{"id":1131,"date":"2026-01-11T09:52:48","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T14:52:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/withskillfulhands.com\/?p=1131"},"modified":"2026-04-01T16:20:46","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T16:20:46","slug":"the-unenviable-job-of-a-leader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/withskillfulhands.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/11\/the-unenviable-job-of-a-leader\/","title":{"rendered":"The Unenviable Job of a Leader"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I recently spent time with a pastor friend, and as we caught up he began to share some of the leadership strain he\u2019s been carrying. Several staff members were upset with him\u2014upset enough to resign\u2014over a leadership decision he had made. The issue was this: For the church\u2019s vision to move from paper to reality, restructuring was necessary. And my friend, being the kind of leader churches need, didn\u2019t avoid the hard work. He led the staff through the process carefully and intentionally. But the outcome wasn\u2019t<\/em> unanimous support. A handful of staff members had grown very comfortable with the status quo. And change threatened that comfort, so they had little interest in embracing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now here\u2019s what was really happening. My friend, as the senior leader, was thinking in terms of what would best move the church forward and fulfill her vision. A select few staff members, however, were thinking in terms of what felt most comfortable and familiar to them. So two ideologies collided. One was driven by vision fulfillment. The other was driven by personal comfort. And when those two come into conflict, leadership inevitably becomes costly. And this is why, in the title of this post, I refer to \u201cthe unenviable job of a leader.\u201d Because when a leader makes decisions based on what he genuinely believes is best for the church, someone will almost always be disappointed. Usually, it\u2019s those who feel the change doesn\u2019t serve them personally<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So how do senior leaders and staff navigate this tension?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The staff members who tend to thrive\u2014and endure\u2014under a leader\u2019s tenure are the ones who genuinely understand the senior leader\u2019s role. A senior leader\u2019s responsibility, before God and the board, is not to act in the best interest of any one individual (not even themselves), but in the best interest of the church as a whole. Of course, every senior leader would love to make decisions that keep everyone happy. But that\u2019s rarely possible\u2014and it\u2019s not the job. Leadership isn\u2019t about asking, \u201cWhat will make everyone happy?\u201d It\u2019s about asking, \u201cWhat is best for the church?\u201d Sometimes the answer to that question will benefit you directly. Other times it won\u2019t. Sometimes you\u2019ll celebrate the decision. Other times you\u2019ll feel frustrated or disappointed. But here’s what you need to remember: When a decision doesn\u2019t go your way, it isn\u2019t personal. It\u2019s not about you being overlooked or undervalued. It\u2019s about doing what’s best for the church. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And keeping that perspective changes everything. It won\u2019t make change easy\u2014but it will make it understandable. And it will help you navigate seasons of transition, especially the ones you wouldn\u2019t have chosen for yourself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I recently spent time with a pastor friend, and as we caught up he began to share some of the leadership strain he\u2019s been carrying. Several staff members were upset with him\u2014upset enough to resign\u2014over a leadership decision he had made. The issue was this: For the church\u2019s vision to move from paper to reality, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,13],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1131","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-leadership","7":"category-staff","8":"entry"},"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Mike","author_link":"https:\/\/withskillfulhands.com\/index.php\/author\/mike\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/withskillfulhands.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/withskillfulhands.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/withskillfulhands.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/withskillfulhands.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/withskillfulhands.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1131"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/withskillfulhands.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1131\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1179,"href":"https:\/\/withskillfulhands.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1131\/revisions\/1179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/withskillfulhands.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/withskillfulhands.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/withskillfulhands.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}