Leadership Requires Relationship
During the last two decades everyone wrote books on leadership as the study of this field become more popular. With all the books, programs, and models, how does one adopt a direction or style for his or her leadership? Bass, a transformational leadership expert, once said the number of leadership definitions reflect the number of people trying to define it.
James MacGregor Burns wrote the book entitled Leadership, the recognized seminal work on leadership. Burns defines leadership in this way: “Leaders inducing followers to act for certain goals that represent the values and motivations—the wants and needs, the aspirations and expectations of both leaders and followers.“ The emphasis in italics from this definition reminds you of the importance of the relationship between the leader and follower.
How much of your time is spent connecting to the people that matter? You build ministry upon solid theology but you measure effectiveness through connecting Scripture in relationships. The deeper the relationship the more influence each has on the other. Do a self-evaluation for the weekly amount of time spent building relationships within your ministry. You gravitate toward your comfort skill—administration, idea creation, social, logistics, etc. but your default cannot be your waterslide—a fun tube narrowly winding a single person toward what you hope is a big splash.
A leader without followers is an isolated person. If you hope to move people in a direction, relationships work far better than titles, authority, or power.
Ron Hunter Jr.