Wednesday, August 8, 2018
We’ve all seen this happen: A woman suggests an idea or solution to a problem, only to have that idea totally ignored. Five minutes later a male counterpart suggests the same idea, and everyone lights up with enthusiasm and support. What’s going on?
Too often, female leaders undermine themselves when it comes to their use of power. These five common pitfalls are especially troublesome for women:Power is value-neutral. It is simply the capacity for influence. Whether power is good or bad depends on the means we use to gain it, how we exercise it, and for what ends.
1. Pretending power doesn’t matter
It would be lovely if ideas were the only thing that mattered, if every idea were considered on its own merit, regardless of the source. Female leaders seem particularly susceptible to the idea that a good idea should stand on its own, so we shouldn’t need to muddy a good idea with power tactics.
People of integrity often think that they want nothing to do with power, because power corrupts. Power is used by those in privilege to subjugate and control those without privilege. So we imagine we can get our leadership work done without the use of power.
John W. Gardner, founder of Common Cause and leadership advisor to presidents, defined power this way: “Power is the capacity to bring about certain intended consequences in the behavior of others.” Power is value-neutral; it is simply the capacity for influence. Whether power is good or bad depends on the means we use to gain it, how we exercise it, and for what ends.
Gardner also said, “To say a leader is preoccupied with power is like saying that a tennis player is preoccupied with making shots his opponent cannot return. Of course leaders are preoccupied with power!” Power matters when we try to get things done in service to our mission.
2. Trying to influence before accruing power
No leader walks into an organization brimming with all the power needed. Ineffective leaders often try to enact change or sell an idea before they have adequately deepened their influence reservoir. Effective leaders build their capacity for influence before they try to use it. Like a reservoir filled from three spigots, a leader accrues power from three primary sources:
- Power is granted. A legitimate outside source declares us worthy to lead. An education degree, an ordination license, a certification, an endorsement by the Bishop. All are forms of granted power that assign influence and gravitas. Sometimes women need to be more proactive about pursuing such endorsements.
- Power is assigned. We are given certain authority in decision-making and certain access to resources by the roles we occupy. Effective leaders are proactive about gaining access to information, resources, and decision-making. Where am I being excluded? Why? How can I position myself for better access?
- Power is earned. We earn power by demonstrating expertise over time. We earn power by deepening the trust of others. We earn power by charming others with charisma.
3. Promoting collaboration at the expense of your own power
Collaborative leaders help others accrue power. But if sharing power with others reduces your own influence or diminishes your leadership role, you are going about it all wrong. Power sharing is not a zero-sum game. When power is shared well, everyone’s influence capacity grows. Conversely, when a leader tries to empower others by abdicating her own authority, everyone’s influence suffers.
4. Taking resistance personally
A leader’s efforts to influence effectively produce commitment among followers. When something hasn’t gone right in the influence equation, the leader may instead experience mere compliance or even resistance. Compliance means that people are going along with you grudgingly but aren’t fully committed to your ideas. Resistance means that they are actively or passively refusing to comply with your request for action.
A good leader knows to honor resistance for what it is — data to learn from. If my influence efforts are ineffective, it means something in the influence equation isn’t working right and needs adjustment. Perhaps I didn’t have enough power to act in the first place. Perhaps I chose an influence tactic, like logical persuasion, that wasn’t right for the situation. Perhaps others have been actively trying to undermine my authority. Resistance is an invitation to reevaluate and adapt.
A leader who chooses to take resistance personally diminishes her own power base. Instead of reflecting and learning, she gets sidetracked by worrying about whether people like her. Reactiveness prevents her from renewing her pursuit of influence by other means.
5. Failing to address the inappropriate influence attempts of others
For some time, Laura has been aware of problematic behavior of her board chair. Harvey agrees with Laura in board meetings and in one-on-one exchanges. But behind the scenes, he gossips and complains to others about Laura’s choices and ideas. Laura ignores Harvey’s behavior in the hope that others will ignore him too. She doubles down on other influence tactics like emotional appeals to the people who listen to Harvey. In the end, Harvey’s undermining efforts turn most of the board leaders against Laura.
Can a leader simply ignore the bad behavior of others? Yes, but only if those behaving badly have much less power than the leader. If the problem player holds more power — whether granted, assigned, or earned — then ignoring the behavior undermines the leader’s influence.
Female leaders walk a fine line with respect to power and influence. If we ignore power dynamics, we are dismissed as ineffective leaders. If we appear to enjoy our power, we are negatively labelled. But our job as leaders is to use our power in service to mission, not to naively give it away. Avoiding these five influence traps will help you lead with greater authority and gain commitment to your ideas.
Originally published in PERSPECTIVES for Church and Synagogue Leaders, the electronic newsletter of the Congregational Consultant Group. Used by permission.
Related Resources:
- Power Is About Influence, Not Control by Lovett H. Weems, Jr.
- To the Point: Suggestions for Churches with a Clergywoman, a free Lewis Center resource
- Do Male and Female Pastors Lead Differently? by Lovett H. Weems, Jr.
- Leadership Lessons for Leaders Women and Leadership
About Author
Read more now.
Why do women leaders sometimes struggle with using their power and influence? In this episode Lewis Center Associate Director Ann Michel speaks with church consultant Susan Beaumont about how women leaders can learn to use power constructively in leadership relationships.
Listen now.
John Zehring, author of Get Your Church Ready to Grow, says it’s helpful for a church to focus its outreach on categories of people who might be more receptive to finding a new church home, such as recently divorced or widowed persons, those new to the neighborhood, or inactive members interested in reengaging.
There are many categories of people with a heightened readiness to find a church. These individuals will be most open to receiving invitations to visit your congregation and get involved. It’s helpful to identify people with a heightened readiness to find a church by brainstorming categories of people who might be most receptive to a church — for example, people who are new to the neighborhood or have recently returned to the community or inactive members who have faced a recent change or a challenge to their health, employment, or family status.Being sensitive to those with a heightened readiness will yield a better response to your invitations than just randomly inviting people.
Divorced or widowed individuals
People who are recently divorced may welcome a personal invitation to attend worship as well as the company of a member. Similarly, those who have lost a spouse or other loved one often experience a heightened interest in connecting with a community of faith. One woman described how, after her husband had died, her neighbor Peggy invited her to come to church with her. “I was lonely and ready to find a church community,” explained the new widow. Peggy was wise to recognize someone who might be seeking a church and quick to make a personal invitation. Later the women became good friends at the church, usually sitting side-by-side in worship, chatting at coffee hour, and participating in adult education programs together. Many people testify about how one person made the difference by inviting them to come at just the right time in their lives.
Be mindful that walking into a new church for the first time can be a daunting experience for anyone, but a person who has been part of a couple for years (or decades!) may find it especially awkward or uncomfortable to be suddenly single. For some, sitting alone in the pew may be sufficient reason not to attend. Entering the fellowship hall for coffee hour alone could be terrifying. Recently divorced persons may also wonder if they will be judged by others for the dissolution of their marriage.
Those facing health or employment challenges
Many people in our social circles will at some time in their lives receive an unfavorable health diagnosis. “Would you consider coming to church with me?” could be a golden invitation at a time when their receptivity is high. Today, even the highest-level professionals lose jobs because their employer downsized, reorganized, moved away, or eliminated the position. This can come as a shock to a worker who thought all was going well. Perhaps they have a readiness to add a spiritual dimension to how they process what is happening to them. What can it hurt to invite them to join you at church?
Inactive members wanting to return home
If you are acquainted with a member who has become inactive, you may sense that he or she may feel awkward about returning. The inactive member may want to return but does not want to be bombarded with well-meaning curiosity or misplaced humor. (“Look who’s coming to church today! Oh my, the walls of the church may come tumbling down.”) Here is where more than a passing invitation could be cherished: “I’d love for you to see how things are going at church. Would you come with me on Sunday? I will be happy to pick you up. Then perhaps we can go out to lunch afterward.”
There are many other categories of people with a heightened readiness to find a new faith community or return to the church they once attended. Identity those individuals or types of people and reach out to them. Being sensitive to those with a heightened readiness will yield a better response to your invitations than just randomly inviting people.
Excerpted from Get Your Church Ready to Grow: A Guide to Building Attendance and Participation by John Zehring, copyright © 2018 by Judson Press. Used by permission of Judson Press, www.judsonpress.com.
Related Resources:
Episode 16
Listen now.
There are many categories of people with a heightened readiness to find a church. These individuals will be most open to receiving invitations to visit your congregation and get involved. It’s helpful to identify people with a heightened readiness to find a church by brainstorming categories of people who might be most receptive to a church — for example, people who are new to the neighborhood or have recently returned to the community or inactive members who have faced a recent change or a challenge to their health, employment, or family status.Being sensitive to those with a heightened readiness will yield a better response to your invitations than just randomly inviting people.
Divorced or widowed individuals
People who are recently divorced may welcome a personal invitation to attend worship as well as the company of a member. Similarly, those who have lost a spouse or other loved one often experience a heightened interest in connecting with a community of faith. One woman described how, after her husband had died, her neighbor Peggy invited her to come to church with her. “I was lonely and ready to find a church community,” explained the new widow. Peggy was wise to recognize someone who might be seeking a church and quick to make a personal invitation. Later the women became good friends at the church, usually sitting side-by-side in worship, chatting at coffee hour, and participating in adult education programs together. Many people testify about how one person made the difference by inviting them to come at just the right time in their lives.
Be mindful that walking into a new church for the first time can be a daunting experience for anyone, but a person who has been part of a couple for years (or decades!) may find it especially awkward or uncomfortable to be suddenly single. For some, sitting alone in the pew may be sufficient reason not to attend. Entering the fellowship hall for coffee hour alone could be terrifying. Recently divorced persons may also wonder if they will be judged by others for the dissolution of their marriage.
Those facing health or employment challenges
Many people in our social circles will at some time in their lives receive an unfavorable health diagnosis. “Would you consider coming to church with me?” could be a golden invitation at a time when their receptivity is high. Today, even the highest-level professionals lose jobs because their employer downsized, reorganized, moved away, or eliminated the position. This can come as a shock to a worker who thought all was going well. Perhaps they have a readiness to add a spiritual dimension to how they process what is happening to them. What can it hurt to invite them to join you at church?
Inactive members wanting to return home
If you are acquainted with a member who has become inactive, you may sense that he or she may feel awkward about returning. The inactive member may want to return but does not want to be bombarded with well-meaning curiosity or misplaced humor. (“Look who’s coming to church today! Oh my, the walls of the church may come tumbling down.”) Here is where more than a passing invitation could be cherished: “I’d love for you to see how things are going at church. Would you come with me on Sunday? I will be happy to pick you up. Then perhaps we can go out to lunch afterward.”
There are many other categories of people with a heightened readiness to find a new faith community or return to the church they once attended. Identity those individuals or types of people and reach out to them. Being sensitive to those with a heightened readiness will yield a better response to your invitations than just randomly inviting people.
Excerpted from Get Your Church Ready to Grow: A Guide to Building Attendance and Participation by John Zehring, copyright © 2018 by Judson Press. Used by permission of Judson Press, www.judsonpress.com.
Related Resources:
- 4 Clues for Inviting Others to Church Effectively by Doug Powe
- Create New Entry Points by Doug Powe and Jasmine Smothers
- Reaching Others Through Worship Video Tool Kit
- Evangelism Newcomers Reach New Disciples
About Author
Read more now.
The Right Question:
Leaders do not need answers. Leaders must have the right questions.
Kristi Hedges developed a method for a person to discover how they are perceived at work. After selecting five people who know your work well, all of whom you trust to give honest feedback, meet with each and ask these questions:
- What's the general perception of me?
- What could I do differently that would have the greatest impact on my success?
Learn more and watch an introductory video now.
50 Ways to Welcome New People
One key to effective outreach is making sure that worship visitors feel truly welcome. These 50 Ways will help your congregation make a good first impression and extend hospitality in meaningful ways.Engage your leaders and members
1. Teach that hospitality is at the core of the Gospel.
2. Teach your congregation to honor Christ in everyone and that God seeks to be in relationship with ALL persons.
Make a good first Impression
3. Convey a clear invitation and a statement of welcome in all communications directed at the external community — advertisements, banners, flyers, website, etc.
4. Know that 40% of visitors make up their mind about a church before they even see the pastor, according to Barna Research. Within two minutes of the beginning of a service visitors have formed an opinion about whether the congregation is friendly.
5. Care for your building and grounds as a way of honoring your attendees and honoring God. A well-cared-for building demonstrates a commitment to excellence and communicates that what the church does is important.
6. Have clear exterior and interior signage that guides visitors everywhere they need to go.
7. Reserve special parking places for visitors. Encourage church members and staff to park offsite or in more remote spaces. If parking lot congestion is an issue, recruit volunteer parking attendants.
8. Make your nursery clean, safe, sanitary, well-equipped, and visually appealing to children and their parents. Use a space that is easy to find and convenient to the sanctuary. Make sure your nursery workers and procedures inspire confidence on the part of parents.
9. Make sure your restrooms and neat and clean.
Be intentional about saying hello and goodbye
10. Station greeters at all entrances, in classroom areas, and in the parking lot or entry walks, if appropriate.
11. Identify your greeters and ushers with a special badge or name tag so visitors who need information can easily identify them.
12. Encourage friendly, out-going persons with the gift of “hospitality” to serve as greeters and ushers. Don’t expect that just anyone can do these jobs well. Provide regular training that helps them see the church through a visitor’s eyes.
13. Escort newcomers to the nursery, classrooms, coffee hour, etc. Don’t just point the way or give directions.
14. Adopt the “rule of three,” which says members will not talk to other members in the first three minutes following the service — typically how long it takes guests to exit.
15. Enact the “circle of ten” rule — that each member will greet anyone, member or guest, who comes within ten feet of them.
16. Say, “I don’t think we’ve met before. …” if you are not sure if the person next to you is a member or a visitor.
17. Ask outgoing church members to sit in the pews where visitors most commonly sit, often near the entrance or in the back.
18. Post someone at every exit to shake hands and thank people for coming. Ask worship participants (readers, music leaders, liturgists, etc.,) to do this since their faces will be familiar.
Help newcomers feel at home in worship
19. Accept and encourage casual attire.
20. Do not ask visitors to stand and identify themselves. Seventy percent of new attendees feel negatively about being recognized. However, they do expect people to be friendly and welcoming.
21. Provide nametags for the whole congregation and develop the habit of wearing them. Form a “tag team” to organize and promote name tag use.
22. Review your church bulletin and other printed material to make sure information is not “insider oriented.” Avoid church jargon and assuming that people understand the context.
23. Make sure your order of worship is easy for a visitor to follow. Include written or verbal explanations of what is going on and why. Print the words to all prayers, songs, and responses.
24. Sing at least one hymn each Sunday that is well known outside the church, such as “Amazing Grace,” “Joyful Joyful,” or “Morning Has Broken.”
25. Include a welcome to visitors in the open words before the service. Make sure the person speaking identifies him or herself. It is best for the pastor to issue this welcome.
26. Remember that visitors sometimes arrive a few minutes late. Don’t front load all the information directed at them.
27. Place information about your church’s ministries where a visitor can easily find it — preferably in the pew, or a clearly marked location near the entry points used by visitors. Don’t expect them to go someplace else to find it.
28. Prepare Visitors Packets to be handed out by greeters with information about your church programs.
29. Give visitors with small children a small activity packet (with crayons, pipe cleaners, stickers, etc.) as they enter worship.
30. Avoid all talk about money with visitors.
31. Keep the discussion of “family business” to a minimum in the services. Limit announcements.
Follow up with your visitors
32. Get the names and addresses of first-time visitors. Some churches use visitors’ cards, but asking ALL worshippers to record attendance makes it more likely visitors will sign. Visitors don’t want to be singled out.
33. Make a special effort to remember visitors’ names and call them by name.
34. Make at least one follow-up contact with first-time visitors within 24 to 36 hours of their visit — a letter from the pastor, a phone call, a hand-written note, an email message. Many churches deliver a gift, such as freshly baked cookies or a church coffee mug, to visitors’ homes. The purpose is to communicate friendliness, not get a membership commitment.
35. Develop a system or data base for keeping track of visitors, their contact information, and the frequency of visits. A mailing list of persons who have visited in the past is one of your best marketing tools.
36. Don’t overlook visitors who come to the church for the first time for an event other than worship.
37. Once someone has attended three times, they should be invited to join the church with a pastoral visit and/or an invitation to take part in an inquirers or new member class.
38. Encourage visitors to get connected with activities and groups, even if they are not ready to join.
Be more inviting
39. Hold an Open House Sunday at least once a year.
40. Organize a “bring-a-friend” Sunday at least once a year.
41. Extend extra hospitality during back-to-school time, Christmas and Easter, when persons are most likely to consider visiting a church.
42. Start a personal invitation ministry. Three out of four people attend a church for the first time because they were invited. Yet less than half of church members say they have invited someone in the last year.
43. Provide training to members on how to invite others to church.
44. Print special invitations to Christmas Eve services that people can deliver to friends.
45. Plan special events — concerts, lectures, etc. — that appeal to those outside the church and that members feel comfortable inviting someone to.
46. Have special recognition Sundays for scout groups, preschool families, or other community groups meeting in your church to encourage them to attend worship.
Become more aware of visitors and their concerns
47. Gather feedback on how visitors respond to your church through surveys, focus groups, or interviews.
48. Conduct a “welcome audit” annually.
49. Provide training on welcoming at least once a year.
50. Send your welcome team to visit other churches and report back on how they experienced their reception.
Download a PDF of this page to share with others.
Learn more and watch introductory videos now.
Learn concepts and strategies to welcome and respond to your first-time and repeat visitors, reach younger generations, expand your church’s entry points, and get new people involved. The New Welcome Video Tool Kit helps you open your church to the transformative presence of new people — welcoming newcomers by acknowledging the changing ways that people enter into the life of churches.
Learn more and watch introductory videos now.
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What effect do clergywomen have on girls? A great one, it turns out. Women who grew up with female clergy as role models do better psychologically and educationally than those who did not, writes Jana Riess for Religion News Service.
Read now and download free.Support the Lewis Center
Leading Ideas is made possible by contributions to the Lewis Center for Church Leadership from readers like you. Thank you.
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Last month, I ran a guest post about women’s ordination, drawing on a new Oxford University Press book in which two political scientists present research about Americans’ attitudes toward women clergy. Having clergywomen — or even just being in religious traditions that ordain women — contributes to greater commitment and trust among women worshipers, especially those who are left of center politically.
The comments from the all-male peanut gallery reminded me yet again why it’s generally pointless to read comments. Only the first remark even addressed the actual research before making the wild leap that women’s ordination has caused steep declines in membership among those denominations that allow it. The commenter provided no proof for this causation beyond the logic that “gee, these two trends appear to have been happening at the same time, so therefore women’s ordination has destroyed religion!”
The conversation then devolved into a predictable and hackneyed argument about women’s ordination that did not engage the new research but instead rehearsed the same fights Christians have been having for more than a century.
So, folks, we’re trying again. This time, please read the research before commenting, and try to keep your comments relevant to the researchers’ findings: specifically, that having women clergy makes a significant impact on the lives of girls. Girls who had direct examples of clergywomen in childhood grow up with higher self-esteem, better employment, and more education than girls who did not. (JKR) by Benjamin Knoll and Cammie Jo Bolin
I was ordained to the priesthood in the Episcopal Church [in 2003]. When the service concluded I was greeting people in the shaking hands line and a family of four (mom, dad and two little girls) came up and the mom said, “I know we don’t know each other. I hope it’s okay that we came. We wanted our girls to see this and know that they can do anything.” — Reverend Kedron Nicholson, an ordained Episcopal priest
Role models matter.
Research has consistently shown that positive adult role models can contribute to the health, education, and overall well-being of young people. Albert Bandura has argued that children learn how to “perform” adult roles by observing the behavior of prominent adults in their lives and trying to imitate it.
Other research has shown that this is especially the case when it comes to learning gender roles. When children see a behavior modeled exclusively by men or by women, they internalize that behavior as distinctly masculine or feminine. The more children see positions of power occupied only by men, the more they come to think of leadership as an exclusively masculine role. As leaders occupy a place of higher social status, this can implicitly generate an association between gender, leadership, and self-confidence.
In our new book, She Preached the Word: Women’s Ordination in Modern America (Oxford University Press), we ask whether the presence of prominent female religious congregational leaders in the lives of girls and young women affects their self-worth and empowerment later in life. According to the General Social Survey, nine out of ten Americans report attending religious services at least occasionally in their youth. This means that places of worship are a key setting in which children and young people have the opportunity to observe leadership in action.
To investigate this question, we fielded a nationwide telephone and internet survey that asked respondents how often the religious leaders they had growing up were men or women, as well as whether their most influential congregational leader was a man or a woman.
One of our most striking findings is that women who had female congregational leaders in their youth enjoyed higher levels of self-esteem as adults.
Women who said they never had a female religious leader growing up are 10% less likely to agree that they “have high self-esteem” now as adults, and 30% less likely to “strongly” agree, compared to women who had female clergy at least “some of the time.” (In contrast, the same is not true for men. Men who had female congregational leaders frequently growing up have levels of self-esteem that are just as high as those who never had a female pastor or priest.)
This is important because low self-esteem has been linked to higher levels of depression and anxiety as well as lower levels of relationship success, job satisfaction, and motivation for personal improvement.
It is also important because women, on average, consistently report lower levels of self-esteem than men. In our research, we found that this is the case only for the 60% or so of Americans who report that they never had a female religious leader growing up. When women had female clergy at least “some of the time” growing up in their congregations, their reported levels of self-esteem are consistently just as high as men’s.
That’s not all. We also found that the gap in full-time employment between men and women is present only among those whose most influential youth congregational leader was a man. Women whose most influential leader growing up was a woman are equally likely to be employed full-time as men.
Further, women in our survey whose most influential leader was a woman had gained, on average, a full additional year of education compared to those whose most influential leader was a man. All of these results held true even when controlling for a variety of other potential mitigating factors including demographics and individual/family socioeconomic background.
In our survey, at least, the gender gap in psychological and economic empowerment is present only among those whose religious congregational leaders growing up were exclusively men.
To us, this strongly suggests that the rarity of female clergy in America’s places of worship is at least partially to blame for the contemporary gender gap in American society. Increasing the proportion of women in America’s pulpits would not only improve women’s psychological well-being, but would also likely help close the gender gap in the workplace and other positions of societal leadership.
Dr. Benjamin Knoll is the John Marshall Harlan Associate Professor of Politics at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. Cammie Jo Bolin is currently a Ph.D. student in the Department of Government at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Their book, She Preached the Word: Women’s Ordination in Modern America, is now available from Oxford University Press.
Read more now.
Quotable Leadership:
The twentieth century will see as great a change in the position and progress of woman in the world as has been accomplished in this century, but it will have ceased to cause comment and will be accepted as a matter of course. (Susan B. Anthony, 1901)
This 10-session video-based congregational study featuring biblical scholar N. T. Wright addresses questions of the reasonableness of the Christian faith in the modern world. Simply Christian is an excellent course for both established believers and seekers and is ideal for your congregation's small groups, adult Bible studies, and Sunday School classes.
Learn more now.
The comments from the all-male peanut gallery reminded me yet again why it’s generally pointless to read comments. Only the first remark even addressed the actual research before making the wild leap that women’s ordination has caused steep declines in membership among those denominations that allow it. The commenter provided no proof for this causation beyond the logic that “gee, these two trends appear to have been happening at the same time, so therefore women’s ordination has destroyed religion!”
The conversation then devolved into a predictable and hackneyed argument about women’s ordination that did not engage the new research but instead rehearsed the same fights Christians have been having for more than a century.
So, folks, we’re trying again. This time, please read the research before commenting, and try to keep your comments relevant to the researchers’ findings: specifically, that having women clergy makes a significant impact on the lives of girls. Girls who had direct examples of clergywomen in childhood grow up with higher self-esteem, better employment, and more education than girls who did not. (JKR) by Benjamin Knoll and Cammie Jo Bolin
I was ordained to the priesthood in the Episcopal Church [in 2003]. When the service concluded I was greeting people in the shaking hands line and a family of four (mom, dad and two little girls) came up and the mom said, “I know we don’t know each other. I hope it’s okay that we came. We wanted our girls to see this and know that they can do anything.” — Reverend Kedron Nicholson, an ordained Episcopal priest
Role models matter.
Research has consistently shown that positive adult role models can contribute to the health, education, and overall well-being of young people. Albert Bandura has argued that children learn how to “perform” adult roles by observing the behavior of prominent adults in their lives and trying to imitate it.
Other research has shown that this is especially the case when it comes to learning gender roles. When children see a behavior modeled exclusively by men or by women, they internalize that behavior as distinctly masculine or feminine. The more children see positions of power occupied only by men, the more they come to think of leadership as an exclusively masculine role. As leaders occupy a place of higher social status, this can implicitly generate an association between gender, leadership, and self-confidence.
In our new book, She Preached the Word: Women’s Ordination in Modern America (Oxford University Press), we ask whether the presence of prominent female religious congregational leaders in the lives of girls and young women affects their self-worth and empowerment later in life. According to the General Social Survey, nine out of ten Americans report attending religious services at least occasionally in their youth. This means that places of worship are a key setting in which children and young people have the opportunity to observe leadership in action.
To investigate this question, we fielded a nationwide telephone and internet survey that asked respondents how often the religious leaders they had growing up were men or women, as well as whether their most influential congregational leader was a man or a woman.
One of our most striking findings is that women who had female congregational leaders in their youth enjoyed higher levels of self-esteem as adults.
Women who said they never had a female religious leader growing up are 10% less likely to agree that they “have high self-esteem” now as adults, and 30% less likely to “strongly” agree, compared to women who had female clergy at least “some of the time.” (In contrast, the same is not true for men. Men who had female congregational leaders frequently growing up have levels of self-esteem that are just as high as those who never had a female pastor or priest.)
This is important because low self-esteem has been linked to higher levels of depression and anxiety as well as lower levels of relationship success, job satisfaction, and motivation for personal improvement.
It is also important because women, on average, consistently report lower levels of self-esteem than men. In our research, we found that this is the case only for the 60% or so of Americans who report that they never had a female religious leader growing up. When women had female clergy at least “some of the time” growing up in their congregations, their reported levels of self-esteem are consistently just as high as men’s.
That’s not all. We also found that the gap in full-time employment between men and women is present only among those whose most influential youth congregational leader was a man. Women whose most influential leader growing up was a woman are equally likely to be employed full-time as men.
Further, women in our survey whose most influential leader was a woman had gained, on average, a full additional year of education compared to those whose most influential leader was a man. All of these results held true even when controlling for a variety of other potential mitigating factors including demographics and individual/family socioeconomic background.
In our survey, at least, the gender gap in psychological and economic empowerment is present only among those whose religious congregational leaders growing up were exclusively men.
To us, this strongly suggests that the rarity of female clergy in America’s places of worship is at least partially to blame for the contemporary gender gap in American society. Increasing the proportion of women in America’s pulpits would not only improve women’s psychological well-being, but would also likely help close the gender gap in the workplace and other positions of societal leadership.
Dr. Benjamin Knoll is the John Marshall Harlan Associate Professor of Politics at Centre College in Danville, Kentucky. Cammie Jo Bolin is currently a Ph.D. student in the Department of Government at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Their book, She Preached the Word: Women’s Ordination in Modern America, is now available from Oxford University Press.
Read more now.
Quotable Leadership:
The twentieth century will see as great a change in the position and progress of woman in the world as has been accomplished in this century, but it will have ceased to cause comment and will be accepted as a matter of course. (Susan B. Anthony, 1901)
Learn more now.
Editor: Dr. Ann A. Michel
Copyright © 2004-2018 Lewis Center for Church Leadership of Wesley Theological Seminary
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