Another key facet prevalent within Methodism is working with notions of diversity and pluralism. Presbyters are individuals and have differences in outlook, beliefs and values, whether theologically or secularly informed. However, as the quotes below suggest, this diversity is celebrated and worked with to ensure the best fit between the skill sets they have and the needs and direction of the circuit in which they are working.
I mean, one of the real joys of the job is just how many different strands it does have, which also means that each of us, I guess, can be our own man or woman, as a Presbyter, because we’re able to use the different gifts that we have, and actually perform the task in very different ways, and yet be equally valid and accepting…..accepted as Presbyters. (Adam)
…there’s a lot of flexibility; I mean we have a great privilege, really. I mean you can do all sorts of things with your time. (Issac)
Towards a model of co-created leadership
The focus of this paper has been on developing an alternative framework to NPM based on co-creationary approaches to management and leadership in public service contexts. Fundamental to developing a model of co-created leadership for public services is the notion that the services provided will be fit for purpose and responsive to the needs of the society and community that they seek to serve. This places management and leadership within public services in a wider social framework, where key stakeholders and service users should be empowered and encouraged to engage in determining the formation, provision and delivery of services. This is in marked contrast to the quasi-market-led frameworks that dominate NPM and the emphasis on efficiency at the expense of effectiveness. Whilst efficiency and outputs are important in a model of co-created leadership, these have to be contextualised and defined according to local need and may vary from community to community. This in itself renders comparison between service providers through such formats as generic benchmarks and league table rankings highly problematic if not irrelevant. Leadership and management is thus shaped in response to these wider environmental contexts and the role, purpose and direction of leadership will all be influenced through a process of dialogue and discussion.
Second, a model of co-created leadership as demonstrated in the Methodist Church recognises the value of culture, history and tradition. It works with these complex social processes in seeking to promote change and development. It also recognises that challenging or seeking to change these dominant paradigms needs to be a socially inclusive process. These models of leadership serve to decentre the notion of leadership discourses and move towards recognising leadership as a complex social process which is relational, interactive and interdependent. Conceptions of leadership from this paradigm are more concerned with leadership as a process of participation and collective agency in creating and sustaining trajectories of direction rather than exercising control and authority. Denis, Langley and Sergi (2012: 254) note that the effect of this is that:
‘The place of individuals is thus reduced: actors are present in leadership – enacting it, influencing it, and creating it – but they are not “containers” of leadership.’