The Role of Leadership

Now, the fact that you have this material and are reading it tells us something very important about you. You are a leader. You have the opportunity to make an impact on the lives of others. And it's our guess that you want to be as faithful as you can be with that privilege and responsibility. We believe the G3 strategy of assimilation and study will help you to do that.

Effective leaders are constantly innovating. They are always looking for the most effective ways to accomplish their goals.

The Uber Analogy by Carey Niewhouf

For instance, let's take a look at the amazing rise of Uber, a ride-hail company similar to a taxi service but that works off an app. This company, originating out of San Francisco, took over a major portion of the market share of cab revenue before most of the population even knew what it was about. Uber has disrupted — with a good bit of controversy — the taxi industry, which has operated basically in the same fashion for almost one hundred years. How does that happen, and what can the church learn from it?

Carey Niewhouf cites seven key learnings for the church from the lesson of Uber.

1. OWNING A GREAT TAXI CAB IS NO LONGER ENOUGH.

In an age where everyone used taxis, having a clean cab, or a slightly less expensive cab, or a larger fleet of cabs that provided quick service was a competitive advantage. Not so when an industry gets disrupted. Uber uses ordinary people's cars and allows users to rate drivers for their friendliness and cooperation. And they offer [a] price that's meaningfully below a typical cab ride. In the age of Uber, you can have the best taxi cab in town and still be out of business.

What can church leaders learn from this? Polishing a current model of ministry to make it better often comes at the expense of true innovation.

2. INNOVATION DOESN'T ASK FOR APPROVAL.

Uber innovated in three primary areas that the taxi industry never did: they lowered the price, enlisted anyone who wanted to drive as a driver and gave consumers the ability to instantly call a car via their phones.

Are there problems with Uber? Sure ... many think Uber needs some regulation. But that's not the point. The point is they already won real market share before most people even knew what was happening. Uber is a great example of how innovation changes things rapidly. Cities and the taxi industry are catching up with Uber long after the love affair between many consumers and Uber began. This is a note to denominations and even churches with large bureaucracies.

Innovation doesn't ask for approval. It just happens — much to the annoyance of existing power structures, which tend to be about preserving what has been.

3. FIGHTING CHANGE DOESN'T STOP CHANGE.

It's rather surprising to see how angry and opposed taxi cab owners have become in their opposition to Uber.

Their opposition has even spilled to violence on the streets. This is nothing new. The Luddites famously fought the invention of motorized textile looms, smashing and burning the new technology. They lost.

Fighting change doesn't stop change. The best leaders see change and adapt to it, never compromising the mission but reinventing the methods (which is exactly what Uber is doing). Complaining about change doesn't change anything either.

4. WHEN YOU CONFUSE METHOD WITH MISSION, YOU LOSE.

Taxi cabs have been a method of temporary transportation for a century. But the mission behind the taxi industry is transportation. Uber never mistook the method for the mission. It appears that the taxi industry has done just that. We all get wedded to our methods ... The church is seriously in danger of confusing method with mission.

The cab industry could have become innovative and pioneered Uber-like service and innovation. But it didn't. When someone came along with a more popular method, they grew defensive. Now it looks like the cab industry is far more wedded to their method than they are to their mission.

Know any churches like that?

5. YOUR PAST SUCCESS IS NO GUARANTEE OF YOUR FUTURE SUCCESS.

Having the best cab fleet of the 21[st] century may not matter as much as it did 5 years ago. Your past success is no guarantee of your future success. Not in the face of innovation and disruption. The best way to ensure future success is to keep experimenting and keep innovating.

When was the last time your church innovated?

6. INNOVATION SPAWNS MORE INNOVATION, WHILE DEFENSIVENESS SPAWNS DEATH.

Very little has changed in the cab industry in the last few decades. Sure, payments have become mobile and now there are TVs in some cabs (but again, TV is hardly a new invention). Uber was only an idea as recently as 2009. It launched its first service in 2010. But as young as Uber is, it has introduced black car services, car-pooling, transit and is experimenting with fresh food delivery, package delivery and so much more.

That's because an innovative culture spawns more innovation.

Meanwhile, as outlined above, the taxi industry's main response is not innovation, but a demand that Uber go away. Uber isn't going away any time soon. And even if Uber disappears, innovation won't.

Church leaders, take note. Innovation spawns more innovation. Defensiveness spawns death. So start innovating.

7. SELF-INTEREST WILL INEVITABLY LOSE TO PUBLIC INTEREST.

The church should be the least self-interested organization in the world. When we behave this way, the mission will grow.

If you watch the taxi industry's response to Uber, you can't help but conclude that the stance they've taken seems self-interested. I realize these are people who need jobs and money to feed their families, but their arguments come across as self-motivated.

Ever notice that selfishness and defensiveness are only attractive to the person being selfish and defensive?

Through lower prices, friendly service and convenience, Uber's winning the PR war because it feels like it's on the consumer's side.

Uber has problems for sure (its drivers have already gone on strike), but the difference between the vibe Uber emits and the vibe the cab industry emits is significant.

Self-interest will always lose to the public interest.

Let's bring this analogy to the G3 system. This is a new strategy. It requires innovation. The mission is timeless, but the methods are new. So as we go through this material and you come to a moment during which you think, This just won't work in our setting or We won't be able to get people to buy into this, remember the lesson from Uber. Don't be the angry taxicab driver!

In the church, we need great, innovative leaders. We yearn for leaders who not only have vision but also can share that vision in a clear and compelling way that motivates people to action....