Divine Leadership

God's Leadership is Divine Not Secular

I teach leadership. That is what I do. But, working at a secular institution of higher education, I have never been able to teach it the way I want. I believe that leadership with God is very different from leadership without Him. Allow me to explain.

One way to categorize different approaches to leading is by the motive of the leader. Some leaders are primarily motivated by relationship or affiliation. They want to be liked! They tend to lead from an informal relational approach that focuses on responding to others wants in order to please them. They feel successful as a leader when they are liked by their followers. This form of leadership is positional based on relationships. Sadly, such leaders often fail because their motive to be liked is stronger than their motive to get things done, consequently they do not achieve results that may be expected of them.

A second motive for leaders is that of power. Leaders motivated by power are concerned with acquiring formal positions of influence and maintaining them. They want to have authority over others. They will do whatever it takes to acquire and maintain that authority. This is common in the world of politics. Of course, the down side is that such individuals tend to lack the kind of stability of character or integrity that is needed to maintain influence and rarely accomplish much as leaders. They are more focused on perception management that actual achievement.

A third motive is achievement. Leaders who are motivated by achievement tend to be effective planners and administrators. They like getting things done and have figured out what it takes to do so. Consequently, they are often admired for their achievements and looked to for leadership when results are needed. Unfortunately, their focus on outcomes can cause them to lose sight of people and/or turn them into workaholics whose pursuit of outcomes becomes all consuming.

A fourth motive, and one they addresses the problem of the other motives is service. Leaders who lead from this motive are often referred to as servant-leaders. They are motivate by a desire to serve the legitimate growth needs of those they lead and serve. They see people as people, are concerned about their needs, objectives, and challenges, and tend to approach leadership in a way that supports and empowers others. They tend to build effective relationships because they are genuinely interested in others and helping them grow, but it is not about making them happy. They realize that sometimes you have to challenge people in ways that make them uncomfortable if you want to truly help them. They care about acquiring and maintaining positions of influence, but only as a means to the end of serving others. Thus, they are less concerned with power and more concerned with influence.

Likewise, individuals motivated by service are concerned with accomplishing goals as a means of helping others grow. They know that people only grow in a context where significant demands are made of them and expectation are high. But, they also recognize that their responsibility is to help people achieve those objectives. This balance is what helps them transcend the outcome orientation of achievement oriented leaders.

This model of servant-leadership has long been recognized as a model appropriate for faith based contexts. However, as I have studied and attempted to put it into practice in my own life, I have found it lacking as a model of divine influence because it does not, even though it was conceptualized based on a biblical worldview, fully embrace the divine. I believe this is what is needed, a way of thinking about and practicing leadership that puts God at the center and results in influence that is truly divine. This is what each blog on this page will explore, I invite you to join me on the journey.