The members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are in the New Testament (NT) this year.¹ The last time we were deep in the NT, we were naive to leadership in times of national and world stress. We had experienced so many years of bliss that we forgot what being a leader meant. COVID-19 struck just after we finished our last study of the NT. As we have explore the NT, I hope we pay special heed to the leadership exemplified by John, Jesus, Peter, and Paul.

Before I dive into the leadership principles, we should examine the world in which our NT heroes lived. David Bently Hart’s New Testament Translation discusses the leaders of the NT in his introduction and how they would have felt to many of us today.

David Bently Hart and the New Testament

Th[e] extremism [of the New Testament] is not merely an occasional hyperbolic presence in the texts or an infrequent intonation sounded only in their most urgent moments; [Extremism] is their entire cultural and spiritual atmosphere. … In regard to these texts, the qualified, moderate, commonsense interpretation is always false.

David Bently Hart, The New Testament, Yale University Press

He then helps us understand the early Christians with the following.

Most of us would find Christians truly cast in the New Testament mold fairly obnoxious: civically reprobate, ideologically unsound, economically destructive, politically irresponsible, socially discreditable, and really just a bit indecent.

I doubt we would think highly of their kind if we met them today. Then again, those who have tried to be like them have always been few.

David Bently Hart, The New Testament, Yale University Press

As we read the NT, we experience a Savior and a people driven by leadership, not management. We feel it in how John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazareth taught and moved among the people. I had never been forced to think about those early Christians as clearly as David Hart made me feel. He helped me see a people, including Jesus, that were leaders, not managers.

Hugh Nibley on Leaders and Managers

In Hugh Nibley’s 1983 speech ‘Leaders and Managers’ he explains,

Leadership can no more be taught than creativity or how to be a genius. The [Prussian Generals] tried desperately for a hundred years to train up a generation of leaders for the German army, but it never worked, because the men who delighted their superiors (the managers, got the high commands, while the men who delighted the lower ranks (the leaders) got reprimands. Leaders are movers and shakers, original, inventive, unpredictable, imaginative, full of surprises that discomfit the enemy in war and the main office in peace. For managers are safe, conservative, predictable, conforming organization men and team players, dedicated to the establishment.

He then connects us back to David Hart’s words,

For the qualities of leadership are the same in all fields, the leader being simply the one who sets the highest example; and to do that and open the way to greater light and knowledge, the leader must break the mold. … In a forgotten time, before the Spirit was exchanged for the office and inspired leadership for ambitious management, these [graduation] robes were designed to represent withdrawal from the things of this world—as the temple robes still do.

He then calls out the current generation of management,

Where would management be without the inflexible paper processing, dress standards, attention to proper social, political, and religious affiliation, and vigilant watch over habits and attitudes that gratify the stockholders and satisfy security?

Can we see the leader in Jesus? Did he ‘break the mold?’ Does he give less heed to dress standards and religious affiliations? I see our Savior as a ‘mover and shaker, original, inventive, unpredictable, imaginative, and full of surprises.’

When we talk about Leaders, as David and Hugh have done, it is hard to identify the attributes instead of the effects of their leadership or management. Bertram’s six bases of power helps us understand the attributes that make one a leader or a manager. I think these bases of power help us see how Jesus lead.

Bertram Raven’s six bases of power

In a recent Fast Company article, Ludmila Praslova shared a summary of Bertram Raven’s six bases of power that he primarily developed with John French. I have organized these six bases into those of managers and those of leaders. Here is the six-element version of the framework by Ludmila (with some minor edits):

Managers

1. Legitimate power, such as a supervisor’s job title, is inherent in a position. The title signals that the individual has the legitimate authority to be in charge. This “because I said so” power is often supported by the following two power sources: “because I can reward you” and “because I can punish you.”
2. Reward Power stems from the ability to grant bonuses, raises, promotions, and privileges.
3. Coercive power relies on punishing via termination, demotion, undesirable scheduling, or unpleasant assignments. The effectiveness of coercive power may be limited by resistance to it. Reward and coercive power require surveillance and effective use of positional authority, rewards, and punishments. However, the other types of power are unrestricted by surveillance or the need to exert power nonstop.

Leaders

1. Referent power is based on our identification with leaders and the intrinsic desire to follow their example.
2. Expert Power stems from our belief that the leader has a deeper understanding of relevant topics and “knows best.”
3. Informational Influence/power goes beyond the expert power by adding an element of learning. The leader knows best, and the follower develops an advanced understanding of why something is “best.” As a result, followers experience a change of mind and know the reason for action. Raven called this a “socially independent change” that the leader might have initiated but continues without further leadership effort. People may not even remember who was the source of change.

The Leadership of Jesus

Interestingly, His disciples wanted a Savior who used coercive power for His enemies and rewards power for His friends. They so often identified with His legitimate power. They wanted him to be a manager.

However, I hope we see the attributes of Jesus in those listed under leader above. He leads. We have an intrinsic desire to follow Him and to depend on His more profound understanding of relevant topics. He promises us a change of mind and has started a change in the world that continues beyond His original initiation.

Jesus was a ‘mover and shaker, original, inventive, unpredictable, imaginative, full of surprises that discomfit the enemy’ and even His followers ‘in peace’. As we read the NT, I hope we examine it for the testimony of leadership and the animosity to management that it contains. We should read it to see Jesus, not an idol of Jesus who looks a lot like a manager.

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