Leading Freely

By Eric Friesen

What does it mean to lead from a place of freedom? We have been inundated with plenty of examples of bad leadership both in the world and in the church. But that has always been the case!
This is a selection of writings, both philosophical and practical, combining blog posts and teaching resources from almost 30 years of church leadership experience. It is one part journey, one part instruction, and one part challenge to how we all need to learn to lead from a place of freedom.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Aug 15, 2023
• ISBN: 9781312232891

Book preview

This is about church leadership, but…

Why (Or what???) Leadership?

Should: The most dangerous word in the world

Are you a humble leader?

Do you suffer from ‘contemptible behaviour’?

RALPH in the leadership community

Doing a personal PTA assessment

Do you have a community of active participants?

Being and Doing

Do you have a ‘BE’ list?

Is work like family?

A Leader is not necessarily a Commander

Leadership…It’s all about relationship!

Not everything works out!

Breaking your negative thought pattern

Authority and Responsibility work well together

Freedom and infringement on the team

How do you handle power?

Is your work worth doing?

Why am I doing this?

Responding from the right place

Creating space to grow

Speak to another’s level

Do you make room for an enemy?

Broken pots holding light

Necessary Endings

A Resilient Life

A Final Thought… Sleeping Single in a Double Bed

BONUS: My Daily Skeleton

This is about church leadership, but…

You probably don’t need another book on leadership. Neither does the world, probably. Leadership is experiential and ties in tightly with the context from which it is born. It is so much about the community that at its best, it should seem natural in community. ‘Should’.

There have been plenty of terrible leadership examples within the church, through the church, and of course, because of the church. There have been plenty of terrible leadership resources that tried to shape the church. And we endured a number of scandalous church leaders who provided the leadership resources, calling it all into question.

I come from a church leadership perspective. A pastor. Trying to reconcile the need for leadership, and trying to kick out the pedestal it has been placed on.

Leadership is (should be) about us working/being/doing/living better together. The ‘what’ of leadership seems to change with each setting you find it. There is an adaptation centred around the character, the need, and the cultural setting.

If you ask a group of CEO’s, long time board members, or anyone who has worked with leadership in a variety of settings and at different times, what makes a leader…you just will not end up with one clear answer. Regardless of what the latest book out there tells you. Just have a listen to the Freakonomics podcast on the matter, it’s on episode 495. (https://freakonomics.com/podcast/why-are-there-so-many-bad-bosses-replay/)

There are some core items we can home in on, and I think it is important to do, which is why what you are reading exists. We begin with my philosophy on leadership, what I believe is at its(my) core, and then take a glance at a stack of important topics. 27 parts to the whole, representing 27 years since I took the plunge into vocational (paid) church ministry. That can be a little tricky for many people, yours truly included, and it shows in some of what I write.

This is not a heartache manual, nor is it a ‘how-to’. It is a collection of my blogposts and reflections, mostly coming out of errors and hard times, but also from some pretty great experiences. God called me into this, and God walked me through it. And as you will see, he included many great people to make the story less about ‘me’, and more about the ‘collective’ of each leadership experience. This is personal and a reflection on the practical at the same time.

If you want to read more about me and what I do, start at the website and look around: www.LeadFreely.ca/about

The goal is to lead freely. So, with all that you’ve read so far in mind, I offer some of my perspective.

Why (Or what???) Leadership?

Every person is a different bird.

If I have learned nothing else in my time ministering to people through the local church, it is that people are unique. I am a system thinker and enjoy defining the constructs of each person within their given setting, but I have yet to have stumbled upon two that are the same. Oh, there are similarities, and common triggers, and of course narratives which bind, but as hard as I might try to cookie-cutter my way through a counselling session on these basis, the higher my failure rate goes. People have different expectations coming out of the same background and storyline. People have completely different interpretations of an almost exact upbringing, much to the shock of the other. The combined narrative in a local church setting is unique. Even though the churches look similar, they somehow arrive at a unique place. Every person brings uniqueness, creating a unique setting unlike any other place on earth.

Church is just a different bird.

If I have learned nothing else in my time working as a leader within the church, that above statement has been proven true time and time again. There is much to be said about organizations and organizational theory, but so much of it can be thrown out the window when applied to the local church. There are many axioms and typologies to be applied to the generic local church, but at the end of the day every congregation has a different story. The story of each church carries a different set of stories for its leaders and leadership histories. Even the most generic system of church cannot fully apply to the average church. The average church still molds and shapes its own story and set of cultural dynamics that are unique to it within its individual setting. Even if there are many similar features to those around them, they are each a different bird.

Leadership types are just a different bird.

As much as I have railed against the idea of those called separate from the group for the sake of leadership and direction, I have been proven wrong. There are many examples of bad, controlling, dominant, or aloof leaders in the world. But they are not the