What are some great leadership myths? Russell Ackoff wrote a brilliant book called Management F-Laws: How Organizations really work it is a collection of about 80 commonly accepted truths or status quos that are generally wrong or part of a belief system that is outdated. What are some of the myths that we carry in the church today? What sources do we have for these myths? What can be done about them?

Myth one: We are all called to be leaders. The understanding that many Christians are raised with (myself included) is that we are all to be leaders. This is brought into stronger focus with the way the additional myth that to have an impact, to fulfill our purpose we must be leading.

Maybe this is true. But the most direct call in the Bible can be found in John 15: 12 “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” What I find really interesting is that following this command does not point to leadership it points to friendship. John 15: 13-14 “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you”. Obeying Christ’s command leads to friendship.

Myth two: Leaders are the best at what they do, or at least the best that is available and they always have been, that is why they were chosen.

Again this may be true and often is. But take the Apostle Paul for example when he was chosen to become a leader his credentials were (Acts 9:5) …“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting”. It is hard to imagine a committee choosing the guy that is trying to tear a church apart to be the guy that is to lead it. It is also interesting is that he didn’t go through a long season of restoration and punishment before being released.

Myth three: Leaders are very confident, eager, and pioneering.

Take Moses in Exodus 3 and 4 most notably Exodus 4:13 But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.” This was after being given several signs that God was with him. He wanted to stay where he was, he wanted someone, anyone else to go. He was at the very least reluctant. I don’t know about you, but I find that encouraging.

Myth four: Leaders are above reproach.

King David in Second Samuel Chapter 11; first has an affair with the wife of a man that is away fighting for him. Then he tries to cover this up, then finally orders him to be killed. 2 Samuel 11: 14-15 “In the morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. In it he wrote, “Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die.”” This is not justification for fault or sin. But God saw fit to continue to use David and have him lead God’s chosen people.

These are just a few of the myths that are sometimes carried in the church. Myths that sometime stand in the way of all that could be accomplished being accomplished. They are always right, some of time. That is what makes them difficult to address and so they tend to be overlooked or kept in the back of our mind as a filter.

We’ll be looking at other myths in future articles. If you have an idea for a myth that would be good to look at please leave it in the comments.

Thanks for reading.