In his book, Hearing God, Dallas Willard offers the comparison of sheepdogs and shepherds to differentiate between two approaches to leadership. Since we live with a herding dog, Boomer – our Welsh Pembroke Corgi – and my position of pastor shares some roots in verbiage with the term “shepherd”, this comparison caught my attention.
Willard’s critique is that what passes for leadership is too often merely getting others to do as they are told. Enter the sheepdog, or in my case the herding dog. The instinct of these dogs is to herd, move or corral the object of their efforts with no desire for that object being herded having input into the decision. I’ve watched our corgis over the years try and herd our family, and herd groups of larger dogs and animals. Boomer wants everyone to be together. Continue reading
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