Bulldozers and Tractors

April 2025

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In his book, Grace Under Pressure: Leading Through Change and Crisis, John Baldoni likens a leader’s style to either a bulldozer or a tractor. “A bulldozer flattens. A tractor pulls.” He makes the case for pulling people forward, like a tractor, using the organization’s purpose as the engine. It’s a valid comparison, but a change leader must be willing to be both!

Bulldozers are used to clear trees from fields so the tractors can plow the soil. They push obstacles aside that tractors cannot move. In church revitalization, stumps and boulders and other obstacles have been placed in positions that keep the church from moving forward. Past leaders have often written restrictions and boundaries in the bylaws that are there to guarantee things do not change. “Sacred cows,” or the furnishings and decorations that have defined the church for a few decades, are not allowed to be touched or moved or replaced; it is almost as if these items have become ‘holier’ to some people than the actual mission given to the church to reach the world with the gospel!

In these situations, a bulldozer is needed, but the wise leader never goes in flooring the gas and driving the bulldozer at full speed. Too much damage will be the result if he does! Instead, a slow, steady, methodical (and wise) pushing (gently!) can move these hindrances so the church can experience life and health.

My farmer friend, Craig, has a ‘bulldozer’ attachment he can install on the front of his tractor so a dual purpose can be accomplished. This and/or comparison is more like a revitalizing pastor’s role than the either/or parallel Baldoni puts forth.

If you have ever stood beside a field that has just been plowed, you know the “sweet-smelling aroma” of soil freshly turned over. With the ground softened and cultivated, the possibility of a new crop and a coming harvest becomes a life-generating hope. This is what it is like to meet in a revitalizing congregation on Sunday morning!

Dr. Lynn Hardaway