leadership pasta
(originally posted on blogspot January 4, 2008)
Had an interesting conversation today - one that I wish someone would have had with me when I was younger. Leadership, accountability, and relationships.
Leadership is a great many things both subjective and objective. For example, getting people to follow you as a leader is difficult. It becomes more difficult when the followers aren't paid to follow, of course. The sub-topic around leadership today, though, was assertion. That is, thinking ahead and asserting oneself to help others understand where you think you're going and how they can help us all get there. It's more than understanding and seeking excellence in the mechanics of whatever you might be doing - it's asserting a leadership role in the conversation and activity such that the committed ones gathered around you understand what's expected and expect to be held to account.
Accountability, therefore, is a natural outflow of the expectations already set and commitments already made. How deep and significant is the cause that holds no one accountable for its success? Not very, I say. However, that's the rub for the leader, isn't it? Each leader worth her/his wage must hold the committed follower accountable. Recognizing the fulfilled commitment and challenging the failed commitment - this is the ongoing struggle of a leader. The struggle is made even more challenging for the believer by the commands of Christ to approach followers in love, in humility, and with patience (if not long-suffering). All of this to value the relationship of believers, one to another.
Relationships are important to God: relationships with Him and with one another. However, it is in that order. God first, others second, self third. Therefore, the "feelings" of another do not trump what God has commanded us to do. He has described what is important to Him and expects us to manage to those expectations (He is the ultimate example of a leader). This recognition of the importance of godly relationships comes not only in relationships with followers but also peers and those to whom we are accountable ourselves. In fact, these may be the hardest ones to cultivate depending on our own maturity as leaders.
Thinking this through causes me to ask myself: in what relationships - important to my role as a leader - am I 1) failing to hold the other accountable or 2) avoiding its proper cultivation?
Had an interesting conversation today - one that I wish someone would have had with me when I was younger. Leadership, accountability, and relationships.
Leadership is a great many things both subjective and objective. For example, getting people to follow you as a leader is difficult. It becomes more difficult when the followers aren't paid to follow, of course. The sub-topic around leadership today, though, was assertion. That is, thinking ahead and asserting oneself to help others understand where you think you're going and how they can help us all get there. It's more than understanding and seeking excellence in the mechanics of whatever you might be doing - it's asserting a leadership role in the conversation and activity such that the committed ones gathered around you understand what's expected and expect to be held to account.
Accountability, therefore, is a natural outflow of the expectations already set and commitments already made. How deep and significant is the cause that holds no one accountable for its success? Not very, I say. However, that's the rub for the leader, isn't it? Each leader worth her/his wage must hold the committed follower accountable. Recognizing the fulfilled commitment and challenging the failed commitment - this is the ongoing struggle of a leader. The struggle is made even more challenging for the believer by the commands of Christ to approach followers in love, in humility, and with patience (if not long-suffering). All of this to value the relationship of believers, one to another.
Relationships are important to God: relationships with Him and with one another. However, it is in that order. God first, others second, self third. Therefore, the "feelings" of another do not trump what God has commanded us to do. He has described what is important to Him and expects us to manage to those expectations (He is the ultimate example of a leader). This recognition of the importance of godly relationships comes not only in relationships with followers but also peers and those to whom we are accountable ourselves. In fact, these may be the hardest ones to cultivate depending on our own maturity as leaders.
Thinking this through causes me to ask myself: in what relationships - important to my role as a leader - am I 1) failing to hold the other accountable or 2) avoiding its proper cultivation?
Comments