Learn to lead from a healthy place

Ishbel Straker is a Consultant Psychiatric Nurse and one of her passions is the mental well-being within ministry. She has been working with Elim developing this provision for nearly three years and it continues to grow

Ishbel is the Founder and CEO of I Straker
Consultants, a mental health service

I have a seven-month-old baby girl – she is the final blessing that I plan to add to my brood. Those of you who have had the joy of being around babies will know this is an exciting stage of development; every day there is a newly learnt behaviour, and her progress is rapid.

We are on a countdown to walking and talking, excited to hear her first words and hoping they will be ‘Mama’ this time instead of ‘Dadda’ like my other three!

The reality is that although I am excited to hear her say Mama, I can get exhausted by my name being called out by my other three children – which feels as though it happens every moment of every day! What I am attempting to do as a parent is train them to be independent, to not need to call out for me at every potential difficulty – like not finding that pair of socks in the drawer or the packet of crisps in the cupboard! In all seriousness, I want my children to grow and learn how to navigate these problems themselves because one day I won’t be there to do this for them.

This is an important lesson in parenting and one that is transferable to many other areas, including the leadership role of a minister.

Is it not the role to enable and empower those whom a minister shepherds to find their own support structures and lean ultimately on their relationship with God? To educate and guide the congregation in their knowledge of their Creator so that when they are in distress, they can lean on this solid foundation instead of their own understanding?

Why is this an important reflection when we consider mental health? Because this is part of leading from a healthy place. To feel the confidence in leading people to true independence takes confidence in one’s own position. It can, at times, render you feeling not needed and devalued. This takes time to fathom and to remind oneself that this is the essence of healthy leadership.

If we are leading from a position of dependence, it’s important to check ourselves and consider why this is happening. Is it about us and our needs being met, or is it about the congregation’s reliance on us? It is important to consider this not only for our own mental well-being but also for those who come after us in positions of leadership – the cultures we grow are the legacies we leave behind for our successors.

This article first appeared in Direction Magazine. For further details, please click here.

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