Organizational Development: Prevention & Response, Part 1
Luke Kuepfer • May 15, 2020
“What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God.” (James 4:1-2)
Conflict in any organization is inevitable, it WILL happen. There are “no” conflict-free churches, organizations, or families. The Apostle James points to humanity’s sinful desires and motives as the root cause. Here are some considerations regarding organizational conflict before we look at prevention and response in future posts:
- The end of a conflict is “never” the end of conflict. Where two human beings are present, there is always potential for conflict. Not only should we anticipate it but also see it as a way to grow stronger relationships.
- It takes two to have a conflict. While sometimes one party is mostly to blame, it’s always up to both parties to resolve it. (Matthew 5:23-24 & 18:21-35 make that quite clear...I’ve blogged more on that here.)
- With change comes the potential for conflict—prepare for it by anticipating resistance and thinking through grace-filled responses.
- You will never please everyone so don’t even try. The goal is not to please people but your Audience of One. Stay focused on your shared mission and maintain loving and respectful responses with everyone.
- Ignoring conflict only makes it worse. “Let sleeping dogs lie,” some say. Problem is, they eventually wake up and bite! Conflicts that fester intensify and poison relationships in an organization. Resolve differences quickly!
- Leaders MUST overcome their fear of facing and dealing with conflict. Better to work through conflict than suffer the greater consequences of ignoring it!
[Next week we will discuss some key points about preventing organizational conflict.]
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Organizations allow individuals to work together to accomplish things that they could not accomplish by themselves.
God wants each of us and the organizations we lead to always strive to do everything in an excellent and effective manner.
A long-range (strategic) plan serves as a “road map” to help us achieve the mission and vision that God has given us.
Leaders who develop followers grow their organization only one person at a time. But leaders who develop leaders multiply their growth.
A leader that leads, loves, and serves like Jesus must learn to use their power and influence to serve others and accomplish the mission God has given them.
Wisdom can be defined as having experience, knowledge, and good judgment. Wisdom is that character trait that enables one to live an exceptional life.
Decisions reveal the values of a leader and require obedience and dependence on God. They demand wisdom. Making decisions affects just about everything leaders do.
It is one thing for a leader to have a vision; it is quite another thing to be able to effectively communicate that vision to others so that they will embrace and internalize it.
Godly leaders must first have a vision of who God is, the future He holds for them, and a sense of what He has called them to do.
