Hit the Ground Kneeling: Seeing Leadership Differently

By Stephen Cottrell

When someone hits the ground running, there is all the superficial attraction of movement and progress. But there is no guarantee that they are going in the right direction.’

In Hit The Ground Kneeling, Stephen Cottrell takes common statements about leadership – statements that we often take for granted – and challenges them in the light of the Christian faith and Christian perspectives on leadership.

Wherever you exercise leadership (at work, organizing a home, or doing something like coaching a local football team), the author playfully suggests some models of leadership that can help you – whether or not you reckon you’re a Christian.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Church House Publishing
• Release date: Aug 31, 2021
• ISBN: 9781781402863

Stephen Cottrell

Stephen Cottrell is the Archbishop of York.

Book preview

Hit the Ground Kneeling

Hit the Ground Kneeling

Seeing leadership differently

Stephen Cottrell

prayer.jpgCHPlogo.jpg

ISBN 978 1 78140 285 6

Published 2008 and new edition 2021 by Church House Publishing

Copyright © Stephen Cottrell 2008, 2021

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or stored or transmitted by any means or in any form, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system without written permission which should be sought from the Copyright Administrator, Church House Publishing, Church House, Great Smith Street, London SW1P 3AZ.

Email: [e-mail]

The opinions expressed in this book are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy of the General Synod or The Archbishops’ Council of the Church of England.

The Scripture quotations contained herein are from The New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Anglicized Edition, copyright © 1989, 1995 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America, and are used by permission. All rights reserved.

Cover design by www.penguinboy.net

Typeset by ForDesign

Printed in England by CPI Group (UK) Ltd

Desire without knowledge is not good, and

one who moves too hurriedly misses the way.

Proverbs 19.2

Blessed are you if you reflect before you act

and laugh before you reflect; you will avoid

doing many stupid things.

Bernardo Olivera OCSO

The parable of the trees

The trees once went out

to anoint a king over themselves.

So they said to the olive tree,

‘Reign over us.’

The olive tree answered them,

‘Shall I stop producing my rich oil

by which gods and mortals are honoured,

and go to sway over the trees?’

Then the trees said to the fig tree,

‘You come and reign over us.’

But the fig tree answered them,

‘Shall I stop producing my sweetness

and my delicious fruit,

and go to sway over the trees?’

Then the trees said to the vine,

‘You come and reign over us.’

But the vine said to them,

‘Shall I stop producing my wine

that cheers gods and mortals,

and go to sway over the trees?’

So all the trees said to the bramble,

‘You come and reign over us.’

And the bramble said to the trees,

‘If in good faith you are anointing me king over you,

then come and take refuge in my shade;

but if not, let fire come out of the bramble

and devour the cedars of Lebanon.’

Judges 9.8-15

Contents

Preface

Introduction

1. Jumping off the bandwagon

2. And hitting the ground kneeling

3. Letting the grass grow under your feet

4. Stating the obvious

5. Spoiling the broth

6. Counting your chickens before they’ve hatched

7. Reinventing the wheel

8. Shedding the thick skin

9. A final thought

10. The whole book in one paragraph!

Preface

There are many people to thank for helping make this book happen. Kathryn Pritchard at Church House Publishing has, as ever, been a constant source of encouragement and common sense. But I wish to thank all the team at Church House Publishing for their commitment to this project. They are great to work with.

A chat over a cup of coffee with my elder brother, David, confirmed me in a few hunches, helped rectify a few mistakes and make good a few omissions. He probably won’t remember the conversation, but I asked him what he thought made a good leader and the few things he said off the cuff, and from a very different experience of leadership, were most useful in the final edit of this book. Paul Bayes also added some extremely helpful comments.

Some of the material was road-tested on a headteachers’ conference in Oxford, a clergy chapter in Abingdon and a meeting of all the chairs of diocesan synods at their annual gathering in Launde Abbey.

Most of this book draws on the good leadership I have experienced from passionate and committed people over many, many years. In particular, I remember and give thanks for the lives of certain schoolteachers and clergy who have led and cajoled me, helped bring out the best in me, and showed me how to lead others. In particular, I would like to name Robert Warren, James Lawrence, Richard Giles, Eric Kemp, Nigel McCulloch and David Hope. But of course I am still learning. That is one of the main messages of this book: the good leader never stops being a good follower.

Most recently, in the Oxford Diocese, I have been helped enormously by our Developing Servant Leadership programme. This has required me to think deeply about my own leadership, about how we share leadership with others and how we train people to lead well. I particularly thank Keith Lamdin for his part in this programme: some of the thinking in this book has been shaped by his creativity and encouragement.

Finally, like all authors of books that appear to tell others what to do, I must publish a disclaimer: I do not practise what I preach with nearly as much integrity as I would wish. Those who know me will know my failings. But I do try to be a learner, and in this way I aspire to be an effective leader. Here are some of the fruits of my learning, which I hope will encourage others. They flow from the wisdom of the Christian tradition. But I dare to think they are relevant for everyone. Our world needs good leadership.

Stephen Cottrell

June 2008

Introduction

This is a book about leadership. It is written from a Christian perspective with Christian leaders in mind. But it is also written out of the conviction that the Christian faith and Christian perspectives on leadership have much to offer everyone. For whoever we are, and whatever our responsibilities, all of us exercise leadership somewhere in our lives. It might be that we coach a local football team, or run a choir, or head up a large multinational company, or it might be something really important, such as a family. Often we exercise leadership in several different areas at once. And often that leadership is shared. But to one degree or another we are all leaders.

A lot of popular thinking about leadership, however, seems to suggest that the leader is a single figure, an isolated figure, a lonely figure: someone at the top and leading from the front. This book suggests that there are other ways of leading (from the back or in the middle, for instance) and also dares to propose that the world hasn’t necessarily got all the answers. There is some ancient wisdom in the Christian tradition that the Church needs to rediscover and that the world could benefit from learning.

Because I am a bishop in the Church of England, most of the examples I use will inevitably be from the life of the Church and I suppose my primary audience is clergy and other Church leaders. But I am also a parent, working with my wife to lead

Reviews for Hit the Ground Kneeling

[juliette07_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This short but eminently readable book is a must for all those in leadership who wish to question and challenge many of the common statements that are so often quoted in the ‘how to be a great leader’ genre. The author challenges these in the light of the Christian faith and Christian perspectives on leadership. With an engaging style Stephen Cottrell gives us food for thought and suggests alternatives with much turning upside down of taken for granted assumptions. He uses the phrase ‘upside down wisdom’ and concludes that true leadership means to serve. A thought provoking book for leaders – highly recommended.