Tried and True INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHORS
RACHEL HASTINGS IVP assistant academic editorial director
Leadership is not something we possess; it is something we steward for a season. We argue that stewardship is inseparable from surrender and servanthood. When these three virtues work together, leadership becomes less about protecting one’s status and more about participating in God’s redemptive work. RH: What do you hope leaders learn from your own leadership stories? SM: Neither of us fit the pattern of “leaders” for society in general, and certainly not for the Christian world. Margaret set out to be a scholar of leadership—but that would not necessarily have placed her in the role of leader herself. I was quite content being a classroom professor. I had no aspirations for being what others might think of as a “leader” and resisted the very idea of such a role for as long as possible. Just as we have been surprised by God’s improvisational purposes worked out in our lives, we hope others will be inspired to be open to seeing God’s surprising work in their own lives. RH: In what ways can we be hopeful for the future of our own leadership? MD: I find it incredibly grace-filled and life-giving that I have no idea what my legacy on earth will be. When leaders embrace surrender, steward their influence faithfully, and serve with courage, they participate in a story far larger than themselves—and that is reason for profound hope. SM: Choosing to invite and empower hope in others is not easy—and it may be costly for the leader—but this is what it means to lead responsibly. Responsible leadership is always, paradoxically, about giving power away so that the arena of hopeful possibility around the leader extends through both space and time. The impact of faithful leadership outlasts the leader because it was never truly about the leader; it was about stewarding God’s gifts in God’s enabling power and for God’s eternal purposes. ■
Rachel Hastings: How did the two of you decide to write this book together? Shirley A. Mullen: The idea of the book grew naturally out of our extended conversations about our respective experiences in leadership. As we processed our own recent journeys, we realized both how much they had in common with each other, and how different they were from what seemed to be the standard account of successful leadership. Margaret Diddams: With Shirley’s background as a historian, my background as a leadership scholar, and our leadership experiences, we wanted to share these rich conversations about John Wesley with others. Not only that, but we also wanted to introduce him to others, as he is too often overlooked in our evangelical world. RH: One of the features of this book is the prominence of John Wesley and his own leadership framework. Why did you all choose John Wesley? MD: What makes Wesley especially compelling is that the lasting legacy of his leadership had nothing to do with a strong personality or his gifts as a visionary. Counterculturally, his leadership was forged through failure, sustained by his surrender to God, and, as the movement grew, structured to ensure it could survive without him. That is precisely the kind of leadership we believe the church and Christian institutions need today. SM: We did not start to write about leadership and go in search of a “tutor”; rather we had already found a “tutor.” It was the realization of our common debt to Wesley’s thinking about leadership that led to our extended discussions about leadership and eventually to the book itself. RH: What do you think is the most important leadership lesson that Wesley can teach us for today’s leadership challenges? MD: We need to understand that we are not our role. We only steward it—and good leadership means leaving that role in a healthier place than when we first came.
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