This post is about a leadership anti-pattern. Anti-patterns are practices or habits or patterns of behavior that should not be followed. This anti-pattern results in a feeling of unity within the leadership group of an organization, when in fact there is a good amount of ambivalence.

Ambivalence is a natural result in leadership having no stake in the outcome of the decision. Ambivalence is assent without passion or commitment. Ambivalence is approval with indifference. Ambivalence is “pushing a rope”. Ambivalence is LUKE WARM. D’ya know what our Lord said about luke warm?

I have been on leadership teams or boards with a certain amount of ambivalence where the chairperson tried to bring the group to consensus by asking for a unanimous opinion. I translate this to an ultimatum. Either you are with us or against us; you’ve got to go along to get along. COERCION. Coercion is not unity. You can’t coerce ambivalence out of a group.

I define unity in this way: A single minded passion about an outcome or possibility. That is what I believe that the leadership of our congregation should have. Failing that I would prefer passionate disagreement to single minded ambivalence. Failing that I would prefer rejection of ideas about which we are ambivalent and a search for something that we can share a passion for.

Unfortunately, leadership is about compromise, leadership is about “dealing with stuff”, leadership is about “making do”. When leadership cannot find something that it can support in unity (as I define it), then perhaps leadership simply needs to wait on the Lord to refresh and revive our passion.

So what if leaders are routinely ambivalent. What if they have nothing that they have a real passion for. Does this disqualify them as leaders? Let me ask the question a different way: What if a leader of a church did not have a passion for the mission of the church? Should that disqualify them from leadership?

My answer: If you don’t have a passion for the mission of The Church, why are you even here? Why even be a member, let alone a leader?

You and I don’t have to agree on how to accomplish the mission, or even what the mission is, but if you are ambivalent about the mission – why even bother. Your faith is no more than fire insurance, if even that. This is strong stuff – agree or disagree.