Transactional vs. Relational Leadership

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." -John 15:13

Many a book has been written about the servant leadership Jesus modeled.  He said in a famous verse, "...he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves." -Luke 22:26  But, what was so special about the way Jesus led His followers?

Ford Taylor is a leadership consultant who trains leaders of leaders, and is involved in community transformation in the state of Ohio.  He teaches something called "transformational leadership", which is basically developing a relationship with someone to such an extent that they actually want to do whatever it is the leader is asking them to do.  This is also called relational leadership.

Businesses and other organizations cite fewer problems, higher revenue, and much less turnover by employing his principles.  Building relationship as being primary in leadership isn't a new concept:  Josh McDowell, the well-known youth leader and apologist has said, "Sharing truth without relationship leads to rejection. Discipline without relationship leads to anger."
 

Do you think the disciples wanted to follow Jesus?  Nobody was making them follow Him.  In fact, Jesus didn’t even pay them.  Through His relationship with the disciples, Jesus was able to change their minds about a lot of things, including who He was.  He was king of the Jews, even though He wore no crown, had no castle, and had no horse to ride upon.  But, He developed such a relationship with the disciples that they would have followed Him anywhere, and they would have died for Him.  Many did die for Him, after they realized who He was and that He first died for their sins.  It really was quite profound.

Is relational leadership something you employ?  Think about ways you can motivate those you serve by being more focused on building relationship.

Becoming a Servant

"Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant..." -Matthew 20:26

When I was younger, I worked at various restaurants as a server. At first, I was petrified. I used to have a HUGE fear of people. So huge, in fact, I was afraid to answer the telephone as a child!

Being a server, I had to come to terms with all of that. But, through it I learned to serve. I also learned to serve at the church I went to. Later when I got a job at Nordstrom, one of the visiting CEOs asked me where I had worked before. When I told him I was a server, he replied: "Hmm. Great training!"

If you want to have a bigger impact, find more people to serve. Solve people's problems, and you will have influence in their lives. Jesus was the best example of this: He went around solving people's problems, and people realized He was the Messiah that had been prophesied about in the Old Testament.

We shouldn't use influence to motivate people in the wrong ways, as in leading them to worship us or organizations. But everything we do can be used as a tool to draw them into relationship with Jesus and His kingdom.

We have the answer - the answer is Jesus. When we bring a solution into people's lives, this becomes an open door to share the gospel.

What type of problem does God want you to solve today?

Great Followership

"At once they left their nets and followed him." -Matthew 4:20

What makes a great follower? Why should we be great followers? Becoming a selfless follower is one of the biggest proving grounds for becoming a leader. We need to learn to lay down our own agenda. A great follower will more than likely produce a great leader. Conversely, poor followers make poorer leaders.

Jesus was the greatest example of serving his followers by laying down his life. He did the most menial task you could have done back in those days as an act of service to them; he washed their feet.

"He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, 'Lord, are you going to wash my feet?' Jesus replied, 'You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.' 'No,' said Peter, 'you shall never wash my feet.' Jesus answered, 'Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.' - John 13:6-8

Simon McIntyre, in his book Follow the Leader states, "...people who grasp at leadership and try to bypass the apprenticeship of followership only demonstrate their misunderstanding of the purpose of leading." He goes on to say, "(Servants) are strong, intelligent, confident people living successful lives. They are able and willing to take on roles of service because they are confident in themselves and not so insecure as to feel that taking on sometimes menial tasks might be beneath their dignity. They are following the example of Jesus..."

We might think of serving another person as demeaning and self-effacing. This is in fact the point of serving - to get past ourselves.

Elisha followed Elijah. Joshua followed Moses. Joseph served Potiphar. The disciples followed Jesus. Sometimes we need to lay down our agenda in order for God to truly birth His plan and purpose in us. One of the ways He does this is through calling us to serve another man's vision. We need to realize it is not all about us.

Who are you following right now? Are you serving them to the best of your gifts, talents, and abilities?