We don’t do our churches any favours by being wimpy and indecisive; identifying and celebrating our quirks is not the gateway to communism or being un-American, and autocratic leadership is not as evil as it’s made out to be, according to John Voelz in his book Quirky Leadership: Permission Granted. We can celebrate creativity, diversity, freedom and permission, but we don’t have to be afraid of well-defined boundaries, preferences and styles.
The book discusses why church leaders should lead according to their own personality and sense of calling, rather than trying to conform to the generic leadership stereotypes advocated by the leadership literature. The author recommends setting “plumblines”, which are general principles setting out what the leader thinks is important, and which are used as the basis for decisions, so that everyone can understand the organisational philosophy.
In my opinion there is a great deal of wisdom in the book, and many usable insights for church leaders, even if they subscribe to different leadership styles. On the other hand, there is a danger in going too far with quirky leadership. As the author clearly states, church leadership is primarily about following Jesus. It is not about big-haired self-obsessed leaders developing their own cult following.