Strengthening a Korean-Canadian Church Leadership Team by Developing Their Self-Awareness and Knowledge about Communication Styles

Abstract

This Research Portfolio is about my leadership development via Tyndale’s Doctor of Ministry program. It includes my Leadership Narrative, Philosophy of Leadership, Ministry Context Analysis and Project Report. As a therapist, I have noticed that an individual’s communication style tremendously impacts—positively or negatively—their relationships. During the program and process of writing this Portfolio, I again witnessed the pivotal role that self-awareness about one’s communication style can play in improving one’s relationships with others and strengthening teamwork. My research project focused on the communication styles of Joy Church's (JC) key leaders and explored how their communication impacted their team building. The methodologies I drew on for this project were Participatory Action Research (PAR) and Ethnographic Research (ER). While the project was neither a PAR project nor an Ethnography, both methodologies inspired me and provided methods that I used. PAR methods helped me and the project participants to stay actively involved from the start to the end of the project. ER methods allowed me to deeply understand the group’s shared culture and behaviours. I applied the insights I gained and helped the leadership team acknowledge and discern the potential drawbacks and benefits of different communication styles. I also discovered that their communication styles were related to cultural factors such as organizational hierarchy and respect for elders. Understanding JC’s ministry culture and discovering its leaders’ values and communication skills improved the leadership team’s communication.