How Repentance Shapes Leadership – Fr Elias Dorham

How Repentance Shapes Leadership – Fr Elias Dorham

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Discussion Questions:
1. How often do I stop to reflect on how my own leadership lines up with
the teachings of Christ, Scripture and the Church?
2. How open am I to confessing, repenting of and learning from my
leadership failures?
3. Am I open to being mentored by other Christian leaders?
4. Am I open to mentoring emerging leaders for the sake of investing in
them and in the future of the Church?
5. What am I hoping to take away from this weekend for the sake of serving
and investing in others?

As leaders, we exercise our craft by remaining constantly humble, attentive to God’s Word and ready to refine and correct how we view and treat our people, our organizations and sometimes even our strategy. As followers of Christ, whether we are making leadership decisions, coaching a team member, providing performance evaluations, or simply offering corrective feedback, an attitude derived from metanoia keeps us mindful of our own shortcomings. This is evident in the midst of failure, where taking a position of metanoia inspires us to look at our own part and how we
may have failed to create conditions for success for those we lead. With God’s help, we can approach our call as leaders with fear and trembling, realizing that the leader stands alongside as a helping servant, not above as one superior to those being led.

Yet, as Fr. Elias will share, this is more than simply working towards continuous improvement. It is humble vigilance in discerning God’s will, and speaks to the ongoing transformation that is at the heart of living as disciples of Christ. In this presentation, Fr. Elias will inform and guide us in the importance of leading with a spirit of repentance as we fulfill the call of Christian servant leadership.

Fr. Elias is attached to Holy Transfiguration parish in McLean, VA. His leadership background includes 15 years serving on active duty as a Naval Officer as well as various leadership positions in both the federal and private sectors. Fr. Elias is an International Coach Federation Certified Leadership and Executive Coach. He holds a B.S. in Political Science from the United States Naval Academy, an M.S. in Information Systems Technology from the Naval Postgraduate School,
an M.A. in Theology from Christendom College Graduate School and is a Doctor of Ministry Candidate at St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary. Fr. Elias and his wife Presvyteria Sylvia have been married for 28 years and have 10 children