The Starfish and the Spirit: Unleashing the Leadership Potential of Churches and Organizations
The Starfish and the Spirit: Unleashing the Leadership Potential of Churches and Organizations by Lance Ford, Rob Wegner, and Alan Hirsch explores decentralized leadership models for church organizations. Drawing from Ori Brafman's The Starfish and the Spider, the authors contrast traditional hierarchical "spider" structures with decentralized "starfish" organizations, which can function without a rigid central authority and are more adaptable to external changes.
Decentralized Leadership: The book advocates for leadership models that distribute authority, fostering agility and resilience within church communities.
Hybrid Structures: Rather than replacing hierarchical systems entirely, the authors propose hybrid models—"Spiderfish" (leaning toward centralization) and "Starder" (leaning toward decentralization)—to balance structure with flexibility.
Leader Multiplication: Emphasizing the importance of cultivating leaders "in the middle" rather than solely at the top, the book encourages creating a culture where leadership development is a communal responsibility, leading to natural reproduction of multiple generations of leaders.
Missional Communities: The authors advocate for viewing church leaders as curators of a community on mission, facilitating environments where members are empowered to engage actively in the church's mission.
By adopting these principles, the book suggests that churches can become more adaptive, resilient, and effective in their mission.
Read the book.