IN A WORLD THAT IS INTERCONNECTED, DYNAMIC, AND EVER-CHANGING, traditional, top-down leadership models can no longer keep up. That's why A3 has embraced a different way of leading—an approach called polycentric leadership—that’s helping it flourish as a global mission movement.
What is Polycentric Leadership?
Think of polycentric leadership like a team sport: no single player calls all the shots. Instead, power and influence are shared among multiple players who bring their unique strengths to the game. Rather than relying on a single “center of power,” polycentric leadership empowers multiple centers of influence, embracing different cultures, methods, and leadership styles.
The result? A leadership approach that’s flexible, collaborative, and better suited for today’s global challenges.
Why is This Approach So Important?
Polycentric leadership isn’t just a trendy term—it’s deeply rooted in biblical principles. At its heart, it:
- Honors God’s Image in Everyone: Every person’s voice and perspective matter.
- Reflects the Body of Christ: Just like a body needs all its parts, mission movements need every person’s gifts and cultural insights.
- Uncovers Blind Spots: By listening to diverse voices, we see things we might otherwise miss.
- Heals Historical Hurts: It breaks down unhealthy power dynamics and fosters healthier, more equitable relationships.
- Engages Younger Generations: Today’s leaders care more about character and collaboration than titles and status.
- Moves Mission from “West to the Rest” to “Everywhere to Everyone”: It’s no longer about a single region sending missionaries—it’s about the global Church working together.
A3 sees itself not just as an organization, but as a movement—a dynamic, ever-evolving community that thrives on polycentric principles. It does this through what’s called the Core-Network-Cloud structure:
THE CORE
This is the heart of A3. It’s not about titles or positions—it’s about leaders who hold the vision and values of the movement close. Their strength comes from deep relationships, spiritual maturity, and a commitment to collaboration.
THE NETWORK
This is where ideas come to life. It’s made up of diverse teams—pastors, missionaries, business leaders—who share ideas, innovate, and act. Leaders here see themselves as part of a “team of teams,” working together across cultures and contexts.
THE CLOUD
On the edges of the movement, leaders experiment, adapt, and innovate. They’re like the “research and development” wing—constantly testing new ideas and bringing fresh insights back to the core and network.
What’s beautiful about this structure is that leaders aren’t locked in one role. They move along the core-network-cloud continuum as needed, depending on their gifts and the needs of the moment.
A3's Team of Teams in Action
A3’s team of teams approach allows each country to run its own operation as long as it aligns with our shared vision, values, and mission—the core that holds us together. That’s the primary element we hold tightly to.
Everything else is allowed to flex and adapt based on local contexts. For example, A3/India runs the ministry quite differently than A3/Mongolia. Each nation has its own cultural styles and nuances, and is led by local leadership teams who know their context best. These local teams recruit faculty, arrange training cohorts, and lead the ministry on the ground.
Global Oversight, Innovation, and Local Ownership
TEAMS
A3’s global movement is guided by another layer of team of teams:
- A3 International Board: Provides high-level governance and ensures we remain focused on our shared vision and mission. They stay at the 40,000-foot level of oversight but are encouraged to engage at the grassroots.
- A3 Vision Council: Advises the president, bringing cultural insights and ensuring that our approaches are not overly Western but globally inclusive.
- Global Ministry Leadership Team: Oversees the core ideas and translates them to the grassroots level. This team shapes practical tactics and strategies for ministry across different contexts.
- Infrastructure Team: Supports the movement’s operational needs—budgets, communication, processes, and more—to keep everything running smoothly.
- Missional Partner Leadership Team (Japan): In Japan, where A3 was founded, the work is even more complex. In addition to the Japanese local leadership team, this team—made up of missionaries sent to Japan to serve local churches—oversees the cross-cultural workers placed at local churches to serve the vision of local pastors and communities. These missionaries are sent by SIM International and seconded to A3 to serve in Japan. The Missional Partner Leadership Team manages the intersection of A3/Global, A3/Japan, and the SIM sending structures, fostering collaboration and ensuring the mission advances in Japan’s unique context.
TASK FORCES
Additionally, whereas teams help A3’s ministry run smoothly, special task forces cut across the entire movement to innovatively move larger initiatives forward. Here are some current initiatives spearheaded by task forces:
- Mentoring
- Pathways for Emerging Leaders
- Pathways for Women
- Reorganization
- Defining Key Concepts
LOCAL LEADERSHIP TEAMS
At the core of our ministry are the local leadership teams in each country, who are the boots on the ground. They’re the ones making the vision real in local communities, adapting it to the unique needs of their nation.
What Holds Us Together?
In the midst of all this diversity and freedom, what binds A3 together is our shared vision, mission, and values—the unshakeable core. These are developed together as an entire network or movement bathed in corporate prayer as we corporately listen to the Spirit. The A3 Community meets 1-2 times a year to reinforce these ideas, share in the richness of our diverse community, and renew our commitment to being a movement of movements.
Navigating the Challenges
Of course, this approach isn’t without its challenges. Take, for example, A3’s partnership in Japan with SIM, a global mission organization. With multiple centers of accountability (like sending offices in North America, receiving partners in Japan, and local ministry teams), it can be tricky to coordinate efforts. Sometimes, different policies or priorities clash, and communication can break down.
But even in these challenges, the benefits are clear: greater freedom, shared resources, and deeper collaboration. Everyone’s focused on the same mission—seeing Japan reached with the gospel—but they’re doing it together, not in silos.
The Way Forward: A Movement of Movements
As mission movements face the future, the call is clear: polycentric leadership is essential. It’s about building trust, sharing power, and empowering leaders across cultures to lead in their own unique contexts. It’s about creating a culture where decisions don’t come from the top down, but emerge from the wisdom of the community.
At A3, we believe that the future of mission is a team of teams—a global family working together, listening to the Spirit, and following Jesus wherever he leads. That’s the power of polycentric leadership, and it’s the heartbeat of our mission.
Rev. Joseph W. Handley, Jr., Ph.D.
President
@jwhandley
@jwhandley
@JosephWHandleyJr
@jwhandley
More Information
- More about Polycentric Leadership: https://polycentricleadership.com
- Case studies in polycentric leadership
- About the book, Polycentric Mission Leadership
- More about A3’s vision & mission and values
