How healthy are you at exercising power and setting wise boundaries? Join Pete Scazzero and Rich Villodas in this month’s edition of the Emotionally Healthy Leadership Podcast as they discuss this pivotal leadership theme. Click the video below to watch or the link to listen to the audio file. LISTEN HERE
Almost every church, nonprofit organization, and Christian community I know bears deep scars and hurt due to a failure to steward power and set wise boundaries. I was no exception. My understanding of how power affects relationships and the need for wise boundaries was woefully inadequate for many years. I tried to be a good friend and a good “boss,” but I was neither. I lost relationships I treasured that I had spent years building. I didn’t understand two key concepts – stewardship and dual relationships. Every leader exercises stewardship of power, i.e. we have a capacity to influence others. That power is God-given. When we under-use our power out of fear, a need to be liked, or an aversion to conflict, we hurt people. When we over-use our power to manipulate and push, we also hurt people. Exercising power like Jesus requires we know our shadows and vulnerabilities, and build in healthy safeguards.. Read more.
“Navigating issues of power is a true test of both character and leadership” -Pete Scazzero (The Emotionally Healthy Leader, Zondervan 2015). In this month’s Emotionally Healthy Leadership Podcast, Pete Scazzero and Rich Villodas explore how stewarding power well and setting wise boundaries can build a safe and healthy environment for leaders and those they lead. We encourage you to watch below or download on iTunes. For additional in-depth conversations on transformational leadership join us at the Emotionally Healthy Leadership Conference April 22-23.
I have been working hard in these months writing The Emotionally Healthy Leader (Zondervan, 2015). The following is a sidebar from a chapter on power and wise boundaries that I trust you will enjoy: Do an honest inventory of the power God has granted you. To be faithful we need to be profoundly aware of the various sources of power God has granted us. We are at risk to use it poorly if we ignore or minimize our power. Unresolved family of origin dynamics that are buried alive resurface when joined with power. The workplace and church are key places where our triggers and “hot buttons” will emerge. Enlist wise counsel to monitor dual relationships. Mentors, therapists, wise elders and mature friends give us perspective and counsel. It is critical we know our limits and defer to others discernment. Watch for early warning signs of danger. People change. We change. The church changes. What works now may not work. Read more.
