I
n his New Leadership Paradigm model, Steve Piersanti challenges organizations to move from the traditional hierarchical structure to an interconnected network. The former is the pyramid approach that posits ultimate power to a limited number of people at the top who command and control large numbers of people at the bottom of the pyramid. The alternative is to the network approach that views the organization as a network with leadership and decision-making power disbursed “throughout the many nodes and links of the network.”
Ori Brafman and Rod Beckstrom addressed this idea in their book, The Starfish and the Spider. They note, “If you cut off a spider’s leg, it’s crippled; if you cut off its head, it dies. But if you cut off a starfish’s leg it grows a new one, and the old leg can grow into an entirely new starfish.”
The Starfish and the Spider argues that organizations fall into two categories: traditional “spiders,” which have a rigid hierarchy and top-down leadership, and revolutionary “starfish,” which rely on the power of peer relationships.
Although the church teaches the giftedness of all believers (Romans 12, 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 4), we see this practiced only in a limited way in most congregations. Certainly, those who are ordained ministers are expected to function within their giftedness, but what of other disciples in the congregation?
The truth is that most churches are still tied to a 20thcentury command and control model that assumes that only certain people are qualified to make decisions. They tend to perpetuate the “great man” approach (and it is always a man), expecting a leader to arrive on the scene and rescue the congregation in its time of need. In so doing, we are ignoring the work of the Spirit among the disciples in the church and their innate leadership gifts.
As churches reassess their resources and face the reality of scarcity, perhaps they will learn to take advantage of a more diverse leadership structure within the congregation.
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