QUESTION: Isn’t telling Redeemer’s leadership that things need to change or you will take action that you know could result in the closure of the school a form of threatening the school and the leadership?
Firm accountability can feel threatening, particularly in cultures that value “to-each-their-own”, because it says that change needs to happen rather than making change a request or option and provides a reasonable consequence. Understandably, the person or organization may have an initial reaction of “You can’t tell me what to do” and they may be afraid of the broader repercussions of the consequence they are now facing. However, to express that there are boundaries, expectations, and consequences that result from our choices is very healthy and a part of helping communities grow.
Communities are larger systems and loving a person or an organization enough to say “what you are doing is not okay and needs to change or stop entirely, you are hurting yourself and others” not only has the opportunity to create constructive outcomes for them as part of a larger growth experience but to constructively influence outcomes for everyone within their sphere of influence. The process becomes more complex when you are providing firm accountability for an organization because the people at the helm may not be responsible for creating the problem they now have the responsibility to work through.
A well-liked construction worker operating heavy machinery on a bridge project may not like being told they need to show up to work sober and may feel threatened when they are told that their job is on the line if they don’t, but ultimately they are in charge of their process, not at the mercy of it. The firm accountability being provided recognizes that other team members are being put at risk and compromised quality of work would put drivers crossing that bridge at risk for decades to come. The company’s leadership may already be involved in unpleasant conversations with the municipality who are angry about delayed timelines, the result of the compromised worker and not the leadership. The overarching message to the construction worker is “we want you as a member of this team” and the overarching message to the construction company is “we want you on this project”, but things can’t continue the way they are now. Firm accountability creates turning points. Either the construction worker makes constructive changes and the team and project are better off for it or the worker continues on the same path and is released and the team and project are better off for it. A few years later when the construction worker has gotten their life on a better track they can even feel grateful when they look back and recognize that they were on a downward slope that could have been much worse if they hadn’t been held accountable when they were.
It’s challenging when you first wade in. But when people face each other and engage in challenging conversations, getting past first impressions to hearing each other’s hearts and finding how each party’s strengths and areas for growth can come together in synergy to help everyone take leaps and bounds forward, it becomes an exciting process and one that consistently leads to celebration, thankfulness, and increased peace for all involved. Christians are familiar with the wording as iron sharpens iron so one man sharpens another. But that process can take time and many don’t make it past the first feelings of discomfort. Anger isn’t fun to face. When problems are particularly complex it is not unusual for initial attempts to discuss them to result in escalating the problem for a time until greater mutual understanding and common ground can be established. It’s uncomfortable, but if we run away from the process it only causes more pain. When one knows to lean into the discomfort they have the reassurance that it’s worth it because Good things have the opportunity to happen on the other side for everyone involved.