This week's post was slated to be an interview with Brandon Bowers, Lead Pastor of Awaken Church in Charleston, SC. Awaken is one of the fastest growing church plants in the southeast, and Brandon's leadership has been instrumental in the fellowship's success. I was really looking forward to sitting down with him to hear all about his leadership tactics and the way he is developing leaders to grow the church's mission. But alas, he was pulled in the direction of an urgent family matter today, and was forced to reschedule. This was disappointing for me and will delay me in getting the content posted that I'd planned to put out. However, Brandon's reprioritization of his schedule today represents yet another skill required of strong leaders: the ability to "call an audible."
This is actually one of the few sports terms I know. In football it means that the quarterback has to change the play at the last minute given an unexpected formation of the defense. Likewise, in other fields it means that one has the courage, confidence, and ability to adjust the team's direction given obstacles and circumstances that were not previously taken in to consideration. Sometimes there would have been no way to foresee these barriers coming in to play, and sometimes there may have been a way to foresee but it was overlooked. Nevertheless, with organizations, groups and businesses, leaders have to be able to unapologetically shift the method while maintaining the mission.
Another time I've seen this type of agility in play was after having interviewed for a job. Now I've had my fair share of post-interview rejections and usually I know it's coming because I didn't feel like it was the best fit either. But this instance was different. I'd had very strong interviews, connected with everyone I'd met within the organization and truly believed it was a good fit. After almost 2 months of a competitive interview process, I received a phone call from the person who would have been my supervisor. She explained that while I'd risen to the top 3 candidates in the pool and she appreciated my participating in this painstaking process, the Executive Director had decided to eliminate the position completely. She regretfully shared that after having reassessed the organization's needs, he realized that they needed more leadership and support in other areas of the organization than the area on which this particular position centralized. Simply put, not only did I not get the job, NO ONE got it.
Imagine my surprise. I was confused, halfway hoping she was playing some wildly unprofessional joke on me. I toyed with anger, but that wouldn't stick. Later in the day, while still feeling disappointed, I realized that this phone call had actually further endeared me to the organization. You see this was true leadership on display. Having directed this organization for 7 years, the Director had never made a hiring decision like this one so he knew it would not be easy, but going through this interview process had caused him to see some things he did not see before. Still he'd not only have to explain it to the staff, but he'd need to guard against creating ruthless critics out of the interview pool. After having further evaluated the organizational climate and thoughtfully envisioning future needs, he knew he had all the justification he needed. He was confident in his decision and therefore boldly called an audible.
It was the last thing I wanted to hear, but sometimes good leadership doesn't turn out the way we'd hoped. Sometimes it's unpopular but for the greater good. When things happen that are outside of your control or a change in your vantage point causes you to reconsider strategy, own it and take the necessary steps to reprioritize. Don't let these things break you; rather consciously develop the courage, confidence and ability to lead the shift. When you do this, your team will respond, back you up, and rise to the occasion.
As for the interview with Brandon, it's still coming, so be on the lookout for that! In the meantime consider what's rolling down your hill. Are you able to be flexible and nimble, encouraging your team members to do the same? Or are you rigid, displaying signs of fracture when things don't go the way you'd planned? Are you more tied to your method than your mission? Which is rolling down your hill: agility or fragility?
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