Feature Article
"Strong, collegial relationships
are an important part of my leadership style."
Kathy Lueckert, deputy executive director of the General Assembly
Council, PC(USA)
"One must
let go of the safe posture of control which is sometimes hard
to do."
Professor Freda Gardner, former Moderator of the General Assembly
"We put a high value on maintaining
connectedness."
Rev. Dr. Marian McClure, director of the Worldwide
Ministries Division of the PC(USA)
"Strong,
collegial relationships are an important part of my leadership
style."
Kathy Lueckert, deputy executive director of the General Assembly
Council, PC(USA)
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Women's Ways of Leading
by Clover Beal
About ten years ago
a female seminarian friend and I decided to apply together to
share a Christian educator position in our local Presbyterian
church. That particular church had never had two people share
a staff position before, so the search committee was somewhat
hesitant. During the interview, the question that remained the
focus of the conversation was "At the end of the day, which
one of you will be 'in charge'?" Each time they asked the
question, we would respond with the same answer: "Both of
us." The pastor, along with the search committee, had a
hard time imagining that our ministry would be equally shared
and that our leadership would be cooperatively carried out. Fortunately,
they did invite us to work with them and, I am happy to report,
it was a rewarding experience for all of us. It was the first
time that I personally had shared leadership with another person
and, because of it, I learned that leadership could be nonhierarchical,
cooperative in nature and mutually empowering for all involved.
I celebrate that there are more examples of this style of shared
leadership taking place in the church today.
". . . I learned that leadership could be
non-hierarchical, cooperative in nature and mutually empowering
for all involved."
Changing the Way We Do
Business
Reaching Consensus
Women at the Top
Collaborative Approach
The Ultimate Model
Clover Reuter Beal is a Presbyterian minister
serving as associate director of United Protestant Campus Ministries
of Cleveland, Ohio. She also has served for the past four years
as the chaplain-liaison to the National Network of Presbyterian
College Women.
What is your leadership
style? Read more about these amazing women and their ways of
leading in the March/April issue of Horizons!
Read more of this and other
great articles in the current issue of Horizons.
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