Tell and Show Leadership

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You should imitate me, just as I imitate Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1, NLT).

Perhaps the most influential business consultant in the past 50 years has been Peter Drucker. He wrote about leaders, “The executive is not supposed to be a handyman. He is supposed to be a builder.”

Leadership style in business schools in the USA has emphasized for decades that top leaders should move beyond day-to-day execution (handyman) to focus on the big picture (builder). However, new research reveals that the exact opposite leadership style works better.

The top-down leadership practices of the past reflected a “tell” approach, as leaders were too busy to actually “show.” In a recent article in the Harvard Business Review, I found this quote describing a new generation of leaders (of very successful companies) who have changed to “tell and show” leadership.

They don’t meddle – they coach. They don’t override – they elevate. They don’t hoard decision rights – they teach others how to make sound decisions on their own. Their involvement is not disempowering – it is energizing. And it is purposeful to build a system that performs reliably even when they’re not in the room.

A long time ago, I attended a “Church Growth Conference” to learn that growing churches encountered a “700-person” barrier that required an organizational change, so that this attendance barrier could be overcome. In the 1990s, these conferences attracted huge crowds of church leaders and basically took the secular and supposedly successful Peter Drucker (and others) leadership practices and applied them to the church.

In other words, let the world teach the church about leadership. 

It became a thing that when you attended a leadership conference, if you hadn’t read the latest book by Bill Hybels or Andy Stanley (big church pastors following the Druckerian method), you were out of step, not up to date, and your church would never grow.

In other words, growth was now the goal, not disciple-making or spiritual maturity.

The “Church Growth Movement” taught that pastors should focus their time on developing a vision with top-flight leaders who could then help them train the church to attain its vision. To accomplish this growth, the pastor had to prioritize her/his schedule for the big picture with less time for the regular members of the church.

HHHHMMMHHM — I wonder how this Drukerian leadership style (that now infects many churches) fits with Jesus telling Peter and his brother Andrew, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people.”

Within the church, the “tell, not show” method of church leadership hasn’t worked. Distant leaders can’t set an example of godliness. Recent statistics indicate that if 100 people accept Jesus next Sunday in a local church, only five will still be attending that church three years later.

Have we forgotten that the only “growth” plan acceptable in the Bible is growing in Christ …

Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Peter 3:18).

Toward the end of a recent article I read about the new “Tell and Show” leadership model in businesses, the author suggested that the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) — if doing their job correctly — should be called the “Chief Role Model.”

The Apostle Paul taught this idea 2,000 years ago when he defined what church leaders should do.

Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ (Ephesians 4:12).

Amen.