There must have been church
leaders who had a sneaking envy of Tesco – the efficiency, the decisiveness,
the way people obeyed orders, the growth and the aura of success. Tesco is now
unravelling and we are seeing some of the consequences of that one-way
leadership. According to a recent article, right to the top, people had to give good news about their
departments or risk at least being humiliated in public, or fired. The most
senior management were insulated from any bad news about what was going on, and
isolated from any different ideas or new conversation which could have helped
them change direction and develop anything new for their company.
MODEM is a hub where different
ideas about leadership, management and ministry can meet, a space where those
ideas can be discussed and played with, and a conversation as we work together
on how those ideas can be improved, and how they can be applied in our own
situations. Many of us are suspicious of anyone who tells us how to lead or
manage. That is a one-way leadership conversation, and they do not know our
situation as well as we do. It is completely different if we have the
opportunity to take others’ ideas, discuss them and think them through for
ourselves.
Our annual conference is a hub for such conversations. It gives us
the chance to listen to distinguished speakers who have thought long and hard
about what they are saying, and to talk to them and each other as we work
through their ideas. This year we are enhancing that conversation by starting
it before the conference and continuing it afterwards, all through the wonders
of blogging. Not only does this mean that we can get our ideas going earlier
and keep them going afterwards, but it also means that many more of us in the
MODEM community can think together.
Even if you are unlucky enough not to be
able to get to the conference, please join the conversation through this blog and help us all to get working on a multi-way conversation.
David Sims
Chair, MODEM
Welcome to Modem's 2014 conference blog.
This blog is designed to help promote conversations before, during and after Modem's annual conference in London on 2 December.
You can find details of the conference, including how to book, here.
The team organising the conference is made up of
Tim Harle, Modem Vice-Chair,
Sue Miller, Methodist Church, and
Rob Sharp, Salford University.
In addition to our blogs, you may find entries from Modem's Chair, David Sims (DS), and Secretary, Derek McAuley (DM).
If there's a topic you'd like to see discussed at the conference, please add a comment or send us an email.
If you'd like to submit a Proposal for a short presentation on a piece of research, case study, or just something you're passionate about, please email us a short (max 250 word) summary.
We look forward to hearing from you, and our conversations together.
Tim, Sue & Rob
