MergonAdmin, Author at Mergon

July 30, 2020September 4, 2023

Leadership in the four phases of crisis

Watch the full webinar here.

In this Elevate Leadership Webinar Paul Donders brings clarity to leading in the four phases of a crisis, equips us with the tools to thrive, and inspires us to think ahead.

According to Paul, leaders need to be aware of and prepared for four different phases during the COVID-19 crisis. ‘All four phases are important – even if you aren’t there yet. As leaders, we need to be with our teams and support them where they are at, but at the same time, we have to already live in the next phase mentally and emotionally. That is the challenge for leaders,’ he says.

So what are the four phases and how do you give leadership in each of these phases?

Surviving phase

The first phase is surviving – you are thrown into deep waters and you have no boat. The survival phase is a time of mourning and fear – the people you serve have lost many things including freedom, money, security and health.

‘The good news is, in the Bible, there are 365 verses about fear – one for every day. God knows that fear is a normal thing that can and will happen,’ says Paul.

In this phase, there is a need for understanding and basic security for the people you lead and there is a need to find some rhythm in daily life.

Two leadership styles are very important in the survival phase:

Empathic leadership: Be with your team, ask good questions and listen to them. Accept their pain and fear. This is not a time for lecturing or preaching. Instead, listen to your team and make sure they know you are there for them.

Robust leadership: Provide ideas for daily rhythms for a healthy lifestyle. People need daily exercise, quiet time, healthy food and sleep. Provide your team with ideas to get into these habits. Enable your people to be productive in small actions. Find out what people can produce on a daily basis and provide them with the tools they need.

Coping phase

When you arrive in the coping phase, you have learned to handle the situation – the working from home, the Zoom calls, and everything that comes with the COVID-19 restrictions.

The initial shock is over, and now you need to discover the new reality of how the world works. You have now found a lifeboat, but you are still in rough waters. You’re not surviving anymore, but coping with the wildness of the crisis.

In this phase there are three types of leadership styles:

Adaptive leadership: Grow in adaptive quotient. This is the phase where every member of your team can learn to be more adaptive. Translate your unique skills into the tools you need in this new world. Transform your products so they add real value to your customers.

Resilient leadership: Train yourself and your team in the seven resilience competencies and get ready for the marathon. Build up social and structural resources (e.g positive friends, a culture of feedback, surroundings where people can do what they do best, healthy finances).

Communicative leadership: Communicate seven times more than usual. Communication needs to be daily and weekly. Be honest, informative, personal (share your personal fear and challenges) and be helpful.

Restoring phase

In this phase, you need to build resilience in the depth and width of your organisation. In the coping phase, you were building resilience on a personal level, now you are building it in the organisation – in the systems, communication and finances.

There is now a need to refocus the mission so that everyone in your team can align their efforts for the common good. When you’re in the phase of restoring your organisation to its previous state, you need to think about getting off the lifeboat (of the coping phase) and start building a bigger boat.

In this phase there are also three important leadership styles:

Architectonic leadership: Build resilience in all systems of your organisation and build your foundation well. Design effective structures, systems and meetings. Grow in productivity again.

Mission-driven leadership: Refocus your mission to be relevant in this new world. Redefine your DNA, morals and value code because mission-driven leadership also needs a healthy base of culture. Inspire all stakeholders – internal and external – and invite them to become a part of the mission.

Customer-oriented leadership: Mediocrity in customer service is no longer accepted. Even as an NGO, people rate you on the level of your customer service. Redesign the customer journey. As a leader, be the example of customer service inspiration.

Empowering leadership: Train your next-level leadership to grow into their full potential. Meet with each one of them, one-on-one, weekly. Give trust in a generous way. Search, select, integrate and develop the right people that will embody your renewed mission and culture.

Transformational phase

In this phase, you need to build an expedition ship – a really strong boat that will enable you to discover new worlds. Transform your culture into the one you need for the new world you want to discover. In this phase, you will need energy to finish the marathon!

The three leadership styles in the transformational phase are:

Dreaming leadership: Take an eagle eye’s view of your organisation’s whole journey. Dare to dream! Discover the challenges and questions of tomorrow.

Design-thinking leadership: Team up with strategic thinkers and work through all the phases of design thinking (inspiration, ideation, implementation).

Cultural leadership: Shape your culture, set it deep in people’s minds, and secure the implementation on all levels. Transform your organisation into a healthy future-proof identity.

The challenge to leaders is to be one or two phases ahead of where our team and organisation are. Ask yourself, where are you and your team in the four phases? What is your next step to grow?

Paul Donders is chairman of the board of X-pand International, CEO of X-pand Nederland, and managing partner of X-pand South Africa. His passion is to help professionals and leaders discover their unique talents to grow into their full potential in a healthy way. He inspires other leaders to break through barriers by navigating complexities with greater confidence.

July 14, 2020September 4, 2023

Emotional resilience in tough times

Watch the full webinar here.

The cumulative strains and stresses of the past few months have resulted in a large number of emotionally fatigued leaders, which is not something we can afford to ignore.

In the first Mergon Elevate Leadership webinar, we heard from Dr George Roux, a seasoned psychologist, on how leaders can practically take care of themselves and build emotional resilience. Dr Roux has worked extensively with ministry leaders and has an intuitive understanding of leaders’ needs and how to serve them towards emotional health.

‘The impact the virus has had on the world has been catastrophic, on the economic front but also on a personal level,’ says Dr Roux. ‘It’s influencing our overall well being – physically and psychologically.’

‘Statistics show that 35% of the South African population is suffering from a psychological stress-related illness, whether it’s anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, or burnout,’ he explains.

Time to reflect

Dr Roux says it’s crucial for leaders to become aware of how they are coping. Leaders need to become aware of how this time has impacted them by asking themselves what has happened (or is happening) to them emotionally, physically, spiritually, and in their relationships. As leaders have been taking care of others, they now need to prioritise taking care of themselves.

‘If we think of a car’s instrument panel on the dashboard: there are two red lights that we need to be very aware of. The one is measuring the temperature of the car and the other one is measuring the oil temperature of the engine. If either of these flicker, we are trained to stop the car immediately because if we don’t, we’ll cease the engine. The same should apply to leaders – when the red lights are flickering, whether it’s stress, anxiety, depression or burnout, you need to stop and measure yourself,’ he explains.

Dr Roux has compiled four short questionnaires to help measure stress, anxiety, depression and burnout – the four biggest issues people are struggling with at the moment.

Building resilience

Resilience can be described as the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties or to bounce back from setbacks and trauma. Resilient leaders also carry the responsibility for helping to protect the people in their teams. But how do we become resilient leaders?

1. A resilient leader is an honest leader. This is not the time to pretend that we ‘have it all together’. This is a wonderful opportunity to admit to ourselves, as well as to our teams and those we serve, that we are all vulnerable. There is something freeing in being vulnerable and acknowledging that we don’t have all the answers and that we’re all battling with the uncertainties.

2. The situation we’re in is also an invitation to start thinking outside of the box again. This is, in a sense, a ‘half-time’ experience for us where instead of focussing on success, we need to rather focus on significance. Have honest conversations with your teams and invite them to participate and give their input. Use this time to brainstorm new ideas, new vision, new goals as well as new strategies.

3. Remember that we are human beings, not human doings. Being with God is far more important than doing for God. It’s not about all that we do, but also about who we are. To become resilient leaders, we have to freshly clothe ourselves in our true identity – our identity in Christ. We have to remind ourselves that the most important thing in life is not our ministry, nor is it the people we serve – it’s our families and those closest to us. We shouldn’t be in ministry if it is to the detriment of our own health or our at the expense of our most important relationships.

4. This time should also be an invitation into grace and faith. God will not let us down. Remind yourself and your team that it’s not your ministry, it’s God’s ministry. He has provided in the past and He will continue to provide. We can relinquish all our concerns to him.

How do I assist my team during this period?

1. Your openness and vulnerability as a leader should be an invitation to your team to share. Ask them how they are coping and what their fears and concerns are. Also, remember to ask them to complete the four questionnaires:

2. Involve each person on your team to join in brainstorming sessions to find new solutions.

3. Protect the members of your team. Make sure your team members have personal protective equipment in place.

4. Be patient with yourself, your family, and your colleagues.

5. Meet regularly with your team to support and encourage one another, and to pray and laugh together. Focus first on your team before your ministry.

6. Don’t focus on the things that are out of your control. Instead, focus on the positives, the things that are within your control.

Mergon’s Elevate Leadership Webinars has been curated specifically for the tough season we’re in. The next Elevate webinar will take place on 21 July 2020, presented by Paul Donders on the topic of ‘Phases of leadership in crisis’.

February 20, 2020September 4, 2023

Cultivating a culture of prayer

Written by Etienne Piek*

Dear Mergonites

What an amazing time it is to be alive and serving God, knowing that we are not dependant on our own strength or abilities but His grace and His providence. We have spoken in broad terms about the importance of prayer in all that we do here at Mergon and in the months to come we aim to create more opportunities for corporate and personal prayer at the respective offices. As our different offices have a somewhat different rhythm and culture, we would like to invite each office to build and foster their own rhythms of prayer to fit their context.

From our side we will be sending regular updates on the many aspects of prayer and we would love to receive your feedback, input and testimonies.

Let’s start off with what Prayer is!

As a group we respond to God’s call in 1 Tim. 4:1-2: “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people – for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.”

Prayer is seen not as a function or isolated discipline, but indeed as an integrated lifestyle that is centre to the life of a Christ-follower. As John Wesley put it: “God will do nothing but in answer to prayer. Whether we think of, or speak to, God, whether we act or suffer for him, all is prayer, when we have no other object than his love, and the desire of pleasing him. Proceed with much prayer, and your way will be made plain.”

Prayer is in a sense much more about the pray-er as it is about the prayer. When we respond to God’s invitation to “ask in His Name” it is as much about what happens within the one who prays than what he/she prays for. Prayer is relationship and it is within the confines of this relationship that the power that raised Jesus from the dead is released to change the heart of the pray-er towards His Kingdom and the things that breaks His heart.

Prayer is simple words from simple people towards their heavenly Father to see His Kingdom come. It is often expressed in wordless adoration and waiting upon God to move in the heart of the pray-er and therefore not a forced rhythm filled with impressive and theologically loaded words.

Prayer will be fostered as a relationship/conversation between God and His called people, acknowledging different kinds of prayers at different times by different kinds of people. In the words of Richard Foster: “And so I urge you: carry on an ongoing conversation with God about the daily stuff of life, a little like Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof. For now, do not worry about ‘proper’ praying, just talk to God.”

Let’s pray!

(Etienne Piek* is the Regional Manager (South Africa) at the Mergon Foundation)

January 29, 2020September 4, 2023

Witnessing extraordinary impact

Written by Neil Hart, Executive Head, Mergon Foundation

The world is a small place, but there sure is a lot of ground to cover. There are 7111 languages spoken in the world today, of which 23 account for more than half of the world’s population. Over a quarter of all these do not have a single word of scripture translated. Over 100 tribes remain ‘uncontacted’ meaning no outsider has ever been in meaningful contact with them, nor does any language translation exist to communicate with them.

Within this complexity, many great gains have been made, like reducing extreme poverty (people living on less than $2 a day (from 42% in 1980 to 10% in 2015) and famine has vastly decreased (according to The NY Times: ‘People often think that famine is routine, but the last famine recognized by the World Food Program struck just part of one state in South Sudan and lasted for only a few months in 2017). Literacy is increasing sharply, Infectious diseases are decreasing, child deaths have halved in just a few decades. Much of this is as a result of organisations led by smart and compassionate people who have given their lives and/or finances to see the changes come about that society so desperately needs.

At Mergon, we have the great privilege of partnering with many such organisations. I want to tell you three stories of what we see happening across the regions we are involved in and to celebrate these wonderful people whose hearts have been moved by God to do extraordinary things:

In Lebanon, millions of children displaced from their countries are left with no clear future; they have lost their homes, friends, security, identity and even families. One of our ministry partners in Lebanon provides a safe haven for children, mothers and families. Here children receive a good education and are being well prepared for their return to Syria. Many of these will complete their education in Syria and will also rebuild society, their communities and a country from a biblical world view, giving them a future that could have been completely stolen from them.

In Abidjan, Ivory Coast, Younoussa and his wife, Alphonsine, are working with children and students in a country with 59% of the population under the age of 24! God opened their eyes to the needs in their own city. Using the tools and methodologies they honed over years in the mission field, they started discipling children living on the streets, seeing them discover Christ, being baptised and teaching them in turn to make disciples. In the process, they’ve seen many of these kids return to their homes, find jobs and will be trained in various skills. Amongst many other things they are training leaders, running a Bible correspondence course and coaching multiple church planters who are being sent out consistently. They are giants in the Kingdom, yet when you sit with them, you experience a loving humility always ready to give more.

In South Africa, we are partnering with so many God-glorifying ministries. Johan and Astrid from Victory4All left the Netherlands in 2002 to come and serve less privileged children around Jeffreys Bay with the aim of bringing lasting change. They have since invested millions of rand in the community with a specific focus on education. Their King’s College currently reaches 350 learners up to Grade 4 with excellent education and an intentional focus to introduce the kids to Christ and disciple them to become agents of transformation in South Africa.

Would you join us in prayer for God’s kingdom to continually expand. It truly is the best news for living on planet earth. His Kingdom is peace, it is joy and it brings healing and forgiveness and grace with it. We celebrate the selfless work that our Mergon partners do in bringing His Kingdom into the dark places of this world.

Author: MergonAdmin

Emotional resilience in tough times

Cultivating a culture of prayer

Witnessing extraordinary impact

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