If you believe as I do that one of the leaders main responsibilities is to help people change, how can the missional leader be different than other forms of leadership.
Let’s look at how leaders can influence others:
1. They can compel someone to change. To compel is to – command or make someone do something. This is the way institutions work. They legislate behavior. This is the way many Christians would like others to change. Make rules and laws to compel them to change. But how effective can force be?
2. They can induce someone to change. To induce is to – cause to make something happen. We induce our kids with bribes. We even induce non-believers with the promise of a better future or eternity. But how can we know of real change?
3. They can educe someone to change. To educe is to – draw out from someone. Educing means providing an environment for change. We can educe things from asking good questions. We can educe plants from the ground when we provide all the right conditions.
I believe future missional leaders will become experts of educing change from those who are around them.
missional, missional church, Missional Living, Leadership
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I believe it is also important that missional leaders learn to work with those individuals who respond positively to their efforts to educe change. Don’t expect to see immediate change in the whole community, but do expect change in a small part of the community. Go with what God provides and help them to become change agents also.
Question: Is their ever a place for compelling and inducing? Here is why I ask. If someone is committed to learning how to become missional, I often “compel” them to be involved in certain activities because learning in its initial stages is often a mechanical process. They learn by mechanical doing which leads to instinctive doing (habit) as it becomes part of their very “DNA.”
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