Everything about this service differed from what happened Sunday morning. Of course, not everyone in our land of the Psalter hymnal appreciated using secular music to make a spiritual point. I should have shielded the launch team rather than highlighted concerns about the service. Because Great Groups break new ground, they are more susceptible than others to being misunderstood, resented, even feared.
Successful leaders find ways to insulate their people from bureaucratic meddling.
Unlike so many authors on group dynamics, Bennis and Biederman value both the need for leadership and the importance of teamwork. As I read Organizing Genius , I noticed how secular discussions about leadership seem more spiritual than many of the same discussions in ministry circles. They are filled with believers, not doubters, and the metaphors that they use to describe their work are commonly those of war and religion. People in Great Groups often have the zeal of converts, people who have come only recently to see some great truth and follow it wherever it leads. It seems ironic to me that while people in business, politics, and education are seeking to describe their missions in spiritual metaphors, many churches are increasingly using secular language to make their highest aspirations relevant.