Second, Ron Richardson (author of Creating a Healthier Church and Becoming a Healthier Pastor) now has another book, aimed at a broader audience. Becoming Your Best: A Self-Help Guide for Thinking People is a clear and readable guide to becoming a more mature human being. Richardson, a pastoral counselor, begins by talking about the importance of character and its importance to emotional maturity. His work is clearly grounded in Bowen Family Systems theory. He writes with tremendous clarity and very little jargon. Richardson uses the novels of Jane Austen to illustrate the importance of character and taking responsibility for self. (I’m a big Austen fan so this is a definite plus for me.) Also highly recommended.

I get crabby about the tradition of Mary Magdalene-as-prostitute, which has no basis in Scripture (it comes from conflating her story with the woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears). The French preaching tradition can at least be traced to her being sent by Jesus to tell the disciples what she had seen in John 20. And I find it inspiring.

Last weekend at the American Baptist Churches biennial convention, David Coffey of the Baptist World Alliance talked about early Baptist Thomas Helwys. He quoted Helwys’ work A Short Declaration of the Mystery of Iniquity (1612). Helwys said, “If the Kings people be obedient and true subjects, obeying all human laws made by the King, our Lord the King can require no more: for men’s religion to God is betwixt God and themselves; the King shall not answer for it, neither may the King be judge between God and man.” He sent a copy of this work to King James, and was thrown in prison where he died.

Another Baptist I admire is John Leland, a Baptist preacher in Massachusetts and Virginia. He influenced James Madison to introduce a draft amendment which became the First Amendment. The final amendment included the words “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”

On July 5, 1802, Leland gave a speech where he said, “Never promote men who seek after a state-established religion; it is spiritual tyranny — the worst of despotism….it converts religion into a principle of state policy, and the gospel into merchandise. Heaven forbids the bans of marriage between church and state; their embraces therefore, must be unlawful.”

This year is the 400th anniversary of of the Baptist movement. I’m grateful for these Baptist leaders who understood the importance of freedom.

Copenhaver also astutely points out that praise is an equal challenge for pastors. “Everyone likes to be praised at least once in a while. But beware the pastor who needs too much praise.” He suggests, “for the pastor, criticism and praise are twin imposters. Both are to be approached warily, because both can deceive and both can mislead.”

The balance is tricky to find. We do need to pay attention to feedback, but when we are dependent on it for our sense of ourselves, we’re in trouble.

He gave a terrific little formula (which is far more than a formula) for starting a conversation about purpose with those we lead. First, say, “Here’s what I think.” Then ask, “What do you think?” And the more you can ask for individual perspectives, at least initially, the better. But the leader really needs to go first. He said, “Represent yourself, and engage as many ‘I’s’ [individuals] as you can.” This made me think about the way we often press for an early consensus out of anxiety — which can make for less ownership of the direction and goals, and unpleasant surprises later (”I thought they were on board with this…”).

He encourages the leaders he works with to ask for help from their followers, and to get feedback from them along the way: “How am I doing?” He also recommends they set individual goals for their own functioning (for example, not to get defensive in a particular meeting).

The recording of the teleconference is available. E-mail me at Margaret@margaretmarcuson.com, and I’ll send you the link.

Rob Schachter is in private practice assisting organizational leaders to achieve the changes they envision and build around them the shared leadership to sustain their results. His roots are in parish based community organizing in Chicago where he learned the nuts and bolts of mobilizing a constituency for change, later supplemented by a Masters in behavioral sciences with an emphasis on managing complexity in relationships and organizations. As a student of Edwin Friedman he developed a perspective on emotional process that underscores the importance of managing ‘anxiety hotspots’ as nothing short of a primary survival skill of leadership. Find out more at rbsconsulting.org.

This is the next in a series of conversations with leaders on the subject of my new book, Leaders Who Last: Sustaining Yourself and Your Ministry (Seabury, 2009)

E-mail me at Margaret@margaretmarcuson.com with your interest, and I’ll send you call-in information. .If you can’t make the call, a recording will be available. There is no charge for the teleconference or the recording.

I hope you can make it Thursday!

How clear are you on your leadership purpose? An essential part of your job as a leader is defining your purpose for yourself. This includes big questions like: why am I here? What do I want my legacy to be? You also need to consider the short-term purposes in your leadership role. For example, if you are new to your role, your immediate purpose is to get well connected with people. This year, some leaders are finding their short-term purpose is helping their organization survive the current economic crisis. Over time, you can develop your thinking about where you would like to head as a leader and how you might like to see that happen.

Your position in the organization affects your purpose. If you are the leader at the top, you have the opportunity (and challenge) of articulating a broad-ranging purpose for the organization. Whether president, pastor, principal or parent, you are in charge. If you are in a subordinate role, you take your purpose in part from whatever powers that be. When you’re in the middle, it’s just as important to think through your purpose for yourself. Whatever your position, here are questions to ask: Why did you take this job? Why are you staying? What do you want to accomplish?

Clarifying your purpose means you must focus on yourself, at least for a time. Spend some time alone, doing the hard work of thinking through your own direction. Those you lead deserve the benefit of your own thoughtful consideration of your leadership. It’s the best gift you can give them.

As you develop clarity, tell people what you are thinking. Think of it as self-definition: “I think” “I believe” “I want to.” How clearly can you articulate your own hopes and dreams and direction? Then pay close attention to the feedback you get. Are they confused? Excited? Angry? Intrigued? How do you think about this response? What do you need to say further? Try to clarify, avoiding anxiety and defensiveness as much as possible.

Finally, let go of the outcome. You are issuing an invitation to people to follow. You cannot force them. Their participation is voluntary, and they must choose to follow. The paradox is that the more we can let go, the more likely we are to get a positive outcome. It may not be exactly the picture we have dreamed of. But when we get clear on our purpose, share that purpose with others, and make adjustments along the way, we can move forward toward new possibility.