Leading Change and Managing the Resulting Anxiety

Leaders both lead change and manage the resulting anxiety in order to get commitment to a shared vision. To fully understand how leadership functions, you must understand that it takes place within a living system. What does it mean to manage yourself in an anxious system?

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Conversation Overview:

• Leadership is in part about helping the church to care about vision, mission, purpose. (example: Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Jesus)
• When leaders attempt to help the congregation set and pursue a direction, the process of change creates anxiety.
• Leaders have to learn two skills and exercise them simultaneously – the first skill is that of achieving the mission and the second is managing self in the anxiety that mission achievement produces.
• To fully understand how leadership functions, you must understand that it takes place within a living system.
• What is a living system?
• Differences of opinion feel threatening and left to our natural reactions, we will react in anxiety.
• It is the differences that help us to discern the leadership of God.
• What does it mean to manage yourself in an anxious system?