Healthy leadership welcomes feedback. It values shared responsibility. It prioritizes people over platform. Narcissistic leadership, by contrast, protects image at the expense of intimacy and prioritizes control over community. The long-term outcome is predictable: division, discouragement, and attrition.
The Path Forward
Churches need not wait for crisis to examine leadership culture. Regular self-assessment, leadership development focused on emotional maturity and structures that diffuse power can safeguard congregational health. The question for every church leader is not simply, “Are we growing?” but “Are we leading like Christ?”
Because when ego overtakes empathy, the damage reaches far beyond attendance metrics. It reaches into the spiritual lives of those entrusted to the church’s care. And that cost is far too high.
10 Questions Every Elder Board Should Ask
This list shifts the focus from personality to patterns—because healthy governance is about systems, not sentiment.
- Do we have meaningful accountability for our senior leader?
- When concerns are raised, are they welcomed or dismissed?
- Is there a pattern of staff or volunteer turnover that we haven’t examined closely?
- Are major decisions made collaboratively or unilaterally?
- Do leaders regularly admit mistakes publicly and privately?
- Is disagreement treated as disloyalty?
- Are performance reviews structured and documented?
- Do congregants have safe ways to voice concerns?
- Does our church culture prioritize platform over pastoral care?
- If an outside consultant evaluated us today, what might they see that we don’t?
