking self-organization and ethics. London, Routledge. Grilo, Isabel & Thurik, Roy 2008. Determinants of entrepreneurial engagement levels in Europe and the US. Industrial and Corporate Change 17(6), 1113–1145. Kellerman, Barbara 2012. The end of leadership. New York: Harper Business. Leach, Jane 2006. Pastoral supervision: A review of the literature. Contact 151, 37–45. Niemandt, Nelus 2013. Nuwe leiers vir nuwe werklikhede. Pretoria: Christelike Uitgewersmaatskappy. Pickard, Stephen 2009. Theological foundations for collaborative ministry. Surrey : Ashgate. Pompe, Hans-Hermann; Todjeras, Patrick & Witt, Carla 2016. Fresh X – Frisch. Neu. Innovativ : Und es ist Kirche. Neukirchen: Neukirchener Aussaat. Volland, Michael 2015. The minister as entrepreneur: Leading and growing the church in an age of rapid change. London: SPCK. Zscheile, Dwight 2014. The agile church: Spirit-led innovation in an uncertain age. Harrisburg: Morehouse.

Mathias Nell1

Military metaphors we lead by: Paul’s self-enactment as a field commander

1

Introduction

According to Spicer and Alvesson (2011:198), the commander-metaphors belong to the “‘darker’ metaphors of leadership”, as such leadership “requires steely coldness and hardness. It requires the leader to take the hard decisions and enforce social order. In short, it requires command” (Spicer 2011:120). In view of this perspective, it is of interest to examine a prevalent facet of the presentation of the Apostle Paul’s understanding of leadership. For though the gospel of Jesus Christ is a gospel of peace, Paul – as the proclaimer of Jesus’ gospel – had no hesitation in presenting himself and his ministry in language that mirrors that of military commanders, in a kind of “metaphorical selfenactment”2. Therefore, the questions to examine are: – What could have been Paul’s motivation to use such motifs and similarly what could have been the purpose and the anticipated benefit for Paul in using the chosen language? – What are the implications for Paul’s understanding of the church as the people Paul wanted to lead? – Which ethical and practical implications from the use of military metaphors can be found in the churches led by the apostle? – Should (or may) those metaphors still be used in leadership discourse today?

1 Mathias Nell, Pastor and Theologian; Theologische Akademie Stuttgart, Germany ; mnell @gospel-forum.de. 2 Metaphorical self-enactment is commonly understood as the self-appropriation of a position and/or function which one does not have otherwise. This is achieved by the use of figures of speech such as metaphors and associated motifs.

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Military metaphors in Greco-Roman antiquity

Regarding military metaphors in Greco-Roman antiquity, it must first be noted that the significance of the military in general cannot be overestimated, just like its influence on almost all areas of society. This is because within the Roman Empire, the provincial governors of Rome were entrusted not only with the military command of the troops in their respective administrative districts, but also with the authority over finance and taxation as well as civil justice or the maintenance of public order (Omerzu 2010:65). The direct military influence on these – and other (see Fischer 2014:10f) – areas of society is therefore always unequivocally accepted for the New Testament period, as it was present everywhere due to military-dominated and military-represented authorities. Coming from this generally high status and omnipresence of the military in people’s lives and minds, it is not surprising that military language and military metaphors were well-known topos in the philosophical argumentation of both Greeks and Romans in antiquity, especially with the objective of promoting certain ethical beliefs (see Müller 2013:8f). In addition, certain topics can still be identified to explain the use of military speech and military metaphors, since “military terminology was already current in the cults of other gods, like Bachhus, Venus, Isis and Mithras, to differentiate their members among a ‘hostile’ environment and to achieve cohesion among them” (Iosif 2013:45). In other words, military metaphors were used in the immediate religious context with the objective of uniting the followers of a faith, both within the faith and as a corresponding perception to the outside world. As will be shown, the objectives mentioned above are also the fields that Paul addresses with his use of military metaphors. It will also be shown that, in the given religious context, military kind of speech is not only plausible, but even almost irreplaceable. This is in line with the results of more recent studies on metaphors, for a true metaphor is “not for an aesthetic value only, but for an additional overvalue in meaning. In such cases, metaphors express something in a transformed way, which could not have been expressed so clearly and trenchant without the metaphor” (Nell 2017:1013). Genuine metaphors, therefore, do not merely frame a message, they are the message.

3 With reference to Härle, W. 2014. Warum Gott? 2nd edition. Leipzig: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt, 40.

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Paul’s focus in using military metaphors

Paul uses military language in a religious context, on the one hand to alert Christians to the spiritual realities which are active against them and to how they should respond and behave in the said surroundings. He assures them that undoubtedly Satan is actively fighting against the church as a whole as well as against the individual (e. g. 1 Cor 16:9; 2 Cor 12:7; 2 Th 2:3f), as Foerster (1964:161) states correctly (own translation): “In the letters of the New Testament, the most prominent aspect, under which the devil is mentioned, is his attack on the church.” Neither does Paul leave any doubt that Satan has already lost the fight from an eschatological perspective and will finally be deprived of power (e. g. 2 Th 2:8). In this context, Paul also uses military language to describe the behaviour of Christians as a church towards each other, where the focus should lie in a number of ideas found by taking a brief look at his early and later literature.4 For comparing the early and the later literature of Paul will reveal an additional facet of his use of military language.

3.1

The battle side by side: serving in unity

Analysis of what is presumed to be the earliest letter of Paul, the letter to the Galatians,5 shows that throughout “the whole letter Paul uses vocabulary and expressions which are clearly assigned to the military world” (Nell 2017:105). However, such style and language occur particularly in parenesis, where discipleship and following Christ become a practical issue (as imperatives [e. g. Gl 5:1; 6:17] or adhortative requests [e. g. Gl 5:25; 6:16a]), – a pattern which is also confirmed in the other letters. According to Paul, those issues are to be joined 4 For this study, the authenticity of all 13 Pauline epistles is assumed, as it is increasingly represented in international research (also in German-speaking research: cf. Haacker, K. 2009. Rezeptionsgeschichte und Literarkritik. Anfragen an die communis opinio zum Corpus Paulinum. ThZ 65, 209–228.). The order of writing of the Pauline epistles assumed for this study is: Galatians (48), 1 Thessalonians (50), 2 Thessalonians (50/51), 1 Corinthians (53–55), 2 Corinthians (54–56), Romans (57), Ephesians (60–62), Colossians (60–62), Philemon (60– 62), Philippians (60–63), 1 Timothy (after 62 to 65/66), Titus (after 62 to 65/66), 2 Timothy (65– 67). For detailed discussion and argument cf. Carson, D.A. & Moo, D.J. 2010. Einleitung in das Neue Testament. Gießen: Brunnen, 474–719; Mauerhofer, E. 2004. Einleitung in die Schriften des Neuen Testaments. Band 2. Nürnberg: VTR. Hamburg: RVB, 16–192; Weißenborn, T. 2012. Apostel, Lehrer und Propheten. Band 1–3. Marburg an der Lahn: Francke, 229–390. 5 See most recently argued: Felix, J. 2016. Der Galaterbrief im Kontext historischer Lebenswelten im antiken Kleinasien. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 133–160 and Riesner, R. 2017. Rechtfertigung aus Glauben – wie fru¨h? Ein chronologischer und exegetischer Beitrag zum Reformationsjubila¨ um. TBe 17/4, 201–218.

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with or likened to military virtues, unquestionably and relentlessly in unity with one another. Most of the military metaphors Paul uses can no longer be recognised in modern translations. For example, the Greek basic text of Galatians 5:25 contains a metaphor (following Norbert Baumert [2009:150], who renders stoiweim (stoichein) correctly [own translation]): “If we live by the Spirit, let us stand in close ranks in a spiritual manner, advancing in a closed battle-line (or phalanx).”6 This is just one example from the letter which shows that Paul speaks like a field commander who tactically relocates himself (cf. Williams 1999:213). He allies himself with the “good forces in his churches” on the one hand and warns them of the false teachers – from the new perspective of a common frontline – at the same time (Baumert 2009:150 [with own translation]). A strategic field commander would speak to his troops in the exact same manner if they were being disturbed by hostile propaganda (cf. Nell 2017:108) which was the case in the churches of Galatia, as Paul states in Galatians 2:4 and elsewhere. Furthermore, the adhortative subjunctive in Galatians 5:25 shows the apostolic self-understanding of Paul particularly well with regard to his leading role as a final decision maker, because this subjunctive “is used ‘to urge someone to unite with the speaker in a course of action upon which he has already decided’”. (Wallace 1996:4647). However, in the letter to the Galatians it is noticeable that Paul’s military attributes at the time are not used in an immediately identifying way with regard to the Galatians or himself. Identification is achieved through the image of the family (cf. Gl 4:198). The military imagery is still entirely at the service of ethics: Paul describes or calls for a certain behaviour based on models that could not have been more impressively presented than in comparison with the military. Nowhere else can the constant pursuit of unity and determination as the key to survival be more 6 As I showed elsewhere (see Nell 2017:110f), it is highly probable that this metaphor was still vivid for the Galatians, although the metaphor itself appeared in Xenophon’s writings already. See ibid. :106 for comparisons of modern, international translation variants of Galatians 5:25. 7 With quotation from: Chamberlain, W. D. 1941. An Exegetical Grammar of the Greek New Testament. New York: Macmillan, 83. 8 This reference, among others (e. g. 1 Cor 4:14, 16; 1 Th 2:11f), shows that Paul also uses parental roles as image sources to describe his perspective on his own (loving and authoritative) leadership position and his perspective on the church as well. On the family as a source of images and the immense importance of participation in the family of God for the first Christians (in the sense of a kind of honouring and re-socialisation with significant ethical implications like strong commitment to mutual support, i. e. practical charity), see Gerber, C. 2005. Paulus und seine “Kinder”: Studien zur Beziehungsmetaphorik der paulinischen Briefe. Berlin, New York: De Gruyter.

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clearly understood. Thus, it is obvious that Paul borrowed motifs from the military system to promote a new, determined, and unyielding unity, so that we can agree with Harnack (1905:2 [own translation]), that unity and loyalty – even under the most adverse circumstances – are “inalienable virtues” in the kingdom of God, which “find their highest or symbolic expression in natural life in the comparison with the service of a soldier”.

3.2

Unity based on a common identity

The theme continues in the epistles to the Thessalonians and to the Corinthians, although there are significant developments in terms of military identification. In the letters to the Thessalonians, family metaphors also serve as a significant description of identity for the apostle and the church (e. g. 1 Th 2:7–12; 2:17; 5:3); in 1 Corinthians, unity is essentially defined by the image of the body (based on 1 Corinthians 6:19). However, toward the end of the letter military identification comes into play (leading to key statements such as 1 Corinthians 15:54f or 16:15f). In 1 Thessalonians 5:8 the required application of weaponry already adds a clear facet to the family concept of identity, with which we can broaden our focus to the field of application of military imagery : the armour in 1 Thessalonians 5:8 already implies a real combat situation against an opponent, which is – as always in the letters of Paul – finally to be found in spiritual powers. This also applies when the struggle takes on inner-worldly dimensions, e. g. against resistance within the community or against opponents from outside. Unwaveringly, from the beginning of the New Testament, Jesus’ gospel is a “gospel of peace” and “opposed to anything warlike” (own translation), as Harnack (1905:2) has already expressed. Coming primarily from family focused metaphors and images for identification, the following is to be noted: first and foremost, it is not the individual who fights on his own, but it is the whole family who is in battle, and who should fight this battle being conscious of this. For Paul, the church of Jesus is a family with a (spiritual) military mission. The identity as active (spiritual) soldiers becomes largely apparent in the second letter to the Corinthians, where it is made implicit in 2 Corinthians 10: in contrast to the letter to the Galatians and the two letters to the Thessalonians, Paul identifies himself and his co-workers clearly as soldiers, who are also active in the fight (and not only passively averting attacks). Thus, in 2 Corinthians 10:4–6, the apostle and his soldiers are ready to be the weapon-wielding destroyers (verse 4), the captors (verse 5), and the punishers (verse 6). It can be concluded that military metaphors in Paul’s case are used to create

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identity and at the same time to promote unity by promoting identity. This is because military metaphors always include explicit and implicit instructions for action (which ultimately have ethical dimensions) in which they direct the gaze of the listeners or readers away from the individual and towards a community, in the sense of an ordered army, which possesses its power of impact through the unity of many individual members/soldiers.

3.3

Paul’s military use of language develops

Interestingly, in view of the probable chronological order in which the Corpus Paulinum originated (see above), the military imagery of Paul seems to be developing.9 This is already present in the five letters previously mentioned here and becomes even more obvious looking at his later writings. As an example, here is a brief analysis of the second letter to Timothy, presumably the last letter of Paul (cf. Neudorfer 2017:22–32), where the continued use of military language in Paul’s work is most evident: the key verse is 2 Timothy 2:3, in which Paul designates Timothy as his comrade or fellow fighter (as the corresponding Greek honorary title sustqatiytgr [systratio¯te¯s] shows; cf. Punt 2016:212), therefore equating him directly with a soldier of an army in which Jesus Christ himself is the commander in chief. He, the recruiter (stqatokocey [stratologeo¯]), is to be pleased under all circumstances and with the postponement of other concerns (2 Tm 2:4). Timothy is required to take up deprivation (2 Tm 3:12; 4:5) and, if necessary, also to resist (2 Tm 4:15), as it suits an actual soldier for the sake of the service (2 Tm 4:5), and as Paul himself accepted it for himself as a fighter and designated commander (authorised to issue directives) of his superior Jesus (2 Tm 1:8; 1:16; 3:12; 4:7, 12). At the same time, the treacherous enemy – the diabokor (diabolos) – who takes his prisoners (even in the community) is still in view undiminished (2 Tm 2:26). All in all, the lines of military speech that can already be seen in the letter to the Galatians continue to the end of the Corpus Paulinum and in doing so they seem to be developing continually. The clarity of Paul’s speech about the reality and necessity of a spiritual struggle, as well as the final actual identification of (especially leading) co-workers in the congregation as soldiers (respectively as part of a spiritual army whose highest authority is Christ himself) does not decrease over the course of time of Paul’s letters, but rather increases. Military motifs, 9 The development of this language will be owed in particular to the personal processes of knowledge, which, with growing experience as a missionary, have been shaped accordingly and hence also represent evaluative results, with which Paul understood his life and service and consequently increasingly expressed them terminologically.

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which in the beginning were mainly used in a comparative or implicit way, later appear much more explicitly.

3.4

It is about the embattled gospel and therefore about a military mission

Already in connection with 1 Corinthians 15:54f or 1 Corinthians 16:15f it becomes evident that Paul sees the churches committed to a higher mission and not restricted to that of the mere self-image of the family. He leaves no doubt as to the ultimate superior reason for the need of absolute unity and the relentless resistance against the enemy Satan: it is about the inner and outer expansion and defence of the one true and saving gospel of Christ. However, since the entire life and work of Paul – as well as of his associates – exists for this mission, it is also understandable and irreplaceable in the linguistic expression of the apostle to define his own life and service for the ‘chief commander Christ’ analogous to long-term military service. Paul comprehends his own placement as consistently “involved at the frontline in the struggle that Satan leads against God” (Holtz 1998:117 [own translation], with reference to 2 Corinthians 12:7). Therefore, one needs to agree with Harris (2005:676) when he states, based on 2 Corinthians 10:4: “The depiction of the Christian life as a military operation […] is a common theme in Paul.” Or with the words of Punt (2016:208f, 213): “Warfare imagery metaphorically describes the Christian way of life. […] In short, Paul used military imagery to explain his ministry.”

3.5

Paul’s understanding of the church

All in all, it is clear that Paul can clarify and describe the preservation and defence of the truth of the Gospel in faith and life, both of the individual and of the whole congregation, with pertinent military language (in firm orientation and attachment to Christ [cf. 1 Th 5:8]). To follow this without compromise is of vital importance to Paul in order to successfully or victoriously follow Christ, as is clearly expressed through the military language. Paul leaves no doubt about his conviction that spiritual life existentially means a life in spiritual struggle, for which God himself provides and equips his apostle and believers accordingly. In view of these living conditions, it is not only a consequence for Paul from an operative perspective, but also necessary for his survival, to (re)interpret his own existence accordingly and to (re)align it practically to his own way of life. Looking at Paul as a leader who is completely convinced of the reality of spiritual struggle, there is no question that he also has to present himself as a

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leader who is in the middle of the battle. From this standpoint he addresses and leads his brothers and sisters in a corresponding manner. This would not have been possible without comprehensive military comparisons, which is why Kampling (2016:308) in reference to Harnack “points to the heaviness of Christian existence” (own translation). This heaviness is also evident in the circumstances surrounding the discipleship of Christ, as Paul frequently describes it (cf. 2 Cor 11:25–28; Rom 8:35), and thus he also employs terms describing the deprivations and challenges of military existence.10 Therefore, one needs to agree with Hobbs’ (2002:250) explanation on 2 Timothy 2:3f: “Here, not only is the Christian life a life of warfare, but the dedication of the soldier is the pattern for the Christian.” Looking at Paul and his view of the church and the individual in it, it can therefore be stated that the service of Christ, or rather the Christian existence per se, is combat. In some respects it is evident that aspects of the commander-metaphor mentioned at the beginning can also be applied to Paul. The apostle is quite able, for example, to “enforce a direction and drive everyone to do it” (Spicer 2011:121). Also, when the situation requires it (as we can see in Galatians 2:14 and elsewhere), he is “willing to lead from the front and engage in battle with those who are not willing to fall into line” (ibid.). However, the attributes applied to the commander are fractured. Thus it is no contradiction – as Spicer (2011:136) evaluates it – to understand oneself as commander and at the same time as a leader who wants “to inspire, nurture or counsel” his co-workers. With Paul this is already a given fact as the church of Jesus is not only an army from the spiritual perspective, but at the same time a family.11

10 Cf. Green (2002:162): “Suffering persecution was not understood as an extraordinary event but that to which they were called or destined.” 11 In addition, the commander-metaphor also breaks with regard to actual military command today, which shows that Spicer and Alvesson serve partly outdated military clich8s (at least as they define it). See e. g. Lieutenant General George J. Flynn, U.S. Marine Corps (2014:x): “Great leaders truly care about those they are privileged to lead and understand that the true cost of the leadership privilege comes at the expense of self-interest. […] John Quincy Adams […] clearly understood what it means to be a leader when he stated: ‘If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.’”

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Should (or may) leaders in a church context today still speak in military terms?12

Basically, metaphorical language in church remains indispensable, as it does in life. For, as has been stated also by Alvesson and Spicer (2011:35), one cannot even think and speak without metaphors. Without metaphors one is not able to interpret anything at all, which also applies to (theologising) leadership. For metaphors create a context, convey meaning, and illustrate – depending on the picture – the appropriate atmosphere and relevance. Coming from Paul it can be stated in respect of the language in church practice today : where military speech and metaphorical self-enactment as a kind of field commander can be found as a representation of leadership in the context of God’s church, it is basically legitimate, provided that the biblical text is still taken as a benchmark for the present speech and one locates one’s own Christian existence on the same hermeneutic horizon as Paul and the other New Testament authors did. However, the way in which this is done may and must of course remain debatable and context-bound, taking into account the historical developments and characteristics of a society, where abuses of power through military leadership – whether in fact or by adopting such a style – may have occurred.13 Military expression by leaders may therefore well be problematic in today’s world. Admittedly, the dangers of military expression in leadership seem very great in a religious context and misunderstandings about historical developments are almost inevitable. Therefore, the question must be asked whether it would not be better to dispense with such military aspects altogether.

12 For a specific comparison of the following comments with common leadership approaches and theories see: Alvesson & Spicer 2011 and Detje, M. 2017. Servant Leadership. Ansätze zur Führung und Leitung in der Kirchengemeinde im 21. Jahrhundert. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. 13 The history of the church bears an abundant and sorrowful witness to this throughout the centuries and continents. The ideologically purposeful translation of the New Testament by the National Socialists, more precisely the Institute for the Study of Jewish Influence on German church Life, serves as a dramatic negative example in German church history. “In the year of the German decisive battle” ([own translation] Grundmann et al. [1940:VIII]), Die Botschaft Gottes (The message of God [own translation]) was published with an edition of 200,000 copies. In addition to other highly problematic aspects of this Bible edition, the consistent military expression of this translation is to be emphasised, reinforcing the superiority of the German people against other peoples and encouraging active participation of Germans in the National Socialist agenda. For a recent examination of Die Botschaft Gottes see Lorenz, E. 2017. Ein Jesusbild im Horizont des Nationalsozialismus. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck.

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However, this would pose great dangers from the spiritual, specifically the discipleship, perspective. For the question remains whether military language can really be dispensed with when it comes to certain core topics of the biblical world view, which – again according to one’s own hermeneutic convictions – are still relevant or are not. Not naming the, unquestionably existing (according to the New Testament) “transcendent state of war” as such, (or even presenting only a weakened version of it) due to inappropriately perceived language, can and will entail the great danger of underestimating, overlooking or even forgetting the real spiritual threat of a real spiritual adversary. This is true even where the biblical view of God and the world as well as the biblical ideas of Satan are generally adopted. In this case the biblical speech about the range of spiritual warfare would either be understood allegorically or generally perceived as superfluous. Provided that the biblical, transcendent view of the world is still correct and therefore effective today, a weakening or mythical transfiguration of the Pauline view must therefore have devastating consequences for Christians (and for humanity in general [cf. 2 Cor 4:4]14): for example, if the perceptible effects of spiritual struggle, as described by Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:7f, are not recognised or named as such, they cannot be tackled either. What would be a solution? Perhaps in many places today leadership cannot afford to act like a field commander because of too close, problematic comparisons, even if the motives and implementation came with the best of intentions. Wherever it can happen without problems (probably only in isolated cases), any military expression or style of leadership in church must never forget to relate to the other metaphors that are applied to the church and Christians in the New Testament, in order to avoid one-sided and thus dangerous interpretations. In all other cases, however, there must be at least the constant awareness in the leadership of a de facto spiritual state of war in which the church and Christians exist. This awareness must continue to be fully communicated to the church. Military vocabulary – as far as the Bible provides it – will be indispensable. But much would certainly have been gained if the leader continued to take Paul as a point of reference rather than himself (if the role model of a field commander is needed). It is certainly possible to talk about the seriousness of spiritual warfare and to use appropriate terminology without presenting oneself as a centre of military command. In some cases this would not be necessary anyway, for example, Christians who are currently living in tribulation for the sake of their faith can and may find strength and consolation in formulated words accordingly to

14 See also the words of Paul passed down in Acts 26:18.

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the biblical text, that at the end of time an overarching justice will prevail dramatically, absolutely and – you can’t say it otherwise – victoriously over all evil. One might think that it would be good to find a replacement metaphor for leadership (if one thinks one has to find a replacement, which expresses the same connotations for the spiritual positioning and way of life of the church as well as of the individual in it, and in addition make a corresponding contribution to the other metaphors which Paul uses with regard to the church and the individual). But until such an adequate replacement has been found, if one does not want to weaken the biblical world view, risking losing the core truths of Christian existence, a wise and responsible approach would be to first complete a careful exegesis concerning the use of military language by leaders, with sensitivity to one’s own sociological-historical context, before rashly renouncing it in the context of church.

References Alvesson, M. & Spicer, A. (eds) 2011. Metaphors we lead by : Understanding leadership in the real world. London, New York: Routledge. Baumert, N. 2009. Der Weg des Trauens: Übersetzung und Auslegung des Briefes an die Galater und des Briefes an die Philipper. Würzburg: Echter. Fischer, T. 2014. Die Armee der Cäsaren: Archäologie und Geschichte. 2nd edition. Regensburg: Friedrich Pustet. Flynn, G. J. 2014. Foreword, in S. Sinek: Leaders eat last: Why some teams pull together and others don’t. New York: Penguin, ix–x. Foerster, W. 1964. satamar, in G. Friedrich (ed): ThWNT VII. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer, 151–164. Green, G. L. 2002. The letters to the Thessalonians. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans. Grundmann, W. & Fromm, E. 1940. Die Botschaft Gottes. Weimar : Verlag Deutsche Christen. Harnack, A. 1905. Militia Christi: Die christlichen Religionen und der Soldatenstand in den ersten drei Jahrhunderten. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck. Harris, M. J. 2005. The second epistle to the Corinthians: A commentary on the Greek text. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans; Milton Keynes: Paternoster. Hobbs, R. 2002. The language of warfare in the New Testament, in P.F. Esler (ed): Modelling early Christianity : Social-scientific studies of the New Testament in its context. London/ New York: Routledge, 259–273. Holtz, T. 1998. Der erste Brief an die Thessalonicher. 1st edition of the student edition 2014. Ostfildern: Patmos. Iosif, D. 2013. Early Christian attitudes to war, violence and military service. Piscataway : Gorgias. Kampling, R. 2016. Krieg/Frieden, in A. Berlejung & C. Frevel (eds): HGANT student edition. 5th edition. Darmstadt: WBG, 307–309.

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Müller, D. 2013. Military images in Paul’s letter to the Philippians. PhD thesis, University of Pretoria, Pretoria. Neudorfer, H.-W. 2017. Der zweite Brief des Paulus an Timotheus. Witten: SCM R.Brockhaus; Giessen: Brunnen. Omerzu, H. 2010. Judäa unter römischer Kontrolle. Das Wirken der Römer im Heiligen Land, in J. Schefzyk & W. Zwickel (eds): Judäa und Jerusalem: Leben in römischer Zeit. Stuttgart: Katholisches Bibelwerk, 64–69. Nell, M. 2017. ‘If we live by the Spirit, in the Spirit let us move forward in a closed battle line’ (Gal 5:25). Translational considerations in regard to the letter to the Galatians, in E. Werner & G. Johnstad (eds): Yearbook on the Science of Bible Translation: 12th Forum Bible Translation 2016–200th Anniversary of the Norwegian Bible Society. Nürnberg: VTR, 99–114. Punt, J. 2016. Paul, military imagery and social disadvantage. Acta Theologica. Suppl 23, 201–224. URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/actat.v23i1S.10 [Accessed 28 November 2018]. Spicer, A. 2011. Leaders as commanders. Leadership through creating clear direction, in Alvesson & Spicer 2011, 118–137. Spicer, A. & Alvesson, M. 2011. Conclusion, in Alvesson & Spicer 2011, 194–205. Wallace, D. B. 1996. Greek grammar beyond the basics: An exegetical syntax of the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Zondervan. Williams, D. J. 1999. Paul’s metaphors: Their context and character. Peabody : Hendrickson.

Thomas Kröck1

Masters or midwives? The role of international development workers

1

Introduction

Since the 1950s international development has become a global industry. In 2016 the official development assistance of OECD countries had reached 145 billion USD, plus ca. 170 billion from private donors (OECD 2018) and ca. 50 billion from non-OECD countries (e. g. China, UAE, Russia, India, etc.). For the people working in this field, various terms are used. They may be called volunteers or consultants, scholars or practitioners. Some understand themselves to be missionaries, others are according to German law “Entwicklungshelfer” (development helpers). They are not always explicitly described as leaders; however, due to the role of their sending organisations which are providing funding and/or expertise, they often take leadership roles. I use the term “development worker” referring to people usually from the global North involved in humanitarian or development projects and programmes in the global South. Swanepoel & De Beer (2011:72ff) describe their roles as guide, adviser, advocate, enabler, and facilitator. They emphasise that development workers should not be “making the decisions, taking the initiative and doing the planning”, which would be the role of a leader or manager (:74). These opposing roles correspond to the metaphors of mercenaries (coined by Stirrat 2008 for “experts”) or midwives (GRAAP 1989). Each term has different connotations regarding the role and self-image of the people involved. The way they understand their roles and relate to others has a significant impact on their leadership style and the conduct and impact of development work. As I have discussed earlier (Kröck 2015), it is important for people working in such contexts to critically

1 Thomas Kröck; Agronomist, Director of “Christian Development Studies”, Akademie für christliche Führungskräfte (AcF), Gummersbach, Germany ; Dept. of Development Studies, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa; [email protected].

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reflect on their motivation, worldviews, and roles and to be aware of the metaphors that guide them in their professional activities.

1.1

Leadership in an intercultural context

Intercultural leadership has become an important topic during the past decades. According to Northouse (2016:427f) it is most important in such settings to understand how cultural differences affect leadership and “to learn to relate to people from other cultures from a position of equality rather than cultural superiority”. Northouse mentions ethnocentrism and prejudice as key factors that prevent effective leadership in these contexts (2016:429f). A number of studies (e. g. Hofstede 1991, House et al. 2004, Trompenaars & Woolliams 2007) have characterised various dimensions of culture. These dimensions can help development workers and leaders in international contexts to reflect on their personal conditioning and to understand the challenges they may be facing in their work. Besides culturally determined values and patterns of behaviour, power plays an important role in leadership. Following the categories of Lichtsteiner et al. (2015), control over resources (e. g. funding), access to information (e. g. technical expertise and knowledge of donor procedures) and personal persuasion (which may be ascribed due to nationality and race) can be considered as important sources of power in the development context. In many cases development workers will use this power without considering themselves to be leaders.

1.2

The role of development workers – a neglected topic

While many theories and approaches to international development have been devised during the past six decades, for a long time the role of the people involved in implementing these approaches has received little attention. The development practitioner and scholar Robert Chambers (2003:208) stated that […] personal behaviour is rarely a topic in university courses on development. Still less is what sort of people we are. […] Perhaps they are personally embarrassing as subjects; to raise them draws attention to one’s own defects, to personal hypocrisy, to the personal need to change.

The anthropologist Anne-Meike Fechter (2012b:1476) argues that “a tendency in development studies to foreground the ‘other’ […] obstructs more open and necessary debates on the role of aid workers”. Unlike in other helping professions, such as nursing or social work, which have established academic debates with focus on the helper, this has hardly been the case in Development

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Studies (Fechter 2012a:1391). In spite of this lack of academic attention, Chambers (2009:207f) considers personal behaviour and attitudes as central in development work. As international aid workers usually are personally committed to their work and live far from their home country, their professional and private lives tend to be closely linked (Fechter 2012a:1392). Only recently, more scholars and journalists have begun to critically evaluate the behaviour and role of expatriates in international development. Ethnologists regard this industry as a specific culture and have been studying the inhabitants of “Aidland”2. Some of them (eg. Polman 2010:63f) sharply criticise aid workers who maintain extravagant lifestyles in the face of disaster and poverty. As will be shown below, other scholars provide a more differentiating critique, distinguishing between different kinds of development workers.

1.3

Research objective

The objective of this study is to explore how development workers with a Christian background perceive their professional roles and characterise their motivation. This should help people working in such contexts to become more aware of the unequal power distribution and its potential misuse, and encourage the critical reflection of internalised mindsets and post-colonial concepts of development. Otherwise, the mindsets and attitudes linked to such roles will affect the impact development workers have and jeopardise the goals of capacity building and empowerment (Chambers 2003:207).

2

A wide range of choices and metaphors

2.1

Mercenaries, missionaries and misfits

Who are these inhabitants of “Aidland”? What motivates them? What are the questions and challenges they face? The anthropologist Roderick Stirrat coined the terms “mercenaries, missionaries and misfits” for different subcultures in Aidland (Stirrat 2008). These labels seem to be a suitable point of departure. Missionaries are thought to be motivated by their conviction of altruistic 2 For a more extensive discussion of “Aidland” see: Hindman, Heather & Fechter, Anne-Meike 2014. Inside the everyday lives of development workers: The challenges and futures of Aidland. Sterling: Stylus Publishing. Mosse, David (ed) 2011. Adventures in Aidland: The anthropology of professionals in international development. New York: Berghahn Books. Nouvet, Elys8e & Jakimow, Tanya 2016. Moral sentiments in Aidland: Aid and development as moral experience. Critique of Anthropology 36(3), 223–227.

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solidarity with the poor and the attempt to make a difference in the world. Although Stirrat does not use the term in a religious sense, he considers them as descendants of altruistic Christian missionaries during colonial times. They are expected to work closely with the local people at “grassroots level” and adhere to a modest lifestyle. Their service may be sacrificial. They may consider commitment and dedication more important than professional expertise. As indicated by the term mercenaries, professionalism and attractive remuneration are expected to play a more important role for this group than for the “missionaries”. For themselves and their families, they try to maintain living conditions similar to their home countries or enjoy even more comfort due to the cheap wages, lower living costs and exciting leisure activities available in the country of service. This may force them to live more apart from the local people and focus on the expatriate community for their social contacts. They may be considered descendants of colonial officers, who are highly qualified professionals offering services and being paid accordingly. As misfits, Stirrat sees development workers who are either used to an extravagant lifestyle or whose professional experience and expertise is useless in their home countries, so that they find it difficult to resettle there. Rather they prefer to continue to work and live abroad. While this division holds some truth, Stirrat shows that these groups cannot be clearly delimited. Although there are obviously different levels of remuneration and lifestyles and different aspects that dominate the motivation, these terms should rather be understood as extreme ends of a continuum. While there are significant differences in payment of development workers supported by small NGOs or mission agencies and those working for governments and UN organisations, even those with high salaries may consider the fight against poverty an important aspect of their motivation (Fechter 2012a:1392) and those with moderate payment may enjoy the advantages of the place they are working in (Fechter 2012b:1479). Eyben (2012) gives examples of female development workers moving along this continuum during their career from one group to the other. This is also supported by Stirrat (2008:413) and McWha (2011). Fechter (2012b:1480ff) identifies three beliefs or ideologies that may play an important role in the world views of development workers: – the notion of altruism – the idea of development as a gift from richer nations to poorer ones – the value given to a development worker’s lifestyle being close to the people

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Altruism: the development worker as messiah

Altruism is a major concept linked to humanitarian and development activities. Since the founding of the Red Cross by Henry Dunant in 1863, humanitarian work has been related to selfless work. This has contributed to the public view of development workers as “selfless heroes, who rescue others while potentially endangering their own lives” (Fechter 2012b:1481). In this paradigm “the absence of self-sacrifice – helping others from a position of relative comfort – reduces the moral value of the helper’s actions, even if the outcome for the beneficiary is the same” (:1481). While Fechter primarily thinks of the development workers’ own spiritual gain, they may be guided by the metaphor of the saviour or messiah who suffers to help others. Myers speaks in this context of “playing god in the lives of the poor” (Myers 2011:146). Altruism is often considered the main motivation for volunteers in development work. However, this was not found to be the dominant motive for Scandinavian volunteers in Tanzania (Baaz 2008:90) and British volunteers in Cambodia (Watts 2010:62). The volunteers seemed to be aware that by helping less advantaged people, they themselves benefited from their service, if not financially, then by experiencing a sense of meaning, recognition and status (Kroeck 2015:255f).

2.3

Development as a gift: the development worker as father/mother

This is closely related to the idea of development as a gift from richer nations to poorer (Fechter 2012b: 1481). While it has been shown that nations in the global North are by no means engaging selflessly in development aid as a gift – the present efforts to reduce migration from Africa are just one example – this concept may still impact development workers on a personal level. In many private initiatives to help people in the global South the metaphors of father or mother may be detected. While those engaged may see this as a benevolent role of sharing material goods, knowledge, or skills, it is also a power relationship. Those providing development aid feel that they are in a position to know what needs to be done for the poor and how it should be done. The power relationship remains even if the term partnership is used (Baaz 2008:74f).

2.4

Closeness: the development worker as partner

To live close to the people, the recipients of development work, and local counterparts may be seen as a way to counteract the unequal power balance. This may take the form of a relatively modest lifestyle while in the field or of

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temporary immersion programmes. Fechter (2012b:1485f) sees two reasons for immersion programmes designed to overcome the alienation of aid workers from the people they are working with. On the one hand they are meant to help the development worker to get a clearer understanding of the realities of life in poverty. On the other hand, she suspects that such programmes may help to “symbolically redress the disparity in lifestyles between poverty specialists and poor individuals” (:1486). A third aspect is that unjust differences in remuneration between local and international staff may undermine the motivation and job-performance (Carr et al. 2010). In his study on development volunteers in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Watts found that a modest lifestyle helped the volunteers to develop a closer relationship with their local counterparts which contributed to their own intrinsic motivation (Watts 2010:62). However, in general Western development workers hardly ever manage to maintain their families under the same conditions as the local population. In my experience, this is not only true for people working in secular organisations, but also for staff of mission agencies and Christian NGOs. Rarely do Christian workers fully subscribe to the concept of vulnerable mission (Harries 2011), which focuses on the use of local languages and tries to avoid foreign funding. While a more or less modest lifestyle and an attitude of hospitality can make a closer relationship to local people possible, it will be hardly possible for the development worker to become part of the local community. He or she would still be more privileged and powerful then the local counterparts (Baaz 2008:84, 89). A distance from the local people may even be needed to create a comfort zone which allows the development worker to care for his/her family and to recover from their physically and psychologically challenging work (Fechter 2012b:1483). This brief review shows that a wide range of metaphors may be used to describe development workers. The research on the identity, motivations, and roles of development workers does not provide us with a set of clearly defined pigeon holes, but rather shows us a wide field with a continuum of motivations, lifestyles, and roles. Each person involved in development work, be it as a UN official, a volunteer, or a Christian missionary, has to answer a set of challenging questions to find his or her way to work and live in an authentic manner.

3

Empirical Results

To complement this literature review, a small empirical study was conducted in February 2018. Its purpose was to explore the motivation and roles of development workers with a Christian background and to compare the data with the literature summarised above. Christian mission and aid organisations were

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asked to encourage their staff to participate in the survey. To be considered development workers, the participants are expected to be or to have been involved in a social, medical, technical, or other development project or programme in a country of the global South for at least one year. An online survey with 54 items of various formats was used. Most survey items were open questions or sentences that had to be completed. From the answers inductive categories were formed and the answers grouped accordingly. 61 persons took part in the survey and answered it for the most part completely. Almost all of them (57 of 61) indicated that religion played an important role regarding the tasks they were performing and the organisation they were working with. The sample was balanced between men (n=31) and women (n=30). 72 % were married, 28 % single. The majority (58) were of German, Swiss, or Austrian nationality. 75 % were Protestant Christians. They had served abroad between 2 and 38 years (mean: 14.8 years, median: 11 years). For more details see Table 1. Table 1: Characteristics of the sample (n = 61) Age Education Field of work 18–27 years 1 vocational 8 pastoral 28–35 years 6 Bible school 4 medical

Area of deployment 6 Sub-Saharan Africa 21 17 N.Africa+M.East 3

36–45 years 46–55 years

14 Bachelor 21 Master

17 linguistic 19 educator

9 Asia 10 Latin America

56–65 years > 65 years

13 Doctoral 6

13 admin/leadership other

12 Oceania 5 other

3.1

14 19 2 2

Motivation

Several questions targeted the motivation of the participants to work in international development. For the semi-open question “Which of the following reasons have been important for you when you took this job?”, the options Calling, Doing something meaningful and Helping people were selected most often (Table 2). None chose the option “I did not find a job in my home country” or “The salary and other benefits were attractive”.

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Table 2: Which of the following reasons have been important for you when you took this job? (semi-open question, more than one answer allowed, n = 61) I felt a calling to this work. 49 80 % I wanted to do something meaningful. I wanted to do something good and help people who are not as privileged as myself.

43

70 %

31

51 %

I wanted to work in an interesting/exciting environment. I wanted to gain professional experience.

17 8

28 % 13 %

The open question “Why did you choose to take this job?” gave similar results (Table 3). Calling, Passion/Interest in the work, The use of competence and Need were mentioned most often. Table 3: Why did you choose to take this job? (open question, n = 61) calling

30

50 %

interest/passion making use of my competences

22 17

37 % 28 %

because of the need the job is satisfying

14 4

23 % 7%

to gain experience

1

2%

Another open question asked for the positive sides of working in this job/context (Table 4). Making a difference (and doing something meaningful), Enjoying the people or team and The opportunity of learning were mentioned most often. Table 4: For me the positive sides of working in this job/context are (were) … (open question, n = 61) I can make a difference 24 relationship with the people and in the team 18

39 % 30 %

opportunities for learning it is challenging

13 9

21 % 15 %

learning the culture and language having the competence

6 6

10 % 10 %

depending on God my calling

6 4

10 % 7%

freedom to act

4

7%

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3.2

Roles

A semi-open question directly asked for the roles of the participants. The options Advisor/Consultant, Teacher and Facilitator/enabler were selected most often. The options Father/mother and Advocate were the least selected (Table 5). Table 5: Which of the following roles describes best what you are doing in your work? (semi-open question, up to three roles may be selected, n = 61) advisor + consultant 39 64 % teacher facilitator + enabler

37 36

61 % 59 %

expert manager

17 16

28 % 26 %

service provider father/mother

8 6

13 % 10 %

advocate

5

8%

This is supported by sets of Lickert type scales for evaluating the tendency towards paternalism and participation. On a scale from 1–5 the average for paternalism was very low (1.1), while participation got a medium result (2.6). Open questions were used to explore the relationship to the local organisation, local counterparts, and other expatriates. To the open item “I feel the local organisation I am working with is…” 33 participants (54 %) indicated that it is doing good work and 17 (28 %) that it is good to work with. The same number (17) mentioned some deficits of the local organisation (Table 6). Table 6: I feel the local organisation I am working with is… (open item, n = 61) doing good work good to work with

33 17

54 % 28 %

having some deficits

17

28 %

The relationship to local counterparts was also seen rather positively : 65 % rated it as very good or good, 12 % regarded it as neutral or mixed, and only 7 % described it as being difficult (Table 7). The perception of their work was not quite as positive: 38 % rated it as good, 31 % as mixed or neutral, and 21 % mentioned deficits (Table 8).

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Table 7: The relationship to my local counterpart(s) is (was)… (open item, n = 60) very good

11

18 %

good neutral/mixed

28 7

47 % 12 %

4

7%

difficult

Table 8: Regarding their work, I think my local counterparts are (were)… (open item, n = 58) doing good work 22 neutral/mixed 18

38 % 31 %

having deficits

21 %

12

The issue of salary levels of expatriates and local staff may affect their cooperation (Carr et al. 2010). Almost half of the participants stated that there was no major difference as they worked as volunteers or were paid below the level of their home country. 34 % showed an awareness of the difference in pay without being very concerned about it, while only 8 % considered it embarrassing (Table 9). Table 9: Regarding the level of my own salary and that of my local counterpart(s), I feel… (open item, n = 59) it is not very different 24 41 % it is unbalanced 20 34 % embarrassed

5

8%

This was also reflected in how they perceived their difference from the situation of other expatriates (Table 10). The most important aspect was that they felt they were closer to the local people (31 %). This included the housing area, work, and social contacts. This may include a good command of the local language, but this was not evaluated in the survey. Other differences mentioned were the role of faith and church (12 %), the financial situation (10 %), the long-term orientation of their work (5 %), and being single (3 %). The long-term orientation, which may be a prerequisite to develop relationships, is supported by the duration of their service (median: 11 years).

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Table 10: My situation differs (differed) from that of other expatriates because… (open question, n = 58) I am closer to the local people 18 31 % the role of faith and church the financial situation

7 6

12 % 10 %

the long-term orientation I am single

3 2

5% 3%

not much difference

5

9%

4

Discussion

The metaphors described in the literature survey provided the backdrop for this explorative study. They are related to values and motivation and determine selfimage and behaviour. In this context development workers engaged in Christian Faith Based Organisations seem to be a specific sub-culture in “Aidland”. Regarding their motivation, altruism seems to be more important than financial gain or professional development. They seem to be more involved with the local people, while their level of income may often not be as high as that of other expatriates. This group seems to generally have good relationships with the local organisations and the counterparts they are working with. This is also supported by the low rating for paternalism, the medium rating for participation and the frequent choice of roles such as facilitator/enabler. However, this is the development workers’ own perception, which may differ considerably from the perspective of the local people (see Padilla 2015).

4.1

Motivation

The reason for involvement in development work (Tables 2–4) suggests that most of the participants fit into Stirrat’s (2008) category of missionaries. While the motivation of the participants of this survey is considerably focused on the people they are working with rather than on material gain or professional progress, it is not completely unselfish. Through their work, which is often challenging and may involve living under harsh conditions, they experience excitement, the freedom to act, the opportunity to make use of their competences and the opportunity for continual learning. This generates a sense of meaning for their lives and they feel that they are in the place God called them to (Tables 2+3).

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These considerations by no means belittle the contribution these development workers and missionaries make for the welfare of the people they are working with and the development of their host countries. However, it is clear that it is not a one-way relationship of giving, but that both sides may benefit. To see it as a two-way relationship may help to break up the “compartmentalising of ‘aid givers’ and ‘aid recipients’ into separate categories” (Fechter 2012b:1487). This is backed by the great commandment to “love your neighbour as yourself” (Luke 10:27).

4.2

Roles and power

The paternalism sometimes ascribed to missionaries is not backed up by this survey. Only 10 % of the participants used the terms “father/mother” to describe their roles. This is in line with the low rating for paternalism (or maternalism). It seems that most participants see their role as a midwife and want to enable and facilitate development rather than being masters who dictate what should be done. This is reflected in the roles selected most frequently : teacher, advisor, consultant, facilitator, and enabler. While these roles may not be obviously paternalistic, they also include some degree of unequal power relationships. Although power was not openly mentioned as an issue in this survey, the power aspect has to be considered in the relationship of development workers with local counterparts and the “beneficiaries”. Seeing the needs of the people and the shortfalls of the local organisation and counterparts, and feeling the ability to make a difference, have clearly to do with power. As Baaz (2008:74ff) shows, power relations may play an important role in the rhetoric of partnership. This power can be used for the better, but we should be aware of its possible misuse. Therefore, it is important for development workers to critically reflect on the roles they are playing. It is too easy to fall into the trap of building an image of a selfless being with the wisdom and power to rescue the poor and backward. This is what Jayakumar Christian and Bryant Myers coined as the “god complexes of the non-poor” (Myers 2011:123ff). “Playing god in the lives of the poor” is not what we are called to do.

5

Conclusion

Metaphors are a powerful tool for leaders, including international development workers, to reflect on their values, roles and behaviour. The purpose of this study was to explore how development workers with a Christian background perceive their professional roles and characterise their motivation. While the reviewed

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literature describes a wide range of motivations and roles of development workers, the sample of this limited study can be located in a specific section of this spectrum. Their motivation is focused on people rather than on income or professional progress and they feel close to the local people. Although they did not show strong paternalistic views, the terms they chose to describe their roles (e. g. advisor, consultant, teacher) and the satisfaction they drew from their work (e. g. to make a difference) indicate a one-sided power balance. They intend to be midwives, but there is always a temptation to slip into the role of a master. This shows that we need to be aware of our internalised mindsets that are moulded by concepts that stem from colonialism, ethnocentrism and the trust in economic growth as progress. Today, development does not mean that backward nations have to follow the path of industrialised countries, but that people from all continents and nations have to find ways towards a sustainable future which enable the welfare of all humans. This means that international development workers may not be masters but rather co-midwives of sustainable development learning with and from the people they serve.

References Baaz, Maria E. 2008. The paternalism of partnership: A postcolonial reading of identity in development aid. London: Zed Books. Carr, Stuart C. et al. 2010. International-local remuneration differences across six countries: Do they undermine poverty reduction work? International Journal of Psychology 45(5), 321–340. Chambers, Robert 2003. Whose reality counts? Putting the first last. Repr. London: Intermediate Technology. Eyben, Rosalind 2012. Fellow travellers in development. Third World Quarterly 33(8), 1405–1421. Fechter, Anne-Meike 2012a. The personal and the professional: Aid workers’ relationships and values in the development process. Third World Quarterly 33(8), 1387–1404. Fechter, Anne-Meike 2012b. ‘Living well’ while ‘Doing good’? (Missing) debates on altruism and professionalism in aid work. Third World Quarterly 33(8), 1475–1491. GRAAP 1989. Für eine Pädagogik der gemeinschaftlichen Selbstförderung: Eine Einführung für Animatoren. Köln: AGEH. Harries, Jim 2011. Vulnerable mission: Insights into Christian mission to Africa from a position of vulnerability. Pasadena, California: William Carey Library. Hofstede, Geert 1991. Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind. New York: McGrawHill. House, Robert J. et al. (eds) 2004. Culture, leadership, and organizations: The GLOBE study of 62 societies. Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publ.

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Kröck, Thomas 2015. Welt- und Selbstbild von Entwicklungshelfern, in Thomas Kröck & Gisela Schneider (eds): Partnerschaft – Gerechtigkeit – Transformation: Christliche Perspektiven der Entwicklungszusammenarbeit. Marburg: Francke, 250–266. Lichtsteiner, Hans et al. 2015. Das Freiburger Management-Modell für Nonprofit-Organisationen. 8. Aufl. Bern: Haupt. McWha, Ishbel 2011. The roles of, and relationships between, expatriates, volunteers, and local development workers. Development in Practice 21(1), 29–40. Myers, Bryant L. 2011. Walking with the poor: Principles and practices of transformational development. Rev. and updated ed. Maryknoll N.Y.: Orbis Books. Northouse, Peter G. 2016. Leadership: Theory and practice. Seventh edition, international student edition. Los Angeles, London, New Delhi, Singapore, Washington DC, Boston: SAGE. OECD 2018. Detailed final 2016 aid figures released by OECD/DAC. URL: http://www.oecd. org/dac/financing-sustainable-development/final-oda.htm [Accessed 23 April 2018]. Padilla, Elisa 2015. Wie werden wir Partner? Wie Unterschiede überwunden werden können, in Thomas Kröck & Gisela Schneider (eds): Partnerschaft – Gerechtigkeit – Transformation: Christliche Perspektiven der Entwicklungszusammenarbeit. Marburg: Francke, 197–209. Polman, Linda 2010. Die Mitleidsindustrie: Hinter den Kulissen internationaler Hilfsorganisationen. Frankfurt: Campus Verlag. Stirrat, R.L. 2008. Mercenaries, missionaries and misfits. Critique of Anthropology 28(4), 406–425. Swanepoel, Hennie & de Beer, Frik 2011. Community development: Breaking the cycle of poverty. 5th ed. Lansdowne, SA: Juta. Trompenaars, Fons & Woolliams, Peter 2007. Business across cultures. Reprinted. Oxford: Capstone.

Konstantin Schneider1

Die Hebamme: Eine Leitbild-Metapher für das Leiten in Gemeinde aus theologischer Perspektive

English Summary The metaphor midwife is a significant contribution for leading in an ecclesiastical context during the challenges western societies currently face. The author explains midwife-leadership from the perspective of midwifery and transfers it to the ecclesiastical context. Furthermore he presents biblical observations on this topic and its pastoral-theological reception in Germany. The chapter concludes in facing opportunities and limitations of this metaphor. Especially, the metaphor points out that leadership metaphors are mostly designed for men. The metaphor of the midwife, however, empowers and encourages women as well as men to identify their leadership through the metaphor. In summary, the metaphor of the midwife inspires a leadership which is vibrant and participatory as well as focused on individualised consideration and relationships.

1

Einleitung

Gegenwärtig ist zu beobachten, dass sich christliche Autoren verstärkt Thematiken rund um die Begriffe Mündigkeit, Reife, Selbstständigkeit u. ä. in Bezug auf den christlichen Glauben bzw. Christsein widmen: „Warum wir mündig glauben dürfen“ (Faix u. a. 2015), „Selbst glauben“ (Karcher u. a. 2017), „Lebendig! Vom Geheimnis mündigen Christsein“ (Herbst 2018), „Die Kunst des reifen Handelns“ (Härry 2018), u.v.m. Diese Entwicklung kann darauf zurückgeführt werden, dass gegenwärtig viele Menschen dazu tendieren, ihr Leben auf Kosten ihrer Mündigkeit, Reife und Selbstständigkeit zu simplifizieren. Algorithmen nehmen Menschen viele alltägliche Entscheidungen ab, Massenmedien steuern die Informationsvermittlung und Populisten versprechen den Weg aus der 1 Konstantin Schneider; ev. Theologian (M.A.) and Pastor ; Freie evangelische Gemeinde Wetzlar, Germany ; [email protected].

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Komplexität des globalisierten Alltags.2 Leiterinnen und Leiter von Gemeinden3 sind gegenwärtig herausgefordert in besonderer Weise darauf zu achten, Menschen nicht in entmündigende Abhängigkeiten, sondern in mündige Selbstständigkeit, in mündiges Christsein und Mündigkeit im Glauben zu führen. Dieser Beitrag untersucht die Leitbild-Metapher „Hebamme“ für das Leiten im Kontext von Gemeinde aus theologischer Perspektive im Anschluss an die Theologen Manfred Josuttis, Nancy J. Ramsay und Michael Klessmann. Nach einer kurzen Einführung in Metaphern als Leitbilder (2.), wird die Hebamme aus der Sicht der Hebammenkunde dargestellt (3.), um sie dann auf das Leiten im Kontext von Gemeinde zu übertragen (4.). Dieser Übertrag wird um biblischtheologische (4.1) und pastoraltheologische Beobachtungen (4.2.) ergänzt. Daraufhin werden Chancen und Grenzen (5.) der Metapher aufgezeigt, um abschließend ein Fazit (6.), auch im Hinblick auf gegenwärtige Herausforderungen, zu ziehen.

2

Metapher als Leitbild

David W. Bennett fasst am Ende seines Werkes „Metaphores of Ministry : Biblical Images for Leaders and Followers“ (1993) zusammen: „Images are powerful. They shape what we see […] They dominate our patterns of analysis and reflection. […] They promote some values and discourage others. They suggest priorities, and awaken emotions“ (Bennett 1993:199). Das Verwenden von Metaphern beeinflusst. Metaphern sind „powerful“. Anhand von Bennets Ausführungen wird deutlich, von welch großer Wichtigkeit die Reflektion der Metaphern ist, die für das „Leiten“ verwendet werden. Hebammen leiten beim Interagieren mit ihren Klientinnen4 und auch in Gemeinde wird an vielen Stellen geleitet. In den Strukturen von Gemeinden gibt es Menschen in leitenden Positionen wie z. B. PastorInnen, Älteste, LeiterInnen von Gemeindegruppen u.v.m. Die Leistungsfähigkeit einer Metapher hängt von ihrer Verstehbarkeit ab. Eine leistungsstarke Metapher muss daher mit keinen oder wenigen Erläuterungen im jeweiligen Kontext verstanden werden können. Für das Verständnis der grundsätzlichen Anliegen der Hebammen-Metapher sind, wahrscheinlich wenig weitere Ausführungen nötig, da davon ausgegangen werden kann, dass viele Menschen grundlegendes Vorwissen über den Hebammenberuf besitzen. Viele 2 Im Anschluss an Karl Polanyi und Peter F. Drucker spricht Malik von der „Großen Transformation21“, um diese gesellschaftlichen Prozesse zu beschreiben (Malik 2014:19–25, 409f). 3 Gemeinde meint hier immer christliche Gemeinde (1jjkgs_a [ekkle¯s&a]). 4 Als Klienten einer Hebamme gelten primär die Frau (pränatal, gebärend, postnatal) und deren Kind, aber auch diesen Menschen Nahestehende (Partner, Vater u. a.) (Stiefel u. a. 2013:585).

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Menschen bekommen im Laufe ihres Lebens Kontakt mit einer Hebamme und dadurch Kenntnisse über Hebammen.5 So kann die Ein-Wort-Metapher „Hebamme“ als Stilfigur für den Sachverhalt „leiten“ im Kontext von Gemeinde dienen. Der Literaturwissenschaftler Philipp Löser nennt vier rhetorische Funktionswerte von Metaphern: emotionale Ansprache, erbauliche Schmuckfunktion, inhaltliche Präzisierung und Kultivierung neuer Denkmöglichkeiten (Löser 2002:1166). Im Blick auf die Hebammen-Metapher ist eine emotionale Ansprache bei Männern und Frauen sehr wahrscheinlich, zumindest bei denen, die in einer Relation zu Hebammen (z. B. durch die Geburt ihrer Kinder) oder dem Beruf der Hebamme stehen. Die Hebammen-Metapher bietet zudem eine inhaltliche Präzisierung und die Kultivierung neuer Denkmöglichkeiten über das Leiten in Gemeinde. Es ist davon auszugehen, dass sich bis dato noch wenig Leitende mit der Metapher der Hebamme erbaulich schmücken. Lösers Funktionswerte werden im Folgenenden für die Hebammen-Metapher weiter ausgeführt. Die inhaltliche Präzisierung und die Kultivierung neuer Denkmöglichkeiten über das Leiten im Kontext von Gemeinde soll zu einer erhöhten Leistungsfähigkeit der Metapher führen, sodass daraus die emotionale Ansprache ausgebaut wird und folglich eine erbauliche Schmuckfunktion der Metapher für das Leiten entstehen kann. Metaphern können sich zu Leitbildern für das Leiten im Kontext von Gemeinde entwickeln. Darunter versteht Ramsay Metaphern, die Werte und Ideale der pastoralen Praxis verbildlichen. Sie tragen enthüllende, korrigierende und konstruktive Potenziale in sich (Ramsay 1998:117). Klessmann bestimmt die Funktion von Leitbildern als orientierend, wegweisend und steuernd. Leitbilder laden zur Identifikation ein, können Selbstverständnisse stabilisieren und Rollenübernahmen erleichtern. Die Identifikation kann Konsequenzen für beispielsweise das Verhalten, das Auftreten, den Kommunikationsstil, den Leitungsstil sowie die Perspektiven auf Leitungsaufgaben nach sich ziehen. Leitbilder enthalten implizit Handlungsanweisungen, die es zu reflektieren gilt. Sie besitzen dabei immer einen zukunftsbezogenen, utopisch-kritischen Überschuss, der die Identifizierenden veranlasst, sich mit dem status quo nicht zufrieden zu geben (Klessmann 2001:27). Welche Werte, Ideale und Potenziale die Leitbild-Metapher „Hebamme“ verbildlicht, gilt es anhand der Darstellung aus Sicht der Hebammenkunde zu erläutern. 5 Diese Behauptung obliegt einem empirischen Vorbehalt. Es wird im weiteren Verlauf davon ausgegangen, dass die Ausführungen zur Hebamme vielen Lesern in Grundzügen bekannt sein werden. Die differenzierte Ausführung aus der Perspektive der Hebammenkunde zeigt zusätzlich den großen „Reichtum“ der Metapher für das Leiten.

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Die Hebamme aus der Perspektive der Hebammenkunde

Anhand der gegenwärtig für die Hebammenausbildung deutschlandweit standardisierten, fünften Auflage der „Hebammenkunde, Lehrbuch für Schwangerschaft, Geburt, Wochenbett und Beruf“ (Stiefel u. a. 2013), wird die LeitbildMetapher „Hebamme“ aus der Perspektive der Hebammenkunde näher dargestellt.6 Hebammen werden bereits im Vorwort des Lehrbuchs als wichtige Bezugspersonen für Frauen während Schwangerschaft, Geburt und Wochenbett herausgestellt. Aufgrund ihres Fachwissens sind Hebammen dazu befähigt, Frauen zu beraten, zu betreuen, Geburten zu leiten, Komplikationen frühzeitig zu erkennen, Neugeborene zu versorgen und das Wochenbett zu überwachen (Stiefel u. a. 2013:VI). Die Beziehung zwischen Hebamme und Frau wird als eine professionelle Arbeitsbeziehung tituliert, deren Basis Vertrauen ist. Eine vertrauensvolle Beziehung kann durch eine personenzentrierte Grundhaltung, Empathie, Akzeptanz im Sinne von Wertschätzung und Kongruenz im Sinne von Authentizität der Hebamme gelingen. Deswegen wird zu einer langfristigen und kontinuierlichen Betreuung geraten. In dieser Art von Beziehungsarbeit gehen Hebammen von einer selbstbestimmten und entscheidungsfähigen, also mündigen Frau aus, die alle Potenziale zur Weiterentwicklung in sich trägt (:33). Kommunikationskompetenz ist ein wichtiges Merkmal professioneller Hebammen. Dabei wird u. a. nach dem Betreuungskonzept „Empowerment“7 gearbeitet. „Empowerment“ kann bestimmt werden als „das Anstiften zur (Wieder-)Aneignung von Selbstbestimmung über die Umstände des eigenen Lebens“ (Herriger 1997:8). „Empowerment“ zielt darauf ab, Menschen dazu zu ermutigen, ihre eignen Stärken (wieder) zu entdecken, ihre Fähigkeiten zu Selbstbestimmung und Selbstveränderung zu stärken, ihre Selbstkompetenzen zu erweitern und die Kontrolle über die eigene Situation zu gewinnen. Als Grundannahme dieses Betreuungskonzepts gelten Vertrauen in die menschliche Kompetenz und der Respekt der Autonomie eines Menschen (Stiefel u. a. 2013:39). Des Weiteren arbeiten Hebammen in Deutschland mit der klientenzentrierten Gesprächsführung nach Carl Rogers. Dessen Grundannahme ist es, jeden Klienten als Individuum zu verstehen und personenzentriert zu betreuen. Hebammen sollen Klientinnen nach diesem Modell nicht-direktiv beraten und 6 Die Ausführungen über die „Hebamme“ aus der Perspektive der Hebammenkunde orientieren sich an dem genannten Lehrbuch (Stiefel u. a. 2013). Dabei werden historische Aspekte und subjektive Erfahrungsberichte außen vor gelassen. Aufgrund der besseren Lesbarkeit wird im Folgenden anstatt des Konjunktivs der Indikativ verwendet. 7 „Empowerment“ heißt wörtlich übersetzt „Bemächtigung“ (Herriger 1997:11).

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zur Selbsthilfe anleiten. Klientinnen sollen dadurch neue, eigene Wege zur Lösung ihrer Probleme finden und selbstständig handeln (:41). Die Vorsorge einer Hebamme hat zum Ziel, die Frau in ihrer Individualität zu sehen, ihre Kompetenz zu stärken und ihre Eigenverantwortlichkeit zu fördern (:165). Hebammen bemühen sich des Weiteren um eine evidenzbasierte Betreuung. Diese setzt sich aus einer gleichberechtigten Kommunikation zwischen Hebamme und Klientin zusammen unter der Berücksichtigung folgender drei Kriterien (:165): – der Integration von professioneller Erfahrung, Sensibilität und Sachverstand der Hebamme – der am besten verfügbaren Evidenzen der Wissenschaft – der Wünsche und Bedürfnisse der Frau Hebammen verstehen sich als Begleiterinnen. Die Geburt eines Kindes, insbesondere die des ersten Kindes einer Frau, stellt eine große Transition im Leben einer Frau und ebenso auch des Vaters dar. In traditionsgebundenen Gesellschaften übernehmen Übergangsriten oder Großfamilien diese Form des Begleitens. Die Hebammenkunde beschreibt die heutige Gesellschaft als traditionsungebunden, weshalb eine adäquate Begleitung, die Orientierung, Erfahrungswissen und andere Formen von Unterstützung bietet, vermisst wird. Gegenwärtig übernehmen deshalb oftmals Ärzte und Hebammen diese Aufgabe.8 Hebammen werden hier zu Vorbildern, anhand derer Mütter und Väter lernen, mit ihrem Kind umzugehen. Sie werden somit zu einem wichtigen Bestandteil im Prozess des Familienwerdens (:585). Hebammen betreuen ihre Klientinnen nur über einen gewissen Zeitraum. Die Begleitung beginnt frühestens bereits beratend vor einer Schwangerschaft. Sie endet spätestens nach den gesetzlich vorgeschriebenen Routineuntersuchungen durch die Hebamme und dem damit einhergehenden Begleiten im Familienwerdungs-Prozess. In diesem macht sich die Hebamme überflüssig, indem auch hier Hebammenarbeit immer Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe bleibt (:585f).

4

Die Hebamme aus der Perspektive der Theologie

Der Beruf der Hebamme bietet viele Inhalte, an denen ein Leitbild für das Leiten im Gemeindekontext anknüpfen kann. Leitende im Kontext von Gemeinde können durch vertrauensvolle Beziehungen zu wichtigen Bezugspersonen für Gemeindeglieder werden, wie auch die 8 Die Darstellung der Hebammenkunde wirkt allerdings utopisch. Der Ressourcenmangel im deutschen Medizin- und Pflegesektor ist allgemein bekannt.

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Hebamme für ihre Klientinnen. Doch ist diese Beziehung im Gemeindekontext mehr als nur eine professionelle Arbeitsbeziehung. Denn in die Leitungsposition werden diese Personen erst aus einem Netz von Beziehungen heraus autorisiert zu leiten. Beziehungen sind hier also mehr vom Privaten als von einer (ehrenamtlichen) Profession geprägt. Gemeindeleitende genießen meistens einen Vertrauensvorschuss aufgrund ihrer Position (Klessmann 2012:172). Aufgrund dessen ist in Gemeinde hauptsächlich von relationaler Autorität zu sprechen.9 Diesen Vorschuss von Vertrauen gilt es durch eine Grundhaltung geprägt von Empathie, Wertschätzung und Authentizität zu bestätigen und auszubauen. Nicht nur deswegen ist auch den Gemeindeleitenden, der Hebamme gleichend, zu einem langanhaltenden und kontinuierlichen Innehaben ihrer Position zu raten. Der Vertrauensvorschuss beruht bei Hebammen auf ihrem Fachwissen. Bei Gemeindeleitenden kann nicht von einem spezifischen Fachwissen für Gemeinde ausgegangen werden. Bei PastorInnen wird theologisches Fachwissen vorausgesetzt. Dies kann bei anderen Leitungsfunktionen in Gemeinden anders sein. Deshalb sind Fortbildungen wichtig, die Leitende ebenso dazu befähigen, durch ihr Wissen Gemeindeglieder zu begleiten, u. U. zu beraten, in Konflikten zu managen, kurz: zu leiten. Während bei Hebammen die Rede davon ist, dass sie vor allem das Wochenbett überwachen, kann von einer Form des Überwachens auf keinen Fall zwischen Leitenden und Gliedern der Gemeinde gesprochen werden. Nach dem NT kann von Gemeindezucht (Mt 18,15–17) und einem Hüten der Herde (1 Petr 5,2) die Rede sein, doch ist nach der Orientierung an dem Leitbild der Hebamme auch von selbstbestimmten und entscheidungsfähigen, also mündigen Gemeindegliedern, die alle Potenziale zur Weiterentwicklung in sich tragen, auszugehen. Von einer Überwachung oder von Entmündigen kann aus der Perspektive des Leitbilds der Hebamme nicht die Rede sein.10 Kommunikative Kompetenzen sind wie für Hebammen so auch für Leitende im Gemeindekontext ein wichtiges Merkmal. Das Konzept „Empowerment“ ist ebenso auf die Gemeindearbeit anwendbar. Gemeindeglieder sollen durch ihre LeiterInnen dazu angestiftet werden, sich ihre Selbstbestimmung (wieder-)anzueignen, mündige Christen/innen zu sein. Gemeindeglieder sollen ihr Christsein eigenverantwortlich und selbstbestimmt leben, was durch Leitende gefördert werden kann. Menschen dürfen ihre von Gott gegebenen Schwächen und Stärken im Kontext von Gemeinde entdecken, an ihnen arbeiten und sich einbringen. Dazu sollen sie von Gemeindeleitenden ermutigt und darin unterstützt 9 Diese Bestimmung beruht auf einer für dieses Kapitel zu weit führenden Diskussion (Ramsay 1998:114). Relationale Autorität ist nah verwandt mit dem, was Kessler „Beziehungsmacht“ nennt (Kessler 2012:41). 10 Das Verständnis von Gemeindezucht korreliert mit Gemeinde- und Leitungsstrukturen (Runia 1993:724).

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werden. Die Mitarbeit ist am besten durch intrinsische Faktoren motiviert, weshalb Leitende die Fähigkeit zur Selbstbestimmung besonders fördern sollten. Ebenso wie bei der Hebamme gilt auch für das Empowerment im Kontext von Gemeinde die Grundhaltung des Vertrauens in die Selbstkompetenzen der Gemeindeglieder und des Respekts vor der Autonomie eines jeden Menschen (Böhlemann & Herbst 2011:150). Das klientenzentrierte Modell nach Rogers kann Gemeindeleitenden zum Vorbild werden, Gemeinde personen-/ bzw. beziehungsorientiert zu leiten. Konkret bedeutet das, dass Gemeindeleitende orientiert am Evangelium leiten und von da aus die Wünsche und Bedürfnisse der individuellen Gemeindeglieder wahrnehmen und sie in ihren Kompetenzen und ihrer Eigenverantwortlichkeit stärken. Dies gleicht der Hebamme, die die Klientinnen – orientiert am Hebammengesetz, den EU-Richtlinien für Hebammen und der Hebammenberufsordnung – anhand ihrer Wünsche und Bedürfnisse der Klientinnen, leitet. So wie die Hebammenverordnungen zu dem Leiten nach Wünschen und Bedürfnissen in einem Verhältnis stehen, so auch das Evangelium mit dem Leiten nach Wünschen und Bedürfnissen der Gemeindeglieder. Malik betont immer wieder die überaus wichtige Konzentration auf Individuen, statt auf abstrakte Menschengruppen wie Gemeindemitglieder (Malik 2014:237). Leitende sollten einsichtig leiten, ebenso wie die Hebamme evidenzbasiert arbeitet. Professionelles Leiten setzt sich deswegen aus Erfahrung, Sensibilität und Sachverstand sowie der kontinuierlichen Weiterbildung von Leitenden zusammen, damit Gemeinde evidenzbasiert geleitet werden kann. Leitende, orientiert am Leitbild der Hebamme, sollten sich als BegleiterInnen verstehen. BegleiterInnen vermitteln Orientierung, Erfahrungswissen und andere Formen der Unterstützung. Hier werden Leitende, wie die Hebamme, zu Vorbildern (Authentic leadership [Johnson 2014:240–249]), anhand derer Gemeindeglieder lernen und Orientierung finden können (1 Tim 4,12–15). Leitende leiten Gemeinde immer nur über gewisse Zeiträume: PastorInnen wechseln ihre Arbeitsstelle, Älteste und Ältestinnen werden eingesetzt und abgesetzt usw. Wie bereits oben erläutert ist nach dem Leitbild der Hebamme eine langfristige und kontinuierliche Leitungsposition anzustreben. Jedoch ist die Hebamme immer darum bemüht, sich überflüssig zu machen. So wie Hebammen die Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe praktizieren, sollen Leitende in Gemeinden Gemeindeglieder dazu anleiten, dass sie mündig glauben sowie in der Lage sind sich selbst und andere zu leiten. Einzelne Leitende dürfen nicht konstitutiv für Gemeinde werden. Leitende befinden sich hier in einer Spannung. In Reflexionsprozessen sollte diese Spannung behandelt werden.

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Biblisch-theologische Beobachtungen

Die Hebamme wird in der Bibel an keiner Stelle als Leitbild-Metapher für Leiten verwendet. Gottes Handeln am Menschen jedoch wird an mehreren Stellen im AT mit dem fürsorglichen Handeln einer Hebamme verglichen (Ps 22,10f; 71,6). An der Fürsorge als Charakteristikum der Hebamme können sich Leitende im Kontext von Gemeinde orientieren, da Gott selbst in seiner Fürsorge für den Menschen mit der Hebamme verglichen wird. Die bekanntesten Hebammen der Bibel sind wohl Schifra und Pua, (Ex 1,15–21), die gewiss Vorbilder für den Gehorsam gegenüber Gott und dem Verhalten gegenüber der Würde eines jeden Menschen sind. Doch als Leitbild für Leiten im Kontext von Gemeinde wird ihre Geschichte nicht erzählt (Mueller 2012:4).11 Die Metapher „Hebamme“ lässt sich formal nicht als Leitbild für „Leiten“ in der Bibel belegen. Doch inhaltlich hat die Metapher „Hebamme“ als Leitbild für Leitende einige Haftpunkte: Der Geist Gottes sendet in Jesaja 61,1–3 den Propheten, um zu ermutigen, frei und lebendig zu machen, um zu „empowern“. „Was heute in ,Neudeutsch‘ gerne Empowerment genannt wird, ist eigentlich nichts anderes als das biblische ,Bevollmächtigen‘“ (Böhlemann & Herbst 2011:150). In dem Brief an die Epheser 4,11–16 werden Leitende durch eine Gemeinschaft zu ihrer Position autorisiert. Dafür ist soziale Kompetenz notwendig (Ramsay 1998:114). Menschen, denen Gott die Gabe der Ermutigung schenkt, stehen einer Identifikation mit dem Leitbild der Hebammen-Metapher nahe. Christen und Christinnen sind generell dazu beauftragt, zu ermutigen (Eph 5,19; 1 Thess 5,11; Hebr 10,24f; auch 2 Kor 1,3–4). Im NT ist an vielen Stellen die Rede davon, dass Christen mündig, im Sinne von selbstständig, reif, erwachsen, glauben dürfen (1 Kor 3,1f; 13,11; Eph 4,11ff; Gal 4,1–3; auch: Röm 8,15; Gal 5,1). Leitende, die sich mit dem Leitbild der Hebamme identifizieren, beabsichtigen dies durch ihr Leiten zu fördern. Des Weiteren können Vergleiche zwischen der Wiedergeburt und dem Gebären beobachtet werden (Joh 3,3–8; Gal 4,19).

11 Außerdem vergleicht Paulus in 1. Thessalonicher 2,7 sein unmündiges, kindliches bzw. mildes Auftreten (m^pioi [ne´¯pioi], viele Überlieferungen auch: Epioi [e´¯pioi]) mit einer hegenden und pflegenden Amme bzw. Mutter (tqov¹r h\kp, [trophjs th#lpe¯]), um zu verdeutlichen, dass er nicht nach menschlicher Anerkennung strebt. Hebammen ernten nach einer Geburt kaum Anerkennung. Sie ziehen sich zurück. Dienendes Leiten orientiert an der Hebamme sucht nicht nach menschlicher Anerkennung, sondern ist sich der Anerkennung Gottes gewiss. Von einer Hebamme als Leitbild-Metapher für das Leiten ist in 1. Thessalonicher 2,7 jedoch nicht die Rede.

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Pastoraltheologische Beobachtungen

Aus pastoraltheologischer Perspektive wurde die Leitbild-Metapher „Hebamme“ selten für „Leiten“ im Kontext von Gemeinde rezipiert. Die geringe Rezeption im deutschsprachigen Raum ist entweder zurückzuführen auf die schlechte Verstehbarkeit oder, das Unwissen über die große Leistungsfähigkeit der Metapher oder am wahrscheinlichsten, darauf dass sich viel mehr Männer als Frauen in dieser Fachdisziplin mit diesen Fragestellungen auseinandergesetzt haben. Entgegen der ersten Annahme soll dies ein Beitrag zugunsten der zweiten sein, u. a. damit in Zukunft gegen die dritte gewirkt werden kann. Der Pastoraltheologe Manfred Josuttis beschreibt 1996 die Einführung der Hebammenkunst als konstitutiv für den pastoralen Beruf. Auf diese steile These kommt er im Kontext seiner Diskussion über Frauen in Aufgaben geistlicher Führung. Dabei sieht er als tertium comparationis12, dass Leiterinnen wie Hebammen Menschen helfen, den beschwerlichen und befreienden Vorgang der Wiedergeburt bzw. Geburt zu vollziehen. Dabei käme es niemals zur Ausübung von Herrschaft über andere. Dies sei konstitutiv für den pastoralen Beruf (Josuttis 1996:31). Nancy J. Ramsay beschreibt die Hebamme als ein Leitbild, das ein Leitungsverständnis in der Spannung zwischen einerseits fürsorglich und authentisch angewandter Expertise sowie andererseits differenziert, relationaler Macht und Autorität verbildliche. Eine Hebamme versuche andere zu befähigen, indem sie die Fähigkeiten und die Verantwortung des Gegenübers respektiert. Dabei findet sie in dem Erfolg anderer Genugtuung. Die Hebammen-Metapher habe das Potenzial ein hierarchisches Verständnis von Autorität und Macht zu konterkarieren ohne ihre eigene Stellung zu kompromittieren. Ramsay meint, dass mündiges Christsein zu leben nicht einfach sei, was daran zu erkennen sei, dass der Schreiber des Epheserbriefes sich ausführlich mit dem Thema befasst habe. So sei es auch mit einer Geburt, die Ramsay mit den Adjektiven schwierig, dreckig und risikoreich beschreibt. So käme vielen Menschen zeitweise ihr eigenes Leben vor. Für beides brauche es Begleiter, die andere bei dieser schwierigen Aufgabe unterstützen (Ramsay 1998:119f). Michael Klessmann bezieht sich bei seiner Forschung über Rollenbilder von Pfarrerinnen und Pfarrern auf Ramsay und reduziert die Hebamme auf ein Rollenverständnis nur für Pfarrerinnen (Klessmann 2004:566). Der tertius comparationis zwischen Pfarrerin und Hebamme sei sowohl Fürsorge, aktive Präsenz sowie berufliche Kompetenz und Autorität als auch die Zusammenarbeit von Hebamme und gebärender Frau. Nach Klessmann versetzen Hebammen 12 In der Literaturwissenschaft ist die Rede von einem dritten Vergleichspunkt (tertius comparationis) zwischen bildhaftem Ausdruck und syntaktischem Kontext.

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gebärende Frauen im Geburtsprozess in die Lage, diesen soweit wie möglich in eigener Initiative zu steuern und zu gestalten. Die Hebamme initiiere, fördere, unterstützte und stärke die Frau. Der Geburtsprozess verlaufe nie ohne Schmerzen. Dabei ist es die Rolle der Hebamme, da zu sein und gemeinsam durch den Schmerz hindurchzugehen. Die Metapher sei sehr fruchtbar für die seelsorgerlichen Facetten des Pfarrerinnenberufs (Klessmann 2004:564).

5

Chancen und Grenzen

Der Begriff „Hebamme“ ist einer der wenigen Begriffe, zu denen es kein maskulines Äquivalent gibt. Bereits im Vorwort zur ersten Auflage der „Hebammenkunde“ thematisieren die Autorinnen die wenigen männlichen „Entbindungspfleger“. Diese Berufsbezeichnung sei zu vermeiden, weil sie sich erstens nicht im Sprachgebrauch durchgesetzt hätte und zweitens den Arbeitsbereich auf die Pflege während der Geburt reduziere (Stiefel u. a. 2013:VI). Während in Deutschland offiziell der Begriff „Entbindungspfleger“ beibehalten wird, entschied man sich in Österreich dazu, den Begriff „Hebamme“ auch als die offizielle Berufsbezeichnung für Männer zu bestimmen. Anlässlich des internationalen Hebammentages am 5. Mai 2018 veröffentlichte das Statistische Bundesamt (Destatis), dass im Jahr 2016 vier festangestellte Entbindungspfleger in deutschen Krankenhäusern Geburtshilfe leisteten.13 Die Zahlen zeigen deutlich, dass das Berufsfeld der Hebamme und des Entbindungshelfers eine Frauendomäne ist.14 Umgekehrt stellt es sich das Verhältnis von Männern und Frauen in Leitungspositionen vor allem im Kontext von Gemeinde dar.15 Hier ist eine Männerdomäne zu beklagen. Dies liegt mitunter an der Frauen-diskriminierenden, antiken Kultur, in der die biblischen Bücher entstanden (1 Kor 14,34; Eph 5,22.24; Kol 3,18; 1 Tim 2,11ff; 1Petr 3,1 u. a.), aus welchen christliche Gemeindestrukturen abgeleitet wurden und werden, aber sicher auch an der 13 Statistisches Bundesamt 2018: https://www.destatis.de/DE/PresseService/Presse/Pressemit teilungen/zdw/2018/PD18_17_p002.html [Stand: 04. 06. 2018]. 14 In der genannten Statistik kommen auf 9297 Frauen (ca. 99,96 %) vier Männer (ca. 0,04 %). Die hier eingenommene theologische Perspektive entzieht sich einer Wertung des Befunds des Pflegepersonals. 15 Auf Anfrage gibt der Bund Freier evangelischer Gemeinden (Stand: 20. 04. 2018) folgende Angaben: 539 Pastoren (97,3 %) und 15 Pastorinnen (2,7 %) sowie 21 Jugendpastoren (95,5 %) und eine Jugendpastorin (4,5 %) sind hauptamtlich angestellt. Zu den Leitenden in Gemeinde zählen neben PastorInnen auch Ältestinnen und Älteste sowie weitere Frauen und Männer. Somit ist diese Statistik zur Diskussion über die Anteile von Frauen und Männern in Leitungspositionen in Gemeinde nur teilweise, aber dennoch grundlegend aussagekräftig. Die Statistik zeigt auf, dass diese Leitungspositionen überwiegend von Männern besetzte sind.

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gegenwärtig Frauen-diskriminierenden Gesellschaft in Deutschland, obwohl man an mancher Stelle dagegen wirkende Bemühungen gut wahrnehmen kann. Diese Fakten und die Tatsache, dass Gemeinde Christi in Deutschland sich gerade hier nicht als emanzipatorischer Vorreiter erweist, ist als defizitär zu bewerten. Es muss mehr in die Förderung gerade von Leiterinnen im Kontext von Gemeinde investiert werden. Weibliche Leitbild-Metaphern, die es Frauen womöglich leichter machen, mit Leitungspositionen zu sympathisieren, können nur ein Anfang sein. Vielmehr sollten Leitbild-Metaphern mit ganz anderen, womöglich aus gesellschaftlicher Sicht „unweiblichen“ Charakterzügen, gerade für und ganz bewusst für Frauen konzipiert werden. Außerdem ist es an der Zeit, dass sich auch Männer mit weiblichen Leitbild-Metaphern identifizieren können. Die Metapher „Hebamme“ spricht somit einen Missstand in den meisten Leitungspositionen in Gemeinden an. Dieses Leitbild erzeugt eine Spannung zwischen der genuin weiblichen Metapher und dem männlich dominierten Sachbereich. Das ist als riesige Chance zu verstehen. Als weiter auszuschöpfendes Potenzial sind die Ausführungen Ramsays, Klessmanns und Josuttis zu verstehen, in denen sie einen tertium comparationis andeuten, die schwierige und schmerzhafte Geburt auf das schwierige und schmerzhafte christliche Leben zu übertragen. An anderer Stelle ist von „Glaubenshebammen“ (Warnke 2015:58f) die Rede. Dabei werden Menschen beschrieben, die andere Menschen am Anfang ihres Glaubens begleiten. Hier wird die Geburt eines Kindes übertragen auf den theologischen Begriff der Wiedergeburt oder übertragen auf den entwicklungspsychologischen Begriff der Glaubensentwicklung. Diese Metaphern bzw. Allegorien sind nicht Gegenstand dieses Beitrags. Nichtsdestotrotz bietet sich hier ein guter Anknüpfungspunkt das unterbestimmte theologische Thema der „Wiedergeburt“ in Verbindung mit der Leitbild-Metapher „Hebamme“ zu behandeln – entgegen eines weitverbreiteten Denkens – das Wiedergeburt reduziert auf einen „Kairos“ (Zeitpunkt). Im Sinne eines „Chronos“ (Zeitraum) der Wiedergeburt geht es um das Begleiten von Menschen – analog der Hebamme – vor, während und nach der Wiedergeburt. Die dargestellte Hebammen-Metapher bezieht sich größtenteils auf komplikationslose Abläufe. Die Metapher kann zudem weiter dahin ausgereizt werden, dass eine Hebamme bei bestimmten Komplikationen sehr viel direktiver leitet um Leben zu erhalten. Die Hebammen-Metapher erweist sich als ergänzungsbedürftig. Ramsay schlägt vor die Hebamme mit dem Diener zu einem Cluster zu kombinieren (Ramsay 1998:117). Sie hebt den Mehrwert der Demut und der größeren Wirkungsgeschichte der Diener-Metapher hervor (Ramsay 1998:120–122).16 Die 16 Bereits das NT verwendet die Metapher des Dieners in Mt 23,11 par.

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Überschneidungen der Hebammen-Metapher mit dem „Servant Leadership“ Ansatz von Greenleaf sind offensichtlich. Als Mehrwert impliziert die Hebammen-Metapher die bereits hervorgehobene feminine Leiterschaft bzw. das stärkere Identifikationspotenzial von Frauen. Außerdem bemüht sich die Hebamme ständig zu „empowern“, um sich selbst überflüssig zu machen. Der Leiter als Diener nach Greenleaf, dessen Grundlage der Protagonist „Leo“ aus Hermann Hesses „Morgenlandfahrt“ (1932) ist, konstituiert in aller Demut das zu leitende System, sodass „they cannot make it without the servant“ (Greenleaf 1977:2). Zusätzlich unterscheidet sich die Hebamme in ihrer individuellen Personenzentrierung und der stark seelsorgerlichen Facette signifikant vom Diener (Johnson 2014:235–241).17

6

Fazit

Das Leiten orientiert an der Metapher „Hebamme“ ist personenorientiert und kooperativ-partizipativ (Klessmann 2004:257). Sowohl Frauen als auch Männer können sich mit dem Leitbild identifizieren. Leiten nach der Metapher „Hebamme“ ist ergänzungsbedürftig. Viele Ausführungen, insbesondere rund um Empowerment und Fokussierung auf Subjekte, erinnern an die Theorie des Transformational Leaderships. Doch hebt die Hebammen-Metapher die Rolle des Vorbilds und der kreativen Innovationsgeberin nicht so stark hervor (Johnson 2014:230–235). Zusammenfassend verbildlicht die Hebammen-Metapher als Leitbild für das Leiten im Kontext von Gemeinde eine Art und Weise zu leiten, die durch folgende Aspekte qualitativ geprägt ist: – relationaler Autorität, die auf gegenseitigem Vertrauen und Fachwissen gründet – soziale Kompetenzen, wie Kommunikationskompetenz und Beziehungskompetenz – einer Form des Begleitens, die dem klientenzentrierten Modell nach Rogers entspricht, das ein mündiges, autonomes, eigenverantwortliches, selbstbestimmtes Menschenbild fokussiert, welches durch „Empowerment“ und Förderung unterstützt werden soll. Die seelsorgerliche Facette des Leitens im Gemeindekontext wird insbesondere durch das Da-sein und das gemeinsame durch den Schmerz Hindurchgehen der Hebamme hervorgehoben. Dabei wird Leiten, orientiert an der Hebamme, vom 17 Die Hebamme und der Diener nach Greenleaf sollten weitgehender miteinander verglichen werden, was aber im Rahmen dieses Kapitels nicht möglich ist.

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Ende her gedacht. Leiten soll langfristig und kontinuierlich gestaltet werden, jedoch mit dem Ziel, dass einzelne Leitende sich überflüssig machen und die Geleiteten in die Selbstständigkeit führen. Leiten ist nie Selbstzweck, ebenso wie das Arbeitsverhältnis der Hebamme. Gemeindeleitende können durch das Leitbild der Hebamme dazu inspiriert werden, dynamisch und beziehungsorientiert zu agieren sowie individuell und partizipatorisch zu leiten. Auch wenn die Hebammen-Metapher aus pastoraltheologischer Perspektive wenig rezipiert wurde, konnte nachgewiesen werden, dass sie inhaltlich biblischtheologisch verankert werden kann. Wird der Hebammenberuf detaillierter beleuchtet, so sind weitaus mehr Überträge zum Leiten im Kontext Gemeinde möglich als vorab vermutet. Die Hebammen-Metapher als Leitbild für das Leiten im Kontext von Gemeinde ist sehr leistungsfähig und verstehbar. Als ein genuin weibliches Leitbild unter vielen männlichen Leitbildern bietet es Identifikationspotenzial bewusst für Frauen aber auch Männer, denn ausnahmslos alle Übertragungen aus dem Leiten der Hebamme in den Kontext von Gemeinde lassen sich auch von Männern adaptieren. Die Metapher birgt sehr große Chancen und Potenziale bezüglich der Förderung von Frauen in Leitungspositionen, bezüglich des Förderns von mündigem Christsein und des Hinweisens auf den Missstand der Geschlechterverteilung in Leitungspositionen im Gemeindekontext. Mit Löser ist in diesem Sinne auf die Reziprozität der Beeinflussung zwischen einer Metapher und deren Kontext zu hoffen (Löser 2002:1166). Den einleitend beschriebenen, gegenwärtigen Herausforderungen kann durch das Leiten anhand der Hebamme begegnet werden. Die LeitbildMetapher der Hebamme ist für das Leiten im Kontext von Gemeinde relevant.

Literaturnachweis Bennett, David W. 1993. Metaphors of Ministry : Biblical Images for Leaders and Followers. Carlisle: Paternoster Press. Bohlemann, Peter & Herbst, Michael 2011. Geistlich leiten: Ein Handbuch. Göttingen – Oakville: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht. Faix, Tobias; Hoffmann, Martin & Künkler, Tobias (Hg.) 2015. Warum wir mündig glauben dürfen: Wege zu einem widerstandsfähigen Glaubensleben. Witten: SCM R. Brockhaus. Greenleaf, Robert K. 1977. Servant leadership: A journey into the nature of legitimate power and greatness. Mahwah: Paulist Press. Basierend auf „The servant as leader“, URL: https://www.essr.net/~jafundo/mestrado_material_itgjkhnld/IV/Lideran%C3% A7as/The%20Servant%20as%20Leader.pdf [Stand 24. 09. 2018]. Härry, Thomas 2018. Die Kunst des reifen Handelns. Witten: SCM R. Brockhaus. Herbst, Michael 2018. Lebendig! Vom Geheimnis mündigen Christseins. Holzgerlingen: SCM Hänssler.

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Herriger, Norbert 1997. Empowerment in der Sozialen Arbeit: Eine Einführung. Stuttgart – Berlin – Köln: W. Kohlhammer Verlag. Johnson, Craig E. 2014. Meeting the ethical challenges of leadership: Casting light or shadow. Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications. Chapter 7 available online: URL: https://www.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/59330_Chapter_7.pdf [Stand 27. 10. 2018]. Josuttis, Manfred 1996. Die Einführung in das Leben: Pastoraltheologie zwischen Phänomenologie und Spiritualität. Gütersloh: Chr. Kaiser Gütersloher Verlagshaus. Kessler, Volker 2012. Vier Führungsprinzipien der Bibel: Dienst, Macht, Verantwortung und Vergebung. Edition AcF. Gießen: Brunnen. Klessmann, Michael 2001. Pfarrbilder im Wandel: Ein Beruf im Umbruch. NeukirchenVluyn: Neukirchener Verlag. Klessmann, Michael 2004. Pastoralpsychologie: Ein Lehrbuch. Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Verlag. Klessmann, Michael 2012. Das Pfarramt: Einführung in Grundfragen der Pastoraltheologie. Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Theologie. Kracher, Florian; Freudenberger-Lötz, Petra & Zimmermann, Germo (Hg.) 2017. Selbst glauben: 50 religionspädagogische Methoden und Konzepte für Gemeinde, Jugendarbeit und Schule. Beiträge zur Missionarischen Jugendarbeit. Neukirchen-Vluyn: Neukirchener Aussaat. Löser, Philipp 2002. Metapher, I. Literaturwissenschaftlich, in Hans Dieter Betz u. a. (Hg): Religion in Geschichte und Gegenwart: Handwörterbuch für Theologie und Religionswissenschaft, Band 5, L–M. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, Sp.1165f. (RGG4). Malik, Fredmund 2014. Führen Leisten Leben: Wirksames Management für eine neue Welt. Frankfurt a.M.: Campus Verlag GmbH. Mueller, Ilse 2012. Hebamme, in Wissenschaftliches Bibellexikon im Internet (WiBiLex). Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft. URL: https://www.bibelwissenschaft.de/de/stichwort/207 61/ [Stand 16. 04. 2018]. Ramsay, Nancy Jean 1998. Pastoral diagnosis: A resource for ministries of care and counseling. Minneapolis: Fortress Press. Runia, Klaas 1993. Gemeindezucht, a) grundsätzlich, in Helmut Burkhard u. a. (Hg.): Evangelisches Lexikon für Theologie und Gemeinde, Band 2, G–N. Wuppertal und Zürich: R. Brockhaus, 724f. (ELThG). Statistisches Bundesamt 2018. Destatis, Zahl der Woche vom 24. 04. 2018. Wiesbaden. URL: https://www.destatis.de/DE/PresseService/Presse/Pressemitteilungen/zdw/2018/P D18_17_p002.html [Stand 04. 06. 2018]. Stiefel, Andrea, Geist, Christine & Harder, Ulrike 2013. Hebammenkunde: Lehrbuch für Schwangerschaft, Geburt, Wochenbett und Beruf. Stuttgart: Hippokrates Verlag. Warnke, Annekatrin 2015. Ein Franziskaner-Pater als „Hebamme“ bei der Wiedergeburt. ChristseinHeute 122(6), 58f.

Elelwani Farisani1

The role of the king in the Old Testament and its significance for modern leadership in Africa

1

Introduction

Although there were other leaders, such as elders, judges, priests, prophets, etc., who played an important role in the leadership in ancient Israel, this paper focuses only on the role of the king. The paper uses the metaphor of the king, notwithstanding its shortcomings, as a possible leadership example for modern leadership. The paper discusses the leadership roles played by a king in the Old Testament and describes the significance of this role for modern (African) leaders. The paper has three main sections. First, it discusses the emergence of kingship in both the Ancient Near East and in Israel. Second, the paper discusses a king as a leader in the Old Testament in general, and the role of the first three kings of Israel specifically. And finally, the paper will attempt to spell out the significance of the kingship metaphor for modern (African) leadership.

2

Kingship in the Ancient Near East and Israel

The Israelites did not invent Kingship. Throughout the Ancient Near East the king played a distinctive role, not only in politics, but also in religious life. According to Ancient Near Eastern concepts, he was seen as the representative of the god(s). Although there were differences between the Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Israelite understandings of their king(s), he was generally seen as a kind of intermediary figure between the god and his people (Human 2002:660; Nürnberger 2004:119). According to Pugh (2013), a king in the Ancient Near East performed the following three roles: First, he was a warrior, thereby protecting the people from external threats. Second, he was a chief judge, thereby guaranteeing justice to his 1 Elelwani Farisani; Professor of Old Testament; Chair of Department: Biblical and Ancient Studies, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa; [email protected].

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people. Third, he had to maintain and provide for religious observance (Pugh 2013:124–125; Harris 2002:67). In line with the abovementioned functions of a king, in Egypt, the king was responsible for creating order in life and for expelling chaos according to the Ma’at principle. This fighting against chaos in nature and society was done in order to preserve the order set by the god(s) in the Urzeit. To maintain order in nature and in society was, therefore, a high priority for the king. In society, his office mainly included obligations at the cult as well as the maintenance of juridical justice among the people. (Human 2002:661)

In Egypt he also embodied the unity of god and man; he was regarded in his office as a god (Human 2002:661; Nürnberger 2004:119). According to the Ancient Near Eastern worldview, the gods ordained kingship. A god chose the king and gave him mercy to reign. By divine commission the king then became the representative of the god. As Human explains, this divine legitimisation was necessary so that the king could act on behalf of the god. There was a symbiotic relationship between the earthly and divine kings. The earthly king became the legislator/lawmaker who promulgated laws for justice and righteousness in the socio-political spheres of life. (Human 2002:661; cf Nürnberger 2004:119)

However, in Israel the picture was a bit different. Given that the maintenance and provision for religious observance was already the Lord’s responsibility in Israel, according to Deuteronomy 17:14–20, the Israelite king was not required to perform it (Pugh 2013:125). It is the first two functions, defence and justice, that Israel most functions, coveted in any case, as is clear from their demands in l Samuel 8:19–20: “No, but there shall be a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles” (:125). In addition, it is important to note that the relationship between God and king in Israel was, in some regards, different from that in other parts of the ANE. For example, in Israelite tradition, the king was not regarded as a god. Yahweh was the legislator himself. He reigned through the office of the king. He himself fulfilled functions, which were carried out by the other Ancient Near Eastern kings. Therefore, Yahweh was the actual king and judge, while the earthly king merely fulfilled delegated functions from Yahweh (Human 2002:662; Nürnberger 2004:119). Human highlights this difference between Egyptian and Israelite kingship: The maintenance of law and order in the socio-political sphere of life (Egypt) was transmitted in Israel to the theo-political sphere. What the king did in the Egyptian society, God did through his royal office in Israel. A shift from a model of representative theocracy in Egypt to a model of maintaining law and justice in the theo-political sphere

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of life becomes evident where Israel is concerned. (Human 2002:660; cf Nürnberger 2004:119)

Having highlighted, in this subsection, the three tasks of the king, namely protecting the people, maintaining justice, and ensuring religious observance, we go on in the next subsection to discuss the leadership of a king in Israel, focusing on the first three kings, namely Saul, David, and Solomon.

3

The king as a leader in the Old Testament

3.1

The leadership roles of the first three kings of Israel

During the settlement period, there was as yet no central or organised leadership in Ancient Israel. The elders, who were the heads of the local communities, became the main source of authority in every day matters. Both the judges and military leaders also played a significant role in leadership before the establishment of the monarchy in Israel. However, this leadership arrangement did not satisfy the Israelites following the constant Philistine attacks against them, and accordingly, they demanded the monarchy, which in their view would be a more centrally organised source of authority. So in other words, as Pugh correctly observes, “the solution to this, in their eyes, was to have a permanent and powerful king to defend them and judge them” (Pugh 2013:126). As stated earlier, the monarchic system was already in existence in the ANE neighbours. The king was the central religious figure in Israel. Other leaders such as priests, prophets, and diviners only supplemented his role (Nürnberger 2004:119). 3.1.1 Saul Saul was the first king of Israel and had the potential to be a great ruler. His reign resembled those of the ‘judges’ in many ways. Under Saul wars were still fought by the tribal levy (Nürnberger 2004:119; Wittenberg 1992:78). When he was chosen by the prophet Samuel to be the first king of Israel, Saul was a person of great humility, but demonstrated his courage and ability to lead the people in defeating the invading Ammonites (1 Sm 10:20–11:04). Unfortunately, Saul became very jealous of his son-in-law David, especially as David became more famous after killing the most feared Goliath (Friedman 2001:7). As Friedman further elaborates on Saul’s jealousy : Saul was determined to kill David and this obsession caused him to wipe out an innocent town of priests for providing a fleeing David with food (I Samuel 22). Saul and

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three of his sons died in a battle with the Philistines – a battle the Israelites might have won with the assistance of David and his men. David and his band were quite formidable and defeated the Amalekites who destroyed the town of Ziklag (I Samuel 30). (Friedman 2001:7)

It is clear from the above discussion of Saul’s leadership that “jealousy is a dangerous trait for leaders, especially when it becomes an obsession” (:7). 3.1.2 David David was the second king of Israel and was one of the great kings of Israel. He was not only a great warrior, but also a poet, psalmist, and musician (:7). David established a Near Eastern Empire of considerable extent and power (Nürnberger 2004:119). David initiated the reorganisation of the army and Solomon completed it by introducing chariots and with it a new military nobility which made the old tribal militia superfluous (Wittenberg 1992:78). Closely linked with the reorganisation of the army was the establishment by David of a centralised bureaucracy based on Egyptian models. As Wittenberg explains: this strong link with Egypt was intensified under Solomon. He also deliberately ignored ancient tribal affiliations when he created his twelve administrative districts over which he appointed officials who were directly responsible to the crown. These were designed to facilitate the collection of taxes. (Wittenberg 1992:78)

As we all know, the mighty king David blundered by having an affair with BathSheba and the prophet Nathan confronted him and God punished him for this transgression (2 Sm 11–12). Contrasting the Bath-Sheba affair with the matter of Amnon and Tamar, Friedman argues that “David’s mistake in the matter of Amnon and Tamar caused more problems for his kingdom than his affair with Bath-Sheba and almost resulted in the loss of his kingdom” (Friedman 2001:7). David’s mishandling of the Tamar rape by Amnon is a clear indication of: what might happen when injustices are covered up rather than dealt with honestly. Had David punished Amnon for what he did to Tamar, Absalom might not have felt the need to take the law into his own hands. Moreover, he would not have lost respect for his father and would not have had the audacity to rape his father’s concubines and rebel against him. Leaders have to be scrupulous about justice and should not ignore injustices committed by subordinates, even if they are designated successors. (Friedman 2001:8)

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3.1.3 Solomon Solomon was the third king of Israel. God appeared to Solomon in a dream and asked him to request anything that he wished. Solomon asked God for “an understanding heart” to judge the people and the ability to “distinguish between good and evil” (1 Ki 3:9). Apparently, Solomon understood that a leader needs wisdom, compassion, and a sense of justice to succeed and noted that David, his father, walked before God with “truth and righteousness and with an upright heart” (1 Ki 3:6; Friedman 2001:8). Under Solomon the system of compulsory labour services was developed and perfected (Soggin 1982:266; Wittenberg 1992:79). Solomon’s most important building project was the temple in Jerusalem. The building of the temple was of supreme significance for the newly established monarchy (Ahlström 1982:1; Farisani 2015). But what was the modus operandi of Solomon’s move in building this temple? According to Lundquist “the temple is the central organizing unifying institution in Ancient Near Eastern society” (Lundquist 1983:213). The temple became what Ahlström calls the “nucleus of the state” (Ahlström 1982:6). Temples built by kings were state administrative places which often became the financial centres and the large land holders of the country (:2). The temple belonged to the great citadel complex whose main edifice was the palace (:34). Palace and temple were built on a separate sacral space (Lundquist 1983:209) and both buildings were separated by a wall from the rest of the city (Ahlström 1982:1; Farisani 2015). They communicated the important visual message that God and king belonged together and that the king had the divinely-sanctioned power to carry out his imperial governance (Farisani 2015). It is important to realise that in all these building projects of the state, religion had become an arm of the royal administration (Wittenberg 1992:79). Although Solomon started off well in his leadership role, choosing wisdom over wealth and fame, he seemed to have later forgotten about the most important quality of leadership, as Friedman explains: Solomon was a great ruler who sowed the seeds of the dissolution of his empire and his kingdom was split into two after he died. Solomon’s blunder was that, as he got older, accumulating personal wealth became more important than building up his country. His love for foreign women caused him to accumulate a ridiculous number of wives (I Kings 11:1–4). As Solomon himself noted, leaders need wisdom, understanding, righteousness, and truth to ensure the success of their reign. Wealth, fame, […] and incredible edifices are not what leadership is all about. (Friedman 2001:8)

The first three kings of Israel seemed to have started off well as leaders of their nation, but blundered later on. It is very important that “leaders have to realize that the goal is to build up the organization (or country) one heads and to help one’s followers realize their potential, not to use one’s position for personal

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aggrandizement. Wealth and fame might be a by-product of successful leadership, but are not its purpose” (:8). Having briefly discussed the role of the first three kings of Israel in this subsection, we move on to highlight the three expectations of faithfulness in leaders, including kings, namely the king’s calling, his status and prestige, and the role of the torah in his leadership style.

3.2

The king’s calling

Deuteronomy 17:14–20 is similar to cultural norms in the Ancient Near East in that it identifies God as the one who chooses the king (Pugh 2013:126). The authors of 1 Samuel underline the divineness of David’s call to be the second king of Israel. The office of king in ancient Israel was, together with prophets and priests marked out by the permanent anointing with the Spirit of God (1 Sm 16:13; 2 Sm 23:2; Is 11:2). “It is the permanence of the presence of the Spirit that is the distinctive thing being expressed by the anointing of kings, as distinct from the Judges on whom the Spirit came for particular feats of strength (Othniel 3:9–10; Gideon 6:34; Jephthah 11:29; Samson 14:6, 19; 15:14)” (:127). It is important to note here that the emergence of David is highlighted as a new thing that carried a new kind of anointing, so that “God was with him” (1 Sm 16:18; Pugh 2013:127).

3.3

The king’s status and prestige

Deuteronomy 17:15 makes clear that the Israelite king must be chosen from among the rank and file of the people (a ‘brother’ to the people), not necessarily high born and not brought in from outside (Pugh 2013:127; Nürnberger 2004:140). He was to be the Lord’s ‘viceroy’ or vassal, the Lord himself being the only true king of Israel (Pugh 2013:127–128). There were limitations imposed upon the king’s greed and lust for power (verses 16–17), as well as the first hint of a prohibition on polygamy (verse 17), later echoed in New Testament qualifications for leadership (1 Tm 3:2, 12). In context, the acquisition of wives would have served the function of political aggrandisement via the formation of political alliances (Brueggemann 2007:456; Pugh 2013:128).

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The king and torah

The king was required to make his own copy of the Torah and read it constantly. Daniel Block explains further, “this charge perceives the king not as one who writes the laws, but as one who receives them from a higher authority and is subject to them” (Block 2005:270). Pugh further explains that, “a copy would be handed to the king at his accession by the priests for him to copy, an act that symbolises, not only the king’s subordination to the Torah, but also his subordination to the priesthood” (Pugh 2013:128). Sadly, the Israelite monarchy did not last (Pugh 2013:129; Nürnberger 2004:129). 3.4.1 Curbing the power of the monarchy The curbing of royal power is evident in many stipulations of the Deuteronomic Code. Authority is not vested in the king but in the people (Wittenberg 1992:86). Wittenberg explains how the Deuteronomic Code curbs the power of the king: The people appoint the king, the people appoint judges and officers in all the towns (16:18–20; 17:8–13), and the people decide on war or peace (Dt 20). The people also play a crucial role in Deuteronomy’s most remarkable piece of legislation – the law for the king (Halbe 1985:60; Cruesemann 1983b:91). Deuteronomy accepts the institution of the monarchy, but according to Deuteronomy 17:14–17, the king is appointed by the people (v 15), is part of the people, and may not lift up his heart above his people (v 20). He is committed to a simple lifestyle, he may not have many horses and many wives, ‘nor shall he greatly multiply for himself silver and gold’ (v 16, 17), an unambiguous reference to the lavish and extravagant court style of Solomon. Most importantly, the king may not cause the people to return to Egypt (v 16). This means, in the context of Deuteronomy, that the king may not re-introduce practices such as forced labour, reminiscent of the oppressive policies of Egypt. The Deuteronomic law therefore does not legitimate the rule of the king, but rather it restricts and severely limits his power. (Wittenberg 1992:86)

Furthermore, Deuteronomy 17:8–9 stipulates that a higher court of appeal should be established in Jerusalem (Wittenberg 1992:86). It is clear that for Deuteronomy, law has only one purpose, namely to maintain the freedom which was given in Israel’s original liberation and to oppose all measures which would endanger and undermine that freedom (:84). Nürnberger (2004:124) agrees that in the midst of the failure of the monarchy the Deuteronomic-deuteronomistic tradition developed the vision of a genuine king: He is God-fearing, just, immune to corruption, humble, economically modest, wise in judgment. He is the defender of the poor and the powerless, the oppressed and ex-

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ploited, the widow and the orphan (Ps 72). He does not need to impose his will by force because his reign is based on justice and divine authority. He does not have to resort to war because Yahweh shields him (Is 9:5ff; Is 11:1–10). (Nürnberger 2004:124)

4

Significance of the kingship metaphor for modern leadership in Southern Africa

First, modern leadership in Africa could learn from ancient Israel, on how to limit the power of our government. In ancient Israel, the power of the king was limited in the following three ways. First, the laws of the nation served to limit the king’s inclination toward self-enrichment (Stevens, 2012:26). Some African leaders could learn that the constitution and the rule of law are supreme. Second, the powers of the king were limited by the military (:26). The role of the army will need to be approached with caution, as in certain African countries the role of the military has been a destabilising factor as opposed to it being the strengthening of democratic rule. Third, prophecy plays a role in strengthening democratic rule. As Stevens explains, the prophets “speak truth to the power of the monarchy, calling the kings to account for their greed and exploitation of the populace” (:26). In South Africa, the role of the critical prophecy largely diminished with the advent of democracy, with the exception of the few. Jacob Zuma’s presidency (2009–2018) has once more made us aware of the significant role that prophecy should play in ensuring justice, fairness and adherence to the constitution and democratic rule. Second, both God and people play a role in selecting the earthly king (Stevens 2012). As Stevens highlights the role of God in choosing the earthly king, “the Divine King chooses the earthly king. Conversely stated, the earthly king serves at the pleasure of the Divine King” (Stevens 2012:11). In addition, the role of the people in selecting the king is highlighted. “The people themselves could choose a king by popular consensus. Not surprisingly, past deeds on behalf of the people, usually in battle, encouraged the people to elevate the military leader to king” (:12). Both the roles of God and people in selecting earthly rulers could possibly strengthen democracy in our countries today, especially if well understood. Our governments today, who are our earthly rulers, should understand that they exercise power not only for themselves, but on behalf of both God, who is the divine ruler, who is their creator, and they are also accountable to their citizens, who have elected them to the position of power as president, minister, premier, mayor, etc. Third, the king was a chief judge, he had to guarantee justice to his people. The king had to establish justice and peace – ˇsedakah and ˇsalom – in their societies. Modern leaders can learn a lot from the administration of justice during the

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settlement period in ancient Israel where the process was conducted in a fair and just manner to both the plaintiff and the defendant (Farisani & Farisani 2004). During this period, there was no corruption or abuse of the administration of justice. Nothing was predetermined and witnesses were never coached on what to say at the city gate. It was only later with the advent of the monarchy that the justice system became corrupt and tended to favour the rich and powerful at the expense of ordinary poor and powerless people such as Naboth (Farisani & Farisani 2004). The justice system could contribute to a just and peaceful society in Africa by not only making the courts accessible to the poor and marginalised but (unlike in the case of Naboth) by also administering justice without fear or favour (Farisani 2015). Fourth, like King Solomon, who asked God for “an understanding heart” to judge the people and the ability to “distinguish between good and evil” (1 Ki 3:9), modern African leaders need wisdom, compassion, and a sense of justice to succeed as opposed to amassing the wealth of the country (Friedman 2001:8). In the Old Testament, “a direct link is made between the wisdom of God dwelling in the king and justice executed for the people” (Stevens 2012:19). Fifth, Psalm 72 provides an ideal king who is God-fearing, just, immune to corruption, humble, economically modest, wise in judgment, defender of the poor and the powerless, the oppressed and exploited, the widow and the orphan (Nürnberger 2004:124; Human 2002). As Stevens correctly observes, in Psalm 72, “the initial petition is for God to grant righteousness and justice to the earthly king as defining characteristics of his reign” (Stevens 2012:18). First, such leadership would not only talk tough against corruption, but they would also ensure that they themselves are not corrupt. In addition, state organs tasked with fighting corruption would do so without fear or favour. Second, in the context of poverty and starvation where the life of the poor in terms of hunger and exploitation are characterised by insufficient health care, lack of proper and decent housing, lack of proper formal education, unemployment, and minimum wage systems (Theuri 1999:240), the modern African leadership would ensure that poverty is eradicated through appropriate intervention measures to ensure that the poor achieve self-reliance as opposed to accepting charity. And, finally, when the monarchic system failed, Deuteronomy legislated the curbing of the power of the monarchy/state (Stevens 2012:25ff). Its main purpose was to maintain the freedom which was given in Israel’s original liberation and to oppose all measures which would endanger and undermine that freedom (Wittenberg 1992:84). The South African constitution has legislated what is known as chapter 9 institutions such as the Public Protector, South African Human Rights Commission, Commission for Gender Equality, Independent Electoral Commission, the Auditor General, etc. to curb the power of the state. In themselves, these institutions would not automatically curb the power of the

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state, they also need leaders who are willing to pursue corruption regardless of who is the perpetrator.

References Ahlström, G.W. 1982. Royal administration and national religion in ancient Palestine. Leiden: Brill. Block, D. 2005. The burden of leadership: The Mosaic paradigm of kingship (Deut. 17:14–20). Bibliotheca Sacra 162 (Jul-Sep 2005), 259–278. Brueggemann, W. 2007. Ancient Israel on political leadership: Between the book ends. Political Theology 8(4) (2007), 455–469. Farisani, E.B. & Farisani, D.M. 2004. The abuse of the administration of justice in 1 Kings 21:1–29 and its significance for our South African context. OTE 17(3), 389–403. Farisani, E.B. 2015.The Naboth vineyard story and poverty alleviation. Theologia Viatorum 39(1), 62–87. Friedman, H.H. 2001. Moral leadership: Ancient lessons for modern times. Journal of College and Character 2(11). URL: https://doi.org/10.2202/1940-1639.1303 [Accessed 25 February 2019]. Gray, D.R. 2008. Christological hymn: The leadership paradox of Philippians 2:5–11. Journal of Biblical Perspectives in Leadership 2(1) (Winter 2008), 3–18. Harris, J. 2002. The king as public servant: Towards an ethic of public leadership based on virtues suggested in the Wisdom literature of the Older Testament. Journal of Theology for Southern Africa 113 (July 2002), 61–73. Human, D.J. 2002. An ideal for leadership – Psalm 72: The (wise) king – Royal mediation of God’s universal reign. Verbum et Ecclesia 23(3), 1–20. Lundquist, J.M. 1983. What is a temple? A preliminary typology, in H.B. Huffmon, F.A. Spina & A.R.W. Green (eds): The quest for the kingdom of God: Studies in honour of George E Mendenhal. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 205–219. Nürnberger, K. 2004. Biblical theology in outline: The vitality of the word of God. Pietermaritzburg: Cluster Publications. Pugh, B. 2013. Subverted Hierarchies: Towards a biblical theology of leadership. Journal of the European Pentecostal Theological Association 33(2), 125–142. DOI:10.1179/jep. 2013.33.2.003 [Accessed 25 January 2019]. Stevens, M.E. 2012. Leadership roles of the Old Testament: King, prophet, priest, sage. Eugene, OR: Cascade. Soggin, J.A. 1982. Compulsory labor under David and Solomon, in T. Ishida (ed) 1982. Studies in the period of David and Solomon and other essays. Winona Lake, Indiana: Eisenbrauns, 259–267. Theuri, M. 1999. Poverty in Africa, in M.N. Getui & E.A. Obeng (eds): Theology of reconstruction. Nairobi: Acton, 230–242. Wittenberg, G.H. 1992. Process of change in the life of Israel: An Old Testament perspective. Missionalia 20(2), 75–87.

Peter Westphal1

Resilient leadership through a system of unique and separated roles: King, Priest, and Prophet as metaphors for counter-balancing leadership functions in organisations

1

Introduction

People exercise leadership in different ways and through a variety of roles that they enact within communities and organisations. This paper examines three different forms of leadership that, when working together appropriately, may provide a community with more balanced and resilient leadership than a single leader, or a homogeneous leadership team, would provide. These three forms of leadership are metaphorically described as King, Priest, and Prophet.2 A brief review of these three different forms of leadership, their functions and limitations, based on the Old Testament narrative, provides the initial building blocks of a leadership system. The theoretical analysis then integrates these metaphors and explores the interconnections and interdependencies between these forms of leadership from the perspective of a resilient, self-correcting leadership system.

1.1

Leadership and organisation

For the purpose of this study, leadership is defined as the process employed by an individual or team “to influence, motivate, and enable others to contribute toward the effectiveness and success of the organisation of which they are members”, in accordance with the multi-cultural GLOBE study on leadership and organisations (House et al. 2014:16). The term ‘organisation’ is viewed as a social and cultural phenomenon. Any group with an ongoing need to coordinate processes among its members is an organism, i. e. an organisation. The term is 1 Peter Westphal; Social Scientist, Leadership Development Consultant and Coach; Wycliffe Global Alliance – Europe, Burbach, Germany ; [email protected]. 2 The terms King, Priest, and Prophet are capitalised when the title is meant metaphorically, or when it can carry both metaphorical and literal meanings simultaneously. When referring to real, actual kings, priests, or prophets, these terms are not capitalised.

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therefore not restricted to formally structured business entities, but extends to traditional families, churches, soccer teams, and communities.

1.2

Metaphors as tools to study leadership

Metaphors are useful tools for examining leadership, because they help to simultaneously explore complex, multi-faceted aspects of leadership (Alvesson & Spicer 2011:31). Metaphors chunk and organise these aspects into concrete and tangible phenomena (Lakoff & Johnson 1980:3). They help us to create categories and structures for our analysis (Glucksberg 2008:80). A set of related metaphors enables the interrelationships between different aspects of leadership to become visible and meaningful. As much as metaphors help to illuminate certain aspects in an investigation, metaphors can also omit or hide other aspects. Lakoff and Johnson (1980:236ff) therefore caution against the uncritical use of metaphors. According to Tsoukas (1991:568), metaphors function appropriately when meaning can be transferred from the original context (base domain) to the new context (target domain). Ruth (2014:181) argues against the use of spiritual metaphors in secular organisational settings, because the spiritual meaning of the base domain may not transfer accurately to the target domain in modern organisations. Specifically, Ruth sees the danger of unwarranted spiritual meaning being attached to the metaphor, resulting in misrepresentations of the very nature of spirituality. Nullens (2014:104), on the other hand, opposes the dualistic separation of spiritual versus secular and suggests that “there is but one reality in which we participate”. Nullens (2014:104) examines the roles of King, Priest, and Prophet from the perspective of leadership spirituality and bases his application of the metaphors to the public domain on Bonhoeffer’s (2005:55) view that “in Christ we are invited to participate in the reality of God and the reality of the world at the same time, the one not without the other”. Nullens (2014:108) stresses the relevance of this framework for modern management and public leadership and asserts that the leadership roles of King, Priest, and Prophet “become metaphors which offer a hermeneutical framework for interpreting the call of Christian leaders”. Even though Nullens (2014:106) examines the three forms of leadership from a Christocentric perspective, he argues that these leadership forms need to be understood from their functions in Israel during Old Testament times. The three leadership metaphors have been used, individually or in various combinations, in previous studies and descriptions of leadership. Alvesson and Spicer (2011:46) cite the images of Priest and Prophet as appropriate metaphors for studying leadership. Hatch et al. (2005:132), for example, discuss the leadership role of Priest in modern organisations, Avakian and Roberts (2012:71ff)

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examine the role of the Prophet. The separation of leadership roles into priest, deacon, and bishop (Dreiämterlehre) found in the early church, included the function of administrative leadership under the role of Bishop. Using the metaphor of the King, based on the Old Testament narrative of Israel’s kings, to examine executive, decision-making leadership from a biblical leadership perspective, can add to our understanding of leadership in an essential, yet often overlooked, aspect of Christian leadership (Nullens 2014:112).

1.3

Leadership metaphors in modern organisations

Boleman and Deal (2008:253) studied organisations and leadership from the perspectives of four interdependent frames: human resources, structure, politics, and symbols. The symbolic frame “interprets and illuminates the basic issues of meaning and belief”. Viewing an organisation from a symbolic perspective, the authors (2008:367) use the metaphor of a temple in which a community of faith meets, “bonded by shared beliefs, traditions, myths, rituals, and ceremonies”. Symbolic leadership uses these symbols to create meaning and influence the organisation. This study uses Boleman and Deal’s (2008:235ff) symbolic frame to place the metaphors of King, Priest, and Prophet in a modern organisational context.

2

King

The term ‘King’ is used figuratively to symbolise administrative, decisionmaking leadership that is based on formal authority. King-leadership extends beyond a single, powerful individual. All administrative leadership, in which authority has been delegated down to different levels, exercises king-leadership. The responsibility of a king was to rule or to govern (Nullens 2014:110; Stevens 2012:1). The Oxford dictionary (2010:1527) defines ‘to rule’ as “to exercise ultimate power or authority over an area and its people”, with the synonyms “to govern” and “to lead”. A second meaning is “to pronounce authoritatively and legally”.

2.1

God as King

According to Stevens (2012:2), the Old Testament asserts that God is the true King, despite the presence of human kings in Israel. The idea that God is the true King, from whom all earthly kings derive their delegated authority, is

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fundamental to the understanding of king-leadership. God’s authority as King over all the world is closely connected with God’s role as Creator of all things (Stevens 2012:3). God created all things and God rules over all things. The human King was viewed as a regent who acted on behalf of the divine King (Sherman 2004:137). In Deuteronomy 17:14–20, Moses envisions that Israel would later be governed by a king and lays out the qualifications for the kind of person and type of leadership Israel’s king was to fulfil (Block 2011:119). Nullens (2014:113), from a New Testament perspective, describes spiritual king-leaders as “regents under Christ our King”.

2.2

Authority and responsibilities of the King

King-leaders were called to represent God’s rule on earth, having been delegated responsibility and authority over communities and territories (Stevens 2012:10). The king was formally responsible for making decisions for the well-being of the people and for the territory under his jurisdiction. The role of the king, and his administration, was a formal one, officially assigned by the community and organised into legitimate structures, hierarchies, and processes. There seems to be broad agreement among scholars about the main responsibilities of the King, for example Block (2011:122), Human (2002:674), Nullens (2014:112), Pugh (2013:125), Sherman (2004:136), and Stevens (2012:14). Psalm 72 provides the following insights into the roles and responsibilities of an earthly King: (a) judging and ensuring justice; (b) economic well-being of the people and prosperity ; (c) defence of the poor (internal) and from outside threats (external); and (d) maintaining harmonious, peaceful relationships with surrounding kingdoms. According to Sherman (2004:137), the preeminent role of a King was, however, to serve as a guardian of true and faithful worship. Nullens (2014:111) sees king-leadership as a “gift of the Spirit and a manifestation of God’s kingdom”. King-leadership was understood as a divine task (Nullens 2014:111), no less spiritual than priestly or prophetic service (Pugh 2013:128; Sherman 2004:134).

2.2.1 The King as shepherd Looking at the responsibilities of a King as caretaker and administrator of God’s creation on earth, it is not surprising that the biblical role of king-leaders was associated with the role of a shepherd taking care of the owner’s flock. The metaphor of the shepherd was frequently used to describe the type of leadership God provided for Israel as well as the role of earthly kings for their people (Gan

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2010:9). Kings in the Old Testament were therefore often given the title ‘shepherd’ (Sherman 2004:9).

2.3

King-leadership as a metaphor in organisations

King-leadership represents those who carry an organisation’s formal decisionmaking authority. This formal decision-making authority differentiates kingleadership from priest-leadership and prophet-leadership. Associated with this formal authority is the responsibility that king-leaders carry for their people and the results of their decisions. King-leaders make decisions in a complex and ambiguous world. They need to deal with the world ‘as it is’.

2.4

Limitations of king-leaders

Every leader with his/her limitations exhibits the imperfect state of human nature. Because people who carry significant authority and responsibility are liable to fall short of what they ‘should be’, Scripture shows other leadership functions and structures that aim to correct these human shortcomings. The difference between an individual leader ‘as is’ and ‘as should be’ has direct relevance to the leadership roles and structures presented in the Old Testament as King, Prophet, and Priest. King-leaders, therefore, are not meant to rule without checks and balances. It is significant that, despite king-leaders’ frequent shortcomings, the biblical record shows a clear and ongoing separation of these leadership roles and neither advocates nor records any incident of a ‘spiritual coup’ in the face of king-leadership failure. The Priest or Prophet did not take over the governing or decision-making roles that belonged to the king-leader.

3

Prophet

The English term ‘prophet’ comes from the Greek word ‘prophetes’ and means literally “before-speak” (Stevens 2012:31) or “someone who proclaims” (Nullens 2014:113). Stevens (2012:42) states that most prophets in the Old Testament were individuals “who are somehow overwhelmed by a compulsion to communicate a divine word, either in speech or action”. Prophets are people who deliver a word of truth in a particular socio-economic context. According to Stevens (2012:31), the leadership role of the Prophet in the ancient world was closely connected with the leadership role of the King. Nullens (2014:113) calls the role a “‘holy opposition’ to the establishment”.

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The term ‘Prophet’ is used figuratively in modern contexts. Here, prophetleaders are defined as people who influence their community because they feel compelled to speak up for the truth in a specific social, economic, or historical context. Prophet-leaders deliver messages of truth that have been overlooked, avoided, or suppressed. They are often seen as uncomfortable and challenging from the perspective of the status quo. The Prophet was in essence a messenger, and his or her role was limited to delivering the message. Prophet-leaders focus on the world as it should be or could be and are deeply energised by the disparity between what should be and what is (Nullens 2014:114). In contrast to kings, most prophets in the ancient world took up their role as a vocation (calling) rather than a formal position (Stevens 2012:33). Prophetleadership was the least formalised among the three forms of leadership. The same is true in today’s context. Because prophets lead with their vision of a better future, visionary prophet-leaders can become misleading, manipulative, and disconnected from reality (Nullens 2014:114).

3.1

Prophet-leadership in organisations

The importance of prophet-leadership in organisations has been recognised by organisational scholars (Bolman & Deal 2008:367). In a similar way to Bolman and Deal, Nullens (2014:114) stresses the communicative and visionary nature of prophet-leadership in organisations. Prophet-leaders can contribute to organisations in the same ways as Prophets did to communities in Old Testament times. Organisational prophet-leaders are often people outside the official hierarchy who feel compelled to expose wrongs or draw attention to uncomfortable truths, because they believe this will serve the organisation or community in the long run. Among others, whistleblowers fulfill the role of modern Prophets in organisations (Avakian & Roberts 2012:71ff). Whistleblowers fall into this category when they are motivated to expose organisational wrongs that need to be rectified for the common good (Bolman & Deal 2008:208). Recognising overlooked truths that need to be rectified, and having foresight into changing environments, make prophet-leadership valuable at the board and governance level. Board members would be better informed if they noticed the voices of organisational Prophets. Bolman and Deal (2008:367) associate organisational Prophets with zealots who publicise an organisational vision of what could be or should be, rather than what currently exists. When prophet-leadership is missing, the necessary critical challenges to the status quo are lacking. Injustice and abuse of power may develop unchallenged. Unquestioned harmony may be a sign that the uncomfortable voices of prophetleaders have either been suppressed by king-leaders, or were unwelcome by the

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community. Groupthink is more likely to develop when prophet-leadership is absent, leading to a deterioration in decision-making quality (Janis 1982).

3.2

Limitations of prophet-leaders

The major limitation of prophet-leadership is its confinement to the role of a messenger or advocate. Why is the Prophet who hears messages directly from God not also the decision-maker for the community? The author suggests two possible reasons for this apparent paradox: a) Due to leaders’ imperfect human state, God has designed a separation of power that would not exist if the role of Prophet and King were combined in the same person. When a Prophet exercises king-leadership, accountability is lost and the potential of a dictatorship becomes very real. b) The focus of king-leadership is decision-making and governance; the focus of prophet-leadership is advocacy. The two forms of leadership require different gifts that are difficult to combine, or are rarely combined, in the same person at the same time.

4

Priest

Priests in the Old Testament were experts and specialists for religious rituals. Priests were set apart for these religious services. Being a priest required a ‘priestly’ lifestyle, and was therefore more than just a profession (Stevens 2012:65). Stevens (:75) suggests that Leviticus 10:10–11 provides a concise description of the work of a priest: “You are to distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean; and you are to teach the people of Israel all the statutes that the Lord has spoken through Moses.” Priest-leaders today may or may not hold an official priestly position, but they fulfil the same mediating and clarifying roles. For the study, priest-leaders are defined as people who influence communities by mediating between conflicting individuals or groups within the community. Priest-leaders exert influence by developing or declaring ways to make errant individuals, ideas, or projects acceptable to the community ; by facilitating social acceptance, or exclusion, of people by the community ; and by communicating to preserve the moral standards and group norms within the community. Priestleaders are influencers for unity and harmony in a community and may function as social gate keepers who can accept or reject changes and innovations. Priests derive their authority from their character and lifestyle, which often sets them morally apart.

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Priests in Israel’s society

The priesthood had an important leadership role in the ancient world (Stevens 2012:64). According to Stevens (:75), a priest was an official mediator between the holy and unholy, the sacred and secular, and between the clean and unclean. Sherman (2004:182) describes the priest as the mediator of right order between the holy God and the covenant people. Nullens (2014:116) explains priestly service as maintaining the order of life in community through reconciliation and building community. Priests performed important spiritual and social roles in almost every part of life. Rituals provided processes to move items from being unclean to being clean, from impure to pure. Priests had a special role in granting social legitimacy and acceptance to individuals, or in withholding such acceptance. Priests were also the living depository of the law. Block (2011:131) sees priests as custodians of the Mosaic law for the community. Priests were the teachers of the law throughout several centuries in which Israel was ruled by kings (Stevens 2012:83).

4.2

Priest-leadership in organisations

Bolman and Deal (2008:288) position priest-leadership within their symbolic organisational framework and state that “every group or organisation has a ‘priest’ or ‘priestess’ who ministers to spiritual needs. Informally, these people hear confessions, give blessings, maintain traditions, encourage ceremonies, and intercede in matters of gravest importance.” Bolman and Deal’s use of the term ‘spiritual’ is itself metaphorical and does not signify a religious or supernatural context. Nullens (2014:110) sees the modern application of priest-leadership in moral leadership and the creation of organisational belonging. Organisations need the unifying and peace-making function of priest-leaders to process the frictions and tensions that arise during the everyday life of an organisation (Bolman & Deal 2008:288). Priest-leadership helps to facilitate the acceptance or rejection of changes in an organisation, and provides rituals for closure and processes for transitions that make inevitable changes more bearable (Bolman & Deal 2008:288). Without the priestly facilitation of social processes, rituals, and peace-making, organisational life would be experienced more as the mechanical functioning of a machine than as a human community. Bolman and Deal (:289) note that “in any group, a network of informal players deals with human issues outside formal channels”. By communicating the organisation’s values and standards of behaviour, priest-leadership has an important role in maintaining the organisational culture.

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Limitations of priest-leaders

It is again significant that the Priest as mediator between God and men was not at the same time the community’s decision-maker. The tasks of the King, including going to war against enemies, involve activities that conflict with the identity of a Priest. Not only are these forms of leadership different, but, because of the holistic nature of the Priest, they need to be carried out by two separate persons.

5

Tensions and balances between the three forms of leadership

Leadership in the form of a King, a Prophet, or a Priest represents three different ways of influencing others to contribute towards the effectiveness and success of the organisation (House et al. 2014:14). The three forms of leadership do not, however, function independently, but are interconnected by relationships that shape their overall role in the community. The three forms of leadership combined constitute a resilient, counter-balancing leadership system. There is a definite overlap between these forms, as each of them involves influencing others toward a particular goal (Nullens 2014:109). Nevertheless, each of these leadership metaphors highlights distinct aspects and different mechanisms of influencing a community. According to Nullens (2014:109), it is highly unlikely that one individual is equally gifted in all three aspects of leadership, “yet good leadership encompassed them all”. The interrelationships and interdependencies between these three forms of leadership are critical for the functioning of a self-correcting leadership system that can provide a community with ‘good’ leadership as envisioned by Nullens.

5.1

Interrelationships and their implications for leadership

Viewed from the perspective of the King as the official decision-maker for the community, the Prophet, and the Priest add important aspects that, together, provide the community with more holistic, balanced, and sustainable leadership. We examine these interrelationships from the perspective of the King and explore how the different forms of leadership are designed to support and/or correct the decision-making leader. As shown in Figure 1, the three forms of leadership resemble an integrated and potentially self-correcting system of leadership influences that is designed to counteract and correct the human shortcomings of the earthly King.

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Figure 1: Leadership forms of King, Priest, and Prophet: their relationships and differences in functions.

5.1.1 Priest-King relationship The King is the ruler, the decision-maker, who has been given the formal authority on behalf of the community. His authority, however, is not without limits or checks-and-balances. Priests had specific roles in relationship to the King. One major role of the High Priest was the selection and anointing of the king at the beginning of his reign. The King depended on the legitimising role of the Priest to become King. In that sense, the Priest was the one who officially made the King to become King. It was fitting that the mediator between God and the people installed the King, i. e. gave the King his official authority to represent God’s reign in his territory (Stevens 2012:14). Priests were also the guardians of the Torah (Block 2011:131) and taught God’s law to the King. Once ascended to the throne, the King was to make a personal copy of the Torah for himself and keep it with him. This symbolises that the King receives God’s laws “from a higher authority and is subject to them” (Block 2011:130). The copying of the Torah was overseen by a Priest, signalling that the King had no authority to change God’s laws. According to Block (2011:132), the copying of the Torah was a “covenantal act, whereby the King bound himself to all its promises and demands”. The priesthood, as the depository of God’s law, taught God’s law to the community and the King. The priesthood was therefore in a position to keep

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God’s law in the minds of the community and its King. Lack of knowledge about God’s principles, as outlined in the Mosaic law and later also the writings of the prophets, could therefore not become an excuse for the King’s actions. The priesthood was present and involved at nearly all family and community events, giving the priesthood a significant social presence and influence. The systematic, formal, and ongoing role of teaching and applying God’s law in the lives of the people meant that the Priest, or the priestly system, may have had more influence on shaping the culture of the community than the King did. Conversely, kings supplied the priesthood with needed resources. Excavated texts in the ancient Near East frequently show kings boasting of their generosity in constructing temples. Kings also made contributions to carry out appropriate rites and ceremonies (Stevens 2012:22). 5.1.2 Prophet-King relationship The prophet-leader was a correcting voice to the king-leader (Pugh 2013:131), and at times also to the priests and the community as a whole. King-leaders usually bear the ultimate responsibility for the status quo in a society. It is then natural that the voice of the Prophet is often directly confronting the king-leaders in specific contexts. This purpose may explain the independent position of the Prophet, often outside official hierarchies and power structures. Priests had an ongoing work that touched every part of social and individual life. In contrast, Prophets appear to address specific issues at specific times (Stevens 2012:53). The Priests and the Prophets did, however, work together. This connection can be seen from the fact that priests taught and read the writings of the prophets in the synagogue (e. g. Luke 4). The Priests and the Prophets provided a spiritual counterbalance to the authority of the King who dealt with the reality of imperfect human nature in the world ‘as is’. Prophets focused on the ‘as should be’, Priests mediated between the ‘as is’ and the ‘as should be’. The King’s rule was, however, equally understood as spiritual stewardship, as acting out God’s rule on earth, creating and sustaining according to God’s will (Nullens 2014:111; Sherman 2004:134).

5.2

Separation of leadership

From the above relationships, it becomes apparent that the leadership forms of King, Priest, and Prophet in the Old Testament represent distinct ways of influencing the community and that these ways were carried out by different persons. This separation of leadership forms continued even when the King fell short of expectations. Neither the Prophet nor the Priest engaged in a ‘spiritual

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coup’ to take over the authority and rule of the King. This shows how important the distinction and the personal nature of these three leadership forms was. Leadership, therefore, did not rest in the hands of the King alone, but was complemented and shared by people who exercised other forms of leadership. These forms balanced the focus on dealing with the fallen world ‘as is’ and the focus on what ‘should be’. All three leadership forms are designed for specific purposes. When functioning as intended, these three forms of leadership together form a potentially resilient, self-correcting leadership system to serve the community despite of the human weaknesses of individual earthly Kings. 5.2.1 Results of lacking role separation Even though these leadership forms overlap, losing the separation of roles can become detrimental for the overall leadership of the community. Priests may collude too much with the King and simply become an instrument of the decision-maker, or they may side too much with the suffering community and move into the role of a Prophet rather than a mediator and problem-solver. Writing from the context of Catholic priests, Paula Jean Miller (1999:105) warns against Priests, in contrast to Kings and Prophets, becoming associated with one political party, as this would “immediately jeopardise his role as pastor of the whole community”. Leaders who base their executive leadership authority (kingleadership) on the idea of being God’s Prophet, i. e. someone who hears directly from God and therefore has the mandate to exercise decision-making leadership over an organisation or group, is violating the separation between prophetleadership (messenger) and king-leadership (decision-maker). The result is a breakdown in leadership accountability, since the correcting voice of the Prophet to the decisions of the King is no longer available.

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Conclusion

King, Priest, and Prophet are helpful metaphors of distinct forms for leadership which fulfil different functions. When working together appropriately, they have the potential to form a counter-balancing, self-correcting system which can provide an organisation with more holistic, balanced, and resilient leadership than a single leader could. Future research could further define personal characteristics associated with the three forms of leadership, King, Priest, and Prophet, along the lines of a prophetic profile suggested by Sherman, (2004:224). Examining the three forms of leadership from a New Testament perspective, emphasising gifts rather than Old Testament offices, could lead to new applications for modern leadership in organisations.

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References Alvesson, M. & Spicer, A. 2011. Metaphors we lead by : Understanding leadership in the real world. New York, NY: Routledge. Avakian, S. & Roberts, J. 2012. Whistleblowers in organisations: Prophets at work? Journal of Business Ethics 110(1), 71–84. URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10551-011-1148-7 [Accessed 11 December 2018]. Block, I.D. 2011. How I love your Torah Oh Lord! Studies in the book of Deuteronomy. Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock Publishers. Bolman, L.G. & Deal, T.E. 2008. Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Bonhoeffer, D. 2005. Ethics. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press. Gan, J. 2010. The Metaphor of the Shepherd in Zechariah 11:4–17. MA thesis, University of South Africa. Glucksberg, S. 2008. How metaphors create categories – quickly, in R.W. Gibbs (ed): The Cambridge handbook of metaphor and thought. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 67–83. Hatch, M.J.; Kostera, M. & Kozminski, A.K. 2005. The three faces of leadership: Manager, Artist, Priest. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. House, R.J.; Dorfman, P.W.; Javidan, M.; Hanges, P.J. & Sully de Luque, M.F. 2014. Strategic leadership across cultures: The GLOBE study of CEO leadership behavior and effectiveness in 24 countries. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Human, D.J. 2002. An ideal for leadership – Psalm 72: The (wise) king – Royal mediation of God’s universal reign. Verbum et Ecclesia 23(3), 1–20. Janis, I.L. 1982. Groupthink: Psychological studies of policy decisions and fiascoes. Boston, MA: Cengage. Lakoff, G. & Johnson, M. 1980. Metaphors we live by. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press. Miller, P.J. 1999. Members of one body: Prophets, Priests and Kings: An ecclesiology of missions. New York, NY: Alba House. Nullens, P. 2014. Leadership spirituality as participating in Christ, King, Prophet and Priest, in P. Nullens & J. Barentsen (eds): Leadership, Innovation, and Spirituality. Leuven: Peeters, 99–118. Oxford American Dictionary, 2010, New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Pugh, B. 2013. Subverted Hierarchies. Towards a biblical theology of leadership. Journal of the European Pentecostal Theological Association 33(2), 125–142. URL: http://dx.doi. org/10.1179/jep.2013.33.2.003 [Accessed 11 December 2018]. Ruth, D. 2014. Leader as priest. Plucking the fruit of a flawed metaphor. Leadership 10(2), 174–190. URL: https://doi.org/10.1177/1742715012467488 [Accessed 11 December 2018]. Sherman, R. 2004. King, Prophet, and Priest: A Trinitarian theology of atonement. New York, NY: T& T Clark International. Stevens, M.E. 2012. Leadership roles of the Old Testament: King, Prophet, Priest, Sage. Eugene, OR: Cascade Books. Tsoukas, H. 1991. The missing link: A transformative view of metaphors in organization science. Academy of Management Review 16(3), 566–558.

Christoph Stenschke1

“Shepherd the Church of God” (Acts 20:28): Pastoral metaphors for leadership in the Bible

1

Introduction

One of the widely used metaphors for leadership in the Bible and the Christian tradition is “shepherd” or other pastoral imagery. This metaphor can be applied to God, as in the famous 23rd Psalm of David, or to the human leaders of Israel. In the New Testament, Jesus appears as the good shepherd. Early Christian leaders are admonished “to shepherd the people of God”. Pastor, the Latin word for shepherd, has become the very title for full-time Christian ministers in the Protestant tradition, but “to pastor” and derivatives such as “pastoral” are also used widely elsewhere to this day.2 With this common metaphor, we examine one “that actually inform[s] or inspire[s] people negotiating leadership, either as the leaders or the led” (Alvesson & Spicer 2011:32). The aforementioned authors argue for the legitimacy and usefulness of metaphors in leadership studies (2011:31–50) and suggest that metaphors can be creative devices “that allow us to develop new and interesting insights about how leadership can and might work” (33). The biblical authors adopted this metaphor straight from the realities they knew from living in semi-nomadic contexts or societies shaped predominantly by agriculture and animal husbandry. Animals and their shepherds were widespread phenomena. People needed no explanations as to what shepherds were, what responsibilities they had and what kind of work they did – or at least should 1 Christoph Stenschke; Lecturer, Professor Extraordinarius in New Testament studies; Dozent Biblisch-Theologische Akademie, Forum Wiedenest, Bergneustadt, Germany and Dept. of Biblical and Ancient Studies, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa; stenschke @wiedenest.de. 2 While particularly appropriate in the Christian leadership discussion in view of its biblical use, pastoral metaphors also feature in non-Christian leadership studies; for example see Bröckling’s (2017) analysis of the use of pastoral metaphors by M. Foucault and F. Nietzsche, and discussions of the rationality and irrationality of the behaviour of groups in socialecological panarchy models.

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do. Pastoral metaphors worked for the original audiences, as they were able to “transfer information from a relatively familiar domain (variously referred to as a source or base domain) to a new and relatively unknown domain (usually referred to as a target domain)” (Alvesson & Spicer 2011:34). Despite its widespread use as the main metaphor for Christian leaders through many centuries, in the current discussion, pastoral metaphors (leaders as shepherds) often seem to be used in a reductionist and therefore misleading way. The shepherd, the “pastor” is not seen in a serious leadership role, but is primarily portrayed as a provider of “pastoral care” – a friendly, sensitive figure providing tender loving care to others, usually individuals. Ideally he/she does so with great dedication. Certainly such figures are not the allegedly strong leaders required today (see Alvesson & Spicer’s analysis of current expectations and criticism of the ideal of “strong leaders”, 2011:1–30). In view of this reduction, it is necessary to examine what was associated with shepherds in biblical times and what therefore constitutes the background of the metaphorical use of this terminology in the Bible. The realities of shepherds in the Bible and in the ancient world, and the context in which such metaphors appear in the Bible, indicate that “shepherding the people of God” involves far more than “pastoral care”. Shepherding metaphors evoke associations which suggest dedicated, strong leaders.

2

Old Testament

The Old Testament abounds with accounts of literal shepherds: as nomads, the patriarchs roamed through the land of Canaan with their flocks (Gn 13:5–8; 21:25–30; 26:12–32; 29:1–10; 30:25–31:21; 37:12–20, 31–35). They owned large herds; their hired shepherds struggled over limited resources, pastures and water (Gn 13:2–7). Such struggles seemed to have been a common phenomenon (Gn 26:18–22; Ex 2:15–19). Rachel appears as a shepherdess in Genesis 29:1–12, as do Jethro’s seven daughters (Ex 2:16–20). Moses, the prince of Egypt, ended up watering and tending his father-in-law’s sheep (Ex 3:1–12). While keeping the flock, he received the divine calling from the burning bush. David, the great king of Israel, started his career as a shepherd near Bethlehem (1 Sm 16:11–13, 15). These early experiences proved to be crucial later on in his biography. In fighting wild animals such as lions and bears in order to protect his sheep, David acquired the courage and skills to slay Goliath (17:34–36); he survived as a refugee (even at that stage he protected the flocks of others rather than plundering them, 25:14–17), was equipped to wage wars and had many opportunities to hone his leadership skills. Later on, the shepherd was called to shepherd the people of Israel (2 Sm 5:2). The prophet Amos was among the shepherds or sheep breeders

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of Tekoa (1:1). In his report to Laban, Jacob gave an account of his achievements, but also of his hardships as a shepherd (Gn 31:38–41): These twenty years I have been with you. Your ewes and your female goats have not miscarried, and I have not eaten rams of your flock. What was torn by wild beasts, I did not bring to you. I bore the loss of it myself. From my hand you required it, whether stolen by day or by night. There I was: by day the heat consumed me, and the cold by night, and my sleep fled from my eyes.

In these narratives, shepherds appear as hardworking people. They were responsible for their own animals or those entrusted to them by others. They were accountable to the owner (Gn 31:39; Ex 22:12) and received their wage from the flock at the annual day of reckoning (Gn 30:28–43; Zch 11:12 mentions a shepherd’s wage of 30 shekels of silver). Zechariah 13:7 leaves no doubt about the necessity and key role of shepherds: “Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.” The significance of shepherds for the wider community can hardly be overestimated as the animals in their charge provided important nutrition, essential raw materials such as wool, fur, and leather for clothing and gear, and also labour in agriculture and transport. The Old Testament offers a comprehensive portrayal of the duties of shepherds. Vancil describes them as follows: The principal duty of the shepherd was to see that the animals found enough food and water (cf. Ps 23); and it was important that he guard the sheep, since they were easy prey for wild animals (1 Sm 17:34–37, 40, 50; Amos 3:12). There was also a danger that thieves might sneak among the sheep and carry them off (Jn 10:1). The good shepherd was especially concerned for the condition of the flock, careful that the animals not be overdriven (cf. Gn 33:13–14); and would sometimes carry helpless lambs in his arms (cf. Is 40:11), or on his shoulders […] At night, sheep were often kept in simple walled enclosures made from tangled bushes, providing a minimum of protection from weather and enemies (Num 32:16; Judg 5:16; 2 Chr 32:28; Ps 78:70; Zeph 2:6; John 10:1), or caves might have been used, affording the best protection (1 Sam 24:3). The work of the shepherd was essentially to keep the flock intact, counting each animal as it passed under his hand (Jer 33:12–13; Ezek 20:37; cf. Jer 31:10–11; Pss 49:14; 77:20). (Vancil 1992:1187)

Duties also included the breeding of animals (Gn 30:32–43); overseeing the safe birth of newborn animals (Gn 31:38); “strengthening the weak, healing the sick, binding up the injured, bringing back the strayed, seeing the lost” (Ez 34:4); caring for the perishing, seeking the wandering, healing the maimed, nourishing the healthy, milking female animals, shearing the animals regularly and slaughtering them (Zch 11:4, 5, 7, 16). Shepherds also had to be able to give account for flocks entrusted to them (Gn 31:39; including producing evidence for missing animals which were torn by wild animals; see the regulation in Ex 22:10–13).

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These duties required a robust physical constitution (e. g. carrying animals and supplies). To fulfil their duties, shepherds needed skills: a good sense of topographical direction to find pastures and water (Ps 23:1–4; Gn 21:25, 30; not leading the sheep astray, Jr 50:6), basic knowledge in veterinary medicine (castration in Lv 22:24), meteorology (Ps 78:48) and assessing soils (leading the sheep at the suitable time to the right pasture, Ezk 34:14; Jr 9:10) as well as an acute sense of impending dangers (not “without knowledge […] understanding”, Is 56:10–12). David is portrayed as a skilful fighter with the simple means of a sling and stones, able to defend his particularly defenceless animals (1 Sm 17:34–37, 40, 50). Leading the sheep included the ability to interpret the sounds of the animals and to respond appropriately ; careful observation and empathy with the animals (“not ruling with force and harshness over them”, Ez 34:4; “and their own shepherds have no pity on them”, Zch 11:5) and the ability to “communicate” with them (Jn 10:3–5, 14, 16, 27). Most likely, the shepherds built the enclosures or towers in which the sheep were kept at night (Nm 32:16; Gn 35:21). As some shepherds were away with their flocks for longer periods of times (Koenen & Mell 2009:265), they had to be able to work on their own and know what to do in different challenging circumstances. Skills had to be matched by character : shepherds had to be alert, not blind (Is 56:9), reliable and trustworthy, courageous and prepared to fight off animals of prey and thieves (rather than deserting their flock, Zch 11:17) and to stand up for the needs of their sheep over against competitors for pasture and water. Shepherds were not to be like “silent dogs which cannot bark”, dogs which dream, lie down and love to slumber (Is 56:10). They must not neglect their duties and say to each other : “Come, let me get wine, let us fill ourselves with strong drink; and tomorrow will be like this day, great beyond measure” (Is 56:12). Shepherds were not to exploit the flock entrusted to them (Zch 11:16; if they slaughtered animals for themselves, they were not to take the fat and healthy ones). They had to be able to cope with loneliness and be loyal to the owner(s) of their flocks – even when far away and on their own. Shepherds needed to understand the nature of their profession; they were not supposed to go their own way and look for their own gain (Is 56:11). Shepherd metaphors appeared in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt with reference to gods and kings (see Vancil 1992:1188–1189). In the Old Testament pastoral metaphors are used frequently with reference to God as the shepherd of Israel (survey in Hunziker-Rodewald 2001). God is the shepherd of Israel, who leads Joseph like a flock (Ps 80:2). Joseph confessed that God had been his shepherd all his life (Gn 48:15). The people yearned to be shepherded by God himself: “Be their shepherd and carry them forever” (Ps 28:9, see also Mi 7:14). God himself would search for his sheep, seek them out and be an ideal, caring shepherd for his people: “He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the

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lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young” (Is 40:11; see also Ps 23:1; Ezk 34:11–16; Mi 2:12). God was the true pasture for his sheep (Jr 50:7). The Old Testament also refers to Israel’s human leaders as shepherds of the people (Is 63:11). When they failed in their tasks, they were staunchly criticised for being bad, selfish shepherds who neglected their duties and did not look properly after the flock. Jeremiah lamented: “For the shepherds are stupid, and do not inquire of the Lord; therefore they have not prospered, and all their flock is scattered” (10:21). He describes in a drastic way the failure of Judah’s shepherd-leaders (23:1–4, see Wessels 2014; see also Is 56:9–12; Zch 10:3). Likewise, Ezekiel was charged to prophesy against the shepherds of Israel in the name of God (34:1–10; full treatment in Willmes 1984). In the context of this criticism appears the announcement of divine provision of good shepherds for the people of God (Jr 3:15; 23:4), and of one Davidic figure in particular (23:5–6). “And I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them, and be their shepherd” (Ezk 34:23–24; see also Mi 5:1–4). This eschatological shepherd from Bethlehem Ephrata would perform his task, take care of the wounded and bring back the lost, gather the dispersed from their exile and take them to fat pastures. This expectation takes us to the New Testament.

3

New Testament

There is only one reference to actual shepherds or shepherding in the New Testament (Lk 2:8–20). Tending their sheep in the fields outside of Bethlehem at night (apparently they could not take their sheep to an enclosure as in John 10; several men had to spend the night with the flock), they were the first humans who were not directly involved in the events to hear of the Saviour’s birth. They reacted in exemplary manner to the revelation which they received. The other occurrences of shepherd-related, pastoral language in the New Testament are metaphorical.

3.1

Jesus as shepherd

Drawing on a rich Old Testament tradition, Jesus compared his ministry of seeking and saving the lost (Lk 19:10) to a good shepherd (Lk 15:3–7). As such, he leaves behind his 99 sheep in the wilderness and goes out of his way to search for one lost sheep until he finds it, “and when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing” (5). This expresses the concern of the shepherd and an intimate relationship with the animals.

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Referring to the Old Testament prophecies of a good shepherd, Jesus presents himself in John 10:1–16 as the good shepherd of the sheep, in contrast to thieves and robbers (10:1, 8) who only come to steal, kill and destroy (10; see Keener 2003:797–820). He is the one who enters the sheepfold by the door and is recognised by the gate keeper and the sheep (1–3, 7). Emphasis is on the good care which this shepherd provides to the flock and on his intimate relationship with the sheep. They hear his voice and follow him, rather than strangers (3, 4, 16). He goes before them and leads them. Under his guidance, they find good pasture (9). He brings abundant life to the sheep (10). As the good shepherd, he lays down his life for the sheep (11, 15, 17f). In times of danger (when wolves come to snatch and scatter sheep), he will not run away like “hired hands” might do (12f), but readily fights to the point of surrendering his own life. As the good shepherd, Jesus knows his own (14). Jesus is also portrayed as the great shepherd or shepherd par excellence in the letters of the New Testament: Jesus is the dear Lord, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant (Heb 13:20). Once straying like sheep, believers have now been returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of their souls (1 Pt 2:25).

3.2

Christian ministry as shepherding the flock of God

The risen Jesus charged Peter three times to feed his lambs and tend his sheep (Jn 21:15–17, see Keener 2003:1234–1238). After an apology for his own apostolic ministry in Acts 20:18–27, Paul admonished the elders of the Ephesian church to “pay close attention to themselves and to the whole flock of God” (20:28; see Dupont 1966:97–240 and Keener 2014:3029–3067). They were to take care of the whole flock and not only of particular groups in the church or draw a following after them according to ancient conventions of patronage. In contrast to such conventions, Paul admonished everyone. The Holy Spirit had made them overseers in/over the flock. Their task was to shepherd the church of God. The people entrusted to them were and remained the flock of God, not of the elders. That God had obtained this flock with the blood of his own son indicates the great dignity of the flock and underscores the great responsibility of the leaders. The pastoral imagery extends beyond these charges to include the task of shepherds of protecting the flock against dangerous intruders. Paul announced that “fierce wolves” (presumably false teachers, see Schnabel 2012:847–848) would come in among you (the elders?), not sparing the flock, “and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them” (20:30).

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In view of this threat, the shepherd-elders were to be alert over against such intruders and to remember the example of Paul in terms of what it meant to shepherd the people of God. For three years he did not cease day and night to admonish, warn, or counsel everyone with tears (20:31). Paul later affirmed that he did not covet anyone’s silver or gold or apparel (20:32). Rather than living off the flock, he worked hard to provide for himself and others. Paul does not develop a full pastoral theology here. However, he indicates that Christian leadership based on biblical shepherding notions includes the following elements: – Responsibility to pay close attention to oneself and each other so that the task is properly fulfilled. – Concern for all people entrusted to them (no favouritism or establishment of systems of patronage). – Appointment by the Spirit (his resources, but also accountability to him). – The followers are not the followers of the elders, but are the people of God, they belong to Him; this indicated the great dignity, but also the limits of the task. – The shepherd elders need to be alert and ready to fight off the dangerous wolves of heresy and misconduct. They need to be able to recognise such “wolves”, know how to confront such people and courageously do so. – They are to keep the flock together and not tolerate if one of them defects and draws members of the church after him. – This is an emotionally involved, 24/7 task (day and night; despite tears) that involves hard work. – The flock is not there to provide for the leader, but the other way round. – In the absence of Paul, they are to work independently and diligently. The list in Ephesians 4:11 of role players whom God has given to equip the people of God for the work of ministry for building up the body of Christ includes shepherds next to apostles, prophets, evangelists, and teachers. The author does not provide detailed “job descriptions” for each of these designations. Therefore, it is difficult to differentiate between them. Is their particular task that of protecting the flock (see Hoehner 2002:538–547; see also 1 Cor 12:28)? Hoehner (2002:544) defines the task of this shepherd/pastor as “one who cares for his or her sheep as a shepherd cares for his sheep. This would include ministering to troubled saints, exhorting and comforting all believers, and administering the activities in the local assembly”. This definition probably owes more to differentiation from the other titles; not from the tasks of actual shepherds in the firstcentury world. In the New Testament, the most extensive use of the shepherd metaphor for Christian leaders is found in 1 Peter 5:2–4 (see Achtemeier 1996:324–330):

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Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly ; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

As in Acts, the Christian community entrusted to them is the flock of God, not their own. – The shepherd leaders are to take their task of exercising oversight seriously. – They are to serve not under compulsion but willingly before God. – They are not to seek their own advantages, but are to serve eagerly. – They are not to dominate their followers but set an example for them. – They will receive their great and lasting recompense from Jesus. – Jesus is and remains the chief shepherd; all human shepherd-leaders are accountable to him and remain under his authority. While Ephesians 4 mentions shepherds among other gifted people, the singular occurrence of shepherds in Acts 20 and 1 Peter 5 respectively indicates that this concept embodies the full range of tasks required of Christian leaders. Thus, one should be careful to argue on the basis of Ephesians 4 alone that “shepherds” (reduced to providers of pastoral care) would need to be complemented by all kinds of people, such as apostles.

4

Implications

People with no personal experience of or exposure to shepherding tend to read their limited experiences and often romantic notions of shepherding – and thus of their understanding of shepherding leadership metaphors – into the biblical occurrences of shepherds and pastoral metaphors. Against the biblical portrayal it is clear that Christian leaders as shepherds are not confined to only providing “pastoral” care as commonly understood. Shepherd leaders surely care in a comprehensive sense – they water and feed, search and rescue, carry and heal – but they also keep the flock together and protect it. Their varied duties require many skills. They have to be prepared and able to provide strong leadership (rather than the “nice guys”, they are the “wild men”!) and remain accountable to the owner of the flock, to God. For longer periods of time, as they wait for the return of the great shepherd, they are to work hard and independently and face various challenges. Like all metaphoric language, the use of shepherding metaphors has its limitations and, in this case, even dangers. Alvesson & Spicer (2011:32–33) emphasise that the “more questionable and disturbing face of leadership” must not

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be neglected; in this case, the darker side of pastoral metaphors. The title of Alvesson and Spicer’s (2011) volume Metaphors we lead by is a fine reminder that one metaphor on its own cannot adequately describe the complex task of leadership, because metaphors work as data-reducing devices (:39; see, however, their warning against the “aggregation of metaphorical bits” on p. 41).3 Like any good metaphor, the pastoral leadership metaphor “depends on an appropriate mix of similarity and difference between the transferred word and the focal one” (:34). What are we to make of this metaphor today? Can it be a metaphor to lead by? Yes, it can and should be, if the following concerns are borne in mind: – The metaphor of “shepherding the flock” implies a position of superiority of the leaders in knowledge, skill, and power over those they lead (in the metaphor the followers become animals). The human shepherds surely know what their animals need and where to find it, and they know better than them. This applies only to a limited extent to Christian leaders as they lead not only fellow humans, but followers of Christ who are equally endowed with the Holy Spirit. Biblical shepherd leaders must not lead with an attitude of superiority. A domineering leadership that expects sheep-like conformity and uncritical obedience has no biblical support. People rightly react strongly against being regarded and treated “like sheep” and in need of being shepherded by others who claim superior knowledge and skills. Avoiding misuse of this metaphor by leaders and followers requires a healthy combination of trust and critical stance. Shepherd leaders who prove to be trustworthy and caring and who fulfil their duties and legitimate expectations will find followers. Any application must transcend such implications of the metaphor and must be imbued with Christian values. – In the literal and metaphorical meaning, the one shepherd leader is of great significance for the existence, even the survival, of the flock/people. While Christians would agree that such claims are legitimate for God and his Messiah, such a self-understanding of human leaders (and implicit or explicit concomitant claims) are rightly seen as critical today. Pastoral metaphors need reflection in times that are critical of the “big man”-approach to leadership and when flat hierarchies and team leadership models are propagated (for a survey see Alvesson & Spicer 2011:1–30). For good reasons, the New Testament presupposes a plurality of shepherd leaders and emphasises checks and balances for their ministry (see below). 3 P. 39: “Considering metaphors also draws attention to the partiality of the understanding gained by an approach built on a particular root metaphor. […] Being aware of the metaphors we use alerts us to the partiality and to some extent arbitrariness of how we see a phenomenon like leadership.”

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– Pastoral metaphors can foster high expectations on the side of those who are led. Based on the romantic notions regarding shepherds which the followers might also have (see above), they might expect leaders to know everything for them and to do and provide everything for them. The “sheep” just need to follow. This expectation may lead to unhealthy relationships of dependency between leaders and their followers and to lethargy. The common terminology of “leaders” and “followers” may already be problematic in establishing healthy relationships. – Shepherds live off the flock, directly or indirectly. However, the New Testament makes it clear, that while shepherd leaders are to be honoured and adequately supported, their ultimate recompense does not come from the flock but from God, thus, they may not take as they like. – Like all metaphors, shepherd metaphors are, for all their worth, fictitious, created, and artificial (Alvesson & Spicer 2011:35): “The metaphor presupposes a neglect of some of the more robust features” (:35).4 Among other aspects (such as followers as animals; see above), the shepherds’ dogs, living off the flock and using physical force surely are among such robust features. These considerations show how metaphors can be used “in a creative and insightful way to understand the ambiguous phenomenon of leadership” (Alvesson & Spicer 2011:33), provided that they are used with goodwill, imagination and knowledge of the subject matter (:34). Our observations illustrate their claim that not all aspects of a metaphor are to be taken literally, otherwise they appear absurd (:34). Space does not permit to reflect in detail how pastoral metaphors “allow us to develop new ideas and guide analysis in novel ways” (:38), which is – according to Alvesson & Spicer – one of several functions of metaphors. Few people can meet the high demands which this metaphor puts on leaders (tasks, skills, and character) and the ideals which it evokes. For good reasons, the Old Testament contains more examples of leaders being criticised for failing to achieve such leadership than positive descriptions of their shepherding achievements. Thus, this metaphor helps to show “how leaders often do not live up to the mythical proportions which are typically associated with them” (:33). There are a number of “correctives” in the biblical occurrences, which need to be remembered when this metaphor is applied. The Bible does not speak of human shepherd leaders in the singular sense, but in plural. A group of shepherds is to lead. First and foremost, these leaders are responsible for themselves and for 4 “A focus on metaphors could push us to examine the basic assumptions behind how we conceptualise something like leadership. It might draw out some of the more perverse but under-explored assumptions associated with a particular metaphor” (Alvesson & Spicer 2011:39).

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each other. The shepherd leaders lead the flock of God, not of the shepherds. It is a flock entrusted to them by God, for which they are responsible to Him as the superhuman “owner” of all people. The shepherds themselves are under the “chief shepherd” (1 Pt 5:4), accountable to Christ. The divine owner and the chief shepherd of the flock are not absent, but with the flock and its leaders. On the positive side, this leadership metaphor emphasises what is required of leaders: great dedication and selfless service (“day and night”), varied tasks, skills and traits of character, responsibility, accountability, and the ability to work independently. Therefore, despite some limits, the real experiences and tasks of shepherds and the pastoral metaphors still have the potential to inspire and challenge leaders of all sorts and enhance our understanding of leadership. Shepherd leaders are called to have all the people in view whom they are to lead. With great care they provide for them and seek their best. This will not be achieved without personal dedication, a willingness to serve and some measure of emotional involvement. At the same time, they know that they are and remain accountable to the One who is greater than they and from whom they will receive their ultimate reward.

References Achtemeier, P.J. 1996. 1 Peter : A commentary on First Peter. Minneapolis: Fortress. Hermeneia. Alvesson, M. & Spicer, A. 2011. Metaphors we lead by : Understanding leadership in the real world. London, New York: Routledge. Bröckling, U. 2017. Gute Hirten führen sanft. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp. suhrkamp taschenbuch wissenschaft 2217. Dupont, J. 1966. Paulus an die Seelsorger: Das Vermächtnis von Milet (Apg 20:18–36). Düsseldorf: Patmos. Hezser, C. (ed) 2010. The Oxford handbook of Jewish daily life in Roman Palestine. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Hoehner, H.W. 2002. Ephesians: An exegetical commentary. Grand Rapids: Baker. Hunziker-Rodewald, R. 2001. Hirt und Herde: Ein Beitrag zum alttestamentlichen Gottesverständnis. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer. BWANT 155. Keener, C. 2003. The Gospel of John: A commentary. Peabody : Hendrickson. Keener, C. 2014. Acts: An exegetical commentary vol. III 15:1–23:35. Grand Rapids: Baker. Koenen, K. & Mell, U. 2009. Hirte/Hirtin, in F. Crüsemann et al. (eds): Sozialgeschichtliches Wörterbuch zur Bibel. Gütersloh: Gütersloher, 265–266. Schnabel, E.J. 2012. Acts. Exegetical commentary on the New Testament. Grand Rapids: Zondervan. Vancil, J.W. 1992. Sheep, Shepherd, in ABD 5, 1187–1190. Wessels, W.J. 2014. Leader responsibility in the workplace: Exploring the shepherd metaphor in the book of Jeremiah. Koers – Bulletin for Christian Scholarship 78(2), 2–7.

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Willmes, B. 1984. Die sogenannte Hirtenallegorie Ez 34: Studien zum Bild des Hirten im Alten Testament. Frankfurt: P. Lang. BET 19.

Emanuel Kessler1

Herding bees: A metaphor for agile project management

1

Introduction

Bees are economically valuable animals, just like sheep. Projects should produce something that is economically valuable. Even if a project does not need to produce something “economically valuable”, the (non economic) benefit of a project should be of equal or more worth than the price paid for it. Also, there are several ideas on how to make projects successful. One is the idea of agile project management. Agile project management goes back to agile software development. The first books about agile software development were published in the 90s. In 2001 the “Manifesto for Agile Software Development” (Beck et al. 2001) was published. Two very popular representatives for agile software development are Extreme Programming2 and Scrum3. Scrum is not limited to software. Scrum has been used to develop software, hardware, embedded software, networks of interacting function, autonomous vehicles, schools, government, marketing, managing the operation of organizations and almost everything we use in our daily lives, as individuals and societies. (Schwaber & Sutherland 2018)

In 2016 Rini van Solingen released a novel. The English title is “How To Lead SelfManaging Teams?”. The original title is “De Bijenherder” (in English: “The bee shepherd”). The story in this novel is about Mark. He is part of an enterprise that should be transformed into an agile company. But Mark is frustrated, because his employees do not work as they are supposed to. The teams often ask him for 1 Emanuel Kessler ; B.Sc. and Certified ScrumMaster ; Computer scientist and author, Cologne, Germany ; [email protected]. 2 “This is a book about Extreme Programming (XP). XP is a lightweight methodology for smallto-medium-sized teams developing software in the face of vague or rapidly changing requirements” (Beck 1999:xv). “What is XP? XP is a lightweight, efficient, low-risk, flexible, predictable, scientific, and fun way to develop software” (:xvii). 3 “Scrum is a framework for developing, delivering, and sustaining complex products” (Schwaber & Sutherland 2018).

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consent (van Solingen 2017:4), and in the case of problems, it is often Mark who helps out and then makes the decisions (:13). He talks to his grandfather who used to be a shepherd and had to retrain to be a beekeeper. The grandfather has some advice for Mark. Mark tries to use his grandfather’s experience to understand what he himself has to change. This chapter focuses on the metaphor created by the grandfather. It will also explain how the innovators of agile development see human beings that work or want to work in an agile way. I work in IT in a German insurance company. Part of my job is to support different teams in implementing and using agile methods, frameworks and/or ideas. For this reason I wrote this chapter from the perspective of a practitioner.

2

“Classic” development

Software has to be developed. Ideas on how to do this vary. One idea is the so called “classic waterfall model” (see Banks 2009; Hausen 2006/2007). Winston W. Royce is considered to be the creator of this model (Hausen 2006/2007)4. As water runs down a fall, a software project goes through different stages. First some people write down what they want the software to do. Then others write down how the software could work. Then some people implement the software. Then some people test the software. This is a model resembling a waterfall with four stages. In his publication, Winston W. Royce mentions seven stages, while today a lot of articles and pictures mention five stages (Hausen 2006/2007). Every step needs the input from the step before. We have to finish one step completely, before we start the next one. But the people who work on a specific stage are independent of the others. The “waterfall” model I described, can be graphically presented as in Figure 1.

Figure 1: “Waterfall” model

4 It is interesting that in the paper in which he introduces the model, he also writes “I believe in this concept, but the implementation described above is risky and invites failure” (Royce 1970:329).

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However, some problems exist with this model: “The testing phase which occurs at the end of the development cycle is the first event for which timing, storage, input/output transfers, etc., are experienced as distinguished from analysed” (Royce 1970:329). In the worst case, “the development process has returned to the origin and one can expect up to a l00-percent overrun in schedule and/or costs” (:329). Another (often underestimated and yet very simple) problem using this model is the time elapsed. The requirements were written down more-or-less long ago. Since then the requirements may have changed. But the project still fulfils the old requirements. There are some variants of the “classic waterfall model” such as the V-model (Johner 2018) and there are some really different ideas. One is agile development.

3

Agile development

To explain agile development it is useful to have a look at the “Manifesto for Agile Software Development” (Beck et al. 2001) and the “Principles behind the Agile Manifesto”. Some people just read the manifesto and ignore the principles. But both belong together. The manifesto only describes values, the principles go much deeper. Together they describe the mindset which is necessary for agile development. The manifesto can be seen as a comparison between eight items. All eight have value, but the authors see more value in “Individuals and interactions”, “Working software”, “Customer collaboration”, and “Responding to change” than in “Processes and tools”, “Comprehensive documentation”, “Contract negotiation”, and “Following a plan” (Beck et al. 2001). There are twelve “Principles behind the Agile Manifesto”. They are all important and complement each other. For this chapter, I chose the five that I consider the most relevant for the metaphor. Business people and developers must work together daily throughout the project. (Principles behind the Agile Manifesto, emphasis EK)

If a project runs in the classic “waterfall” model, business people and developers sometimes do not even know each other. In agile development they work together and we can suppose that they learn to understand each other. Build projects around motivated individuals. Give them the environment and support they need, and trust them to get the job done. (Principles behind the Agile Manifesto, emphasis EK)

This principle has a lot in common with theory Y, proclaimed by Douglas McGregor. “Theory Y assumes that human beings have intrinsic motives to

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work” (Kessler 2004:ii). The task is just to give assistance, if necessary, and to let them work. They do not have to be motivated or forced. “Leaders who regard people as lazy (theory X) will try to movitate [sic!] people by extrinsic factors” (:ii). Some, probably non-agile, projects have bonus payments for being in scope, in time, in budget. Continuous attention to technical excellence and good design enhances agility. (Principles behind the Agile Manifesto, emphasis EK)

We suggest that the team has technical excellence or that the team wants to achieve it. Perhaps, some team members have more technical excellence than others. This is OK as long as everyone remains in a learning mode, and of course, the technical excellence depends on the work to be done. Technical excellence for software development is a different skill from that for teaching. There is a team that uses agile ideas for developing cars (The WIKISPEED process). I assume their technical excellence differs again from that of teachers or software developers. The best architectures, requirements, and designs emerge from self-organizing teams. (Principles behind the Agile Manifesto, emphasis EK)

It can be hard to (re)train to become a self-organising team. An example from my own practical work as Scrum Master5 : once I got an email from a team member. He was part of “The Development Team” (Schwaber & Sutherland 2018) that exists in the Scrum framework. He asked me: “This is the problem. I think, a solution would be that. What do you think?” But I was not part of the team, I was the Scrum Master. And as a Scrum Master I do not have authority (cf. Watts 2016:28). So I had to answer : “Perhaps you could ask the other team members?” Or remember Mark (mentioned in the “Introduction”): he has authority. But he wants the teams to decide some things on their own. At regular intervals, the team reflects on how to become more effective, then tunes and adjusts its behavior accordingly. (Principles behind the Agile Manifesto, emphasis EK)

If we speak about reflection, we suggest that the teams want to get better. We assume they want to improve themselves. In Scrum there is a meeting for this alone: it is called “Sprint Retrospective” (Schwaber & Sutherland 2018). This meeting takes place every sprint6 to learn and improve again. Some big projects have “Lessons Learned” at the end of the project to learn for the next big project. 5 According to Schwaber and Sutherland 2018, a ScrumMaster “is responsible for promoting and supporting Scrum as defined in the Scrum Guide. Scrum Masters do this by helping everyone understand Scrum theory, practices, rules, and values” (Schwaber & Sutherland 2018). 6 A sprint is a “a time-box of one month or less”(Schwaber & Sutherland 2018).

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But my perception is that most “Lessons Learned” were written and then forgotten. Looking back at the “Manifesto for Agile Software Development” (Beck et al. 2001) and the “Principles behind the Agile Manifesto”, both start with the word “We”. The authors see their mode of working as distinct from others. Table 1 lists some differences between agile and non-agile projects. The table is based on my personal impression. Sometimes non-agile projects use agile methods, frameworks and/or ideas. So this table maybe paints a picture that is not sufficiently nuanced. agile Favouring Theory Y

non-agile Favouring Theory X

Personal contact important Self-organising teams

No personal contact necessary Teams are organised by third parties

Reflection at regular intervals “Lessons Learned” at the end Table 1: Some differences between agile and non-agile

It is interesting that neither the manifesto nor the principles answer the question “How do I work in an agile way in detail?”. Extreme Programming, Scrum and others each give a part of the answer, so many teams combine different agile methods and frameworks.

3.1

“Radical Agility”

Some companies create their own agile model: Zalando is a German company which sells fashion online. They created a model, called “Radical Agility” (Eisenkrämer 2017). This is a daring step creating their own model. Trying to create and adapt agile ideas without understanding them is like trying to play and adapt baseball without understanding the sense behind the rules, as in the satirical allegory “We tried baseball and it didn’t work” (Jeffries 2006). Before inventing one’s own agile model, it is therefore necessary to first practise and understand well-known and proven agile methods or frameworks.

3.2

“Lean Coffee”

One method is called “Lean Coffee” (see Scheller 2014; Michl 2016). It is a regular time without an agenda at the beginning of each meeting. It is only important to know where the meeting is, when the meeting will start and how long it will take. And, of course, the basic topic should be known: maybe it is “agile” or something

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else like “education” or “Christian leadership”. Everybody who wants to come is invited. At the start of the meeting, anybody can indicate, and write on a Post-it note, which theme, based on the lead topic, he or she wants to speak about. After some themes are mentioned, they vote. Depending on the number of participants and themes, everyone has one to three votes. This results in an agenda depending on the votes. The most voted themes are discussed first. Every theme has a timebox, preferably a maximum of ten minutes. After the timebox the group decides by a quick show of thumbs,7 if they should continue the discussion for half the timebox. Using “Lean Coffee” they speak about the themes that the majority of participants see as important at that moment. Obviously this method is not appropriate if you need to deal with a specific topic.

3.3

“Swarming”

Yet another method teams can use is called “Swarming”. In nature, this expression is used if a new queen bee together with a group of worker bees quits the hive and looks for a new place. In software development, it can be used when the whole team together works at one task (Perry 2007). I mention this for two reasons: it is a term used by the teams themselves to describe their work, and it also fits perfectly the metaphor van Solingen uses.

4

Shepherd or beekeeper?

The metaphor of van Solingen compares agile teams to bees and other teams to sheep. So the leader is either a beekeeper or a shepherd. Shepherds and beekeepers are both herding their animals. But they act in very different ways (van Solingen 2017:16). Before we take a look at these differences, we have to reflect if and how the metaphor “bees” can apply to agile teams.

4.1

Bees and the “Principles behind the Agile Manifesto”

The “Principles behind the Agile Manifesto” describe on a high level how agile teams are supposed to work. How does this compare to a swarm of bees? Agile teams are motivated, and we have to trust them that they can do their job. Worker bees are motivated too, they want to work for their honey (van 7 Thumb up means “yes”, thumb down means “no”, thumb in the middle means “I will accept both”.

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Solingen 2017:37). Also, from the point of view of the beekeeper, the bees look self-organised (:37). For example, it is not the beekeeper who decides which bee larva will become a queen bee (:34). Agile teams should be self-organised too. Who decides which agenda a “Lean Coffee”-event has? It is not the inviting one alone. Bees also have a kind of technical excellence in their job. They know perfectly well how to make honey. A beekeeper should trust his bees (:68) as mentioned in the principles. The result of the process proves the health of the team. If the honey is good, the process works (:61). This follows another of the “Principles behind the Agile Manifesto”: Working software is the primary measure of progress. (Principles behind the Agile Manifesto)

Bees produce honey, an agile software team, working software. An agile team that creates something else, creates something else that works. The idea described in the “Principles behind the Agile Manifesto” is to release working features frequently. If this is not possible (for reasons such as security or legislation) a way should be found to deal with it. In Scrum the solution is to speak about a “potentially releasable functionality” (Schwaber & Sutherland 2018, emphasis EK). After this short comparison we can assume that the analogy is acceptable. Now we will have a look at the differences between bees and sheep.

4.2

The differences between bees and sheep

First of all, where is the one that is herding? The shepherd is near or between the sheep, the beekeeper is not in the beehive. He is not able to decide what task every bee has to do today. The bees organise themselves. Let’s not confuse self-organization with anarchy – self-organized on a team level means that the organization comes from within the team. Not from the outside. But this does not mean that everybody just does what they feel like. (Mahlberg 2015)

For this reason a beekeeper can have more than one beehive. My uncle was a hobby beekeeper. On average, he had ten hives (Müller 2018). A second aspect concerns the “helper” of the person responsible. The shepherd normally has a dog. The dog helps the shepherd and sometimes he barks at the sheep to guide them. Bees sting a dog that barks at them. For projects, van Solingen mentions project manager, department manager and some other managers as those who try to bark (van Solingen 2017:35).

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Third, if sheep run in chaos, there is near panic. If bees fly in what appears to be a chaotic way, it is normal. It is hard for people who have had experience with sheep to accept that bees have a kind of organised chaos. When human beings are in a “Lean Coffee” for the first time, they often feel confused for a while because the beginning appears a bit chaotic. Fourth, bees can sting. They can hurt their beekeeper (:79). Team members can hurt (with words) their leader too. Fifth, being a beekeeper means to work to improve the conditions for the bees. But the bees get the praise (:79), if the honey is good. A good shepherd has a big flock of sheep. The bigger the flock is, the better the shepherd looks (:79). Table 2 shows the differences at a glance. bees Beekeeper is not in the beehive

sheep Shepherd is near or between the sheep

Beekeeper can have more than one beehive A dog would be stung

Shepherd has one flock of sheep A sheep dog can help

Organised chaos Bees have a sting

Organised —

Table 2: The differences between bees and sheep

4.3

The best of both worlds?

Some people think that a combination is possible and makes sense. I do not think so. Agile teams are very different from other teams, even down to their mindset. Trying to herd bees like sheep or the other way round would not work.8 If companies want to work in an agile way, they have to transform into an agile company. Some are successful, some are on the road, and some fail. The “Manifesto for Half-Arsed Agile Software Development” (Buckley n/a) is a satirical statement about companies that try to use agile methods but are not able to leave old ideas behind.

8 In the book the grandfather had to go back to the sheep. But he failed because of his new experience. “Durch seine Erfahrungen mit den Bienen war er ein schlechterer Schäfer geworden. Er gab den Schafen zu viel Raum und ließ vor allem seinem Hund eine Menge durchgehen” (van Solingen 2017:82).

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Conclusion

Every team is different. Sometimes working with a team is like herding sheep, sometimes like herding bees. Which is better? It depends. “All development methods have both strengths and weaknesses” (Cook 2017:10). Being agile is not a goal in itself. Teams should be successful (Watts 2016:77). So for the leader the question could be: “How does the team become more successful? Is it better for them, if I act as a shepherd or as a beekeeper?” And if I think it is time to change, then I have to start with myself (van Solingen 2017:91–92).

References Banks, Richard 2009. The rise and fall of waterfall development. URL: https://www.ri chard-banks.org/2009/01/rise-and-fall-of-waterfall-development.html [Accessed 12 May 2018]. Beck, Kent 1999. Extreme programming explained. Second Printing. Reading, Massachusetts: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc. Beck, Kent et al. 2001. Manifesto for Agile Software Development. URL: http://agilemani festo.org/iso/en/manifesto.html [Accessed 4 April 2018]. Buckley, Kerry [s.a.]. Manifesto for Half-Arsed Agile Software Development. URL: https:// www.halfarsedagilemanifesto.org/ [Accessed 7 April 2018]. Cook, Jonathan 2017. Post Agile Depression [E-Book] 2nd Edition, s.n. Eisenkrämer, Sven 2017. So agil ist Zalando. URL: https://www.springerprofessional.de/ agile-methoden/cebit/zalando-zeigt-wie-radikal-agil-funktioniert/12129598 [Accessed 13 April 2018]. Hausen, Doris 2006/2007. Classic waterfall model in software engineering. URL: https:// www.medien.ifi.lmu.de/lehre/ws0607/mmi1/essays/Doris-Hausen.xhtml [Accessed 12 May 2018]. Jeffries, Ron 2006. We tried baseball and it didn’t work. URL: https://xprogramming.com/ articles/jatbaseball/ [Accessed 13 April 2018]. Johner, Christian 2018. V–Modell vs. Wasserfallmodell für Hardware- und Softwareentwicklung. URL: https://www.johner-institut.de/blog/iec-62304-medizinische-soft ware/v-modell/ [Accessed 27 October 2018]. Kessler, Volker 2004. Ein Dialog zwischen Managementlehre und alttestamentlicher Theologie: McGregors Theorien X und Y zur Führung im Lichte Alttestamentlicher Anthropologie. PhD thesis, University of South Africa, Pretoria. Mahlberg, Michael 2015. Whose job? On self-organized teams and responsibility. URL: http://agile-aspects.michaelmahlberg.com/2015/05/whose-job-on-self-organizedteams-and.html [Accessed 9 April 2018]. Michl, Thomas 2016. Aus der agilen Methodenkiste: Lean Coffee – kollegialer Wissensaustausch leicht gemacht. URL: https://agile-verwaltung.org/2016/08/18/aus-der-agi

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len-methodenkiste-lean-coffee-kollegialer-wissensaustausch-leicht-gemacht/ [Accessed 23 April 2018]. Müller, Friedhelm 2018. Personal communication. Perry, Tom 2007. What is “Swarming”? URL: https://agiletools.wordpress.com/2007/12/ 03/what-is-swarming/ [Accessed 6 April 2018]. Principles behind the Agile Manifesto. URL: http://agilemanifesto.org/iso/en/principles. html [Accessed 4 April 2018]. Royce, Winston W. 1970. Managing the development of large software systems. URL: http:// www-scf.usc.edu/~csci201/lectures/Lecture11/royce1970.pdf [Accessed 21 May 2018]. Scheller, Torsten 2014. Methoden für Lean Change: Lean Coffee. URL: https://www.agilwerden.de/methoden-fuer-lean-change-lean-coffee/ [Accessed 23 April 2018]. Schwaber, Ken & Sutherland, Jeff 2018. The Scrum GuideQ. URL: http://www.scrum guides.org/scrum-guide.html [Accessed 14 November 2018]. Solingen, Rini van 2017. Der Bienenhirte. Heidelberg: dpunkt.verlag GmbH. The WIKISPEED process. URL: http ://wikispeed.org/team-2/the-wikispeed-process/ [Accessed 27 October 2018]. Watts, Geoff 2016. Scrum mastery. Cheltenham: Inspect & Adapt Ltd.

Volker Kessler1

Herding cats: A helpful metaphor for leading academic researchers

1

Introduction

Herding cats is not a metaphor for leaders themselves but a metaphor which leaders may use for their followers. Already in 1960, in his famous treatise on Theory X and Theory Y, Douglas McGregor (1985:6) pointed out that the way leaders view their staff members has a tremendous influence on the way they treat them.2 Thus, the metaphors that leaders use for their people – either explicitly or implicitly – have a great influence on their leadership practice. The metaphor ‘herding cats’ has its roots in the common saying that the coordination of many different people is as impossible as herding cats. It refers to the individualism and autonomy of domesticated cats. In the context of leadership this metaphor bears a negative connotation because cats will not be herded (Bennis 1997). In this chapter, I would like to emphasise a possible positive connotation. The metaphor ‘herding cats’ actually has some benefits in organisations where many experts work (“Expertenorganisationen”, Rybenicek et al. 2016). For example, Rainwater (2002) uses the metaphor ‘herding cats’ in the context of managing software programmers (although he hardly refers to this metaphor in the book). In this chapter I argue that this metaphor can be fruitful in the context of academic research. Alvesson and Spicer (2011), in their investigation of different metaphors for leadership, explain that pleasant metaphors like gardener or buddy also have a dark side and that ‘darker’ metaphors like commander and cyborg also have a potentially beneficial side (:198). In the same sense I would argue that the negative metaphor ‘herding cats’ has some positive connotations.

1 Volker Kessler ; Mathematician and Theologian; Gesellschaft für Bildung und Forschung in Europa (GBFE), Gummersbach, Germany and Dept. of Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa; [email protected]. 2 See Kessler 2007 for an evaluation of McGregor’s theories in the light of Christian anthropology.

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My position: As one will easily recognise by reading this chapter, my perspective is that of an academic scholar who enjoys the freedom to do research. Concerning leadership theory, I am very much in favour of Servant Leadership as it was introduced in the Christian tradition (see Greenleaf 1977 for a modern advocate). Leaders should always ask themselves how they can best serve their staff. This pertains particularly to leaders of experts. My statement: The metaphor ‘herding cats’ is helpful in the context of highly individualistic academic research, that is, where individual scholars can produce significant research output on their own, for example in disciplines such as mathematics, philosophy and theology. Limitation of this chapter : Since “metaphors work as data-reducing devices” (Alvesson & Spicer 2011:39), this chapter cannot be a comprehensive handbook on university leadership. I am not writing about teaching, joint research projects, raising research funds, for example, I just argue that the metaphor ‘herding academic cats’ has some charming benefits without claiming to solve all the problems of present university leadership.3 The idea of a metaphor is to create awareness (:34), to look at a problem from a new perspective; it does not provide all the details. In some way, this chapter is therefore one-sided by pointing out the benefits of the metaphor ‘herding academic cats’. However, this is to counterbalance the attempts to change the university into a factory. Structure of this chapter : In section 2, I start with a short reflection on leadership metaphors taken from the world of animals. Section 3 then deals with the general characteristics of herding academic cats, which are illustrated by the example in section 4 where I tell the story of an extremely successful academic researcher who needed the freedom of an academic cat. This example provides some evidence for the stated benefits of the metaphor ‘herding academic cats’. Section 5 describes the advantage of the metaphor ‘herding cats’ compared to the metaphor ‘the leader as gardener’. Finally, section 6 links the discussion on the metaphor ‘herding cats’ to other leadership theories, and discusses possible limitations.

2

Using metaphors from the world of animals

In human history, metaphors have often been taken from the world of animals. In its teachings about leadership, the Bible applies some metaphors from the world of animals. The most popular metaphor compares people to a flock of sheep. This metaphor finally led to the term ‘pastor’ for the congregational leader. People

3 Muller (2018) lists some of these problems.

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without a good leader are compared to sheep without a shepherd (e. g. Nm 27:17; 2 Chr 14:14; Is 13:14, Ezk 34:5). Proverbs lists examples from the animal world that have no leader at all and are still successful: ants (Pr 6:6–8) and locusts (Pr 30:27). These examples seem to be two extreme poles on a line: the flock of sheep looking for a leader, who is actually different from them, and swarms like ants or locusts, which function well with no leader.4 Domesticated cats are different from both concepts; they neither look for a leader, nor do they function as a swarm. They are highly individualistic and autonomous. As De Fabianis explains in her illustrative book about cats: “Cats will not be commanded and can choose their owner” (in Garrett & Davies 2010:iii).

3

Herding academic cats

There is some literature about leadership in universities that use the term ‘herding cats’. But only Garrett and Davies (2010) widely discuss and apply the metaphor ‘herding cats’. In Deem (2010) the metaphor pops up because her interviewees, the administrators, would use this metaphor (:42). Two publications (Brown & Moshavi 2002; McCormack et al. 2014) mainly use the metaphor for their headline (as Rainwater 2002 does in the context of software programming). Universities are concerned with teaching and research. In the following section I will focus on research activities only and, furthermore, I assume a context where an individual can achieve research results and does not need extraordinary research funds in addition to the salary. This is, for example, the case in disciplines like mathematics, philosophy, and theology. In natural sciences, engineering disciplines, or empirical social sciences a team is often needed to get research done. In those cases, the researcher cannot work as autonomously as cats usually prefer to do. Thus the following applies neither to a teaching environment where learning objectives have to be met nor to research projects involving larger project teams.5 There is a commonly expressed view […] that managing academics is, like herding cats, either impossible or pointless. Academics are seen as differing from workers in most other organisations in ways that may make management tools less effective. One difference is that academics are thought to have a high degree of intrinsic motivation in relation to their work (i. e. they care directly about their research and/or teaching). (McCormack et al. 2014:535) 4 See Kessler 2017 for more information about leading with swarm intelligence. 5 Besio (2012:253) applies to the setting where research has to be done jointly.

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What is typical of academic cats? In which ways do they differ from ‘normal workers’? In the following I try to spell out the implications of the metaphor ‘academic cats’. Typically, academic cats are 1. highly individualistic and work autonomously. Each academic may choose his or her research area, method and research goal independent of the choices in the same department (Rybnicek et al. 2016:229). 2. exceptionally intelligent. It is generally assumed that staff members in academic institutions have an intelligence quotient which is higher than the average. At least, many academic cats “believe they know more than you do about everything” (Garrett & Davies 2010:21). 3. highly motivated for research. Since they can choose their research area themselves they are highly motivated for their chosen research goals. Some researchers would do what they do even if they were not paid for it. 4. critical and ask questions. It is essential for good researchers to look critically at the so-called facts and ask questions (:75). For experts the expert power counts more than the hierarchical power (Rybnicek et al. 2016:229). So, it does not come as a surprise that they look at management decisions critically and question these. 5. creative. Researchers must be creative in order to be successful. Most probably, they would also use their creativity in interpreting management rules from above. 6. emotionally more connected with their discipline than with their institution. Indeed, this seems to be very unique. A typical engineer working at BMW has a high identification with the product and with his company. But academic cats often look more for recognition from their peers of the same discipline worldwide than for recognition from their formal superiors (cf. Garrett & Davies 2010:88; Rybnicek et al. 2016:231). Winning the Nobel Prize is still the high peak for each researcher. My experience is that when scholars introduce themselves often they begin by mentioning their discipline and the university comes second, if at all. A look at the historical development of the institution ‘university’ may help to understand some of these items. According to Bleikkie (2012:87), “the German research university is considered the most influential university model” that has been transported around the world. This university model is characterised by “institutional autonomy and individual academic freedom” (:87), leading to a collegial principle of cooperation. University leaders used to be elected by their colleagues. But since the 1960s, universities have been regarded as being poorly managed, partly due to the massification of university education. As a remedy, formal hierarchies were strengthened and line management was installed (:88).

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Today, the decision-making processes within universities oscillate between collegiality and hierarchy. But there has also been an increase of interinstitutional power bases. Since the 1980s, ‘network governance’ has challenged the increasing hierarchisation within the universities. “Although academic power has been weakened within individual universities, it is increasingly felt through decisions made by national and international peer-review mechanisms related to research funding, evaluation, and publication” (:91). The sources of collegial power thus limit the power of institutional leaders. Since “academic department heads have very little power to reward faculty” (Brown & Moshavi 2002:90), the Nobel Prize seems to be more attractive than a negligible increase in salary. Today universities are often led by chief executive officers (CEOs), who have never carried out significant research themselves. This is partly justified because leading a university requires more managerial skills than academic skills. The challenge is that these CEOs have never been academic cats themselves and thus do not understand them. Superiors may like some of the above-mentioned characteristics, for example the high motivation (no. 3), but may hate others (e. g. no. 1, 4 and 6). And they may look at no. 2 with ambivalence. Leaders usually enjoy having intelligent staff members, but feel uncomfortable if staff members are or pretend to be more intelligent than themselves. Whether superiors like it or not, all six characteristics mentioned above are necessary in order to become a good researcher. Thus, there is no gain in fighting against them. In some academic circles one needs exactly these characteristics, which makes hierarchical leadership nearly impossible. “Some university leaders admit that hierarchical line management does not work when you are herding academic cats” (Deem 2012:115). Concerning the communication culture, a research dean reports: You can’t drive academics and tell them what to do […] I mean they run around all over the place, don’t they? And the more you try pushing them in one direction, the more obstinate they become. (Deem 2010:40)

This is supported by the quote of a senior administrator, “You know, they won’t do it just because you say so” (:41). Garrett and Davies (2010:90) give the general advice: “In a ‘cats’ environment you need to be collegiate, not commanding.” This is true – with some limitations. The advice ‘convince, instead of command’ is only suitable if the staff members really have a choice. If the decision is already taken, this should be made transparent. Intelligent people will discover if a communication is only a pseudo-communication. If there is no choice, a clear rule will do better than a pseudo-discussion. Actually, academic cats are able to accept clear rules. When the editors of an academic journal or a book like this one

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set an upper limit on the number of words for an article to be published (as we did), academic cats usually follow this rule. A servant leader should treat cats as cats, and should not try to transform them into obedient animals like dogs or sheep because then these cats will lose their specific strengths.6 Some university leaders still try line management, “even if, as a consequence, the cats disappear in several directions and fail to return home” (Deem 2012:115).

4

Andrew Wiles: an extraordinary academic cat

This section is about an extraordinary scholar of our time. It illustrates the characteristics from the previous section, and it gives evidence for my statement that ‘academic cats’ is a useful metaphor in the context of university leadership. Sir Andrew Wiles (born 1953) is one of the most well-known mathematicians of our time. In 2016 he won the Abel Prize “for his stunning proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem”7. The Abel Prize is modelled after the Nobel Prize and it is for mathematicians only. Fermat’s Last Theorem has been an outstanding mathematical challenge for centuries. It was stated in 1637 by the French mathematician Pierre de Fermat in the margin of a book, which, in Fermat’s words, did not allow enough space for the proof. Since then, generations of professional and lay mathematicians tried to prove this theorem. Singh (1997) tells the story of these unsuccessful attempts and of Wiles’ final success.8 Wiles first came across Fermat’s Last Theorem at the age of ten. Proving Fermat’s Last Theorem became the ambition of his life for 32 years. Wiles first studied mathematics and became a specialist in number theory and elliptic curves. In 1986, Wiles learned about a new possibility to attack Fermat’s Last Theorem. He thought time had come to start working on the proof. Wiles decided to work on it secretly, and for seven years he worked as an eremite. As a member of the academic community he had to publish regularly. On his way to the final proof Wiles discovered extraordinary results, which were worth publishing. But he kept them secret because he feared that after the publication of intermediate results, somebody else may be faster in finding the final step, thus receiving the honour of having proved Fermat’s Last Theorem. Instead, during these seven years, Wiles published parts of research that he had completed years before. 6 See Muller’s comment on autocratic leadership and the “ja baas, nee baas” mentality found in some South African universities (Muller 2018:40). 7 See abelprize.no [Accessed 12 March 2018]. 8 Wikipedia has articles on “Fermat’s Last Theorem” and on “Andrew Wiles”, as one would expect. But in addition it has an entry “Wiles’ proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem”.

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Thus, he made his mathematical colleagues believe that he was working on something else. On 23 June 1993, Wiles presented his proof at the Isaac Newton Institute in Cambridge. Unfortunately, a gap in the proof was discovered. It took Wiles another 16 months to finish the proof, which was finally published in 1995. According to the characteristics listed above, Wiles behaved like a typical academic cat. With reference to no. 1, he worked totally autonomously. During the seven years only his wife knew what he was really working on. With reference to no. 2, his mathematical intelligence is highly recognised. With reference to no. 3, since the age of ten he was highly motivated to prove Fermat’s Last Theorem. With reference to no. 4, he was critical in the sense that he challenged the overall mathematical assumption that trying to prove Fermat’s Last Theorem would be in vain. With reference to no. 5, Wiles was very creative. He combined many branches of mathematics and invented new methods, recognition of which made him the Abel Prize laureate of 2016. With reference to no. 6, Wiles was very keen to get a prominent place in the history of mathematics. He wanted to be the one who proved Fermat’s Last Theorem. This was obviously more important to him than to receive praise from his superiors. That is why he worked in secret for seven years. An ordinary line management system with short-term performance appraisal would not have allowed the long way Wiles had to take. He needed the flexibility and freedom of a cat. In his newspaper column “The university is not a factory” Muller (2018:40) describes some of the bad implications of short-term control systems. Installing short-term control systems on research outputs fosters mediocrity and hinders excellence.

5

Better suited than the metaphor ‘the leader as gardener’

The metaphor ‘herding cats’ looks quite similar to the popular metaphor ‘the leader as gardener’, because both metaphors seem to imply a “laissez-faire” attitude. But I would like to point out an important difference. “The leader as gardener metaphor, in its most basic form, signifies that leaders should provide the conditions for employees to reach personal fulfilment for the benefit of themselves and the organisation” (Huzzard & Spoelstra 2011:80). The motto of the leader as gardener is: Let the people grow! (:77, 79). He or she focuses on enabling growth by preparing the ground and weeding (:82). In her chapter about leading universities, Deem (2012:115–116) refers to this metaphor with the following illustration: “The implications for the university of making people do things and constantly checking that they have done so is akin to planting seedlings in the garden and digging them up each week to see if they are growing.”

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At first glance, the metaphor ‘the leader as gardener’ seems pleasant and friendly, reminding us of the Garden of Eden (Huzzard & Spoelstra 2011:87). But in leadership praxis, this may not be so. Even the friendly gardener sometimes has to prune the plants. And the fundamental question is: Which sort of garden is the leader aiming towards? Is the garden designed for recreation or for food? Is it supposed to be a natural garden or a bonsai garden? Bonsai gardeners have to be very active; they have a clear idea of how the garden should look and they will cut everything away that disturbs the aesthetics. A participant at the Christian Leadership Conference mentioned to me that his superior at the university would actually use the metaphor of a gardener and thereby justify the efforts to prune the garden by cutting down disciplines. Leaders who see themselves as gardeners often praise how they nurture and facilitate their staff. However, Huzzard and Spoelstra (2011:84) have discovered that some staff members do not share this positive view. They refer to the example of George who manages a group of systems developers at an ITcompany. He sees himself mainly as a gardener and facilitator, but George’s efforts, rather, are seen as an unwarranted intrusion. … George is liked best when he does nothing in terms of trying to influence and improve his subordinates. They view development as coming from their work assignments, not from managerial interventions. Any form of ‘facilitation’ is seen as undesired interruption. (:84–85)

This example shows that some people prefer not to get any facilitation from above, contrary to common advice in management books emphasizing the importance of facilitation. For those system developers the best facilitation would be to be silent and to let them work. The metaphor ‘herding cats’ implies more freedom for the staff members and is closer to a ‘laissez-faire’ leadership style than the metaphor ‘the leader as gardener’. For some groups this freedom is essential in order to deliver the best results possible. Of course, for other groups this freedom may be totally counterproductive and may lead to lower results or, in some cases, even to no results at all.

6

Links to other leadership theories

In this section I link the discussion on the metaphor ‘herding cats’ to other leadership theories. I start with the German system theorist Niklas Luhmann. According to Luhmann (2011:222–255), there are three ways to lead an organisation: (1) decision programmes, (2) communication structures, and (3) persons. At McDonald’s very precise decision programmes are needed. For research

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organisations the selection of personnel is the most crucial task.9 The first step should be to get the best researcher available. Then, other talented researchers would follow because “talents attract talent” (Garrett & Davies 2010:39). The output of a research organisation differs greatly from the output of McDonald’s. McDonald’s wants to ensure that every hamburger tastes the same. Therefore, it has very detailed rules for how to make a hamburger. But research outputs should differ from each other. Every research paper should deliver an original contribution. Micromanagement and hierarchical leadership are effective for producing mass products, but they are not effective for producing good research results. These management tools would actually destroy what you need for creative research. Secondly, the metaphor ‘herding cats’ has obvious parallels to the leadership style ‘laissez-faire’. This leadership style often only serves as a bad example in leadership surveys, if mentioned at all. Some would say that ‘laissez-faire’ is no leadership at all. But as pointed out by authors like Mahlmann (2011:58–85) and Amanchukwu et al. (2015:10) the laissez-faire approach also has some benefits. “The main advantage of laissez-faire leadership is that allowing team members so much autonomy can lead to high job satisfaction and increased productivity” (:10). This statement is especially true in the context of research as we have already seen in the section by studying the ‘academic cats’. To give an example from the real world: When in 1997 the famous British computer scientist Roger Needham set up Microsoft’s Research Laboratory in the UK his task was described as “Get the best people and let them do what they want”.10 This may look a bit extreme and it may not work in practice, but it gives a direction. If one deals with cats, laissez-faire is not the worst approach. Let cats be cats, after all.

7

Limitation of the metaphor

Of course, there is also a limitation on the laissez-faire style of leadership. For example, a university leader has to intervene if a scholar does not produce enough measurable research output. Interestingly, this intervention can also be described with the metaphor of cats. Farmers often have cats to hunt mice. If a cat turns out to be too lazy to hunt, the farmer would stop feeding it. Then the cat must hunt again. Similar advice in the context of academic cats would be: If you

9 “Die wichtigsten Entscheidungen im Hinblick auf die Forschung sind Einstellungsentscheidungen, zumal später weitgehend auf eine Strukturierung der Forschung verzichtet wird” (Besio 2012:259). 10 Communicated privately to me by a staff member.

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stop publishing, we stop feeding you. – I know that the situation is more complex than that but at least the metaphor provides a direction. A further negative implication of the metaphor ‘academic cat’ could be that even mediocre scholars regard themselves as brilliant as Andrew Wiles and want to be treated like him. So they might ask their superior for seven years of independence to work on a topic comparable to Fermat’s Last Theorem. But one should note that in the case of Wiles, his brilliance had already been proven in his early publications. If researchers want to be treated like Wiles they should provide evidence of their brilliance. If they cannot provide such evidence, they should be fine with being treated as ordinary cats, in other words, they have to deliver research results in a reasonable amount of time.

8

Conclusion

I have now provided some evidence for my initial statement that in the context of highly individualistic academic research the metaphor ‘herding cats’ can be very fruitful and helpful.11 I do not claim that using this metaphor would solve every problem of the complexities of today’s university leadership. But this is not the task of a metaphor. A good metaphor is a tool for data-reduction (Alvesson & Spicer 2011:39), that is, it cannot be used to solve all the details. A good metaphor makes us see things from a different point of view (:38). “It offers a new awareness” (:34). I claim that the metaphor ‘herding cats’ may help superiors 1. understand their staff better, 2. value their cat behaviour (instead of suffering from it) 3. and realise that academic cats can only be successful if they are treated as cats, giving them enough individual freedom and autonomy – as long as they are successful in the end. The metaphor ‘herding cats’ may also help academic researchers understand themselves. One participant at the Christian Leadership Conference told me after the presentation: “Now I understand better why I like my present work situation. It gives me enough freedom.” Academic cats – this is what we are, this is what we want to be, and this is the way we prefer to be treated.

11 I am quite confident that some of these conclusions are transferable to other expert organisations. But since I only gave evidence in the context of academic research, I leave this decision to the reader.

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References Alvesson, M. & Spicer A. (eds) 2011. Metaphors we lead by : Understanding leadership in the real world. London: Routledge. Amanchukwu, R.N., Stanley, G.J. & Olulube, N.P. 2015. A review of leadership theories, principles and styles and their relevance to educational management. Management 5(1), 6–14. The Abel prize 2016. abelprize.no [Accessed 12 March 2018]. Bennis, W.G. 1997. Managing people is like herding cats. Provo: Executive Excellence. Besio, C. 2012. Forschungsorganisationen, in M. Apelt & V. Tacke (eds): Handbuch Organisationstypen. Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien, 253–273. Bleiklie, I. 2012. Collegiality and hierarchy : Coordinating principles in higher education, in A.R. Nelsen & I.P. Wel (eds): The Global University : Past, present, and future perspectives. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 85–104. Brown, F.W. & Moshavi, D. 2002. Herding academic cats: Faculty reactions to transformational and contingent reward leadership by department chairs. The Journal of Leadership Studies 8(5), 79–93. Deem, R. 2010. Herding the academic cats: The challenges of ‘managing’ academic research in the contemporary UK university. Perspectives 14(2) April, 37–43. Deem, R. 2012. The twenty-first-century university : Dilemmas of leadership and organizational futures, in A.R. Nelsen & I.P. Wel (eds): The Global University: Past, present, and future perspectives. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 105–129. Garrett, G. & Davies, G. 2010. Herding cats: Being advice to aspiring academic and research leaders. Devon: Triarchy Press. Greenleaf, R. 1977. Servant Leadership: A journey into the nature of legitimate power and greatness. Paulist, New York. Huzzard, T. & Spoelstra, S. 2011. Leaders as gardeners: Leadership through facilitating growth, in M. Alvesson & A. Spicer 2011, 76–95. Kessler, V. 2007. On leadership theory : McGregor’s Theories X and Y in the light of Christian Anthropology. Practical Theology in South Africa 22(2), 81–99. Kessler, V. 2017. Swarm intelligence: An alternative to centralized leadership, in J. Barentsen, S. van den Heuvel & P. Lin (eds): The end of leadership? Leadership and authority at crossroads. Leuven: Peeters, 65–81. Luhmann, N. 2011. Organisation und Entscheidung. 3rd ed. Wiesbaden: Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften. Mahlmann, R. 2011. Führungsstile gezielt einsetzen: Mitarbeiterorientiert, situativ und authentisch führen. Weinheim: Beltz. McCormack, J., Propper, C. & Smith, S. 2014. Herding Cats? Management and university performance. The Economic Journal 124, F534–F564. DOI:10.1111/ecoj.12105 [Accessed 15 March 2018]. McGregor, D. [1960] 1985. The human side of enterprise. 25th Anniversary Printing. Boston: McGraw-Hill. Muller, S.M. 2018. The university is not a factory. Mail & Guardian 34(41), 40. Rainwater, J.H. 2002. Herding cats: A primer for programmers who lead programmers. Berkeley : Apress.

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Rybnicek, R.; Bergner, S. & Suk, K. 2016. Führung in Expertenorganisationen, in J. Felfe & R. van Dick (eds): Handbuch Mitarbeiterführung: Wirtschaftspsychologisches Praxiswissen für Fach- und Führungskräfte. Heidelberg: Springer, 227–237. Singh, S. 1997. Fermat’s Last Theorem: The story of a riddle that confounded the world’s greatest minds for 358 years. London: Fourth Estate.

Nelus Niemandt1

“Narraphors” in missional transformation of South African denominations: A herd of buffaloes

1

Introduction

Many traditional mainline churches in South Africa are experiencing a “missional renaissance”. Some denominations adopted policy decisions to intentionally become more missional. Others embarked on new missional initiatives with a clear focus on local communities. Theological education is changing, as well as catechetical content. This change can be characterised as the transformation of the denomination towards a missional church. These changes are accompanied by deep changes in terms of church polity, ecclesiology, missional praxis, and the understanding of offices in the church. They resemble adaptive change – a deep engagement with the entire system (Keifert 2006: 88–92). This research investigates the role of leadership in this process of transformation by way of a literature study and qualitative interviews with some church leaders involved in such transformation processes in South Africa. It applies the concepts of social imaginary (Taylor 2004:23; 2007:146)2 and “language house” (Roxburgh 2011:60–62) to explain the importance of a change in language to facilitate such an adaptive change in denominational structure, policy and self-understanding (ecclesiology). This change in language calls for the imaginative use of narrative and metaphor.

1 Nelus Niemandt; Professor in Mission Studies; Department Religion Studies; University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa; [email protected]. 2 The idea of “social imaginary” was also the title of Traylor’s 2004 book Modern Social Imaginaries.

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Research methodology

A mixed-methods approach was used, with the focus on literature study and empirical research amongst a focussed group of church leaders of denominations already involved in missional transformation. The sample was limited to 8 persons involved in the leadership of denominations in South Africa and the denominations were limited to those that understood themselves to be in a process of missional transformation. The participants were selected based on being either the chairperson of the leadership structure, the chief administrative officer, or a leader indicated as specifically responsible for missional transformation.3 All participants completed an informed consent form. The aim of the research was to establish whether the denomination could indeed be described as being in the process of missional transformation and to unearth narratives and metaphors used by leaders in the denomination to facilitate this transformation. Due to the limited scope of the research the aim was not to establish whether church members agreed with the self-understanding of leaders, or even if the members of the denomination shared the leader’s evaluation of transformation of the church. The following open-ended questions were posed in a structured interview done in person or by telephone: (1) Would you agree with the statement that the (leadership structure of the denomination) is in a process of transformation towards a missional church? Choose between Strongly agree, Agree, Unsure, Disagree, Strongly disagree (2) How do you understand the concept of missional church? (3) Describe your observation of the transformation of the denomination? (4) How did this transformation find expression in the praxis/practical operation and life of the denomination? (5) What is the role of leadership in this process of transformation? (6) Can you recall/mention any narrative or metaphor used by leadership to facilitate this transformation? (7) Please describe the impact/importance of these narratives of metaphors.

3 The research did not provide for a spread of participants in terms of race or gender, as the determinant was a leadership position in the denomination.

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The role of leadership

Leadership plays a key role in missional transformation and adaptive change. Roxburgh and Romanuk (2006:5) argue that old leadership models are inadequate to assist in the formation of a missional church. The church needs leaders and a new understanding of leadership in missional transformation. Cordier and Niemandt (2015; see also Cordier 2014:186–190) conducted wideranging research (involving both church leaders and laity) in the South African context and concluded that leadership is the determining factor towards the formation of a missional congregational culture. Cordier (2014:66) found that leadership development played a significant role in the development towards becoming a missional church. The church needs leaders able to cultivate an environment that innovates and releases the missional imagination present among a community of God’s people. Keifert (2017:193) describes leaders involved in this process as “[…] those persons and relationships of persons perceived to have authority to convene, gather and cultivate a climate of discernment”. There is no missional transformation without missional leadership (Niemandt 2017:202). The broad consensus mentioned in literature on the role of leadership in missional transformation is affirmed by the qualitative research carried out for this paper. Although the qualitative study focussed on interviewing church leaders, the participants overwhelmingly (as could be expected!) emphasised the vital importance of leadership in missional transformation. All participants agreed with the statement that the denomination is in a process of transformation towards a missional church (seven strongly agreed and one was unsure). One stated clearly : “Leadership is the only thing. Without leadership there is no change.”4 Another spoke about the “indispensable” role of leadership in this transformation.5 Yet another said that “leadership is extremely important”.6 One used the formulation: “Leaders are the custodians of the missional idea.”7 Cordier’s (2014:66) more comprehensive study affirmed the importance of leadership in missional transformation. Conclusion: There is no or little missional transformation without appropriate leadership. Leaders in denominations agree that leadership plays a defining role in the denominational transformation towards missional church. 4 Bosman, Lourens (2018). Vice-chair of the Executive Eastern Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church. 5 Ungerer, Andre (2018). Chair of the Executive of the Netherdutch Reformed Church in Africa. 6 Cordier, Gert (2018). Chair of the Ministry Committee of the Goudland Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church. 7 Tolmay, Barry (2018). Chair of the Executive of the Kwa-Zulu Natal Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church.

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Impact of leadership in denominational transformation in South Africa

The qualitative research amongst a sample of church leaders showed that all denominations polled experienced missional transformation. The participants understood the concept of missional church as defined within the broader discourse of missional church. Concepts most frequently mentioned (“How do you understand the concept of missional church?”) included well known ideas such as: – The missio Dei – mission as participating in the Triune God’s mission or being sent by God (5 respondents); – A focus on the community/context/locality/this world (6 respondents); – The importance of discernment/discernment practices (1 respondent); – Mission as a journey of transformation (2 respondents); – Bringing the transforming love and message of Christ (1 respondent); – Living out faith in the everyday life (1 respondent). The respondents share common ground in terms of the underlying concepts of missional church. The next conclusion from the research is that all of the respondents observed wide-ranging changes in their denominations. Many of these changes included formal policy changes or the adoption of policies (or vision statements) that identify or position the denomination as “missional” (7 respondents). Others referred to structural changes or amendments in church polity brought about by the transformation process (7 respondents). One spoke about “[…] the experience of freedom in the sense that they accepted that change is possible” and “growth in the idea that there are alternatives of being church”.8 Others also referred to the introduction of the theme of “missional church” at meetings/ conferences of the denomination (6 respondents). A number mentioned a change in training as well as continued education programmes or empowerment programmes (5 respondents). These changes impacted the social praxis and life of the denomination in many ways. The interviews brought to light a wide range of practical expressions of missional transformation: – Ecumenical relations with a joint (ecumenical) focus on public witness and community life, and even the staffing of a full-time office for public witness; – Public witness/community engagement;

8 Pretorius, Willem (2018). Chair of the Missional Task team of the North Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church.

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– Diaconal work/community work/involvement in community disaster management; – Theological training/continued education/workshops; – Members adopting a missional lifestyle; – The emergence of alternative structures able to function outside formal church structures to facilitate community engagement. Conclusion: All of the denominations polled experienced missional transformation. This transformation is also evident in various practical expressions of ecclesial praxis. This transformation can be ascribed to the impact and influence of leadership in the denomination.

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A change in language

In this section the leadership capacity to formulate a new missional language and thus construct a new social imaginary9 or language house will be explored. The concepts of social imaginary and language house proved to be very helpful in explaining the importance of a change in language to facilitate adaptive changes in self-understanding (ecclesiology). Kok & Jordaan (2018:6) explained the relationship between discourses (language) and social cognitions. They argue for a dialectical process taking place as we engage with different layers of discourses in society or in a group: In other words, as we take part in the construction of meaning through words, we not only produce but also consume texts by means of drawing from shared and assumed knowledge in our culture which is based on our habitus. (Kok & Jordaan 2018:6)

Niemandt (2017:214) argues that leaders use language to help give meaning to unfolding events: “Transformative missional leadership demands narrative.” Heath and Heath (2011:loc.3602–3603) made the same conclusion in terms of organisations: “Every culture, whether national or organisational, is shaped powerfully by its language.” Research in missional transformation in the South African Partnership for Missional Churches (SAPMC) demonstrated the importance of a new missional language.10 Niemandt (2010:409) showed that this “new language” created the understanding that things have changed in the congregation: “The new language created a new reality and ability to discern God’s activities in the congregations 9 Taylor (2007:146, 156) described social imaginary as the way we collectively imagine our social life or even the whole of society. 10 See Mouton (2017:166–169) for a brief summary.

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and communities.” Roxburgh (2011:61) argues that human beings live in complex houses of language, shaped out of multiple, competing stories about what it means to be human. Leaders construct a new missional vocabulary. This eventually led to a new social imaginary or language house, transformation in the congregation and the emergence of a new congregational identity. Narratives and new language are primary building blocks of congregational life. Niemandt (2013:127) stated that a new missional ecclesiology demands a new story. Missional congregations grow from the interplay between the Christian narrative found in scriptures and interpreted by tradition, and the “listening interaction with the narratives of the people in their community” (Roxburgh & Romanuk 2006:73). Participants in this research referred to the importance of “missional language”. One argued that the decisions of the denomination created a missional language that facilitated missional transformation.11 The concepts of social imaginary and language house are closely related to a biblical imagination. In terms of congregational discernment, this entails a process of living in, understanding and describing God’s preferred future for the congregation. It enables a leader to tell an alternative story about the new possibilities already present where the Spirit is working. Creative leadership, orientated in terms of God’s future, is an innovative way to participate in God’s continuing creation and recreation. Missional imagination understands that the Spirit is already creatively at work and joins in with the Spirit. Keifert (2017:192) explained in clear terms: “[…] churches that engage in intentional Christian innovation cross a liminal threshold into God’s preferred and promised future.” Roxburgh and Romanuk (2006:17) highlighted the important role of missional leaders to cultivate an environment of imagination that appreciates biblical narratives. Language and social imaginary are indispensable in this activity. The capacity to tell a different story, to conceptualise new missional language and thus construct a new social imaginary seems to be a very important facet of missional leadership. Organisational transformation is dependent on the ability of reformers (leaders) to create new language (Heath & Heath 2011:loc.3596). Missional leadership entails the ability to connect the everyday stories of everyday-people to God’s big narrative, and thus the art of being story-catchers (Niemandt 2013:128). The all-important creation and use of missional language, construction of new language houses and imaginative expression of the future of the church underscore the importance of narrative and metaphor.

11 Ungerer, Andre (2018). Chair of the Executive of the Netherdutch Reformed Church in Africa.

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Narraphor

Narraphor brings together the concepts of language house and social imaginary, and creates an avenue to understand new possibilities of language applicable in the missional discourse. Sweet (2014:27, 91) coined the concept narraphor and described it as an extended metaphor : At the core of who we are, we crave a narraphor. A narraphor is a story made with metaphors that help us understand the world, ourselves, each other and our community (Sweet, cited by Hurt 2015).

The concept of narraphor combines metaphor with narrative. Metaphor refers to more than a symbol or comparison – it compares two different things or ideas. Narrative is storytelling and recognizes that people live in a particular story that tells how the world works and how we ought to live in it (Roxburgh 2011:58). Stories are extended metaphors and rely on metaphor. Metaphors pop up in narratives. Metaphors guide and shape the discourse of a narrative (Kok & Jordaan 2018:1). Metaphors allow leaders to draw a picture of possibilities. Narratives shape and form reality, give content and imagination to language and are vital for transformation. Narraphor combines metaphor and narrative and provides conceptual building blocks to understand the construction of language houses. It is broader than the constituent parts and creates a broad storyboard upon which the new language can grow and capture imaginations. The concept of narraphors sensitises missional leaders to the importance of stories and metaphors, and underscores the importance of utilizing narraphor in the construction of new social imaginaries (language houses) as primary building blocks in the construction of a missional identity.

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Overview of narraphors functioning in missional transformation

The last section will look at some of the narraphors (narratives and/or metaphors) unearthed in the qualitative research in denominational leadership and missional transformation. It has already been argued that the self-understanding as well as praxis changed towards a missional identity. Participants were asked, “Can you recall/mention any narrative or metaphor that were used by leadership to facilitate this transformation?”

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The respondents mentioned the following narraphors as significant in their denominational transformation: – The Kingdom of God;12 – Taking light to the community ;13 – The footsteps of Christ, associated with the washing of feet;14 – The narrative of the traditional missionary : called by God and sent to a faraway country, preaching the Gospel to unbelievers, while being taken care of by a Missions department;15 – The road together / a journey together.16 – These images and narraphors are familiar in one or another form in the Christian tradition. – The following narraphors were more novel and interesting and warrants further investigation: – A sailboat;17 – A bridge;18 – Complexity and simultaneity ;19 – An agent in “His majesty’s service” sent to accomplish a clear mission with a strong focus (James Bond or Tom Cruise);20 – A hand with the palm representing missionality and the five fingers each representing the drivers (focus areas: discipleship, community involvement, ecumenical involvement, governance and empowerment);21 – A house with a heart and the symbol of the Trinity ;22 – A herd of buffalo (2 respondents).

12 Claasens, Gustav (2018). General Secretary of the General Synod, Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa. 13 Bosman (2018). Vice-chair of the Executive Eastern Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church. 14 Ungerer (2018). Chair of the Executive of the Netherdutch Reformed Church in Africa. 15 Weideman, Henri (2018). General Secretary of the Apostolic Faith Mission, South Africa. 16 Tolmay (2018), Bosman (2018). Vice-chair of the Executive Eastern Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church. 17 Pretorius (2018). Chair of the Missional Task team of the North Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church. 18 Pretorius (2018). 19 Janse van Rensburg (2018). Chair of the Executive of the Southern Cape Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church. 20 Weideman (2018). General Secretary of the Apostolic Faith Mission, South Africa. 21 Weideman (2018). 22 Bosman (2018). Vice-chair of the Executive Eastern Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church.

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A herd of buffalo

The narraphor of a herd of grazing buffalo (Syncerus caffer) is so compelling, descriptive, and unique that it warrants deeper attention. The process of missional transformation in the church is described as similar to a big herd of buffalo (of which there are many in the Kruger National Park – 37500 at the last count – and other game reserves in South Africa) (Bosman 2018a). Buffaloes converge in huge herds containing between 50 and 500 heads, consisting of male and female animals (see the comprehensive study of Prins, 1989, on buffalo herd structure). Buffaloes do not march off to graze in single file and at the same pace. Some take the shortest route, others wander away and leisure along, taking a wide berth around bushes (Bosman 2018b). The large group keeps itself busy with many activities: some are already busy grazing, others ruminate. Calves are busy suckling and young bulls test their strength playing with each other. The herd moves slowly. Some will still be busy drinking water, while others venture into the veld. One can hear the sounds of a large herd and the lowing of calves, see the dust as thousands of hooves pound the earth. Bosman (2018a) makes the point that the church is much more like a herd of buffalo than a platoon of soldiers. Members keep themselves busy with many different activities. Some are chatting away, others keep themselves busy with their own interests, while some have clarity on their calling and find multiple opportunities to live it out in everyday life. Leaders must coach the group and create movement, or at least get the participants to discern the movement of the Holy Spirit. Leaders must manage the momentum and energy, and create direction (Bosman 2018b). Therefore, strategic planning and management of a congregation is but part of the bigger picture. The church works with volunteers. Amongst them there will be innovators – people walking far from the herd trying new pastures. They might be people with a strong sense of calling, a vision for change, and reserves of energy to achieve new goals. Sometimes their sense of calling and the details of the vision will be unconventional (Bosman 2018b). There are also the early adopters – the ones who are quick to join the outward movement and catch up with the buffaloes who ventured off previously. As in any herd of buffalo, one will also find a large group of slow starters in a congregation (the late majority [Keifert 2006:57]): they are not necessarily unwilling – they just take longer to get into new pastures. And of course you will find the laggards: people who will not change and will not adopt change. They are caught in traditionalism – the dead faith of the living (Keifert 2006:57). Effective leaders will know: the herd of buffalo moves along rather slowly, but the herd must keep together. And amidst the sounds and activities of a large herd, the leaders keep direction. Good leaders know where God is calling and sending

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them. They understand the herd. They do not want to control each and every member, but allow, paradoxically, for both those with a strong sense of new directions and the laggards. This narraphor seems to be an excellent image of the stages of innovation adapted from Rogers (1983) for missional church (Keifert 2006:51–59). Missional change does not take place in a linear manner. It is more a diffusion of change. Rogers (1983:36) explains: “Diffusion is the process by which an innovation is communicated through certain channels over time among the members of a social system.” Change follows a fairly unpredictable path and enjoys multiple causes for each event, including causes located in the future (Keifert 2006:50). Diffusion in innovation moves in a pattern of awareness, interest, evaluation, trial and adoption. Keifert (:55) argues that leaders must take cognisance of the variety in openness to change amongst people in a system: “Some individuals may be more or less open to change depending on the change being offered.” Keifert mentions five different groups on the missional journey : innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority and laggards. The narraphor of a herd of buffalo helps to understand how some members in the church ecosystem act as innovators (the “brave” 2,5 % [Rogers 1983: 263–265] and early adopters (or the 13, 5 % “respectable” according to Rogers [:263–265]). The innovators and early adopters are the ones taking the risk to move ahead of the “herd” and finding new pastures. Others are slow to get on the move, but once the whole system starts moving, nothing can stop them. And one will always find the laggards (the 16 % “traditionals” [Rogers: 263–265]), the nearly unmovable buffalo bulls (called “daggabulls”) who follow their own head and sometimes leave the herd. The narraphor of a herd of buffalo is an explanation of the diffusion of change and stages of innovation in a denominational church ecosystem. Bosman (2018a) argues that leadership in the church ecosystem entails a deep appreciation for the innovators – those people who move ahead to find new pastures. But leadership must also recognise the late majority – people who are not necessarily resisting change but who need more time to overcome their anxiety and join the change. Leaders must show patience, since “a herd of buffalo moves slowly, but once it gets started, it will keep direction. Although it might seem a little bit chaotic, the leaders must keep on leading – because they know God called them” (Bosman 2018a).

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The impact of narraphors

Did these narraphors used by leaders change anything? Did they play a role in denominational transformation?

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One reply gives an excellent summary : “They create mental pictures and stories that go a long way in helping people to access and connect with concepts and apply them to their own lives.”23 One respondent made a powerful statement on the power of a particular metaphor (In the footsteps of Christ, associated with the washing of feet – see illustration from official letterheads used in the denomination [Figure 1]).

Figure 1: Illustration from the letterhead of the Netherdutch Reformed Church of Africa

He stated that the denomination transformed from a “volkskerk” to a more inclusive and missional church and argued that the metaphor of washing of feet and following the footsteps of Christ played a definitive role in this process.24 Another spoke about the ability of metaphor to make new ideas more understandable and palatable.25 Yet another mentioned the ability of narraphors to impact on the momentum of transformation in all the operational areas of the denomination.26 A respondent appreciated the role of metaphors to create new language and said it made the importance of change evident, as well as the dangers of stagnation.27 The responses affirmed Wirzba’s (2015:18) conviction that the way we name and narrate the world determines how we are going to live within it.

23 Weideman (2018). General Secretary of the Apostolic Faith Mission, South Africa. 24 Ungerer, Andre (2018). Chair of the Executive of the Netherdutch Reformed Church in Africa. 25 Claasens, Gustav (2018). General Secretary of the General Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa. 26 Jansen van Rensburg, Nelis (2018). Chair of the Executive of the Southern Cape Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church. 27 Pretorius, Willem (2018). Chair of the Missional Task team of the North Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church.

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Conclusion

The research showed the operational presence of narraphors in denominational transformation in a number of denominations in South Africa. The research participants were all convinced of the important role of leadership in missional transformation and shared a similar set of ideas on the identity of missional church. All of the leaders could identify significant metaphors in the process of denominational transformation and a majority ascribed at least a significant role to narraphors. The respective denominations were clearly shaped and transformed by language, in particular narraphors. The narraphor of a herd a buffalo on the move served as a particularly innovative example of a narraphor to describe the process of the diffusion of change and the stages of innovation in a system. It created a visual picture and compelling story of the way in which change can happen in a big system. Narraphors can and will change ecclesial praxis and are powerful leadership tools. They can get the herd of buffalo on the move…

References Bosman, L. 2018a. Soos buffels op pad weiding toe. Kerkbode 20 February 2018. URL: http://kerkbode.christians.co.za/2018/02/20/soos-buffels-op-pad-weiding-toe/ [Accessed 26 March 2018]. Bosman, L. 2018b. Hier is ek, stuur my. Kerkbode 12 March 2018. URL: http://kerkbode. christians.co.za/2018/03/12/hier-ek-stuur/ [Accessed 23 May 2018]. Burger, C.; Marais, F. & Mouton, D. (eds) 2017. Cultivating missional change: The future of missional churches and missional theology. Wellington: Biblecor. Cordier, G. 2014. Kernkapasiteite van die predikant as missionale leier. PhD Thesis, University of Pretoria, Pretoria. Cordier, G. & Niemandt, C. 2015. Core capacities for the minister as missional leader in the formation of a missional congregational culture: Part 1: Role of a minister. Journal of Missional Practice Winter 2015. URL: http://journalofmissionalpractice.com/core-ca pacities-for-the-minister-as-missional-leader-in-the-formation-of-a-missional-congre gational-culture-part-1-role-of-a-minister/ [Accessed 20 March 2018]. Heath, C. & Heath, D. 2011. Switch: How to change things when change is hard. London: Random House [Kindle Edition]. Hurt, J. 2015. The greatest conference story never told. URL: https://velvetchainsaw.com/ 2015/04/27/the-greatest-conference-story-never-told/ [Accessed 1 February 2018]. Keifert, P. 2006. We are here now: A new missional era, a missional journey of spiritual discovery. Eagle: Allelon. Keifert, P.R. 2017. How churches change. Reflection of a theologian on experience of local and systems change, in Burger, Marais & Mouton 2017, 190–197.

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Kok, J. & Jordaan, B. 2018. The Metanarraphors we lead and mediate by. Insights from Socio-Cognitive Metaphor Theory in the context of mediation in a VUCA world, in J. Kok & S. van den Heuvel (eds): Leading in a VUCA world. Springer : Heidelberg, 1–26. Lakoff, G. & Johnson, M. 1980. Metaphors we live by. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Mouton, D. 2017. Experiences with denominations in South Africa, in Burger, Marais & Mouton 2017, 158–173. Niemandt, C.J.P. 2010. Five years of missional church: Reflections on missional ecclesiology. Missionalia 38(3), 397–413. Niemandt, N. 2013. Nuwe leiers vir nuwe werklikhede: Insigte wat nodig is om die nuwe uitdagings in die kerk en die lewe te hanteer. Vereniging: Christelike Uitgewersmaatskappy. Niemandt, N. 2017. Experiences with denominations in South Africa: Complex leadership and transformational missional leadership in a denominational structure, in Burger, Marais & Mouton 2017, 198–219. Prins, H.H.T. 1989. Buffalo herd structure and its repercussions for condition of individual African buffalo cows. Ethology 81(1), 47–71. URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1439–0310. 1989.tb00757.x [Accessed 16 January 2019]. Rogers, E.M. 1983. Diffusion of Innovations. New York: The Free Press. Roxburgh, A.J. & Romanuk, F. 2006. The missional leader : Equipping your church to reach a changing world. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Roxburgh, A.J. 2011. Missional: Joining God in the neighbourhood. Grand Rapids: Baker. Sweet, L. 2014. Giving blood: A fresh paradigm for preaching. Grand Rapids: Zondervan. Taylor, C. 2004. Modern Social Imaginaries. Durham: Duke University. Taylor, C. 2007. A secular age. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Wirzba, N. 2015. From nature to creation: A Christian vision for understanding and loving our world. (The Church and Postmodern Culture series). Grand Rapids: Baker [Kindle Edition].

Christo Lombaard1

Leading Lady: Lady Wisdom from the Hebrew Bible book of Proverbs as a metaphor for leadership

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Lady Wisdom

Proverbs 1:20–21 reads as follows:2 Wisdom cries aloud in the street, in the markets she raises her voice; at the head of the noisy streets she cries out; at the entrance of the city gates she speaks.

In these few words, we see a number of things clearly : that wisdom wants to be heard, because wisdom wants to point its audience in a desirable direction; that wisdom is a phenomenon meant for public life, rather than for the private domain only ; and that wisdom is in some vital way female rather than male. The latter is noteworthy in the strongly male, often patriarchal and at times chauvinist library of writings we know as the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament. Yet, here we see the therefore surprising characterisation: wisdom is a lady, and even in such a non-egalitarian society into which she spoke twenty to thirty centuries ago, Lady Wisdom has an important voice for public life. Namely, she offers directives; she has insights for living well along with others (see Blenkinsopp 1995:165–168). Wisdom is a Leading Lady.3 It is significant that this ancient form of breaking gender stereotypes had also been canonised in what would in time become part of the core religious documents for three world religions. In this way, the book of Proverbs, with its Leading Lady as central spokesperson, is integral to the foundational literature for our civilisation – the largest the world has ever known. Lady Wisdom speaks along with all other formational impulses that whisper along constantly, forming our broad culture and our personal identities. This prompts the entirely valid 1 Christo Lombaard; Research Professor, Christian Spirituality ; University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa; [email protected]. 2 All Bible quotations in this chapter are from the English Standard Version translation. 3 My thanks to colleague Annette Potgieter, who proposed this terminology.

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question for our times: What can we learn more directly about leadership from this enigmatic metaphor of Lady Wisdom in the book of Proverbs? Let us for a quick moment take the cautionary gender lesson from history by Jacques Ellul (1986:74), that there is no straight line from the ancient world to the modern along which women’s rights may be regarded as more or less constantly improving. The latter understanding would render us the heroes of equality in history (even if conflicted, as we encounter the different waves of feminism and the divergent approaches to feminism over the past century). We would be left with little reason to encourage improvement. Such complacency would serve nobody well. The past would furthermore become, one-dimensionally, a downward trend as we look back in time; a trend of ever greater suppression of women. However, in all ages, life is more complex than that. It is clear to us from the Old Testament, for instance, and from its sources in the surrounding cultures of antiquity (see e. g. Bledsoe 2013:119–137 and Shupak 2011:310–323) that women had often been regarded as figures of influence. This we have in the erotic literatures of the Ancient Near East (which we see also in the biblical Song of Songs anthology of poems, in which the female voice talks first, and more, and most explicitly, and is thus dominant), in Bible books named after women (Ruth, Esther), with influential Hebrew Bible kings’ wives and mistresses, and even amongst the less well-known judges in the Old Testament. However, especially in the personification of wisdom as female, all aspects of everyday living had been regarded as fully infused by this combination. Wisdom is the art of living life well, day to day, balanced in society. Lady Wisdom was therefore the guiding light in all that is done. This is what we see in the wisdom books of the Hebrew Bible, most notably in Proverbs (but then also in e. g. Ecclesiastes and Song of Songs – although Bible scholars argue on the genre of the latter anthology). Wisdom in the ancient world being understood as essentially female (similarly in ancient Greece: wisdom is sophia) makes it in a certain way a little easier to “translate” aspects of that world of wisdom into our gender-sensitive times. Certainly, wisdom as essentially female communicates more benevolently to us than the very masculine New Testament writer Paul or a very macho Old Testament character such as Samson. What is more, the nature of wisdom across the ancient world was regarded as at once both human and divine. Wisdom came directly from a shared human history ; it was based on accumulated experience; it was fine-tuned by intelligent comparison of events and thoughtful reflection on happenings. Wisdom was understood as something completely this-worldly – in origin, in refinement and in application. Wisdom was, after all, common insight by folk sages (see Blenkinsopp 1995:22–32 for a wider discussion on sages in ancient Israel). At the same time, wisdom was regarded as something heavenly. Per implication, if such

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systematised perceptiveness gives us peace and harmony in our communal and individual lives, is that then not divine? It must be God who gave these insights.4 The sense was therefore that God had after all somehow steered humanity, from behind the proverbial scenes, as if – as Shakespeare’s character Jaques states in As You Like It – “all the world’s a stage”. Making such astute observations and deductions was further strengthened by the impossibility, in all but Enlightenment/Westernised cultures (the past three centuries, in democracies), of separating life into “religious” and “non-religious” compartments. Atheism having been no real-life possibility in the Ancient Near East, God’s direct involvement in all aspects of life was implicitly understood, including wisdom. In human discernment on how to live life well – that is, in wisdom – it was comprehended, mostly without saying so, that a divine hand was subtly at work too. The three characteristics named above resonate well with some of the essential sensitivities of our times: – Fair prominence is given to the feminine, as wisdom then, and increasingly, practically in all aspects of societies now; – Both experience and critical reflection on practice are intuitively regarded as vital for our wellbeing; – It is not a matter of grave concern whether such wisdom springs from nonreligious or from religious origins and inheritance. Clearly, the validity of wisdom is determined, irrespective of origin or later casting, by its value for contextually sensitive application. For us who currently live in religiously diverse contexts (see Egan 2018:305; more generally, Law 2018:444–452), which in Western/ised societies certainly also include religiously non-adherent people,5 the last bulleted point above opens up a surprisingly easy connection with ancient wisdom. The ancient world namely parallels our religious diversity,6 as much as our cultural diversity, both in its origins and in the intricacies of concrete application. The latter, then and now, requires at times contradictory decisions being taken in dissonant circumstances, without taking all-too-easy refuge in any trouble-free deus ex machina solutions. This, because life is as complex as it is, in all ages.

4 Although in this way Wisdom was tacitly recognised as divine, nobody in Israel would think – as some have over recent decades proposed about our times – of worshipping her as an equal to God or as a spouse of God; see Lang 1975:170. 5 This, for various reasons – logic, ethics, context, interest – and in various forms – a-religious, anti-religious, atheist, agnostic, etc.; see Lombaard 2018:1–7. 6 Hence the more frequent reference to the general name of God in Wisdom literature, rather than the specific name of God in Israel – so Blenkinsopp 1995:164.

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To summarise this first part: despite reservations which may well be brought in against putting the Bible to good modern use, namely to our benefit, the wisdom literature from the Hebrew part of the Bible, perhaps surprisingly, holds more promise for us than many other texts, canonised or not, from yesteryear. Some aspects from that wisdom literature may well resonate more with our times than one might at first have expected. Therefore, to misquote a famous John Lennon7 song title, why don’t we give Lady Wisdom a chance? She may lead us somewhere.

2

Lady Wisdom, textually and contextually

Lady Wisdom is no lonely damsel in distress, trapped in solitary confinement within the pages of Proverbs. As Shupak (2011:310) states: The Book of Proverbs is full of female characters – Lady Wisdom, Lady Folly, the Strange Woman, the Wife of one’s Youth and the Woman of Valor. Of these the most enigmatic is Lady Wisdom as she appears in chapters 1, 8 and 9, praising herself and urging passers-by to acquire her.

It is clear that Lady Wisdom does not want to be isolated either. As stated in the opening paragraphs above: “wisdom wants to be heard” and “wisdom is a phenomenon meant for public life”. Therefore, the marketing and promotions activities of Lady Wisdom do not occur quietly (similar to her competition, in Proverbs 9:13–18). There is some urgency that she must be heard – in the context of the rest of Proverbs: because she wants to educate people (most especially, young people). Her intentions are good, as stated in Proverbs 4:5–6: Get wisdom; get insight; do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth. Do not forsake her, and she will keep you; love her, and she will guard you.

Her advertising message is simple: those who follow her, are called wise; those who reject Lady Wisdom, are named fools. She is, in quite strong language, forbidding to those who do not follow her lead: based on accumulated experience, she characterises their fate as calamitous, filled with terror and anguish – at which she will laugh! On the other hand, those who heed Lady Wisdom’s voice will be blessed by God, in a theology that sounds almost like the “prosperity Gospel” we at times hear in our day : they will receive insight, be protected from bad things, will live long and peacefully, will have excellent results on their work, and will sleep well. The purpose of such simplistic either-or rhetoric: to encourage all to follow wise directives. 7 Imagine there’s no Lennon / It’s not easy if you try…

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One of the more famous wisdom sayings include Proverbs 6:6 (condensing Proverbs 6:7–11) on industriousness: “Go to the ant, o sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.” The less well-known sayings include Proverbs 9:12: “If you are wise, you are wise for yourself; if you scoff, you alone will bear it.” Often, though, the wisdom sayings are not that concrete or direct; rather, they encourage a general attitude or behaviour – similar to a public notice sign observed in February 2018 just outside Sydney, Australia, which simply (but therefore unnervingly) read: “Don’t do the wrong thing.” The principle is stated, not as law, but as a broad life orientation. Summarised, the overall aim of Proverbs is to encourage people “to do the right thing”, not essentially as an end in itself, but by pointing to the good result such wisdom will have for them. This is formulated as “The wise will inherit honor, but fools get disgrace” (Proverbs 3:35); in more theological, but less modern, terms: “The LORD’s curse is on the house of the wicked, but he blesses the dwelling of the righteous” (Proverbs 3:33). As should be clear to any reader, this is poetic language in Proverbs – not meant to be taken literally, but meant as encouragement. The general tenor is: do what is right and life will be good; do what is wrong and you will suffer. Philosophically, this kind of easy “what goes around, comes around” (to employ a strong tenet from Hinduism) or “just believe in yourself and follow your dreams” (to employ an often-repeated optimist’s view in certain kinds of television talk shows) sounds very simplistic. Which the “whatever one sows, that will he also reap” (a folk saying quoted in Galatians 6:7) kind of thinking certainly is, namely educational motivational material. This is precisely what Proverbs 1–9 and the closing verses, chapter 31, were intended to be.8 The one-dimensional deed-reward schema becomes more realistic, more complex in the rest of Proverbs. In other words, chapters 10 to 30 of Proverbs contain many contradictions in advice, springing – importantly – from different real-life situations.9 Such contradictions within Proverbs include, in verses following each other directly, on arguing with someone who does not know much: – Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself (Proverbs 26:4); – Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes (Proverbs 26:5).

8 The same simplistic message, with the exact intentional parallel – because it was educationally and motivationally meant as such – we find in Psalm 1. In addition, one of the most famous texts from the New Testament, the Sermon on the Mount, which we find in Matthew 5 to 7, serves more or less the same purpose. 9 Other Wisdom books such as Ecclesiastes and Job face as brutally honestly – at times too candidly for many people’s tastes – the difficulties of life and inexplicable suffering.

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Clearly, no build-up in logical argumentation flow is found here. The different proverbs are recognisably contradictory : they state different, even opposite things. Attempts at ignoring these inconsistencies never last very long; attempts at seeking some underlying shared “truth” all falter as disappointing speculation. Attempts at waiting for the experienced conundrums to be resolved by a revealed insight some time in the future, miss the point that we already have the place in which to search for answers, in history. Namely, in the life context in which these wisdom sayings developed, each independently, each had made good sense. The act of later collecting these sayings in an anthology, such as the book of Proverbs, should not tempt us to replace the literary context of such sayings for the originating historical context. Canon does not kill culture; differently stated: text should not silence context. It was in the latter that each of these proverbs had their respective validity.10 Wisdom functions in real-life situations. From the above it seems that, although Lady Wisdom is a figure that gives direct advice, in general she serves more to encourage others towards living according to accumulated advice – which is wisdom. We find her within the opening nine chapters of the book of Proverbs, and – possibly from a different source than the rest – in its closing chapter. Our Lady in this way embraces wisdom in two ways. First, she encourages wisdom as a worthy pursuit. She does so quite simplistically as part of her motivational nature, and because there genuinely is much to be gained from accumulated insight in order to live well within society. Second, she encapsulates the diversity of wisdom sayings. This diversity includes sayings that seem to apply solely to a highly restricted context; others seem almost straightforwardly to have substantial validity across many circumstances. Quite a few of the proverbs contradict one another – and so they should, coming as they do from divergent settings. This, to repeat again what has almost become a mantra by now: because life is as complex as it is. Such complex diversity in real life is something the sayings wrapped in the book-length embrace of Lady Wisdom in Proverbs amply testify to. Equally, that is something that proverbs in all cultures show us. Unmistakably, it is something leaders in all situations at times have to face.

3

Leading Lady…

On another, broader niveau than has been discussed so far, given that wisdom is the art of living life well, balanced in society, one cannot fairly expect something akin to an ethics of revolution from this ancient genre of literature. Fitting in with 10 For fuller discussions, see Hatton 2016, Van Leeuwen 1992:25–36.

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a given order (as wisdom literature sets out to achieve) in itself implies more or less maintaining the status quo (see the four diverse, gripping responses to this, concentrated around the “superwoman” of Proverbs 31, collected in Roncace & Weaver 2014:158–165). Even though Lady Wisdom recognises complex diversity, as we saw above, she always hands out words with which to soothe one into whatever life brings along. Wisdom is irenic; she seeks societal harmony rather than the contrary, rebellion (of which Bob Marley’s protest song “No woman, no cry” and the liberation cry “A luta continua” are famous examples). This we have to take into consideration for our purposes here: like all texts ancient and modern drawn on for leadership and management perspectives, content and context have to meet in order to be useful at a certain moment (Veldsman 2018:169–188). A Mother Theresa would for example not idolise a Jeanne d’Arc: a life of peace and a life of violence would be a poor match. Context does not determine everything, but undoubtedly much of how a text is appropriated for later times. We see this for instance in the way two New Testament books have been used so very differently (Lombaard 2001:82): “the example in this regard is provided by the ‘two chapters 13’: rebels read Revelation, rulers read Romans…” We must always remember that the broader context of Proverbs is the underlying ancient assumption of (relative) stability or (qualified) order in society and in creation. This is precisely what we see with the “chorus” that repeats widely in the wisdom literature of the Old Testament, for instance in Proverbs 1:7: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.” This bespeaks a conservative life orientation of fitting in with what is or has been given, rather than a radical life orientation of transforming by revolution. That means that we cannot too easily employ in modern contexts ideas from Lady Wisdom when we face crisis situations, or when unforeseen circumstances lead to plans failing and results turning out differently than expected. As the famous Robert Burns (1786:140) poem states this: Original: The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men, Gang aft agley

Modern: The best laid plans of mice and men, Often go awry

A different kind of leadership is required. In more routine times, however, with a more predictable flow of events, Figure 1 (adapted from Loader 1986:105) applies as a summary of the above. In addition, when drawing on the Bible, a “text only” approach would be dishonest; such a life styled “from the Bible alone” cannot exist, and even if it could, it would be anachronistic. Rather (quoting here from Lombaard 2001:82 on the use of the Bible in political ethics):

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Figure 1: Effects of Lady Wisdom in a relatively stable situation (adapted from Loader 1986:105)

In sincerity we have to acknowledge to ourselves that our faith and practices are born “neither from the whole of the Bible, nor from the Bible alone” (Deist 1978:58). Our faith is rather (in)formed by (expanding on Wogaman 1993:1–22) Scripture, Christian history and tradition, experience, our thoughts and actions and those of others, the church, philosophy, societal norms and practices – all these and more, in different and ever-changing measures.

Such a mature, authentic orientation to the Bible, in which it is neither drawn on blindly nor instinctively excluded from modern deliberations, allows us to gain some insightful conclusions – including from Lady Wisdom – for certain leadership contexts in our time. To return to the opening question above: What can we learn about leadership from this metaphor of Lady Wisdom in the book of Proverbs? Three things, at least: 1. Simplification, even over-simplification, may have its place. It can be a good beginning, an initial orientation – for educational purposes and for motivational reasons. 2. Such simplification however cannot be the end-all. Life simply is more complex than casual statements allow for or initial sweeping views could fully grasp. Apart from life itself, professional specialisation soon shows anyone the great depths there are to their area of concentration. They soon assume the rest about all other areas with which they rub shoulders. Such depth shows up everywhere. People sense that over-simplifications are only a first gloss.

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3. Complexity and diversity are the inseparable twins of real life. Not seeing such “real life” for what it is, means to blinker oneself from the situations one faces and to cut oneself off from the people one encounters – the two elements of context. The integrity of those we lead and their realities, integrated, form our contexts. 4. To apply these three points evidently to leadership: a. Leadership may at times be given to over-simplification, for motivational or educational purposes; b. That said, however, the complexity of life should be the dominant engagement of wise leaders, for the sake of integrity ; c. It should be such to the extent that diversity and humanity are fully acknowledged as integrally related. It is not the sometimes na"ve slogans and the television talk show “truths”, mentioned above, by which individuals at times privately try to live life, which are of particular note here. For leadership purposes, 1 and 4a above apply more directly to common self-help books recommended to people, and popular selfhelp courses employees may be exposed to en masse by their industry leaders. This also applies to the so-called motivational speakers occasionally employed; the at times highly artificial, even trivial, applied Industrial Psychology truisms and factoids conveyed; the frighteningly uncreative managerialist catchphrases that are sporadically flung about.11 All of these serve to mask complex dynamics; these are some of the sins of superficiality. Those who are led along such paths, may initially follow the easy answers; the attractive simplicities do have a cosmetic lure of their own. However, similar to the fairly typical experience in freshly-splintered churches and new religious movements, one cannot for long outrun the complexities of life. In such groups as much as in political, business, academic and other spheres, people soon see through superficialities. In different ways, the glitter wears off. Induced emotive states wane. Truisms and factoids, “Yes!”-yelps and change-management tag terms simply are not sustainable. Like Lady Wisdom, such “openers” may well serve as she did in some instances, as a token of initial encouragement. Then, however, she herself goes on to embody the complexities; to speak of them frankly. Even more, Lady Wisdom embraces complexities – in a way that does not douse diversity, but protects and keeps alive the complexities of real life in concrete contexts. The initial motivational moves serve not to obscure the complexities of contexts, the real lives of actual people, but precisely the opposite: eventually to keep them and to preserve their respective integrities. 11 Ironically, one of the most frequently recurring ones is the (by now fully unoriginal) “think outside the box.”

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Lady Wisdom may seem a figure who seduces us into simplicity. She does that, initially. However, those introductory steps soon lead us to concrete reality, because – as stated above – life is as complex as it is, across all times.

References Bledsoe, Seth 2013. Can Ahiqar tell us anything about personified Wisdom? Journal of Biblical Literature 132(1), 119–137. Blenkinsopp, Joseph 1995. Sage, priest, prophet: Religious and intellectual leadership in ancient Israel. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press. Burns, Robert 1786. To a mouse, on turning her up in her nest with the plough, in Robert Burns: Poems, chiefly in the Scottish dialect. Kilmarnock: John Wilson, 138–140. Deist, Ferdinand 1978. The Bible – the Word of God, or : searching for the pearl in the oyster, in Willem Vorster (ed): Scripture and the use of Scripture. Pretoria: University of South Africa, 41–71. Egan, Anthony 2016. Religion, spirituality and leadership, in Veldsman & Johnson 2016, 301–313. Ellul, Jacques 1986. The subversion of Christianity. Grand Rapids: William B Eerdmans Publishing Company. Hatton, Peter 2016. Contradiction in the book of Proverbs: The deep waters of counsel (Society for Old Testament Study). Abingdon: Routledge. Lang, Bernhard 1975. Frau Weisheit: Deutung einer biblischen Gestalt. Du¨ sseldorf: Patmos Verlag. Law, Penny 2016. Spiritual leadership, in Veldsman & Johnson 2016, 443–455. Loader, James 1986. Tekste met ’n wysheidsperspektief, in Ferdinand Deist & Willem Vorster (eds): Woorde wat ver kom (Die literatuur van die Ou Testament, Deel 1). Cape Town: Tafelberg-Uitgewers, 103–122. Lombaard, Christo 2018. Spiritualityd…: Spirituality in our time – In conversation with Hartmut Rosa’s theory on social acceleration. HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies 74/3, 1–7 / https://doi.org/ 10.4102/hts.v74i3.5051. Lombaard, Christo 2001. The Bible in the apartheid debate, in J.W. Hofmeyr, C.J.S. Lombaard & P.J. Maritz (eds): 1948 + 50 years: Theology, apartheid and Church: Past, present and future (Perspectives on the Church / Perspektiewe op die Kerk, Series 5: Vol. 1). Pretoria: IMER (Institute for Missiological and Ecumenical Research), University of Pretoria, 69–87. Roncace, Mark & Weaver, Joseph (eds) 2014. Global perspectives on the Bible. London: Pearson. Shupak, Nili 2011. Female imagery in Proverbs 1–9 in the light of Egyptian sources. Vetus Testamentum 61(2), 310–323. Van Leeuwen, Raymond 1992. Wealth and poverty : System and contradiction in Proverbs. Hebrew Studies 33, 25–36. Veldsman, Theo 2016. The world of tomorrow: Leadership challenges, demands and requirements, in Veldsman & Johnson 2016, 169–188.

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Veldsman, Theo & Johnson, Andrew (eds) 2016. Leadership: Perspectives from the front line. Johannesburg: KR Publishing. Wogaman, J.P. 1993. Christian ethics: A historical introduction. Louisville: John Knox Press.

Martina Kessler1

Der Mann als Metapher für Leiterschaft

English summary Until today “man” is an implicit metaphor for leadership. People say “leader” and have a male person in mind. This chapter presents examples from the realm of theology and from leadership showing this androcentric approach. Although some female leaders have published on leadership, the vast majority of leadership literature is still written by male authors. As an example, the leadership expert John Maxwell (1998) lists “21 irrefutable laws of leadership” in his world bestseller on leadership. Several of these laws have a clear masculine connotation, but none of them has a feminine one. Therefore, in his book, “to lead” becomes a synonym for “to lead as a man”. Thus the metaphor “man” for leadership constraints female leaders in the way they exercise their leadership.

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Einleitung

In diesem Kapitel geht es um die Problematik, dass viele Autoren, wenn sie über Leitung schreiben, bewusst oder unbewusst nur männliche Leiter im Blick haben. Für diese Autoren ist „Mann“ dann eine unbewusste Metapher für Leitung. Es gibt auch immer noch männliche Autoren, die Frauen das Recht absprechen in der Gemeinde zu leiten (Jung 2018:12). Dies ist aber nicht das Thema dieses Artikels. Untersucht wird das Phänomen, dass Autoren über „Leiter“ schreiben und unbewusst „Mann“ denken. Es geht auch nicht darum, eine neue, „typisch“ weibliche Führungstheorie oder gar einen führungstheoretischen Ansatz zu vertreten. Vielmehr wird aufgezeigt, dass Männer und Frauen auch wenn sie das Gleiche tun, es unter1 Martina Kessler ; Theologian and Counsellor ; Akademie für christliche Führungskräfte (AcF), Gummersbach, Germany and Co-Researcher Dept. of Philosophy, Practical and Systematic Theology, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa; [email protected].

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schiedlich umsetzen und dabei häufig auch unterschiedliche Schwerpunkte haben. Ebenso sei darauf hingewiesen, dass es nicht darum geht, weibliches Führungsverhalten über männliches zu stellen, sondern es wird aufgezeigt, dass es neben der bereits allgemein bekannten männlichen Umsetzung von Führung auch eine weibliche Umsetzung gibt, und dass diese nicht falsch ist, sondern einfach nur anders. Da die Handlungsweisen aller Menschen auch von ihrer Persönlichkeit geprägt ist, ist es logisch, dass beziehungsorientierte Männer anders leiten als sachorientierte. Ebenso unterscheiden sich sachorientierte Frauen im Handeln von beziehungsorientierten. Dennoch wird das Verhalten einer Person auch von ihrem Geschlecht (bzw. von Testosteron und Östrogen) beeinflusst. Die tiefergehende Diskussion, warum Frauen und Männer unterschiedlich sind und sich daher im Verhalten unterscheiden, wird hier nicht geführt. Sie ist vielmehr Grundlage für dieses Kapitel. Ausgangspunkt für dieses Kapitel ist ein Referat, welches bei der internationalen Christian Leadership Conference 2018 zum Thema Metaphors of Leadership gehalten wurde. Um diesem Kontext entgegenzukommen wurde das in Deutschland, aber auch international bekannte Buch Leadership (Maxwell 2002) untersucht und exemplarisch aufgezeigt, wie stark die Metapher „Mann“ die Führungsliteratur prägt und wie maskulin Maxwell Führungskompetenz darstellt. Dabei geht es in erster Linie darum, die Einseitigkeit typisch männlicher Leiterschaftsliteratur punktuell herauszuarbeiten und deutlich zu machen, wie anders Frauen mit diesem oder jenem Aspekt umgehen. Dazu wird die jeweils maskuline Sicht von Führung bei Maxwell aufgezeigt und der typischerweise weibliche Umgang mit Führung danebengestellt. Da männliche Leitung nicht per se abgelehnt wird, geht es in diesem Kapitel um eben diese Gegenüberstellung und nicht darum, Alternativen zu männlicher Leitung aufzuzeigen.

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Androzentrismus in der Theologie

Im Folgenden werden drei Beispiele aufgezeigt, in denen in der deutschsprachigen Theologie von „Mensch“ geschrieben wird, aber „Mann“ gemeint ist. „Der Mensch ist hier [Gen 2–3] alles andere als unabhängig. Sein Lebensraum, seine Welt, sein Weib als sein personales Gegenüber, Nahrung, Kleidung, sie alle sind Gaben Gottes an ihn; […]“ (Stendebach 1972 in Schroer & Staubli 2005:16). Die Frau wird bei dieser Formulierung ebenso eine Gottesgabe wie die Welt, Nahrung und Kleidung. Der Mann ist dann die Norm, das Zentrum, die Frau die Abweichung von der Norm. Das führt zum Androzentrismus. Bei

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dieser Sichtweise sind Männer als das Zentrum, der Maßstab und die Norm zu versteht. Eine Folge davon ist die gesellschaftliche Fixierung auf den Mann oder männliches. Der Mann als Norm wird zum Mensch und männliche Sichtweisen gelten als allgemeingültig. Nach Schroer und Staubli versteht Stendebach den Menschen als Mann-Menschen, dem die Frau zugeordnet wird. Das androzentrische Vorurteil, eine reduktionistische Rekonstruktion der Wirklichkeit, „macht weibliches Leben unsichtbar und siedelt Frauen am Rande der ,Anthropologie‘ an“ (:16). Der Alttestamentler Hans Walter Wolff (1994) will das menschliche Sein beschreiben und hat dabei die männliche Existenz im Blick. Wolf nähert sich der alttestamentarischen Anthropologie, indem er Körperteile wie Kehle, Herz, Ohr, Gliedmaßen, etc. analysiert. Das zentrale Organ Uterus (hebr. rächäm) wird dabei völlig übersehen und ist „ein besonders eklatantes Beispiel für die weißen Flecken in einer von Männern dominierten Wissenschaft“ (Schroer & Staubli 2005:13). Es werde in einer „von Männern dominierten Wissenschaft“ häufig von „Mensch“ geschrieben, aber in Wahrheit nur Männliches beschrieben (:13). Das bestätigt auch Moltmann der im Vorwort der 2005 neu erschienenen Auflage zu Mensch schreibt, dass er bei der Erstauflage 1971 „undifferenziert von ,dem Menschen‘ gesprochen“ habe und es auch so gemeint habe. Dazu habe er als Mann gemeint alles Notwendige sagen zu können. Inzwischen sei ihm klar geworden, dass es „den Menschen nur im Dual von Mann und Frau gibt und folglich eine realistische Anthropologie nur von Frauen und Männern zusammen entworfen werden kann“ (Moltmann 2005:9). Dabei habe er die Grenzen seiner männlichen Perspektiven kritisch erkennen können und die weiblichen Perspektiven als Bereicherung wahrgenommen. Es ist also Skepsis angebracht, wenn von „dem Menschen“ die Rede ist. Das gilt natürlich auch, wenn von Leiterschaft die Rede ist. Leiterinnen wurden und werden bis heute häufig an einer Beschreibung von Leiterschaft gemessen die durch Männer entstand. Als Erfolg versprechende Führungseigenschaft wurde von Richard D. Mann (1959 in Stippler, Rosenthal & Moore 2011:17), neben anderen, auch Maskulinität genannt. Diese Eigenschaft wurde 1986 in einer weiteren Studie erhärtet (Lord, DeVader und Allgier 1986 in Stippler, Rosenthal & Moore 2011:17) und führte zu der Behauptung, dass gerade dieser Aspekt Führende und Geführte unterscheide (Sohm 2007 in Stippler, Rosenthal & Moore 2011:17). In diesem Artikel wird dieses Spannungsfeld aufgegriffen und auf die Unterschiede in der Leitungstätigkeit von Männern und Frauen übertragen. Dazu werden punktuell Unterschiede zwischen Frauen und Männern herausgearbeitet und ein praktischer Nutzen der unterschiedlichen Stile aufgezeigt.

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Die einengende Wirkung von Metaphern Metaphern drücken das Bestreben von Sprachnutzern aus, die konventionellen, alltäglichen und automatisierten Sprachfunktionen zu erweitern und zu verändern, um entweder neue geistige Repräsentationen zu kreieren oder um schwer fassbare, von der Alltagssprache nicht adäquat darzustellende Bereiche (wie die Emotionen von Menschen oder wie abstrakte Konzepte) durch innovative Konstellation auszudrücken. (Skirl & Schwarz-Friesel 2013:1)

Auch Lakoff und Johnson (2014) gehen in die Tiefe um zu erläutern, was Metaphern sind. In keinem dieser Bücher wird jedoch aufgegriffen, dass die Konstruktion von Metaphern auch einengend sein kann. Was hierbei geschieht, kann man z. B. an der Frage erläutern: „Wenn ich Ihnen sage: ,Ich war in Amerika‘, an welches Land denken Sie dann?“. Die meisten Menschen in Deutschland werden „USA“ denken, einige vielleicht noch „Kanada“. Vermutlich werden wenige an Latein- oder Mittelamerika denken. Genauso ist es, wenn man von „Leiter“ oder „Leiterschaft“ spricht. Die meisten Menschen denken an „Mann“, „maskulin“ bzw. männliche Eigenschaften. Hier geschieht eine unbewusste Umdeutung des Wortes aus dem allgemeinen Sprachgebrauch. Die ebenso unbewussten Bilder im Kopf füllen den Begriff. Bei diesem Prozess kann die Breite oder Tiefe eines Begriffs, wie z. B. Amerika, eingeengt werden durch das, was eine Person damit assoziiert, nämlich USA. So werden dann unbewusste Gedanken zugespitzt zu Bildern und Metaphern. Die Autorin begrüßt erfreut, dass in diesem Band Konstantin Schneider im Kapitel „Die Hebamme“ eine ausdrücklich weibliche Metapher für Leitung aufgreift.

4

Das Problem

Jede Gesellschaft hat (oft unbewusst) die Attribute definiert, die einen Leiter zum Leiter machen. So entsteht eine Fremderwartung an die Leitungskompetenz. Hinzu kommt eine Selbsterwartung, die Leitungspersonen als Messlatte an ihr eigenes Verhalten anlegen. In einer Gesellschaft, in der vorwiegend Männer Leitungspositionen innehaben, wird das Image vom Leitersein eher „männliche“ Züge tragen. Kommt nun eine Frau in eine Leitungsposition, ist sie versucht, „männlich“ zu wirken, um den Ansprüchen an sie als Führungskraft gerecht zu werden. Diese Ansprüche können von außen kommen, sind aber meist sogar projizierte Ansprüche, die aus der eigenen Seele aufsteigen (Storch 2002: 124–126). Blessin und Wick (zwei Männer!) (2014:321) resümieren: „Das typische Bild von erfolgreicher Führungskraft entspricht dem männlichen, nicht dem weib-

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lichen Geschlechtsstereotyp“.2 Leiterinnen wurden und werden an männlichen Beschreibungen gemessen. Folglich fühlen sich die Frauen (in manchen Gruppen bis heute) oft unverstanden und, was noch schlimmer ist, unfähig. Wenn männliche Leiter den Leitungsstil von Mitarbeiterinnen fördern wollen oder einen Mangel an Leitungskompetenz meinen zu beobachten, dann kommt es häufig zu folgendem Handlungsmuster : Der Leiter empfiehlt Führungsliteratur. Meist liest die Frau die empfohlenen Bücher – und fühlt sich zunehmend verunsichert. Dies dauert oft so lange, bis ihr bewusst wird, dass diese Literatur fast ausschließlich von Männern geschrieben wurde und sie hat das Gefühl wieder am Anfang zu stehen. Natürlich haben auch Frauen durch die Jahrhunderte hinweg geleitet, wie z. B. Juliane von Krüdener (1767–1824), eine Baronin, die Europa missionierte (vgl. Sommer 2014), oder Bücher zu Leiterschaftsthemen verfasst, wie z. B. die Quäkerin Margret Fell (1614–1702), die ihr bedeutendstes Buch 1666 (Women’s speaking justified) veröffentlichte. Bücher von Frauen wurden jedoch selten wahrgenommen oder anerkannt. Im ausgehenden 20. Jahrhundert gab es in Deutschland fast keine von Frauen verfasste Führungsliteratur, die auch wahrgenommen wurde.

5

Aktuelle Literaturlage

Inzwischen gibt es einige Literaturauswahl von Frauen für Frauen. Eine Vorreiterin in Deutschland war sicherlich Sabine Asgendom (1999) mit dem Buch Erfolg ist sexy : Die weibliche Formel für mehr Lust im Beruf. Nachfolgend eine Auswahl von drei sehr praktischen Büchern: – Assig, Dorothea: Frauen in Führungspositionen. Die besten Erfolgsrezepte aus der Praxis. – Enkelmann, Claudia E.: Die Venus-Strategie. Ein unwiderstehlicher Karriereratgeber für Frauen. – Haucke, Patrizia und Krenovsky, Annette: Gelassen und souverän führen: Die Stärken des weiblichen Führungsstils.3

2 Blessin & Wick fassen verschiedene Forschungsergebnisse zusammen, auch solche über Männerbünde und Token Women. 3 Assig, Dorothea 2001. Frauen in Führungspositionen: Die besten Erfolgsrezepte aus der Praxis. München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag. Enkelmann, Claudia E. 2001. Die Venus-Strategie: Ein unwiderstehlicher Karriereratgeber für Frauen. Frankfurt, Wien: Wirtschaftsverlag Überreuther. Haucke, Patrizia & Krenovsky, Annette 2003. Gelassen und souverän führen: Die Stärken des weiblichen Führungsstils. Kempten: Kösel.

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Bisher schreiben wenige Frauen über Führung allgemein. Aber dieser Anteil wird stärker wie z. B. Diana von Kopp (2016) mit dem Buch Führungskraft – und was jetzt? zeigt. Wissenschaftliche Veröffentlichungen sind z. B. Doris Krumpholz (Einsame Spitze. Frauen in Organisationen) und Deborah Tannen (Job-Talk: Wie Frauen und Männer am Arbeitsplatz miteinander reden).4 Den vielen speziellen Büchern für Frauen in Führungspositionen steht nun auch Literatur wie z. B. die der dekonstruktivistisch denkenden Erziehungswissenschaftlerin Glaesner (2007) entgegen. Sie untersucht unterschiedliche Führungsstile verschiedener Autoren (alle Autoren sind Männer mit Veröffentlichungen zwischen 1945 und 2005), die alle Führungsprinzipien formuliert hätten, denen eine Führungskraft folgen solle, um erfolgreich zu führen (Glaesner 2007:147). Glaesner resümiert: Trotz latent geschlechtsspezifischem Unterschied sei es nicht angemessen einen typisch weiblichen Führungsstil zu formulieren. Darüber hinaus sei es auch nicht wünschenswert, denn es unterstütze „die Fortführung von Vorurteilen und setze Maßstäbe, die nicht erfüllt werden können. Diskriminierung gegen Frauen sowie andere Gruppen, wie beispielsweise Migranten, Homosexuelle oder ältere Arbeitnehmer, können nur mittels der Destruktion von Stereotypen und Vorurteilen abgebaut werden“ (:148).5 Sie schließt: Weibliche Führung existiert nicht (:149). Nach Blessin und Wick (2014:224) untergräbt der dekonstruktivistische Ansatz Frauenpolitik, weil es dieser Meinung nach eine kollektive weibliche Führung nicht gibt. Danach müsse „jede Frau für sich sorgen. Allein aber scheitere sie einerseits an der Übermacht der Männer begünstigenden Strukturen und andererseits am Fortbestand der gesellschaftlichen Praktiken und Institutionen, die sie als (verantwortliches) Subjekt konstruierten“. Glaesner (2007) gegenüber steht die Erfahrung der Psychologin Maja Storch. Sie verdeutlicht an ihrem eigenen Beispiel, welchen Einfluss ihre innere Wandlung auf ihren Vorlesungsstil hatte. Sie entwickelte sich von einer Karrierefrau, die meinte männliche Vorlesungsstile kopieren zu müssen, zur Wissenschaftlerin, die ihren eigenen weiblichen Stil lebt. Ihre Vorlesungen seien nun echter, bunter und damit für die Studenten hilfreicher geworden (Storch 2002:133–142).

4 Krumpholz, Doris 2004. Einsame Spitze. Frauen in Organisationen. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften. Tannen, Deborah 1995. Job-Talk: Wie Frauen und Männer am Arbeitsplatz miteinander reden. Hamburg: Kabel. Eine vollständigere Liste ist zu finden in Kessler 2008. 5 Es ist zu bemerken, dass Glaesner in ihrer Veröffentlichung vorher weder über Migranten, noch über Homosexuelle oder ältere Arbeitnehmer schreibt, diese aber in ihr Resümee mit einbezieht.

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219

Männliche und weibliche Leiterschaftsliteratur im Vergleich

John C. Maxwell ist sicherlich einer der weltweit am häufigsten gelesenen Autoren zu Führungsthemen. Er ist ein amerikanischer Autor und in Deutschland wird die Leadership-Literatur insgesamt stark von amerikanischen Autoren dominiert. Daher wird im Folgenden sein Buch Leadership: Die 21 wichtigsten Führungsprinzipien (Maxwell 2002) mit dem Ertrag des Kapitels „Weibliche Führungskräfte in Deutschland“ aus der MTh-Arbeit von Kessler (2008:87–95) verglichen. Verallgemeinernd kann man festhalten, dass Frauen insgesamt, und damit auch Leiterinnen, stärker beziehungsorientiert sind. Das wird im Folgenden in einzelne Facetten heruntergebrochen. Nach Maxwell (2002:14) sind die folgenden 21 Führungsprinzipien Grundlage der Führungsfähigkeit: 1. Das Prinzip des Deckels 2. Das Prinzip von Einfluss 3. Das Prinzip von Entwicklung 4. Das Prinzip des Lenkens 5. Das Prinzip der eigentlichen Führungspersönlichkeit 6. Das Prinzip vom festen Boden 7. Das Prinzip von Respekt 8. Das Prinzip der Intuition 9. Das Prinzip der Anziehungskraft 10. Das Prinzip der Beziehung 11. Das Prinzip des Inneren Kreises 12. Das Prinzip der Eigenverantwortlichkeit 13. Das Prinzip der Reproduktion 14. Das Prinzip des Vertrauens 15. Das Prinzip des Sieges 16. Das Prinzip des Anschubs 17. Das Prinzip der Prioritäten 18. Das Prinzip der Zugeständnisse 19. Das Prinzip des richtigen Zeitpunktes 20. Das Prinzip des schnellen Wachstums 21. Das Prinzip des Weitervererbens Schaut man sich seine 21 Prinzipien im Detail an, stellt sich heraus, dass insbesondere in vier Prinzipien Maskulinität implizit vorhanden ist. Dagegen ist Femininität in keinem der 21 Prinzipien erkennbar.

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Das Prinzip des Sieges

Für erfolgsorientierte Leiter scheint das „Gegenteil von Gewinnen“ völlig untragbar zu sein. „Daher suchen sie unbedingt einen Weg, doch noch zum Sieg zu gelangen, und den verfolgen sie mit allen zu Verfügung stehenden Mitteln“ (Maxwell 2002:153). Der dominante Vergleich von Maxwell ist der Sieg der Allierten über Hitler. Mandela sei deshalb eine außergewöhnliche Führungskraft geworden, weil er Charakterstärke hatte und das Prinzip des Sieges verfolgte. Weitere Vergleiche werden zu Wettkampfsportveranstaltungen gezogen. Dieses Prinzip für Führung ist an und für sich schon schwierig für Frauen. Noch schwieriger wird es, wenn hier Vergleiche aus dem Krieg herangezogen werden. Hierarchisches Denken ist typisch für Männer (Tannen 1991:21–22). Nach Bischof-Kähler (2002:347) leben Frauen prosoziale Dominanz und sind dann in der Balance, wenn dem Wunsch „Sorge für den anderen zu tragen und dem Bewusstsein der eigenen Kompetenz“ zugleich nachgegeben werden können. Dann bietet „prosoziale Dominanz die positive Quelle für ein gutes Selbstvertrauen“. Das bedeutet konkret, dass sie Vorschläge machen und Befehle erteilen, die das Wohlbefinden anderer betreffen, und Verantwortung für andere übernehmen. Demgegenüber steht die egoistische Dominanz der Buben, in der Rangkämpfe unternommen werden und die eigenen Interessen durchgesetzt werden sollen (Bischof-Köhler 2002:347). Mädchen haben eine stärkere emotionale Ansprechbarkeit, deren prosoziale Bereitschaft „sich aber vor allem in Form von Wohlwollen und Besorgtheit äußere“ (Eisenberg & Fabes 1998 in Bischof-Köhler 2002:350–351). Am Beispiel eines Trecks, der beim Wintereinbruch des Jahres 1846 am Donnerpass stecken bleibt, zeigt Schirrmacher (2006:132–141) eindrucksvoll auf, was Bischof-Köhler prosoziale Dominanz nennt: Frauen verteilten dort neben den Vorräten auch soziales Kapital. Sie schlichteten Streit und hielten Männer von Mord und Todschlag ab. Sie teilten die Nahrung gerecht zu und bemutterten Fremde. Auch wenn die Frauen frei von familiären Verpflichtungen waren, setzten sie alles daran, Bündnisse des Vertrauens und Freundschaften zu bilden (:133). Sie organisierten Netzwerke und ihre soziale Kompetenz half ihnen, die schwindende Gemeinschaft zu stabilisieren (:134).

6.2

Das Prinzip des Deckels

„Liegt Ihre persönliche Führungsfähigkeit auf einer Skala von 1 bis 10 beispielsweise bei 8 liegt, dann kann die Leistung nie höher als 7 sein“ (Maxwell 2002:16). „Was immer Sie erreichen werden – es ist abhängig von Ihrer Kompetenz, andere zu führen“ (:21). Mit dieser Skala zeigt Maxwell auf, dass die

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Führungsfähigkeit die Leistung eines Menschen deckelt. Das Bild dahinter ist der Leiter als Macher. Dieses Prinzip wird Frauen eher nicht ansprechen bzw. sie werden es sogar ablehnen, da die meisten Frauen ihre Führungsstärke ganz anders verankern. Sie neigen dazu, sich fachlich und auch von ihrer Führungsstärke eher weniger kompetent einzuschätzen als sie tatsächlich sind, weil sie zu Selbstzweifeln (Kessler 2008:95) tendieren. Damit ist dieses Bild für Frauen an sich schon eher gefährlich. Außerdem bewerten Frauen Erfolg höher, wenn andere integriert sind (:71) und sie gehen davon aus, dass die Einbeziehung möglichst vieler Partner bei gleichzeitig klarer Strukturierung dem Projekt zu Gute kommt (:94). Sicherlich ist es auch für Frauen hilfreich, sich ihrer Führungsstärke bewusst zu sein. Dennoch, Frauen neigen erstens dazu, ihre Führungskompetenz selbst nicht so hoch einzuschätzen wie sie tatsächlich ist und zweitens wollen sie Leiterschaft kooperativ leben. Dann fühlt es sich für sie richtig an.

6.3

Das Prinzip des Lenkens

„Ein guter Leiter bleibt auf eine Sache konzentriert […] Die Richtung bestimmen ist besser, als sich von ihr bestimmen zu lassen“ (Welch in Maxwell 2002:50). „Er [der Kapitän] richtet seinen Blick auf das Ziel […] Der Kapitän weiß, wen man am besten für ein erfolgreiches Leitungsteam einsetzt“ (:50). Frauen in Leitungspositionen wollen jedoch ihre Führungsrolle multidimensional als starke Lenkerin, als fürsorgliche Mutter und kreative Vordenkerin (prädikatives Denken) wahrnehmen (Kessler 2008:89). Der Aspekt der „fürsorglichen Mutter“ kommt in Maxwells Prinzip nicht vor. Ebenso fehlen in Maxwells Bild der weibliche Wunsch nach kooperativem Führen (:91) und ihr Panoramablick (:89).6 Der Panoramablick zeigt sich in der Bereitschaft, eine Situation komplex aus allen Perspektiven zu betrachten, was zu einer Stärkung der Überzeugungskraft führt. Ebenso werden Mitarbeiter/-innen mit ihren Emotionen meist wahrgenommen. Frauen wollen also nicht „der Kapitän“ sein, sondern sie lenken unter Einbeziehung möglichst vieler Aspekte und Menschen.

6 Dem gegenüber steht die männliche Stärke des Tunnelblickes: Die Situation wird unter Auslassung alles dem entsprechenden Mann im Moment nicht wichtigen betrachtet.

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Das Prinzip der eigentlichen Führungspersönlichkeit

Maxwell unterscheidet den „Leiter nach der Stellung“ und den „Leiter nach dem Ansehen“. Leiter nach der Stellung reden bei Meetings zuerst und sie gebrauchen den Einfluss ihres – also des eigentlichen – Leiters, um zum Ziel zu gelangen. Ihr Ziel ist es, die anderen, die Maxwell positionale Leiter nennt, zu beeinflussen. Aber es gäbe auch „Leiter nach dem Ansehen“. Diese sprechen später ; gebrauchen allein ihren eigenen Einfluss, um zum Ziele zu gelangen und es gelingt ihnen alle anderen Anwesenden zu beeinflussen. Maxwell bevorzugt es ein „Leiter nach dem Ansehen“ zu sein (Maxwell 2002:61). Frauen bevorzugen es, ihre Macht zu teilen (Kessler 2008:90),7 sie sind teambewusst (:89) und wollen kooperativ führen (:91). Leiterinnen sehen sich also insgesamt weniger als DIE Leiterin, sondern eher als eine Erste unter Gleichen. Diese Rolle ist für die entsprechende Frau nicht ungefährlich, da dadurch ihre Kompetenz mit einer Gruppe von Leuten verbunden ist und nicht mit ihrer Rolle als Leiterin. Manchen Frauen müssen sich in ihrer Rolle als Leiterin langfristig erst finden. Es geht Frauen also nicht generell um ein taktisches Einsetzen von Kommunikation um sich durchzusetzen, sondern darum möglichst viele Menschen zu integrieren.

7

Fazit

Durch die hier untersuchten Beispiele wurde nachgewiesen, dass die weibliche Art zu führen sich in einigen Aspekten deutlich von männlichem Führungsverhalten unterscheidet: Viele Frauen brauchen Ermutigung um sich ihrer tatsächlichen Führungsstärke bewusst zu werden. Diese wollen sie dann kooperativ, unter Berücksichtigung und Integration möglichst vieler Menschen und Aspekte prosozial ausleben. Maxwells (2002) Prinzipien zur Führung zeigen eine maskuline Führungsart. Dabei sind nicht nur ein oder zwei Prinzipien maskulin, sondern die Aufforderung zu leiten, wie es natürlicherweise ein Mann tut, zieht sich durch das ganze Buch. Sicherlich könnten fast alle Prinzipien auch von Frauen an- und übernommen werden. Allerdings füllt Maxwell die Prinzipien so, dass Frauen sich in weiten Teilen des Buches nicht wiederfinden werden und die Prinzipien erst auf weibliche Führungsarten übertragen müssen. Das Prinzip des Siegens wird Frauen wohl eher gänzlich fremd bleiben. Die eingangs aufgeführten Beispiele 7 Dem gegenüber steht, dass Leiterinnen sich gelegentlich schwer tun, die Macht anzunehmen, die zu ihrer Rolle gehört.

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von anderen Autoren legen nahe, dass sich dieses Muster durch einen großen Teil der männlichen Führungsliteratur zieht. Auch wenn es „den weiblichen Führungsstil“ alternativ z. B. zum situativen Führungsstil nicht gibt, der Unterschied ist, dass Frauen und Männer z. B. den situativen Führungsstil weiblich bzw. männlich ausleben und das typische Bild einer erfolgreichen Führungskraft in verschiedenen Modellen zur Führung bisher dem männlichen und nicht dem weiblichen Führungsstil entspricht (Blessin & Wick 2014:321). Sicherlich ist es vermessen zu glauben, dass sich innerhalb weniger Jahre – oder auch Jahrzehnte – umkehren ließe, was über viele Jahrhunderte tradiertes Verhalten war. Richtig ist aber auch, dass Diversity im Allgemeinen und Frauen in Führungspositionen im Besonderen immer breiter diskutiert, verstärkt eingefordert und gefördert und damit zunehmend „Normalität“ werden. Dies ist vergleichbar mit einem ChangeProzess, mit den hierfür typischen Erfolgskriterien. […] Dies verlangt von allen Seiten viel Geduld und Verständnis, aber auch den starken Willen zur konsequenten Umsetzung. (224–225)

Diesem Resümee kann man sich nur anschließen in der Hoffnung, dass die Geduld und das Verständnis nicht überstrapaziert werden. Hoffnungsvoll ist, dass, erstens, Änderung möglich ist und, zweitens, gezielt umgesetzt werden kann. Letztlich geht es darum, gemeinsam als Frauen und Männer für ein gutes Ergebnis unterwegs zu sein. Man sollte daher die Geschlechterfrage mit Sensibilität angehen und Verallgemeinerungen wie „der Mensch“ oder „die Führungskraft“ (selbst-)kritisch hinterfragen. Insbesondere sollte man vermeiden „Leiter“ zu sagen und dabei automatisch „Mann“ zu hören.

Literaturnachweis Blessin, Bernd & Wick, Alexander 2014. Führen und Führen lassen. 7., vollständig überarbeitet Auflage. Konstanz: UVK. Bischof-Köhler, Doris 2002. Von Natur aus anders: Die Psychologie der Geschlechtsunterschiede. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer. Fell, Margret 1666. Women’s speaking justified. URL: http://www.qhpress.org/texts/fell. html [Stand 09. 10. 2018]. Glaesner, Katja 2007. Geheimrezept weibliche Führung? Hintergründe, Mythen und Konzepte zum weiblichen Führungsstil. Eine empirische Untersuchung beim Deutschen Gewerkschaftsbund. Kassel: University press. Jung, Friedhelm 2018. Rolle der Frau in der Gemeinde. Ein Streitthema. Idea Spektrum, 10(4). Oktober 2018. Wetzlar : Evangelisches Nachrichtenmagazin, 12. Kessler, Martina 2008. Macht Macht erotisch? Authentisch leben – eine Herausforderung in der christlichen Mission. Am Beispiel sexueller Versuchlichkeit weiblicher, lediger,

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heterosexueller Führungskräfte in Deutschland. MTh dissertation, University of South Africa, Pretoria. URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10500/1605 [Stand 12. 02. 2009]. von Kopp, Diana 2016. Führungskraft – und was jetzt? Vom Kollegen zum Vorgesetzten: Den Rollentausch meistern, Lösungen aus Psychologie und Praxis. 2. Auflage. Heidelberg/Berlin: Springer. Lakoff, Georg & Johnson, Mark 2014. Leben in Metaphern. Konstruktion und Gebrauch von Sprachbildern. 8. Auflage. Heidelberg: Carl Auer. Maxwell, John C. 2002. Leadership: Die 21 wichtigsten Führungsprinzipien. Gießen: Brunnen. Moltmann, Jürgen 2005. Mensch. Stuttgart: Kreuz. Schirrmacher, Frank 2006. Minimum: Vom Vergehen und Neuentstehen unserer Gesellschaft. München: Karl Blessing. Schroer, Silvia & Staubli, Thomas 2005. Die Körpersymbolik der Bibel. 2., überarbeitete Auflage. Darmstadt: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft. Skirl, Helge & Schwarz-Friesel, Monika 2013. Metapher. 2. Auflage. Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter. Sommer, Debora 2014. Juliane von Krüdener : Eine Baronin missioniert Europa. Marburg: Francke. Stendebach, Franz Josef 2001. Wege der Menschen: Versuche zu einer Anthropologie des Alten Testamentes. Ethik–Gesellschaft–Wirtschaft. Frankfurt: IKO – Verlag für Interkulturelle Kommunikation. Stippler Maria; Moore, Sadi; Rosenthal, Seth & Dörffer, Tina 2011. Führung: Überblick über Ansätze, Entwicklungen, Trends. 2. Auflage. Gütersloh: Bertelsmann Stiftung. Storch, Maja 2000. Die Sehnsucht der starken Frau nach dem starken Mann. 6. Auflage. München: Goldmann. Tannen, Deborah 1991. Du kannst mich einfach nicht verstehen: Warum Männer und Frauen aneinander vorbeireden. Hamburg: Kabel. Wolff, Hans Walter 1994. Anthropologie des Alten Testaments. 6. Auflage. Gütersloh: Chr. Kaiser.

Johannes Reimer1

The metaphor of father: A comparison of fatherly and paternalistic leadership in mission

1

The image of the father in Christian missionary leadership – problem or chance?

No other metaphor has received so much attention in the Christian Church as the one of the father. To lead as the father leads his children has become an ideal for all traditional churches and mission agencies. In both the Orthodox and Catholic traditions, believers refer to their priests as fathers. The father metaphor is also frequently used in relation to apostolic or pioneer figures in Christian mission. To name just a few, William Carey (1761–1834), the pioneer missionary to India, is viewed as the “father of modern missions” (Gonzalez 2010:419), German missionary pioneers Johannes Evangelista Gossner and Albert Ludwig Carl Büchsel are praised as fathers of German mission in the 19th century (Roeber 2007). Some Roman Catholic orders even call their missionaries fathers.2 Mission agencies typically base their strategies on documents of their founders, whom they call “fathers” (see an example in Schneider 1975). All Christian traditions seem to follow a similar pattern in this. Parachurch mission agencies in particular tend to follow their founders and current leaders as fathers with definite authority. Such agencies have become the dominating factor in Christian mission today. Centred in the Western world, they control most of the mission finances and power of decision and they are considered indispensable. Campus Crusade for Christ is a good example in this regard. Started as a small ministry in a local college in 1951 by Bill Bright 1 Dr. Johannes Reimer ; Professor of mission studies and intercultural theology at the Ewersbach University of Applied Arts, Germany and Professor Extraordinarius at the University of South Africa; Global director of the Peace and Reconciliation Network of the WEA; johannes. [email protected]. 2 See, for example: The Society of the Missionaries of Africa, known as the White Fathers (French: PHres Blancs). Founded in 1868 by Archbishop of Algiers, Cardinal Charles Lavigerie, the society focuses on evangelism and education, mostly in Africa. For more information see Herbermann1913; https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weiße_Väter [Accessed 30 November 2018].

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(1921–2003), the father of the ministry, it grew under his leadership into one of the world’s largest evangelical agencies with an annual budget of $ 500 million. Bill Bright was the unquestionable authority until his death and his spirit still dominates the ministry.3 In recent years mission historians have also discovered the role of apostolic women, who they rightly call “mothers of mission”, as Dana L. Robert proves with the life and ministry of Ann Haseltine Judson (Robert 2018). I discovered the same pattern in the history of Protestant mission in Russia (Reimer 2011:177–196). In this article I will, however, concentrate on the leadership of the father, not neglecting the importance and necessity of uncovering the role of women and mothers of mission in mission history. I am motivated in my research by the widespread disturbing misuse of the fatherly role in leadership in church and mission. Fathers, both spiritual as well as biological, today stand for physical and sexual violence, and for permanent misuse of power in family, society, and church (including mission). The story of an American missionary from Virginia, who for years sexually misused minors while preaching the gospel in Haiti (Zaimov 2018) stands for thousands of similar reports. Some churches, for instance the Roman Catholic Church, are accused of a long-standing, abusive style of leadership, closely associated with men in powerful positions, who claimed the authority of a father. Here is the real question: Is there something wrong with the metaphor as such? Where does the father-based leadership in church and mission draw its authority from? Is a father-centred leadership style biblically justified?

2

Paternalistic leadership

The style of leadership using the metaphor of a father is commonly associated with paternalism. Paternalism (from the Latin word pater = father) means literally ‘to act like a father’ or ‘treat another as a child’.4 Pellegrini and Scandura, writing on paternalistic leadership, state that: Despite diverse descriptions offered by different authors across time and cultures, more recent research typically defines paternalistic leadership as ‘a style that combines strong discipline and authority with fatherly benevolence’. Authoritarianism refers to leader behaviors that assert authority and control, whereas benevolence refers to an individualized concern for subordinates’ personal well-being. This type of leadership is still prevalent and effective in many business cultures, such as in the Middle East, Pacific Asia, and Latin America. (Pellegrini and Scandura 2008:567) 3 For more information see Turner 2008. 4 http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Paternalism (1 February 2018).

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Some authors even argue that paternalistic leadership represents the predominant mode of leadership in the majority of the world (Aycan et al. 2013:977). And, without question, the great majority of missionaries coming from a colonial era background, behaved and behave strongly paternalistically. In the Western world, however, paternalism has rather negative connotations, as Jackson (2016:3) and others point out. Authors refer to the great German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) who strictly rejected paternalistic leadership as “the most despotic of all”, since “a paternalistic government treats its citizens like immature children and thus infringing upon their freedom.” Others were less critical.5 Jackson (2016:4–5) proves that the negative vs. positive reception of paternalistic leadership seems to run alongside individualistic vs. collectivistic societies. In Western individualistic societies, paternalism is usually closely associated with authoritarianism; in collective societies, however, entrusted responsibility for the subordinates, paternal care and benevolence seem to dominate the understanding (:5). Some authors underline the difference of perception and even argue that Western reflection on paternalistic leadership seems to reveal its inability to correlate control and care. In any case, the two perspectives seem to define paternalism differently, which leads him to suggest distinguishing between benevolent paternalism and exploitative paternalism. The first is, in principle, relational and presupposes personal relationship between the leader and the subordinates (Jackson 2016:5).6 In recent years, paternalism was been heavily challenged by feminist writers all across the globe. Preeti Rawat from India, for instance, proves, how difficult Jackson’s attempt to distinguish between relational and exploitational paternalism is, in an Indian, highly paternalistic culture (Rawat 2016:264–277). Vivian C. Sheer (2010:138), in her study on transformational vs. paternalistic leadership styles in Chinese organisations in Hong-Kong, arrives at similar conclusions. Paternalism seems in principle abusive towards subordinates. This indicates for me a major area of concern, despite all possible differences in gender leadership perspectives.7 The tension between Western and feminist partial rejection, and the widespread acceptance of paternalism in the majority world, leads to numerous misunderstandings in intercultural cooperation in church and mission, as well as business and development. Terence Jackson (2016:6–7) pleads, therefore, for work to be done on a missing link between the two contrary perspectives. Our 5 See discussion: Ibid. 6 See for instance the situation in Chinese private companies as described in Farth 2006:23–260. 7 See an overview in Shanmugam et al. (https://www.irbnet.de/daten/iconda/CIB16523.pdf [Accessed 1 December 2018]).

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theme is, as it seems, valid for discussion. The metaphor of “father” opens an interesting discussion across cultural perceptions, offering creative solutions in the difficult area of cross-cultural leadership. In this presentation I will (a) explore the historic biblical background of the father concept and the reality of father-centred leadership in Church and mission, (b) evaluate the theological justification of the concept, and (c) name some positive as well as negative notions of such leadership, proposing (d) a working solution for missionary leadership.

3

Theology of paternal leadership

3.1

God, the Father

James E. Plueddemann (2009:66–67), in his discussion of cross-cultural leadership, strongly suggests starting any exploration of leadership styles with a proper biblical reflection. We follow Plueddemann’s advice and seek a biblical perspective on the use of our father-metaphor in leadership. The term is widely used in both the Old and the New Testaments. The metaphor refers first to God, the Creator and Sustainer of all Creation (1 Cor 8:6), who deserves all authority in heaven and on earth (Mt 6:9–10) and who is to be honoured as the father of the familia Dei, the family of God (Eph 5:1; Mt 5:48). God is known to Israel as Father to the nation (e. g. Ex 4:33–23; Dt 1:31; 8:5; 14:1–2; 32:4–6, 18–20, 43; Is 1:2; Jr 3–4; 31:19, 20; Hs 11:1) and he is known to the Church as “her Father in Heaven” (Mt 6:9). It is, however, crucial to mention the fact that even when the Old Testament uses the father metaphor for God frequently, God is also referred to as mother (see Hs 11:3–4; Dt 32:18; Is 42:14; 49:15; 66:13). God has no gender. He is father as well as mother to his people. And it is the motherly side of the creator which has seldom been theologically reflected. This is, probably, the main reason the father image of God has been so easily misinterpreted in Christian history. I am aware of the need to work on a more holistic terminology in order to grasp fully the nature of God. However, in this paper I purposely limit myself to the fathermetaphor. Naming God as Father is, however, not specifically Judeo-Christian. The patriarchal ancient world knows many examples of Gentile religions referring to gods as fathers (Zimmerman 2010). Specific to Judaism is, however, what the God-name “father” contains. God the father in the Bible stands for a loving and caring relationship between God and his creation. This is best expressed by the Aaronic blessing in Numbers 6:24–27. The text reads:

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The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace. So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them. (NIV)

The God of Israel is a blessing God. The Hebrew term barakh = blessing stands for “a place on the knees” and describes a mother receiving her child on her knees (von Rad 1961:410). The blessing God-Father is receiving his children on his knees and he cares for them: (a) by keeping and sustaining them; (b) by being gracious to them, (c) by turning his face to them, meeting them personally and providing all-encompassing shalom = peace to them. He blesses because his name is placed on the people! The same idea of a caring, blessing, gracious, and peace-granting God is also found in the New Testament. Jesus underlines God’s loving character by calling him Abba instead of Ab, daddy instead of father (Mk 14:36; Gl 4:6; Rm 8:15). God is a loving, caring father. His authority is marked by an intimate salvation-oriented relationship with his subordinates (Jn 3:16, 35).

3.2

Biological father

Secondly, ‘father’ refers to the biological father, who carries the main responsibility to raise (Hebr. 12:7), care for and provide for his children (Lk 11:11–13; Mt 7:9–11). The children, in turn, are called to honour their parents (Ex 20:12/ par ; Eph 6:1; Col 3:2). The emphasis, however, is not on a strict, authoritarian relationship, but rather on the wellbeing of children, as Ephesians 6:4 proves where the apostle Paul urges the fathers to withdraw from an anger-generating education. Instead they are to raise their children in the fear of God. God the Father is the matrix of the biological father. He has to orient himself to his relationship to children (Eph 3:14). The most powerful narrative underlining the loving and caring character of a true father is the parable of the prodigal son as told by Jesus (Lk 15:11–32). The prodigal son returns to his father and, despite his sinful life and the loss of all his possessions, the father forgives and welcomes the son back home, restoring his status of a beloved son.

3.3

Fathers as leaders in the nation

Thirdly, the term ‘father’ is used in both the Old and New Testament for leading figures of the people of God such as Abraham, who received God’s promise to become the “father of many nations” (Gn 17:5). The Pharisees referred to him as their father (Jn 8:31–59). King David is called father (Mk 11:10; Lk 1:32). And Paul, the apostle and leader of the early church, writes to the church in Thessa-

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lonica, saying that he has been among them “as a father to the children” (1 Th 2:11). Paul argues that Abraham is less to be seen as the genealogical father of the Jews, but rather as the father of those who faithfully follow God (Gal 3:22, 26, 29). Not only the Jews, but all who believe may now relate to Abraham as their father of faith (Gal 3:7–9; Rm 4:11ff). Fatherhood presupposes belonging to the family of God. And only in this ecclesiastical context does Paul refer to himself as father. God as father is the source and the ideal matrix for both the biological father as well as the leader. In other words, the way God acts in history is a set pattern for how the earthly fathers should act. We follow this line of thought by exploring the pattern of parental leadership in the ministry of the Apostle Paul. The apostle Paul uses the image of the “father relating to his children” in 1 Thessalonians 2:11. The text reads: “For you know that we dealt with each of you as a father deals with his own children” (NIV). Paul’s understanding of fatherhood is derived from the Jewish concept of the fatherly role, as studies prove (Gerber 2005:277f). He writes to churches, which he planted (1 Cor 4:14ff). The Corinthians, for instance, are his children because he led them to Christ (1 Cor 4:15) and this establishes his authority (1 Cor 4:16). They are his spiritual children and, therefore, are expected to become his followers (1 Cor 4:16). Similarly, there are individual cases like Onesimus, the runaway slave of Philemon. Paul also calls him his child, because he led him to Christ (Phlm 10). In other words, his investment in the lives of people defines his fatherly parental role. In this regard he may even call Timothy his “beloved child” (1 Cor 4:17), this time not because he led Timothy to Christ, but because he became his mentor (:414) and Timothy accepted faithfully the role as learner (Phlp 2:22). As a father he accepts his own responsibility to work towards edification of the believers, in exercising his apostolic authority over them as he cares for them and teaches them to obey the gospel (:300ff). Fatherly defined paternal leadership edifies the subordinate, rejoicing in seeing them become what they are in God’s view. Paul’s understanding of leadership is best depicted in Ephesians 4:11–16. It reads: So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. (NIV)

Church leadership, according to Paul, concentrates (a) on the developing of ministries in the lives of church members, as designed by God himself (Eph

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2:10). It seeks (b) to help the subordinates to grow into maturity, enabling them (c) to act responsibly and in full conformity to their own calling (d) as members of a growing body of God’s people. Paul sees his fatherhood in this light. The leader is not concerned with his own authority and position, but rather with God’s work in the lives of the people entrusted to him.

3.4

Theological identity markers

A number of specifying identity markers flow out of this understanding of what the biblical account holds for fatherly leadership. 1. The fatherly leader, as the scripture shows, is first and foremost a leader with a mission encompassing all life. God’s mission, the missio dei as expressed in the missio patri, defines his or her modes and acts of operation. God is the matrix. All authority is with him. The leader is God’s subordinate. Paul underlines this fact by claiming total dedication to God’s leadership. In 1 Corinthians 4:1–4 he says: This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. (NIV)

It is God, the Father, who defines what a fatherly leader does. Fatherly leadership is abba-centred leadership. 2. The fatherly leader is not concerned about his own acceptance, power, and position. He is not in charge of the wellbeing of the organisation he might be leading. His main concern is to edify his subordinates that they may do the works for which God made them responsible (Eph 4:12). To the Corinthians Paul says: “Now, brothers and sisters, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit” (1 Cor 4:6 – NIV). The benefit of the subordinate is what drives him. It is the leader’s followers who are the focal point in the leading forces of a fatherly leader. 3. The fatherly leader is concerned with the maturity of his subordinates. He wants them to find their own identity in Christ and enable them to live God’s vision for their lives. His example is not a matrix to be followed in actual ministry. They will not do what he does, but rather what God has prepared for them to do (Eph 2:10). This is the same spirit who guides Paul and the other apostles, under the leadership of God’s Spirit (2 Cor 3:17).

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It is the maturity and authentic status of the subordinate that the fatherly leader aims for. 4. The fatherly leader is a family figure. His leadership is not only interested in relishing the gifts of the subordinates in shaping an authentic ministry, but also in helping them to find their own place in the family body of believers. They are decided to join hands with the other members of the Body of Christ in order that the body may grow in fullness (Eph 4:16). It is the missional unity of the Church as God’s family which the fatherly leader works toward. 5. The fatherly leader is a team player. God is the only father, his earthly representatives are a team of at least five: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers (Eph 4:11). Church leadership in the New Testament is by definition multiple leadership (Bruce 1984:345–347). Paul refers to a team when he reminds the Thessalonians of his team’s presence as fathers among them (1 Th 2:11). The fathers of the church complement each other. It is within a framework of collective leadership that the fatherly leader functions best. Conclusion: The early Church broadly used the father-metaphor to describe the role of its leaders. In the Johannine churches, for instance, the elders are called fathers (1 Jn 2:13f). Peter refers to the apostles as fathers (2 Pt 3:4). What are the typical characteristics of this leadership? From our study so far, we may construct the following: father-centred leadership in Scripture is missional, benevolent, edifying, serving and team-driven. Nowhere in the New Testament is the paternalistic idea of leading by power and position present. Instead, fatherly leaders lead by serving, edifying and joining hands with those they lead in God’s mission for the world.

4.

From a father-centred to paternalistic leadership

4.1

Church fathers and the shift in leadership

With the end of the apostolic age the father-metaphor became a predominant image for the role of bishops in the church. The biblical term for father (=abba) is consequently translated into Latin as pater. The age is even called patristic and the influential figures are called church fathers (Rasmussen 2011). Ignatius, Bishop of Antioch (35–110), laid the foundation. He is one of the first to transfer the metaphor to episcopalian leadership in his famous letters (See in Schoedel 1985 commentaries on: Ign. Magn 3,1; 6,1f; Ign. Trall 3,1), but not without introducing a major shift in emphasis. Paul, and with him other New Testament

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authors, underlined the edifying, fatherly role of the leaders as disciple-makers. Ignatius uses the relationship between God, the Father, and Jesus His Son to define a working relationship between the bishop and the church, as Zimmermann (2007:160f) points out. The church is now urged to accept the final authority of the bishop and follow him obediently (Schoedel 1985: Ign. Phld 7,2; Ign. Sm 8,1). The shift is obvious: the edifying role of the father-leader is interpreted in paternalistic terms, following the definition of pater in the Roman culture. The father-image in Rome was shaped by pater familias. Roman law and tradition (mos maiorum) established the power of the pater familias within the community of his own extended familia. In Roman family law, the Latin term patria potestas (‘power of a father’, refers to this concept.8 The law gave the father absolute authority over his wider family and family related members, while determining his responsibilities to his own familia and the wider community. His duty was to raise his children, care for the well-being of the household, honour his clan and the ancestral gods and participate in Rome’s political, religious, and social life. In effect, the pater familias was expected to be a good citizen and lead his household for the benefit of the Roman Empire. The Church fathers in patristic times did not only formulate the major dogmatic writings for the global church, they also established a certain mode of leadership, which used the Roman pater concept as its framework of operation. As a result, the church soon turned into a cleric-dominated organisation. Bishops ruled the church as kings, claiming divine authority and demanding strict following “since the Episcopalian office guaranteed the flow of sacramental grace” (Kahl in Bosch 1991:202). The negative connotation of the term paternalism stems from here.

4.2

Marks of patristic leadership

The marks of patristic leadership style are different from what we have seen in the Bible. 1. The patristic leader (bishop) saw himself as God’s representative on earth, entrusted to keep the Church pure in matters of belief and practice. Not the mission of God, but rather the wellbeing of the church was at the centre of the leadership ideal. He was less missional, more ecclesiastical. 2. The patristic leader was an organisational figure. Not the individual subordinate, but rather the church organisation, set the tone. Position and power 8 Patria potestas, in Encyclopædia Britannica, March 30, 2016, URL: https://www.britannica. com/topic/patria-potestas [Accessed 10 April 2018].

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of decision and consequently subordination, obedience and strict following were important. Soon bishops were even brutally involved in war and persecution of heretics with the declared intention to keep the church free of heresy. 3. The patristic leader functioned in set structures rather than relationships. Appointed by church hierarchy, he acted in the interest of the power holders, defining his own role politically rather than communally. 4. The patristic leader was the head of the Church hierarchy. The bishops claimed absolute authority. Team leadership was consequently replaced by individual and strong hierarchical religious management. 5. The patristic leader was concerned with the right biblical teaching, the right religious foundation: orthodoxy more than orthopraxy. Believing came before living. For the wrong convictions, leaders were ready to kill.

5

Father-centred leadership – biblical or patristic?

Even a simple comparison between the biblical and patristic modes of leadership reveals major differences in approach. And it is also obvious that the modernday paternalistic idea of leadership is much closer to the patristic mode than the biblical. Without question, a needed expansion of the image of God as Father to a fuller understanding of God as father and mother, would reveal the differences even more clearly. We conclude: the paternalistic model of leadership, openly rejected in the Western world as authoritarian, is in reality patristic in nature. The biblical alternative is in many ways much more compatible with both modern Western and majority world benevolent servant leadership ideas. Fatherly-paternal or even abbatic (from the Hebrew Abba) leadership styles instead of paternalistic leadership could bridge the gap between the cultural worlds as described above. To divide paternalism into benevolent-relational and authoritarian-exploitative, as Jackson suggested, is theologically misleading. The sources of the concepts are too different. Paternalism is too foreign a concept to Scripture to be accepted as a theologically justifiable style of leadership. The fatherly role of mission leaders needs to be reconsidered. Patristic and consequently paternalistic styles of leadership are, biblically and theologically speaking, problematic, and account for much disturbance and injustice. They are defined by a Roman understanding of pater familias rather than a biblical view of fatherhood. Missional leaders should rather follow the example of an apostolically defined abbatic leadership. This will considerably change the current day situation in the world of mission dominated by multinational parachurch organisation, strictly hierarchically organised with a fatherly head, ruling

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by the power of his office and controlling those dependent on him by patterns of abusive financial support.

References Aycan, Zeynep; Schyns B.; Sun J.-M.; et al. 2013. Convergence and divergence of paternalistic leadership: A cross-cultural investigation of prototypes. Journal of International Business Studies 44, 976–978. Bosch, David J. 1991. Transforming mission: Paradigm shifts in theology of mission. Maryknoll, NY: Orbis. Farth, J.L.; Cheng, B.S.; Chou L.F.; et al. 2006. Authority and benevolence: Employees’ responses to paternalistic leadership in China, in A.S. Tsui, Y. Bian & L. Cheng (eds): China’s domestic private firms: Multi-disciplinary perspectives on management and performance. New York: Sharpe, 230–260. Gerber, C. 2005. Paulus und seine Kinder : Studien zur Beziehungsmetaphorik der paulinischen Briefe. Berlin/New York: DeCruiter. Gonzalez, Justo L. 2010. The story of Christianity. Vol. 2: The Reformation to the Present Day. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan. Jackson, Terence 2016. Paternalistic leadership: The missing link in cross-cultural leadership studies? International Journal of Cross Cultural Management 16(1), 3–7. Lee, Wong Sang 2015. Pastoral leadership: Case study, including a reference to John Chrysostom. Eugene, OR: Wipf & Stock. Pellegrini, E.K. & Scandura T.A. 2008. Paternalistic leadership: A review and agenda for future research. Journal of Management 34(3), 566–593. Plueddemann, James E. 2009. Leading across cultures: Effective ministry and mission in the global Church. Downers Grove, Il: Inter-Varsity Press. Rasmussen, Adam 2011. Who are the Fathers of the Church? A chronological list. Catholic Theology. URL: http://chrysologus.blogspot.de/2011/06/who-are-fathers-of-churchchronological.html [Accessed 1 April 2018]. Rawat, Preeti 2016. Effect of paternalistic leadership style on subordinate’s trust: An Indian study. Journal of Indian Business Research 8(4), 264–277. Reimer, Johannes 2011. Frauen als Säulen der Erweckung, in Mary Raber & Peter F. Penner (eds): History and mission in Europe: Continuing the conversation. Schwarzenfeld: Neufeld Verlag, 177–196. Robert, Dana L. 2018. The Mother of modern missions. Christian History 90. URL: https:// www.christianitytoday.com/history/issues/issue-90/mother-of-modern-missions.html [Accessed 30 November 2018]. Roeber, Klaus 2007. Johannes Evangelista Goßner und Albert Ludwig Carl Büchsel: “Missionsväter und Kirchenväter” im Berlin des 19. Jahrhunderts (Berliner Missionsbeiträge). Hamburg: Wichern. Schneider, Wolfgang (ed) 1975. Mission der Väter : Texte aus den ersten Jahrgängen 1826–1828 des Barmer Missionsblattes. Wuppertal: Jugenddienst-Verlag. Schoedel, William R. & Köster, Helmut (eds) 1985. Ignatius of Antioch: A commentary on the letters of Ignatius of Antioch. Philadelphia: Fortress Press.

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Sheer, Vivian 2010. Transformational and paternalistic leaderships in Chinese organizations: Construct, predictive, and ecological validities compared in a Hong Kong sample. Intercultural Communication Studies 19(1), 121–140. Turner, John C. 2008. Bill Bright and Campus Crusade for Christ: The renewal of Evangelicalism in postwar America. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. von Rad, Gerhard 1961. Genesis. London: SCM Press. Zaimov, Stoyan 2018. Missionary sentenced to 27 years in prison for sexually abusing pastor’s 5-Y-O son, 15 Minors. CP, July 26, 2018. Zimmermann, Christiane 2007. Die Namen des Vaters: Studien zu ausgewählten frühchristlichen Gottesbezeichnungen vor ihrem frühjüdischen und paganen Sprachhorizont. (AJEC 69). Leiden: Brill, 41–166. Zimmermann, Christiane 2010. Vater (NT). URL: https://www.bibelwissenschaft.de/wibi lex/das-bibellexikon/lexikon/sachwort/anzeigen/details/vater-nt/ch/c52077ddf072916 db255b0ce3224420b/ [Accessed 1 April 2018].

Johann Kornelsen1

The flowing stream metaphor: Leading organisations towards strategic flexibility in a permanently changing world

The continuing digital revolution and expanding global markets and connections challenge contemporary organisations to become fast, agile, and flexible. According to Prahalad (2009:80), organisations (including churches) need to be such that “people and capacity can be rearranged and recombined creatively and quickly without major structural change”. As a researcher in organisational research, metaphors are a central part of my research field but theology is definitely not my expertise. Nevertheless, the book of Acts and the development of the early church caught my attention. Using a conceptual model of organisations (Hatch & Cunliffe 2006), this article is an attempt to describe how the early church in the book of Acts survived a hostile and very uncertain environment. The goal of the paper is to observe the development of the early church through the lens of the flowing stream metaphor. According to my analysis, the early church – whether conscious of it or not – survived by using what we today would call an organic organisation approach. That organisational flexibility was helpful in that early phase of the church’s development in order to survive threats and persecution, and even to continue its mission after dispersion. Thus, without touching upon more sophisticated theological concepts within the book of Acts, the insights of an organisational approach may serve as an example for today’s (persecuted) churches and for all types of organisations in dynamic times.

1

The flowing stream metaphor and organisation theory

Metaphors are regarded as helpful for “conveying meanings in a more enriched and purposeful way” (Yazdani et al. 2011:71) and for gaining insights that would not have been gained without applying the metaphor. In the context of 1 Johann Kornelsen; Leadership and Organizational Development Consultant / Investor; Dr. Johann Kornelsen – Your Growth Companion, Paderborn, Germany & compavia Smart Capital GmbH, Freiberg am Neckar, Germany ; [email protected].

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organisational theory, metaphors help us to understand the organisational meanings, goals, values, processes, strategies, structures, cultures, and systems (Hopkinson 2003). Typically, a flowing stream is understood as a body of running water flowing on the earth and seeking its way towards another river, lake, sea, or its ultimate goal: the ocean. While an established stream seems to flow along a fixed route, this route was once “randomly” chosen by the stream without involvement of a planner. Coming from a fount, as a stream emerges, it constantly responds to environmental situations in terms of barriers and facilitators. Reaching a barrier, a stream will change its direction in order to pass the barrier. If a promising path is found, the stream will follow this path and establish a new route until another obstacle is encountered. For Sushil (2007:iii), “the metaphor of flowing stream points towards strategies for natural growth and opening new vistas”. An organisation, according to this metaphor, is developed during “a journey of experimentation and failure, steady flow for some time and turbulence at others, many ups and downs, multiple changes of its course” (:iii). Nevertheless, “despite such gradual as well as radical changes during its course, they maintain a strong sense of identity and continuity which is the hallmark of a flowing stream” (:iii). In order to connect the flowing stream metaphor to the early church in the book of Acts, it is necessary to understand the origin of the stream. The mission and identity of the early church was defined in the closing verses of Matthew’s Gospel: All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. (Mt 28:18–20 ESV)

The great commission includes the ultimate goal of living as a Christian and leading a community of believers. It means that Christians are supposed to be witnesses for Christ and to transform the lives of people by making them disciples, baptizing them, and training them in their new lifestyle. Since Jesus did not give any detailed instruction concerning organisational aspects – including hierarchies and structure – the early church in the book of Acts had to rely on implicit leadership concepts derived from their culture or on reaction to threats in their environment, to emerge in a flexible, adaptive, and innovative way. These are the main characteristics of a flowing river or a so-called organic organisation (Hatch & Cunliffe 2006:111).

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Method, analytical framework, and analysis

According to Hatch and Cunliffe (2006:19), five structural elements form the structure of an organisation: organisational environment, physical structure, technology, social structure, and organisational structure. Page (2012:30) states that this model includes tangible and intangible elements and is therefore suitable for describing a complete organisational system. Hatch and Cunliffe’s conceptual model of organisations serves as a framework for analysing the early church in the book of Acts. Further, the analysis of the organisational aspects is based on Robbins’ (1996:25) socio-rhetorical criticism, specifically in the form of social and cultural texture and ideological texture because both textures focus on central concepts of organisational theory, including environment, social structure, culture, and power. Social and cultural texture investigate the “social and cultural nature of the voices in the text” with the help of anthropological and sociological theory (:44). This approach calls attention to the dialogue between “the represented world and the narrator and characters” (:34). The text is approached from the perspective of symbolic action putting social, cultural, and ideological voices in dialogue. In order to explore ideological texture, the interpreter first has to understand several aspects of the social situation of a text: events, natural environment and resources, population structure, technology, socialization and personality, culture, foreign affairs, belief systems and ideologies, and the political-military-legal system. Thus, the social location is one of the most important components of ideology, since social location shapes how a person sees the world (:194). According to Elliot (1990:268) ideology can be defined as an “integrated system of beliefs, assumptions and values, not necessarily true or false, which reflects the needs and interests of a group or class at a particular time in history”.

2.1

Organisational environment

Hatch and Cunliffe (2006:96) propose that the environment of an organisation should be analysed by identifying the links between an organisation and others. One also has to identify any aspect that can influence these relationships through regulation and social pressure (:96). A stakeholder analysis as presented by Hatch and Cunliffe (:67), is a helpful tool for identifying the relevant players in the book of Acts. In a Greco-Roman context (DeSilva 2004:367), early Christianity faces several groups of people and institutions: the Roman Empire and its administrators in the various provinces (Ac 12), the Jewish authorities (Ac 1–7), Jewish people (Ac 2), and the Gentiles (Ac 10). According to Pesch (1986:37), the book of Acts can be divided in three stages with the early church mainly residing

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and witnessing in Jerusalem (Ac 1:1–8:3), in Judea and Samaria (8:4–11:18) following the dispersion, and, finally in the rest of the world, especially through Paul’s travelling (11:19–28:31). During the first seven chapters of the book of Acts, most pressure came from the Jewish authorities and population rather than the Roman Empire and its representatives. The central conflict and main threat for the early church appears to stem from an inner Jewish conflict. DeSilva (2004:359) shows that the first seven chapters of the book of Acts describe a power struggle between the Jewish authorities and the leaders of the Christian movement (being Jewish themselves) over “which group has been anointed by God to direct God’s people […] in the next stage of God’s plan”. At that time, the Sanhedrin, in order to safeguard its own influence on the Jewish people, reached a compromise between collaborating with the Roman empire and offering resistance (Tiwald 2016:95). After the dispersion, the early church experienced evident persecution by Herod (Ac 12) and by Roman authorities (Ac 16). Nevertheless, most pressure appears to have come from the Jewish authorities who instigated the concept of the Jewish population and forced the Roman authorities to react. To conclude, there was a great deal of uncertainty and pressure on the early church, that led, for instance, to the dispersion of Jerusalem’s believers in Acts chapter 8. The early church never knew what would come next and was permanently threatened by new accusations and unexpected aggression.

2.2

Physical structure

The buildings and the geographical locations of an organisation form the physical structure of an organisation (Hatch & Cunliffe 2006:101). The first Christians in Jerusalem met within the temple building and in their private homes on a daily basis (Ac 2:46). After the dispersion, and in the context of the exploding growth of the first church, the apostles preached in the temple (Ac 21:27), in synagogues (Ac 13:5), in public places (Ac 17:1), and private houses (Ac 19:9). As Pesch (1986:131) states, the gatherings in private houses became more prevalent than gatherings in public spaces. From the time of the dispersion, the early church had no stable environment and so the believers used different places and buildings to spread their message and to celebrate communion. This kind of mutual adjustment and redefinition of methods through joint problem solving and interaction is highly organic (Hatch & Cunliffe 2006:111).

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(Core) Technology

According to Hatch and Cunliffe (2006:170), the predominant definition of technology refers to objects, task activities, and to the knowledge used in a production process. At the beginning of the book of Acts, Jesus makes clear that the believers are called to be witnesses (Ac 1:8). The Greek word martys, meaning witness, describes an eye- or ear-witness, who gives testimony about things they have experienced themselves (Trites 1992:877). The early believers witnessed through preaching and spiritual instruction (Ac 2:22), signs and wonders (Ac 2:43), charity (Ac 2:44), and Christian customs (Ac 2:46). The great commission was therefore partly fulfilled first in Jerusalem by making non-believers disciples, baptising them, and training them in their new lifestyle (Ac 2:41). Later, more as a result of pressure in the context of the dispersion as described in chapter 8, the message was spread to Judea and Samaria, and finally, more deliberately, to the rest of the world, mainly by the Apostle Paul. It is obvious that the believers acted spontaneously or in a reactive manner depending on the given situation, redefining tasks and methods, which – in the language of organisational theory – is low formalisation, as is typically the case in the early phases of organisational development. The people involved made decisions on their own without constant supervision or guidance, something no longer possible after the dispersion when the disciples were scattered and the apostles – the main authorities of the early church – stayed in Jerusalem (Berger 2012:440). This behaviour leads to the inference that the early church was highly organic or like a flowing stream (Hatch & Cunliffe 2006:111). As several authors emphasise (Berger 2012; DaSilva 2004; Pesch 1986) it was the Holy Spirit’s flexible and sometimes surprising guidance in the book of Acts that led the church. Only a flexible structure – a flowing stream – could give a suitable response to the guidance of the Holy Spirit at that time, without risking the destruction of the early church.

2.4

Social structure

Social structure refers to the relationships between people and their roles in an organisation (Hatch & Cunliffe 2006:101). It is obvious that the church goes through different stages, with each stage ending in a crisis that leads to a different focus and particular change, as described in Greiner’s model of organisational lifecycles (Greiner 1972:50). In the beginning, the church members communicated laterally under the guidance of the Holy Spirit when decisions were to be made (Ac 1:14). Another aspect is that authority was based on knowledge of the task (Hatch & Cunliffe 2006:111), witnessed by the fact

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that the most experienced disciples, the apostles, were the people who taught the rest (Ac 4:33). As the disciples increased in number, a first conflict appeared concerning some Hellenistic widows who were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food (Ac 6:1). Seven men were then elected by the congregation to manage the distribution of food while the apostles continued to teach the community (Ac 6:3). This meant that tasks and responsibilities were redefined in response to the situation and through joint problem-solving and interaction (Hatch & Cunliffe 2006:111). The next crisis appeared when the great persecution started (Ac 8:1) and many Christians fled to other cities where they continued to proclaim the Gospel (Ac 8:5). The community of believers saw the new situation as an opportunity to found new communities in other cities (Ac 9:31–32). In the next step, God showed that the Gentiles should be addressed by Jewish Christianity (Ac 10). Again, the community of believers adapts flexibly to this new situation and changes its focus. In chapter 12, the Holy Spirit instructs the congregation to send Paul and Barnabas out on a mission trip. At this point we see the Christians starting proactively expanding the organisation. Since many new churches were founded, elders were introduced as leaders to support the new branches (Ac 14:23). In chapter 15, the apostles and the elders decide how to deal with the question of circumcision. This group of leaders wrote a letter to all Christians who were not involved in the process in order to instruct them how to deal with this specific question (Ac 15:22–31). Although some aspects of Christian life were standardised at this point, nevertheless, the description of the social structure reveals an early church showing flexibility, adaptability, and innovation as its central characteristics.

2.5

Organisational culture

Hatch & Cunliffe (2006:213) argue that an organisation can be viewed as a culture. The elements of a culture include artifacts, norms, values, beliefs and assumptions, but also physical, behavioural and linguistic symbols. An organisational culture is usually communicated through stories, symbols, tradition, and customs (:213). The most important customs of the early church were learning through teachings, fellowship, breaking bread, and praying (Ac 2:42). While they had this kind of community, it was the Holy Spirit that guided them to make wise decisions and showed them the next steps to fulfill the mission. This kind of fellowship is the foundation for being a flexible and adaptive movement in a changing and hostile environment. Furthermore, equality was highly valued in the early church. Compared with the dominant first-century culture, the apostles and elders showed a strong collaborative leadership approach in

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terms of consultation and joint problem solving. Malina (2001) shows that authoritarian attitudes were the social norm during the first century, including superiors making decisions autocratically and regarding other people as less important. Thus, this collaborative behaviour posed a strong challenge to the dominant culture. According to DeSilva (2004:358–359), the legitimation of the apostles may be labelled as charismatic legitimation. This kind of authority is gained when a “person or group has special abilities far beyond what is considered natural and is thought of as having been especially anointed by God because of these supernatural abilities” (DeSilva 2004:358–359). This particular authority may be compared with Hatch and Cunliffe’s (2006:111) “knowledge of the task” type of authority that is typically found in organic organisations.

3

The role of identity

As shown in the previous passage, the early church in the book of Acts continually reacted in a flexible manner in a highly uncertain environment. After the dispersion, the early church was able to continue and even grow stronger because of this flexible physical structure. Just as a water stream would seek its way round obstacles, the church sought the best way of reaching its goal to give witness. By continually redefining tasks and methods, the church was able to adapt to the needs of its members and its mission. This ability was supported by quick decision making in small units without constant supervision. Since hierarchy was relatively flat in the early church, communication flowed freely and enabled the Christians to interact with their environment. The metaphor of the flowing water stream is very close to Morgan’s (2006) organic metaphor of “open systems” for organisations like this, meaning that they exist in a continuous exchange with their environment (:40). Open systems can be characterised by “a continuous cycle of input, internal transformation (throughout), output, and feedback (whereby one element influences the next)” (:40). If the early church was successful in surviving difficult circumstances through a less hierarchical and flexible organisational approach, which role does leadership play at all? How does leadership function in such a context? As we have observed, for a dispersed group, day to day leadership is difficult to provide because it is impossible to bring people together for shared gatherings to tell them what needs to happen next and coordinate activities. Most recently, Janssen and Wagner (2018) have raised a similar question that is relevant for modern business organisations in times of “dynaxity” – times that are characterised by high dynamics and complexity at the same time. The authors pose three central questions that need to be answered by modern organisations:

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1. If the future cannot be anticipated at all, what guides the behaviour of organisational members? 2. Which kind of leadership and organisation is helpful for developing organisations that not only adapt to change but want to shape it? 3. How do we create organisational environments that inspire members to work in a self-reliant and responsible way, creating new ideas about how to face the future? Janssen and Wagner (2018) argue that the way to a more evolutionary/organic organisation is not achieved through the application of a particular organisational concept, structure, or process, but by taking a look at the core of an organisation’s identity. Thus, as the authors suggest, every organisation that wants to be successful in turbulent times needs to become aware of its purpose. The purpose of an organisation stands for what is important for an organisation and for the contribution that an organisation makes to the world. But in order to identify or become aware of the purpose of an organisation several questions need to be asked. In the context of the Church: Why does the Church exist? What legitimates its existence? Which benefit does the Church create for the world? What would the world miss without the Church? From the research standpoint, identity is nothing more that the answer to the question of “who we are as an organisation”. Gioia et al. (2013) state that organisational identity consists of the features of an organisation that are central to the organisation’s character, making it distinctive from other types organisations, and are seen as continuous over time. As soon as the identity of the church has become clear to the involved participants, it guides the way people see and interpret the world around them and it orchestrates their behaviour without too much guidance by leaders or the need to orchestrate every single step. This kind of leadership that depends on the leader’s ability to organise a big system is reliant on one or few leaders’ energy and skills. Seeing the Church through the lens of a flowing stream or as an organic and open system leads to a different way of leading the church and its members. It is quite probable that too many churches currently see themselves as mechanistic systems, and have therefore became hierarchical and inflexible and finally lost their ability to be an open system that can exist in and change with the world around them. This has led Guder to the conclusion that “the typical congregation offers little to justify its existence” (1998:78). Many contemporary churches have become sophisticated dams that stop the flexible flowing of the stream and have become an end in themselves, instead of flowing further and reaching new destinations.

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Conclusion and recommendations for action

It must be stated that the previous analysis is focused solely on the book of Acts and not suitable for making general statements about an exhaustive and differentiated understanding of New Testament leadership. Leadership emerged at different times throughout the New Testament and it cannot be overlooked that from time to time the apostles in general, including the Apostle Paul, have displayed authoritarian leadership approaches. Nevertheless, organic and less hierarchical understanding of leadership seem to be central for Paul’s understanding of leadership and can be supported through an observation of the central head and body metaphor in Ephesians 4. Based on an analysis of this central leadership metaphor, it can be concluded that Paul prefers a leadership model with Christ as single leader at the center and church leaders as facilitators of team work (Kornelsen:2017). As part of the community, leaders allow other, differently-gifted members of the church to bring in their resources in order to build the body of Christ, who is the head and ultimate leader of this body and leads the church through the Holy spirit (Jn 16:13). The nature of the Holy Spirit has strong similarities with the characteristics of the flowing stream. Jesus describes the Holy Spirit as a “wind” that blows “where it wishes” (Jn 3:8). Thus, successful church organisations in dynamic times or threatening environments have to rely on the strengths of their members and the guidance of the Spirit, instead of hindering them with overly rigid structures. They must ensure that the identity of the church and the values connected with it are clear to anyone within the church and that they are shared by its members. As a result of the analysis so far, the following four central steps are suggested in order to revitalise a flowing stream leadership approach in existing churches and organisations of all types: (1) renewing the purpose of the organisation, (2) reducing hierarchies to a necessary minimum, (3) establishing prototypical and exemplary leaders in key positions and as agents of change, and (4) facilitating the stream to flow permanently instead of interrupting it. A renewal of the purpose of the organisations is deeply connected with establishing core values that shape the perception of reality, concrete behaviour, and the selection of strategies for achieving the organisation’s goal. This is a task for the top leadership of an organisation. But that is always team work, because we do not find singular leadership anywhere in the New Testament, with the exception of challenging situations where single leaders such as the Apostle Paul make important decisions if a congregation’s existence is threatened. In the next step, an organisation that seeks to become more flowing/organic needs to reduce hierarchical levels to a minimum. While an “institutionalisation” is inevitable during the growth of an organisation, bureaucracies tend to end up becoming ends in themselves, even transforming loyal and motivated employees into reactive

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beings, rather than committed and proactively engaged members of the organisation that facilitate the flow of the organisation. Hierarchies that are too strong “interrupt the natural order of business by creating an unnatural, and often unnecessary, impediment to the flow of information, communication, and the organizational process” (Bishop 2014:49). Instead, to strengthen the orientation of members in relation to organisational identity, prototypical leaders need to be carefully selected by top leadership and allowed to influence the organisation. Referring to social identity theory of leadership, Hogg et al. (2012) show that, as soon as people identify with an organisation, prototypical leaders are supported better and trusted more by followers. Prototypical leaders are individuals that strongly represent the values and behavioural norms of an organisation. As we observed in the early church, this was done when choosing the deacons that were supposed to serve the Hellenistic widows. As Hogg et al. (2012:262) explain, new members will very likely transform their self-conception and behaviour in order to embody the prototype of the organisation: “thus individuals conform to group norms, and to the extent that ingroup members share the same prototype of their group, it generates behaviour convergence among members.” Following this approach, members and potential members of the organisations are free to decide whether they want to follow a leadership freely, and, in this way, less energy is required of organisational leaders to “convince” people to change their minds, a process that can become manipulative, especially when there is a dissonance between the stated values of the organisation and the actual behaviour of some leaders. A less hierarchical organisation remains capable of acting, even in difficult situations, because, according to the social identity theory of leadership, prototypical members, even if not explicitly appointed as leaders, will disproportionately influence the life of a group or parts of the group. This is what helped those parts of the early church that were dispersed continue to function and move forward in the same direction during persecution. Last but not least, even if it sounds trivial, an essential feature of a flowing stream is its flow. A stream that stops flowing is no longer a stream and cannot emerge to ultimately revitalise other dry areas with life-giving water. Leaders, therefore, need to evaluate whether their organisation is still flowing or has dammed the flow, or even started to become a pond that is drying up. In dynamic or threatening times this sort of stream will end up toxic and will not serve its environment. Deploying the metaphor of the flowing stream should not lead to an over-emphasis on the wild and turbulent aspects of streams but should also recognise that there are phases of stability and calm times for organisations. Leaders simply need to be aware that those times have the tendency to cause stagnation in the purpose and mission of an organisation. Leaders should not wait to become more organic and fluid when environmental trouble endangers the organisation but should instead facilitate the organic

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development of the organisation for the benefit of its environment at all stages in its life span.

References Berger, K. 2012. Kommentar zum Neuen Testament. Gütersloh: Gütersloher Verlagshaus. Bishop, W. 2014. Structure? We don’t need no stinkin’ structure! Journal of Strategic Leadership 5(1), 48–58. DeSilva, D. 2004. An introduction to the New Testament: Contexts, methods & ministry formation. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity. Elliot, John H. 1990. A home for the homeless: A social-scientific criticism of I Peter, its situation and strategy. Philadelphia: Fortress. Gioia, D.; Patvardhan, S.; Hamilton, A. & Corley, K. 2013. Organisational identity formation and change. The Academy of Management Annals 7(1), 123–193. URL: dx.doi. org/10.1080/19416520.2013.762225 [Accessed 15 March 2018]. Guder, D. 1998. Missional church. Grand Rapids: B. Eerdmans. Greiner, L. 1972. Evolution and revolution as organisations grow. Harvard Business Review 50, 37–46. Hatch, M. & Cunliffe, A. 2006. Organisation theory : Modern, symbolic, and postmodern perspectives (2nd ed). New York: Oxford University Press. Hogg, M.; van Knippenberg, D. & Rast, D. 2012. The social identity theory of leadership: Theoretical origins, research findings, and conceptual developments. European Review of Social Psychology 23(1), 258–304. URL: dx.doi.org/10.1080/10463283.2012.741134 [Accessed 13 March 2018]. Hopkinson, G.C. 2003. Stories from the front-line: How they construct the organisation. Journal of Management Studies 40(8), 1943–1969. Janssen, R. & Wagner, S. 2018. Evolutionäre Unternehmen – Beyond Agility. managerSeminare 241, 47–52. Kornelsen, J. 2017. Strength-based leadership in the context of dying hierarchical approaches, in J. Barentsen, S. van den Heuvel and L. Peirong (eds): The end of leadership? Leadership and authority at crossroads. Leuven: Peeters, 107–122. Malina, B. 2001. The New Testament world: Insights from cultural anthropology. Louisville: John Knox. Morgan, G. 2006. Images of organisation. Thousand Oakes, CA: Sage. Page, S. 2012. Cells as metaphor : Implications for organisations and organisation development. OD Practitioner 44(2), 29–36. Pesch, R. 1986. Evangelisch-Katholischer Kommentar zum Neuen Testament: Die Apostelgeschichte (Apg 1–12). Zürich: Benziger/Neukirchner. Prahalad, C. 2009. In volatile times, agility rules. Business Week 4147, 80. Robbins, V.K. 1996. The tapestry of early Christian discourse: Rhetoric, society and ideology. Abingdon: Routledge. Sushil 2012. Principles of Flowing Stream Strategy. Flowing Stream Strategy 8(3), 83–93. Tiwald, M. 2016. Das Frühjudentum und die Anfänge des Christentums. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer.

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Trites, A. 1992. Witness, in J. Green & S. McKnight (eds): Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. Yazdani, N., Murad, H. & Abbas, R. 2011. The use of metaphors in poetry and organisation theory : Toward de-compartmentalization of organisational knowledge. Iranian Journal of Management Studies 4(2), 63–78.

Stefan Jung1 / Kristina Willjes2

The agile organisation: New metaphors for an old concept?

Metaphors – and in a broader sense attributions – are common means of describing what constitutes an organisation. It would be worthwhile to tell the history of organisational thought in terms of the use of different metaphors and attributions. With Max Weber (1980) we would then have to emphasise the organisational difference between means and ends and would then speak of the attribute of a rational organisation and, in its slipstream, of a rational leadership. On the other hand, Cohen, March and Olsen (Cohen et al. 1972:1) have pointed out that in an almost anarchistic way organisations also seek their own ends and one cannot speak of rationality at all. Organisational attributions or metaphors draw our attention to the hierarchical organisation (Weber 1980), to organisations as arenas of power (Crozier & Friedberg 1979), to organisations as decision-making machines (March & Simon 1958), to organisations as hypocritical facades (Brunsson 1989), or to organisations as spaces of learning and non-learning (Argyris & Schön 1978). This list of attributions and metaphors could be continued almost endlessly. Metaphors and attributions are not the same. Attributions are more general than metaphors. While attributions associate a specific characteristic with the organisation (e. g. organisations are “anarchic”), metaphors compare organisations to something from another realm of life, for example, we could say organisations are “madhouses”. It would be an attribution to state that organisations are capable of constricting people and that is why we spoke of the “constricting organisation”. To call an organisation a “prison”, however, would be a metaphor. When Shakespeare claims that the world is a stage, he uses the stage as a metaphor for the world to convey an understanding of the mechanics of the world and the behaviour of the people within it. Strictly speaking, the 1 Stefan Jung; Economist, University Chancellor and Organizational Consultant; YMCA University of Applied Sciences, Kassel, Germany and Public One – Governance Consulting, Berlin; [email protected]. 2 Kristina Willjes; Organisational Sociologist; Research Assistant at the Faculty of Sociology, Bielefeld University, Germany ; [email protected].

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“agile organisation” is therefore not a metaphor in the narrower sense, but an organisational attribution. On the other hand, we would use metaphors if we compared the agile organisation with laboratories or networks. Then the metaphor would indicate that organisations function (or at least should function) like laboratories or networks. In this chapter we want to ignore the fact that there is a difference between a metaphor and an attribution, because an attribution is merely a special type of metaphor and – at least in the case of the agile organisation – its conceptual foundations fall back on metaphors. In the following, little will be said about leadership and one could rightly ask what the connection is between an organisational metaphor and leadership. Our answer would be to claim that metaphors are linguistically reproduced by leaders. As a result, they ignite an enormous force in organisational everyday life. Because people think and talk about an organisation in the form of a metaphor, they also unconsciously assume that the organisation functions accordingly. Executives then behave in line with these implicit assumptions and develop corresponding behavioural expectations of the employees. For this reason, any organisational metaphor analysis is always relevant for leadership, even if it is not explicitly addressed. This chapter deals with the popular attribution of agile organisation and asks whether the central ideas (and metaphors) behind this concept are not already contained and allocated to different kinds of metaphors in Gareth Morgen’s text “Images of Organisations” (Morgan 1997), which has become a classic. Our hypothesis is that the talk of agile organisation is above all one thing, namely a leadership and consulting fashion that attempts to revalue decades-old (and still correct and revealing) concepts, which indeed offer answers to expectations on rapidly changing organisations. The chapter is divided into three parts: Firstly, we investigate current organisational responses to volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity, which are claimed as agile in order to describe the basic ideas of the concept. Secondly, using Gareth Morgen’s “Images of Organisation” (Morgan 1997) we try to show that Morgan has already discovered organisational metaphors which describe phenomena addressed by the actual discourse on agility. Thirdly, we discuss the conceptual limits of agile organisation.

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Becoming agile – Organisational responses to volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity

The agile organisation is a reaction to social environmental conditions that are radically changing due to rapidly increasing volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (the so-called VUCA world). The cultural theorist Dirk Baecker, following Peter Drucker, speaks of a ‘next’ society and asserts that the invention of the Internet and the introduction of electronic media raise questions whose scope can only be compared to the introduction of language, writing, or book printing (Baecker 2016:3). In his declaration of the culture and technology of millennials, which is both worth reading and intelligent, the Stanford philosopher Michel Serres also tries to master the upheavals of the VUCA world and its worldwide consequences with nothing less than a challenge to reinvent ourselves (Serres 2015). Information transfer and processing takes place in a network. And, of course, this does not remain without consequences for organisations. Against this background, the concept of an agile organisation is an attempt to master the dynamic changes in the environment by working on one’s own rate of response and thus trying to replace mere reaction with pro-active alertness. There are numerous attempts to establish agility as a theoretical concept. The struggle to define agility is reflected in the quantity of articles in management literature (e. g. Hofert 2016; Creusen et al. 2017), which offer ever new interpretations in the competition for the sovereignty of meaning. Agility is the opposite of predetermined and rigid plans. Management and organisations are agile when they not only react flexibly, but also act proactively and anticipatively. According to Hofert (2016:5), agility is the ability of teams and organisations to act flexibly, adaptably, and quickly in an uncertain, changing, and dynamic environment. Agility uses a variety of methods (e. g. design thinking, objectives and key results, lean start-up, SCRUM, Kanban) to make it easier for people to react in line with this approach. An agile company has the following characteristics: It recognises changes early and actively integrates them into its strategies, it has the ability to recover on its own time and again, it promotes a culture of innovation and continuous learning, it adapts and satisfies the requirements of changeable markets and well informed customers, and it is constantly looking for opportunities to be even more successful in the market. (Schaefer et al. 2017:14; emphasis in original)

Interestingly, the discourse on the resilient organisation (to indicate another attribution here) also refers to these organisational skills, and cannot be dealt with further at this point (Hoffmann 2017:76). What the definitions have in common is that they refer to a highly changing environment. The threat scenario mentioned above, which the agile organisation

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tries to address, is the result of a dramatic increase in volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity. The main drivers of this so-called VUCA world, in addition to the already mentioned advancing digital networking, are globalisation, changing customer demand, and further rising social expectations toward organisations. With the concept of agility, the representatives of the agile organisation promise to provide an answer specifically to these challenges of the VUCAworld. They more or less explicitly fall back on three metaphors: they turn against the organisation as machine and advertise for the organisation as culture with the goal of developing an organisation as brain that is particularly adaptable because of its ability to learn. These three metaphors address concepts that are by no means new but were already reconstructed and described through metaphors in the 1980s by Gareth Morgan.

2

Gareth Morgan’s “Images of Organization” and the current discourse on agility

In his “Images of Organization”, Gareth Morgan (1997) uses a comprehensive analysis of existing organisation and management literature to promote a reflective and fruitful handling of metaphors. Morgan’s reflections are more than 30 years old, but theoretically they offer an organisational perspective to the question of what is new about “agile organisation”. In this chapter, we pick out three of the eight metaphors reconstructed by Morgan, because we consider them extremely revealing for the agile organisation: organisations as machines, brains, and cultures. Morgan pointed out that these metaphors must not be misunderstood as objective reality. Rather, they depend on the respective reception of the observer. However, they have a useful function in structuring one’s own actions in organisations (and the actions of the leadership) and they create to a certain degree a point of common understanding, which makes them very important for questions of leadership as well, as shown, for example, by Alvesson and Spicer (2011). The use of metaphors is fundamentally anchored in many languages: metaphors and organisational attributes help to focus discourses. They are used wherever complex and less catchy phenomena are described in everyday life and across disciplinary boundaries. In this respect, it makes sense that the social sciences as a whole and the sociology of organisation in particular deal specifically with metaphors, both as a method and as an object. They are used as a method to empirically investigate and/or theoretically describe organisations (cf. Morgan 1997; Alvesson & Spicer 2011; Rovik 2011). Rovik (2011), for

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example, uses the metaphor of the virus to explain how organisations deal with new ideas, in contrast to management fashion theory. Metaphors are associated with a paradoxical moment: on the one hand, they offer in-depth and comprehensive insights into otherwise extremely complex phenomena. On the other hand, they give an incomplete and distorted picture of the organisation, because “the way of seeing created through a metaphor becomes a way of not seeing” (Morgan 1997:5). This is why one-sided descriptions of organisations as machines, cultures, or brains raise the question of what one sees and what one does not. Following Gareth Morgan, we want to stress three things: First, we claim that the concept of agile organisation militates against the metaphor of the organisation as a machine. Secondly, for organisations this is especially possible if they establish a culture of attention, learning, and the dissolution of boundaries. Thirdly, organisations that succeed in building such a culture increasingly function as Gareth Morgan described in his brain metaphor.

2.1

Organisation as machine

The concept of the agile organisation militates turns against the traditionally anchored and tayloristic image of the organisation as a machine. Machines are typically described as bureaucracies that are said to have a high degree of inertia and rigidity as a result of their structures and processes. Such bureaucratic organisations are structured in the form of hierarchies, i. e. a formal superiority and subordination in decision-making powers. Processes are defined and are tantamount to programming workflows, so that everyone always knows exactly which action to take and what to do next. With regard to necessary changes, machine organisations are often described as cumbersome, slow steamships – to name another metaphor used to describe bureaucracies. Max Weber (1980) once described such bureaucracies as “iron cages” and thus wanted to point out their unchangeability. In his critical reconstruction of the machine metaphor, Gareth Morgan emphasises one thing above all: because we speak of organisations as machines, we therefore expect them to function as machines, namely routinely, efficiently, reliably, and predictably. The discourse on the agile organisation is based on the same critique. However, organisations are – as far as their formal structure is concerned – indeed comparable to machines in that they try to guarantee a certain predictability. But of course they wouldn’t be sufficiently described if other metaphors were not taken into consideration that speak of the unpredictability (the game) and hypocrisy (the facade) of organisations (cf. Kühl 2011). The agile organisation replaces reliability and routine with adaptability

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and flexibility, planning with co-production, and control with self-responsibility and initiative. The agile organisation advocates softening the processual predictability of the past and radically questioning established processes. It invites its members to leave behind limited divisional and departmental thinking and instead move to working in interdisciplinary teams and overcome hierarchical organisational boundaries. The motto is: customers should be directly involved in the production process and are thus no longer just addressees of an organisational service, but also its originators. Furthermore, hierarchical and thus also limitations of responsibility are to be questioned and addressed, in the sense of an orientation toward radical innovation, at all levels of the organisation. With its critique of the machine metaphor, the agile organisation is faced with the question of how already established formal structures can be overcome by increased organisational flexibility and proactivity. Knowing that innovative power cannot be ordered hierarchically, and that division of labour responsibilities cannot simply be abolished in favour of organised irresponsibility, the agile organisation propagates a cultural change and takes the side of informality rather than too much formality. This leads us to our second assertion and to falling back on Morgan’s metaphor of the organisation as culture.

2.2

Organisation as culture

An open mind-set is cited as a decisive factor for the success of an agile organisation (e. g. Creusen et al. 2017; Hofert 2016). This refers to the basic attitude of all members of an organisation, which ultimately constitutes the agile working culture. Brian Chesky, co-founder and CEO of Airbnb, describes culture as “a thousand things, a thousand times. It’s living the core values when you hire; when you write an email; when you are working on a project; when you are walking in the hall” (quoted by Schaefer et al. 2017:15). Such a culture is characterised by values such as transparency, dialogue, trust, self-responsibility, a constructive approach to mistakes, etc. The focus of agile management literature is therefore on the members of an organisation. They should internalise the required mind-set and develop prototypes that are suitable for the market, in teams that are closely oriented to the wishes of the customers. Operational decisions are made by those members who are affected by the decisions themselves (cf. Creusen et al. 2017:79). The teams are therefore not determined by continuous leadership, but by a dynamic change and a dynamic interaction of different forms of leadership (Hofert 2016:92). According to Hofert (2016:86f), leaders, if they still exist at all (keyword: lateral leadership), are agile, flexible and capable of transforming people, teams, and processes. They see leadership as a role that contains defined tasks rather than as

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a position or function. Agile managers act in a process- and goal-oriented manner and promote the self-organisation of groups through permanent team development. The aim is to promote self-responsibility and creativity. Agile leaders thus transform people and processes. Hierarchy in its traditional form is omitted. It is replaced by a situational, occasional, job-independent, and factoriented leadership, which gets its legitimisation over and over again from the respective members owning their decisions. Taken together, each member must weigh up which persons and teams are to be involved and who of those affected is most affected in order to locate the legitimation and make decisions. Ongoing communicative exchange and negotiation processes are developing, so that ideally one can also speak of a “Networked Organisation” (Creusen et al. 2017:79). In view of the correct attitude of its members, its open mind-set, this form of organisation has a culture that is equipped for change. The concept of agility emphasises the importance of the right mind-set as a critical cultural foundation. If one considers organisations as cultures, with Morgan (1997:119ff) attention is firstly drawn to the symbolic character of almost every aspect of organisational life. Even the formal structures, processes, hierarchies, routines, rules, etc. always contain constructions and meanings that are indispensable for understanding organisations. Accordingly, a culture-centred analysis can secondly provide insights into the effectiveness of ideologies, values, languages, norms, ceremonies, etc. in daily work. At the same time, the members who influence the organisational culture through their own actions are addressed. In this respect, by focusing on culture, as presented by the concept of agility, they can become aware of their own influence and responsibility for the type of cooperation. Thirdly, organisational culture has a significant influence on the way an organisation constructs its environment (see Bateson 1982). And fourthly, a metaphor which defines organisations as cultures makes an essential contribution to understanding organisational change. Summing up, the discourse on the agile organisation fails to recognise that culture is, as Morgan emphasises, expressed in formal structures as well and that the informal part of culture is otherwise one of the undecided decision premises. Thus, changing them is only possible through the development of new formal structures which would in fact reproduce them. This, however, is something which the concept of agile organisation seems to be opposed to. Furthermore, if one changed the formal structure, the outcome in the cultural dimension could not be controlled. The representatives of the agile organisation point out that structural elements in organisations often contain more cultural aspects than can be recognised from outside. This must also be considered if organisational changes are to be decided on and perpetuated. It is precisely at this point that the agile organisation brings into play methods such as design thinking or SCRUM, which are vehicles for practising and learning a new culture. At the same time,

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however, these methods are, above all, what the concept is directed against: a formal grid, a set of rules, a predefinition that always threatens to conceal what a dynamic environment demands of the organisation.

2.3

Organisation as brain

The concept of the agile organisation suggests cultural change. This leads to our third point: it also suggests the creation of an organisation as a brain. In the agility discourse, it is regarded as the answer to the diagnosed fundamental and ongoing rapid changes which, in connection with new technical possibilities, require considerable flexibility and innovation within organisations. Accordingly, organisations must be able to develop internally new, advanced measures from the external uncertainties. Innovation, flexibility, and adaptability are becoming basic conditions for successful entrepreneurial action (Kühl 2015:22ff). Agility rises to a concept of a comprehensive solution to the obvious and ubiquitous organisational threat and serves management as a projection screen for their revenue fantasies. The goal is therefore clear : organisations should give themselves a flexible form based on the model of the human brain. They should encourage a willingness to experiment through appropriate work approaches, ensure informative and communicative transparency, and summon up the willingness for continuous learning (cf. Creusen et al. 2017:54). According to Morgan (1997:73ff), the metaphor of the organisation as brain draws attention to the ability of organisations “to learn how to learn” and to organise themselves. Cybernetics distinguishes between two forms of learning: on the one hand, single-loop learning, in which systems regulate themselves based on negative feedback. On the other hand, there is double-loop learning or second order organisational learning, which is based on the ability of systems to evaluate a situation for the extent to which the operational specifications are relevant or not. “They are often able to detect and correct errors in operating norms and thus influence the standards that guide their detailed operations” (Morgan 1997:86). The capacity for self-questioning underpins those system activities that can learn to learn and organise themselves. As a result, such systems are highly adaptable to their environment as they do not only react to changes. They are also able to question and, if necessary, correct their search and evaluation criteria about their environment. In this section, with reference to Gareth Morgan, we were able to show that three metaphors contribute towards the current concept of agile organisation. It became clear that in this context the concept of agile organisation is directed against the blind spots of the machine metaphor. However, the concept focuses on a cultural change without reflecting on the fact that culture is one of the

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undecided decision premises. Finally, we were able to show that the metaphor of the organisation as brain already describes a concept that is about second order organisational learning and thus about a perspective that is central to agile organisation.

3

The conceptual limits of the agile organisation

As mentioned above, metaphors reflect an incomplete and distorted picture of what they stand for. Blind spots emerge, which make occasional reflection necessary if one wants to get an overview of the entire organisation and possible consequential problems. For this purpose, when considering individual phenomena of an organisation, it is always a good idea to use a general organisational concept for the analysis. Such a general concept of organisation does not only refer to one aspect of a social entity, for example to culture or networking in the sense of a brain, but describes a social system as a whole. At this point, we choose the theory of organised social systems as an analytical perspective because it offers a consistent framework within which many heterogeneous phenomena can be captured (cf. Tacke 2010:342). Although this suggests a further perspective on organisations, it does offer the advantage of shedding more light on the limits of the changes demanded in the discourse of agility. Altogether, agility means the abandoning of fixed structures as a result of – for example – formal responsibilities and hierarchies and prescribed behaviours for certain problems. There should be no fixed rules for a large number of cases which necessarily have a certain degree of abstraction in order to solve a certain number of problems and justify a need for regulation. Rather, individual solutions for problems should always be found. In the world of an agile organisation there are only individual cases that are always dealt with separately. In terms of system theory, this corresponds to the demand to increase the variety of decisions. In this perspective, organisational structures and processes are determined by decisions that determine the scope for further decisions. Depending on how high the variety or redundancy in organised social systems is, current decisions more or less determine how decisions will be made in the future. If there is an increase in the variety of the decision, the redundancy of the system is initially reduced. Individual decisions determine each other less and it becomes more difficult to predict other decisions from previous ones (Luhmann 1988:174f). At the same time, the remarks on the concept of agile organisation imply that decisions are made rationally on the basis of the appropriate mindsets of the members, for example with a view to the purpose of the organisation.

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The punch line: as a result, rationality and indeterminacy should be possible simultaneously. Such loosely coupled organisations (Weick 1985), among which the agile organisation could also be included, strive for variety through a high lability of their structures, because the first use of a decision should not lead to a permanent regulation for similar cases (Luhmann 1988:173; Kühl 2015:60). The system can degenerate in the direction of “adhocracy” and beyond into a mere set of barely coherent decisions (Luhmann 1988:175). This is precisely one of the challenges that accompanies the demands within the framework of the agility discourse possibly resulting in critical consequences for organisations. The supposed challenges for organisational change can be shown exemplarily by two insights of organisational theory : First, organisational culture addresses structures of informality that have not been decided upon and which subsequently, like the mind-sets of individuals, elude ad-hoc change through formal decisions. But structures that elude ad-hoc change by making decisions show that the challenge of creating new forms of organization and management is very much a challenge of cultural change. It is a challenge of transforming the mind-sets, visions, paradigms, images, metaphors, beliefs, and shared meanings of that sustain existing business realities and of creating a detailed language and code of behavior through which the desired new reality can be lived on a daily basis. (Morgan 1997:143)

Secondly, a dismantling of hierarchies and responsibilities as well as of given rules of conduct for certain problems does not lead to a decline but, on the contrary, to an increase in complexity. However, this is the case if a decision context, and thus the organisation as such, is to remain identifiable. Furthermore, terms like ‘corporate culture’ and ‘mind-sets’ hide the fact that organisations sometimes have to deal with a multitude of different and competing value systems, “that create a mosaic of organizational realities rather than a uniform corporate culture” (Morgan 1997:137). Consultants and management literature, on the other hand, give the impression that it is a single culture that needs to be changed. In view of the different perspectives that members take, or due to their respective location in the organisation (e. g. due to their hierarchical position, their affiliation to departments, informal cliques or even to groups that do not originate in the organisational structure) it can be assumed that a corporate culture is particularly prerequisite and certainly cannot be changed simply and uniformly. Not always being able to take these things into account this is certainly one of the main limitations of the concept. In addition, another weakness of the concept of an agile organisation is certainly that too little emphasis is placed on the fact that the removal of boundaries (and the abolition of hierarchies) can also contribute to an immense increase in organisational complexity. Gareth Morgan had already pointed this out: “Any

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move away from hierarchically controlled structures toward more flexible, emergent patterns has major implications for the distribution of power and control within an organisation” (Morgan 1997:117). The sociologist Stefan Kühl emphasises that the decisive point is how strongly communication is formalised in an organisation. If communication in organisations is no longer formalised, more time must inevitably be spent on this communication. This leaves less time for production work. If the rationalization effects resulting from more communication do not compensate for the loss of working time remaining for production work, there is a risk of a decrease in productivity (Kühl 2015:66). The more the internal structures liquefy – parallel to the dissolution of clear boundaries – and the more unstable the organisational structure becomes, the greater the threat of dissolution for the organisation (Kühl 2015:88 with reference to Powell 2007). As Kühl pointed out, the identity dilemma of post-bureaucratic organisations consists in granting independent organisational units maximum autonomy, while at the same time integrating these autonomous units in such a way that the entire organisation retains an independent identity (Kühl 2015:95). Organisational theory has long recognised this dilemma and is therefore in a position to draw attention to the blind spots within the concept of agile organisation. Gareth Morgan has already created a visual aid with his classic text “Images of Organization”, especially through his critical metaphor reconstruction of the organisation as machine, as culture, and as brain, which allows us to show the agile organisation and its partly normative demands for what they are: new attributions and metaphors of the organisation for old longings and challenges. As a result, organisations are under pressure not only from an environment of rapid and dynamic change, but also from the declared need to become agile.

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