Big Idea: No one likes to live under dictators—they take all the fun out of life and work!
Hans Finzel also calls dictatorships “the apostolic view of decision making.” This person believes that he or she has special knowledge or an anointing that gives him or her the inside edge on truth” like the apostles in the New Testament. But even the apostles were not dictators as seen in the selection of the first deacons in Acts 6. Mark Dever makes this point in Nine Marks of a Healthy Church, page 221.
1. Dictatorships deny the value of individuals.
Finzel quotes Andrew Carnegie: “Take away my people but leave my factories and soon grass will grow on the factory floor. Take away my factories but leave my people and soon we will have a new and better factory.”
2. The major players in any organization are like its stockholders: They should have a say in its decision.
“The greatest ideas bubble up from the workers” Hans told his team of sixty home office staff. “They will come from you not me.”
“Look at the iPod, developed by a computer company and music outsiders! It single-handedly wiped out Sony, which had dominated the portable music market for decades with its Walkman portable CD players, and more recently with MP3 players.”
3. The one who does the job should decide how it is done.
“This is facilitative leadership. My job is to help those I lead release as much of their potential as possible….This is, in fact a biblical approach to accomplishing the work of God on earth.” Read about it in Ephesians 4:11-12.
Rather than always dictating decisions, a good leader will try as often as possible to let those he is leading make decisions….When the best leader’s work is done, the people will say, ‘We did it ourselves.’
Peter F. Drucker in Managing the Non-Profit Organization: Principles and Pracitces said, “The leaders who work most effectively, it seems to me, never say ‘I.’ They don’t think ‘I.’ They think ‘we.’ They think ‘team.’
This is exactly what Nehemiah did in 2:17 when he said, “Let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.”
4. “Flat” organizations are the model of the future.
While Hans Finzel believes in the flat organization he also “firmly believes in the need for a single person to be in charge of each team in an organization, as opposed to a committee….Though we have pushed most decison making far out to the staff, we still believe that the buck must stop somewhere for each major team, project, initiative, or department.”
Incredible! I have this book but have not had time to read it yet. I plan to read it during the holidays. Someone gave this to me when we worked together at another ministry. I’m looking forward to going “deeper” into the points mentioned above!
[...] Finzel states in his The Top Ten Mistakes Leaders Make, in Chapter 5 that ”Dictatorships in Decision Making” is a mistake. The NT is replete with examples of leadership that is not [...]
I really enjoyed the lecture you gave on this subject and this blog. It helped me realize the difference between leaders and general management, and how it is harder to be a leader. Leaders must have helpers who are volunteers. They should not be micromanaged, but helped and trusted with appropriate procedures.
Dictators is number 3 on my list of annoyances within the church. That doesn’t mean I don’t think a Pastor should have any authority. I really like how Hanz shows a flat style with a bump to show the Pastor is still the guy.
Dictators can be detrimental to any organization. Having a strong leader is very important, but it i even more important for that leader to know how to correctly lead for that organization to grow and have success. The rest of the staff or people involved will help dictate where the organization is going. They can not have a positive influence if they are not allowed to have a say or help.
Dr. White thanks for your post. Leadership is an important subject to me, and so anytime I can read more on it, I definitely soak it in. Thanks for sharing this post in regards to a dictator style of leadership. I learned a lot and I definitely will be using a lot of what is said in this blog within my own leadership style
While I do think that dictators can be bad in the sense that they disrespect their followers and accept no opinion except their own, I do feel that their style of leadership has strengths which can’t be ignored. Mostly, I think that dictators are needed in high pressure situations when a “democratic vote” takes to long to be effective. Also, sometimes the people we lead just don’t know what they’re talking about. It’s more so the exception than the norm, but it still happens. I think a strong autocratic leader is effective in many situations. Maybe not in the church administration, but nevertheless effective in other areas.
Nobody likes a dictator, and if we don’t empower the volunteers that come to our churches not long after they enlist, they will leave, that is a fact, members of a congregation want and should be able to contribute their talents and ideas to their local body of believers, this gives them a sense of ownership in the ministry and they are able to share in the accomplishments of their local body.
Point 3 really jumped out at me. The idea of facilitative leadership is one I’ve been dwelling on recently. God gives believers gifts so that they can be doers in the ministry. That is also one of the responsibilities of Pastors, to equip the saints so that they can do the ministry.
Here we go again… Well at least you didn’t straight out reference Elder rule.
Anyway, despite my views, I actually do agree with you. Just because I think Elder rule is a viable form of leadership doesn’t mean I don’t think we should let the people have a say, nor do I think we should leave them out of the decisions making. The key is to make them feel like they have an influence, even when they really don’t. :D
But either way, dictatorships have never worked and never will, there’s no easier way to kill a local church than to become a tyrant.