Lynch on Leadership: Leaders make decisions and solve problems. As simple as that sounds, most leadership successes and failures can be analyzed by these fundamentals. For most leaders, these foundation stones are expressed in people and processes so that things get done, goals get fulfilled, and mission gets accomplished. In this same way, these touchstones affect people and processes in cause-affect ways.
At whatever level of delegation people make decisions, they should also solve problems. The problem-solving and decision-making should be close to the outcome desired: people and process at that level require leadership, however, to ensure the greater mission is being accomplished.
The complexity of this simplicity…
People are complex. Process should be simple. When the process doesn’t work, people aren’t the point of blame but the key to solutions. That is, don’t blame people for a poor process, and don’t prescribe processes for people without their participation if you wish them to provide leadership at the level of their delegation.
In the kingdom of God, the kingdom functions through people and processes that Paul and others like to explain with the metaphor of “a body.” God begin the perfect and delegating Leader of All sets people and processes into place that are not perfect. While we declare “on earth as it is in heaven,” we are doing so because it is obviously NOT. But it can be!
How can things be “on earth as they are in heaven?” Kingdom leaders! Kingdom functions wherever kingdom leaders are functioning in kingdom principles, and they release the power of those principles into the people and processes in some measure.
Transformation involves people and process, the spiritual conflict of the substitutes for God’s will and ways in people and process. Neither God or the adversary has given up on anything. The battle for All remains the fundamental dynamic of Creation, so it groans, we groan, and God groans through us to apply the orchestration of All things together for the people who love Him and His purpose. Purpose is the sum total of people and process. Change people and process and you change everything.
Personal Process
To understand how basic this is, apply the idea to yourself. All leadership begins with personal leadership. The “processes” of your personal leadership are founded in the cycle of behaviors – mindset, attitudes, and habits. The “attitudes” and “habits” are part of the processes, the “how you process information and decisions.” Attitudes govern as habits of thinking. Habits govern most behavior as presets of processing response and reaction. (I’m being overly-simplistic on purpose.)
You change behaviors by changing process, habits and attitudes, but you need to change mindset in order to embed the transformation. Paul says, “Transform! By renewing your mind so you can prove the what-God-wants for your life.” [Romans 12:2] Paul is saying the transformation is restoration of what God had in mind for you when He created you. It will be consistent with your created disposition, calling, charismatic gifting, and will give you a better understanding and game plan for your life’s work.
Of course, God designed attitudes and habits to be resilient to change so that they would be effective and efficient. Environment is not supposed to be the determining factor. “Do not mold yourself in the mold of the world,” or “do not allow the world to mold you into its mold. Instead, be transformed by the renewing of your mind…” [Romans 12:2]
Easier said than done! Yes, on purpose! God wants the renewed processes to function at a highly effectively level. He understands that you cannot properly “renew your mind” without the previous redemptive experience: “By God’s mercy,” the time and opportunity available for redemptive transformation, “present” offer with complete surrender that changes ownership and removes your claim, “your body,” representative in the scenario of giving yourself to God, “holy” as opposed to common and this is illustrated by rejection of being molded by the environment instead of transformed by His will, “acceptable to God” because this redemptive decision is the way God designed the process to work, “this is your priestly ministry,” or you are both priest and sacrifice offered so you must make the redemptive response. [Romans 12:1]
Think like this: if God were really in charge of My life…His will the basis for my destiny. What strategy would He have for my life that would produce the blueprint He drew at the time of my conception? What processes would He install in my life as mindset, attitudes, and habits that would effectively and efficiently function in that strategy? How would He change me to change my life and living to bring it into conformity with His good, acceptable, and perfect will? He would change the person and the process to produce the purpose, right?
Leadership and Process
God designs leadership and choses leaders. We sometimes use the term “institutions” to describe what He designed: family, kingdom, culture. Each has leadership designed into it by God, and each has processes available to that leadership that effectively and efficiently produce purpose in places and people. That is, all leadership could be understood as leadership delegated by the Creator to make His processes work properly so that His purpose is produced.
Could it really be that simple?
Complexity and simplicity. Because this simplicity involves people and process, the simplicity is complex! No way are we going to get this right on our own, so God involves Himself in the people and process in order to produce His purpose.
Step one remains the same: surrendering to His purpose! Then and only then can the people and process be transformed properly. Of course, this step one is the very thing we seem to have difficulty with. We tend to consistently mix up the leaders make decisions and solve problems part by taking on God’s part and avoiding our part. The creature tends to act like a creator, in other words, and the delegated authority gets muddle as people wish to assume their own design and destiny instead of accepting His and wish to process that design and destiny with information and input from the environment more that the Originator.
Leaders who can best position people and oversee process so that assignment or mission is accomplished lead best.
