Spiritual Life and Leadership

187. Tackling Adaptive Challenges in Church Leadership, with Angie Ward, author of Uncharted Leadership

Oct 24, 2023

35:53

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Angie Ward is director of the Doctor of Ministry Program at Denver Seminary and the author of Uncharted Leadership: 20 Case Studies to Help Ministry Leaders Adapt to Uncertainty.

What if you’ve got a problem and you cannot for the life of you find a solution. You also can’t find a book that tells you what to do. And you can’t find an expert to take care of the problem for you.

That's what's called an adaptive challenge and churches are full of adaptive challenges. And that’s what we’re talking about in this episode with Angie Ward.

THIS EPISODE'S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:

Angie Ward is director of the Doctor of Ministry Program at Denver Seminary and the author of Uncharted Leadership: 20 Case Studies to Help Ministry Leaders Adapt to Uncertainty.
Adaptive challenges are the kinds of challenges no one has faced before and for which there are no experts.
According to Angie Ward, a technical challenge is a challenge for which there is a clear path or solution.
When there is a gap between espoused values and actual values, that is likely an adaptive challenge.
Angie Ward points out that unresolved conflict or work avoidance in a church or organization can be an adaptive challenge.
Angie Ward stresses that emotions can shift a challenge to become more of an adaptive challenge.
Every change changes everything.
Adaptive leadership involves both managing people’s distress and giving the work back to the people.
According to Angie Ward, humility is the most important posture we need to take when navigating adaptive challenges.
We lead out of who we are, not just what we do.
When leading adaptively, Angie Ward says that process matters more than outcome.
Emotional health is key to good leadership.

RELEVANT RESOURCES AND LINKS: