Essential Elements of Leadership

The following was taken from answers Dr. Barnes submitted in response to questions from the Presidential Search Committee.

The essential elements of my leadership style are based on core beliefs that come from Scripture. I want all facets of my leadership to reflect the following five principles:

+ I believe that we bear the image of God. Even though we are fatally flawed, the image of God is found in each of us. This means as a leader I should treat each person as an image bearer.

+ I believe that all who claim Christ as Lord are part of the body of Christ. In terms of my leadership, this means that I need others, I am connected to others, I am gifted, and I am not the ultimate head. While I have strong gifts of leadership, encouragement, vision setting, and administration, I need others to complement me.

+ I believe that we are to be truth seekers, truth speakers, and truth doers. This is the way Christ lived. As His follower, that should be the way I live. This means I need to be a principled decision maker. It is not always easy to identify the principle that is primary in a given situation, but that should be my goal as a leader.

+ I believe that there is a biblical rhythm to work and rest. I believe in hard work and in using one's gifts to God's glory. I believe that God gives us abilities and passions that guide us in the effective use of our gifts over the course of a lifetime. I also believe that God created us with a need for rest in order to reflect and recharge. When we ignore that need for rest, we violate the creation order that God intended. Part of my role as a leader is to model both the hard work and the needed rest.

+ I believe that we should view our work as a holy calling. In a place like Bethel University, this seems particularly important as we nurture students toward holistic maturity. This sense of calling makes my leadership purposeful, celebrative, and joyful. I want my leadership style to reflect these qualities, and I want to have the campus culture do so as well. It is my job as a leader to help people sense that God is at work in us and that what we are doing is to be done to His glory.