Ironies Leaders Navigate: What the Science of Power Reveals about the Art of Leadership and the Distinct Art of Church Leadership

Leaders constantly rely upon power. In fact, leadership and power have so much in common that their definitions are often functionally identical. Every act of leadership is an act of power. Hence, the better we understand power, the better we understand leadership. Then what are the consequences if, as scholars argue, different people understand power differently and often fundamentally misunderstand power? One consequence turns out to be a host of ironies.Another consequence is the opportunity to understand leadership settings better through a careful, redeeming, synergistic look at power. To this end, this book first presents roughly sixty studied, power-related dynamics, and then takes a closer look at how these dynamics clarify leadership settings. Ultimately, this study seeks a better understanding of a particular leadership setting--the local church. Challenges distinct to local churches, and The Church, are explored in marked sections. Meanwhile the book as a whole offers useful lenses through which to assess the challenges all leaders navigate.