Workplace or Church - chain of command

A recent leadership discussion with a church Pastor/leadership team validated the fact that nearly ALL organizations struggle with the effective use of a chain of command.

Now it is indeed the case that many folks think something wrong with the concept of 'chain of command'. In fact, it is my opinion that management almost resists the concept as if it were some evil thing. I am sure this is a connection people make to the military and thinking "we can’t be like the military here". This ignorance and unconscious thinking causes the chain of command to be circumvented, skipped, overlooked, ineffective, treated as unimportant and otherwise blown off! This view and thinking causes major issues, mistakes, barriers, ineffective communication and waste in the organization’s PEOPLE SYSTEM's productivity.

What was happening here with this church situation was a Pastor who was frustrated as communication was being ‘shouted’ to the masses. Because the masses are indeed a large mass, there is no real flow of information or accountability (down or up). Due to a lack of a clear organizational leadership structure (some might call that a chain of command ) – things were not getting done.

What was learned from the session, was a realization of the need for a leadership team. Everyone ‘below’ the Pastor, was essentially a mob (or mass) -the congregation with some players informally known as key players, but no real clean hierarchy.

There’s another term (heirarchy) some don’t like as if the whole ‘working for’ thing gets played up as something else we don’t want (people working FOR others). This is just management gobbledygoop…sure real leaders don’t have people working FOR them, and in fact real leaders serve their people. That’s another discussion in itself, ‘Servant Leadership’.

Many workplaces lead, manage or communicate in this same way – the one at the top, CEO, President, etc ‘shouting’ to the masses thru bulletin boards, mass emails, thru HR, town hall meetings, skip-levels, etc.

Even though many organizations have the structure possibly in place, the chain of command is not effectively used just the same.

Well enough for now, how’s your chain of command? Are leaders are at all levels (going up and going down) used in terms of communication, accountability, teaching, and otherwise MAKING IT HAPPEN?