ABSTRACT
As Rupert Shortt notes, Rowan Williams’ distaste for management and strategy, coupled to his tendency to agonise inwardly at the expense of decisiveness, led to a lack of firm leadership in several key areas. First, a warm, charismatic and personal style of leadership that cuts through established party lines and tribal divisions. The distinction is a vital one to comprehend if one is to address the kind of archiepiscopal leadership that might be required. And in one sense, this distinction between organisations and institutions can act as a helpful aid in reflecting upon and discerning the contrasting attitudes in the wider Communion. Michael West’s work on collective leadership–which is evidence-based – shows that there are better outcomes, wider buy-in and longer-term followership for managers and chief executives who practice collective leadership. The concept of leadership has achieved a somewhat totemic status in the Church of England. ‘Leadership’ risks a narcissism which richer forms of institutional oversight arguably avoid, mostly.
