The Christian Leadership Framework synthesises the best current leadership thinking with biblical principles. It is designed to form the backbone of Christian leadership development in any Christian organisational context.
Many books and frameworks focus on a fixed set of leadership capabilities in church contexts, but those models are not readily adaptable to other contexts such as schools, not for profits and social enterprises. The Christian Leadership Framework defines the key competencies needed for any Christian organisation and forms a library of possible leadership capabilities.
A ‘capability’ is the combination of the observable knowledge, skills, abilities and personal attributes that contribute to enhanced leadership effectiveness. The Christian Leadership Framework defines 40 observable capabilities.
Not all 40 capabilities are applicable to a role. There are typically six to eight key capabilities that are relevant to any role. For example, a church planter will need different capabilities from someone working in a Christian bookstore. The key capabilities for a church planter could be: Casts vision, Catalyses, Thinks theologically, Is trustworthy, Shepherds, Disciples, Is spiritually mature and Is courageous. Relevant capabilities for someone working in a Christian bookstore may include: Manages customers, Solves problems, Communicates, Is system-oriented, Is self-disciplined and Is trustworthy.
The full map of capabilities is below.
The 40 capabilities are grouped under four key factors of leadership: Wisdom, Character, Task and People. Some of the capabilities address how leaders manage their Inner Focus of Wisdom and Character. Others address how leaders manage their Outer Focus by executing Tasks and engaging with People. The horizontal axis of the framework addresses leaders’ Relationships – with themselves and with other people – and Purpose.
Within each of the four factors – Character, Wisdom, People and Task – the Christian Leadership Framework defines the key capabilities that enhance leadership effectiveness. A sample of one of the capabilities, Is spiritually mature, is provided below.
This sample card from the Christian Leadership Framework defines the capability along with five observable behaviours you would expect from a leader who is skilled in this capability.
On the other side of the card, the overused and less skilled behaviours are defined.
An overused skill is one a leader relies on too much, which may result in a negative leadership impact. To address this, the leader may need to focus on using or developing other behaviours.
Conversely, someone who has underused skills may also display behaviours that could have negative impacts. To address this, the leader may need to focus on becoming more skilled in the capability.
How to use the Christian Leadership Framework
Using the 40 key leadership capabilities defined by the framework, an organisation can select the six to eight competencies relevant to a role or group of roles in order to achieve the organisation’s mission.
The selected capabilities are the backbone of all elements of an organisation’s people strategy. They can be used to develop:
· Customised leadership frameworks
· Organisational design
· Position descriptions
· Recruitment and selection tools
· Self-assessment tools
· 360 tools
· Leadership development tools
· Coaching tools
· Succession planning tools
For more information on how to use the Christian Leadership Framework in your organisation, please contact us for an obligation-free chat.