New Book Released by Sarah Birmingham Drummond

July 2, 2019
In order to fulfill their missions, institutions sometimes have to change. Leaders guiding communities through such moments or eras need instructional resources, and we do them a disservice when we oversimplify the work of change leadership. “Ten Easy Solutions” do not exist, and suggesting they do causes leaders to feel discouraged, like there must be something wrong with them when they fear, falter, or fail. Change leadership is hard, sometimes even painful, but it is not impossible when approached with appreciation for complexity and a broad repertoire. Dynamic Discernment: Reason, Emotion, and Power in Change Leadership chops through the thicket of change dynamics, opening up three different pathways: 
 
Reason, where change leaders educate their communities and plot out concrete actions; 
Emotion, where leaders manage the reactivity that change can incite in a separate-yet-connected style of engagement; and 
Power, where leaders take seriously the ways in which grass-roots and top-down forms of authority can find common ground.
 
Sarah Drummond has experienced change leadership firsthand in numerous contexts, and this book uses abundant illustrations and examples, but Dynamic Discernment is best understood as a new and multidisciplinary theory of change. Although aimed at religious leaders, any who serve a mission-driven institution will find resonance. The book provides guidance for (1) recognizing the dominant dynamic at work in a community experiencing change and (2) choosing leadership practices accordingly. Orders can be placed directly through the publisher, The Pilgrim Press