Christians who mean well do not necessarily manage well. Whether leaders lead a small youth group or coordinating the total ministry to youth in a local church they must remember that a church organisation does not function automatically. Arthur Borden says: “Most of us struggle with managing our lives, our businesses, or our ministries, realising that we need to manage things better. We tend to blame circumstances rather than question our managerial skills when things turn out poorly” (Management for Christian Leaders, Page 9).
1. Management Defined
Two helpful definitions of management are worth considering:
"In Christian work, Management is basically the stewardship of the talents of the person entrusted to our care” (Olan Hendrix).
“Management is getting things done through people” (Lawrence Appley).
Basically, management is a set of skills that an ordinary person can acquire and develop, but also a work that a leader performs.
Many authors have tried to differentiate management and leadership, offering different views of the distinction. Consider the following:
* Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things (Peter Drucker).
* Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall. “You can quickly grasp the important difference between the two if you envision a group of producers cutting their way through the jungle with machetes. They’re the producers, the problem solvers. They’re cutting through the undergrowth, clearing it out. The managers are behind them, sharpening their machetes, writing policy and procedure manuals, holding muscle development programs, bringing in improved technologies and setting up working schedules and compensation programs for the workers. The leader is the one who climbs the tallest tree, surveys the entire situation, and yells, “Wrong jungle!” But how do the busy, efficient producers and managers often respond? “Shut up! We’re making progress.” As individuals, groups, and businesses, we’re often so busy cutting through the undergrowth we don’t even realize we’re in the wrong jungle” (Stephen Covey).
* Leadership has more to do with dynamic human relationships, and management relates more closely to the stewardship of material resources (James Means).
* By focusing the attention on a vision, the leader operates on the emotional and spiritual resources of the organization, on its values, commitment and aspirations. The manager operates on the physical resources, on its capital, human skills, raw materials and technology (Warren Bennis).
* Getting others to do is management and getting others to want to do is leadership (James Kouzes).
* Leaders are those who are characterized as follows: (1) They think longer term - beyond the day’s crises, beyond the horizon. (2) In thinking about the congregation they are leading, they grasp its relationship to larger realities, ie. the community, conditions external to the congregation, global and environmental trends. (3) They reach and influence constituents beyond their congregations, beyond boundaries. (4) They put heavy emphasis on the intangibles of vision, values, and motivation and understand intuitively the nonrational and unconscious elements in leader-people interaction. (5) They have the political skill to cope with the conflicting requirements of multiple constituencies. (6) They think in terms of renewal while managers tend to think in terms of maintenance. The routine manager tends to accept organizational structure and process as it exists. The leader seeks the revisions of process and structure required by ever-changing reality (John Gardner).
* Managers focus on the present - administering and maintaining systems to get the task done correctly. The instinct for survival leads to a reliance on proven tools of planning and budgeting and a tendency to conserve affairs. This stability orientation tends to rely upon routine rather than interpersonal involvement which may produce unpredictable change. This would lead to a tendency to rely on positional power and to operate from a premise of viewing people as incompetent, and therefore not to be trusted. Development of staff in terms of the manager’s win/lose power orientation is not a priority. In contrast, a leader is someone who operates from an active attitude towards goals and, as part of self management, sees themselves as a source of action, by employing systems thinking. A leader has a clear vision of the future and is active in influencing and guiding people while creating a context that is meaningful for others. This presupposes the ability to empathise with people while trusting and relying on others because they are viewed as creative and competent. Consequently, the leader adopts the active role of teacher and creates a learning culture together with the removal of organisational obstacles hindering personal growth in others - a prerequisite to empowerment. Fundamentally, the leader as pacemaker risks conflict as an integral part of individual and organisational growth, as opposed to the manager as peacemaker who avoids contentious issues. A leader has the courage of his/her convictions and links efficiency with effectiveness by facing fundamental issues preventing organisational growth (Guy Charlton).
* Management consists of those tasks and functions we perform in the coordination and utilisation of resources to accomplish a specific objective. Leadership consists of those tasks and functions we perform to recruit, motivate, and influence others to follow us in the pursuit of a goal. Leadership deals with the motivation and unification of people toward a common cause, goal, or objective. However, management deals with the effective utilization of all resources, time, materials, money, and manpower to accomplish a predetermined result in the most efficient and effective way possible. We lead from a position of influence but we manage from a position of power. The leader receives his power from the people he leads; but the manager receives his power by virtue of his position. To be a leader you must have people willing to follow you. However, it is possible to manage people because of the power of the position whether they want to follow the manager’s leadership or not (Myron Rush).
Myron Rush suggests the need for balance between management and leadership. Good management skills are a must for leadership. All leaders should focus on developing their leadership skills as well as their management skills. Warren Bennis says: “The problem with many organisations and especially the ones that are failing, is that they tend to be overmanaged and underled. This is the profound difference between management and leadership and both are important.”
2. Biblical Management
The Bible, though not a management handbook, provides a solid foundation of management principles and procedures:
* Joseph - There are example of good management in Joseph’s preparing for the famine, delegating, planning, distributing the materials and foodstuffs, satisfying the complaints and handling the grievances.
* Moses - The episode with Jethro showed a clear example of delegation (Exodus 18:13-27). He made the classical managerial mistake of attempting to carry too much personal responsibility for oversight and decision making. Numbers 2 tells of the appointment of 70 elders to bear some of the burden. Moses supervised the gathering of the materials for the construction of the tabernacle. When Aaron and Miriam opposed his leadership in Numbers 12, Moses was faced with a serious administrative problem. He showed at least the following aspects of management: delegation, accountability, problem solving and gathering and utilising resources.
* Nehemiah - As he built the walls of Jerusalem he showed every management principle known today. Nehemiah was particularly effective at planning, organising and motivating people to complete a task.
* Solomon - His life is an example of decision-making and as one of Israel’s kings he acted as an administrator for many years.
* Jesus - His selection of the twelve disciples and His association with them showed: impartation, demonstration, delegation, supervision and reproduction.
* First Deacons - When a dispute arose between Grecian and Hebraic Jews over the daily distribution of food, the Twelve suggested a meeting of all the disciples to solve the problem. They chose seven men who were “known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom” (Acts 6:3) to take responsibility for food distribution so the Twelve could give their attention to other priorities.
* Church Leaders - In 1 Corinthians 12:28 the gift of administration is listed with a variety of other spiritual gifts. The Greek word is kybernesis meaning steersman or pilot. As a ship’s pilot guides the vessel and keeps it on course to its destination, so those gifted with administration skills guide the local body of Christ. The Greek word episkopos translated ‘overseer’ or ‘bishop’ suggested one charged with the responsibility of seeing that things done by others are done right. Ephesians 4:11-12 reminds leaders that their role is to equip people to do the work of the ministry and not do it all themselves.
3. Management Theories
All managers make assumptions about their subordinates which have a profound impact on the response they receive from subordinates. These assumption come from the beliefs the manager has about what the subordinates are like, what their needs are, what motivates them and how they should work. This is the managers’ management theory. Arnold Moll, in Help I'm a Manager, says that there are three basic management theories:
A. The Traditional Theory
Traditional managers view their basic management task as making sure that the work is carried out correctly by the workers. When the tasks have been carried out satisfactorily, the management role is completed. This manager sees the workers as there to help him/her accomplish his/her work.
Managers who hold to this theory believe the following about workers: They are basically lazy and will avoid work whenever they can; they will not do anything extra without some kind of additional remuneration or benefit; they let the manager solve problems, or let others take the blame when things go wrong; and they are not able to think for themselves because of their lack of education, training or experience. These beliefs lead the manager to respond as follows: close supervision because workers are lazy; offering incentive schemes to get more work out of workers; viewing themselves as responsible for the thinking and the workers responsible for the doing; and reducing tasks to very simple elements to reduce the likelihood of mistakes.
B. The Human Relations Theory
This theory is based on the belief that workers will be motivated when they are treated well - like human beings. The human relations manager also sees it as their task to ensure that the workers carry out their tasks in the way that is required of them. They also sees themselves as being responsible for the work, and their workers as their ‘assistants’. This theory is closely related to the traditional theory. However, it goes a step further because this manager sees their task as treating workers well and keeping them as happy as possible in their work.
Managers who hold to this theory believe the following about workers: They want to be treated like human beings; they are individuals who want to be noticed; their social needs are as important as their financial needs and they want to know what is expected of them in the weeks and months that lie ahead. These beliefs lead the manager to respond as follows: treat workers with respect, fairness and consideration; tell them regularly how important they and their work are to the organisation; encourage social activities and try to motivate them by being kind to them; and tell them regularly about plans that affect them.
Most managers see these two theories as the only two available - either they have to be strict and run a ‘tight ship’ or they focus on good interpersonal relationships in the hope that if they are good to their workers, they will get a positive response in the form of commitment and hard work. However, the human relation theory is often seen as a ‘soft’ approach by workers. If a manager tries to motivate workers only by treating them well, the chances are very good that they will abuse the kindness. It is also seen as a paternalistic approach. But, there is a third theory known as the human resource theory.
C. The Human Resource Theory
The focus of this theory is not on treating workers well, but on utilising them well. The manager sees their primary responsibility to get workers to function successfully on their own. The less they need the manager the more successful the management. The manager is there to help workers get their work done - they are responsible for the work, not the manager. The manager is there to help workers when they need assistance - and when they don’t need help, they stay out of their way.
Managers who hold to this theory believe the following about workers: They like to work hard when they can see that they are achieving something worthwhile; they like to be left alone so they can prove to their manager how good they are; the thinking ability of workers can be utilised to a far greater extent; and they will draw up their own work plans and check them afterwards to ensure work is done right. These beliefs lead the manager to respond as follows: help workers formulate goals for themselves, and encourage them to strive to reach them; encourage them to use their own initiative and allow them to get on with the job; involve them in decision making and problem solving; and allow them to make their own decisions regarding plans, problems and priorities.
Most managers believe that the human resource theory of management will produce the best results, but few practise it. The yardstick to determine a manager’s leadership ability is the competence of their workers! This means that managers who are always complaining about the workers they are stuck with are saying more about their own leadership, than about their workers.
4. Management Tasks
Louis Allen have suggested a number of tasks of management: planning, organisation, direction, coordination, control and staffing. He then grouped the tasks under four main headings:
A. Planning
Planning is the work the leader does to predetermine a course of action, that involves:
* Establishing Purpose - the work leaders do to discover a vision of the future.
* Setting Goals - the work leaders do to determining the end results to be accomplished.
* Creating Plans - the work of sequencing tasks to accomplish goals.
B. Organising
Organising is the grouping of followers and work for the best performance, that involves:
* Developing Structure - relating work and followers to one another in their performance.
* Delegating - the assigning of responsibility, authority and accountability to followers.
* Developing Relationships - the work of establishing and maintaining interpersonal relationships.
C. Directing
Directing is the work done to inspire and motivate followers to take specific action, that involves:
* Selecting - the work leaders do to discover suitable ministry opportunities available for people.
* Leading - the way in which leaders relate to their followers, including the style of leadership.
* Motivating - the work leaders do to cause followers to want to do what needs to be done.
* Communicating - the work leaders do to bring understanding of mutual needs and goals.
* Developing - the work leaders do to upgrade their followers capacities for work.
* Decision Making - the work leaders do to arrive at judgments and decisions.
* Problem Solving - the work leaders do to identify and solve problems.
D. Supervising
Supervising is the work done to ensure that specific activities conform to plan, that involves:
* Establishing Standards - reaching agreement with followers about quality of work expected.
* Performance Reporting - recording and reporting on the work followers are doing.
* Performance Evaluating - appraising the work followers are doing or have completed.
* Performance Correcting - correcting and coaching followers in their work.
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