Leading Close

“If a global leader has no more than five days per year of intentional personal interaction with his or her co-laborers in a multi­national context, how can that leader appropriately serve, strengthen, inspire, align, equip, and coach those field leaders to live and lead well throughout the other 360 days?” That’s the question that started an extensive research project for my friend, Ken Cochrum. The result is his book, Close: Leading Well Across Distance and Cultures. The challenge that Ken poses is daunting, and it’s one that he’s experienced first-hand in more than two decades at Cru (Campus Crusade for Christ), many of those in senior leadership roles. It’s not just a question for Cru – an increasing number of ministry organizations are geographically and/or culturally diverse, which demands a style of leadership that is different than the old models. Even if you think the question doesn’t apply in your context, consider the mission partners that you work with or the different campuses that you manage. Ken’s quest, as described in Close, includes interviews with a large number of leaders within Cru and an extensive external survey of leadership experts and research studies. The heart of the book is a framework describing three aspects of “leading close” – servant leadership, distance leadership, and cross-cultural leadership – with a list of the “essential characteristics and competencies” for each. The chapters that unpack these three aspects include a number of interesting findings from Ken’s investigation as well as practical suggestions for effective leadership. It’s no surprise that relationship and trust are some of the keys, but discovering how to do this in a scattered, dynamic, multi-cultural environment is no small feat. Whether the scope of your leadership sphere is thousands of miles or just a few feet (my use of English units just showed my cultural bias), you need to know how to lead close. It’s easy to receive my blogs by email. Just sign-up on Feedburner by clicking here.]]>