{"id":33025,"date":"2023-09-14T12:13:53","date_gmt":"2023-09-14T19:13:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=33025"},"modified":"2023-09-14T12:13:53","modified_gmt":"2023-09-14T19:13:53","slug":"who-will-lead-from-a-relationship-standpoint","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/who-will-lead-from-a-relationship-standpoint\/","title":{"rendered":"Who Will Lead from a Relationship Standpoint?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A few weeks ago, Tremper Longman posted on his\u00a0<\/span>Facebook\u00a0<\/span><\/em>page about his relationship with Pastor Tim Keller with whom he shared a close friendship. \u00a0Longman asked<\/span>:\u00a0<\/span>Who will be (or is) the next winsome advocate for Christianity now? \u00a0\u00a0<\/span>There are plenty of culture haters out there, but who will be those voices that try to love and persuade people (without compromise) that Jesus restores our relationship with God and brings meaning into our lives. They are out there and they will emerge.<\/span>[1]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0 In response to Dr. Longman\u2019s question, I asked him who he saw as the next winsome voice and advocate for Christianity. \u00a0The response was sparse. \u00a0When I read this week\u2019s book by Simon Walker and underlined this phrase, \u201cGod uses and chooses specific leaders to bond strongly with their followers during certain years,\u201d<\/span>[2]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0 I thought about how profoundly I misunderstand influence and power in our culture: I just don\u2019t see God-chosen leaders bonding with followers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Peter G. Northouse, the grandfather of leadership theory and practice,<\/span>\u00a0professor emeritus of communication in the School of Communication at Western Michigan University, remarked in his\u00a0<\/span>Leadership: Theory and Practice<\/span>\u00a0book that, \u201cThe concept of power is related to leadership because it is part of the influence process.\u201d<\/span>[3]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0The reason for this association, he explains, is in organizations there are two kinds of power: Position Power<\/strong> and Personal Power<\/strong>. Position power is, \u201cthe power a person derives from a particular office or rank. \u00a0. . Personal power is the influence of capacity a leader derives from being seen by followers as likable and knowledgeable.\u201d<\/span>[4]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It makes sense that in discussions on leadership, leaders are often described as \u201cwielders of power,\u201d as people who dominate others. \u00a0In order to think of position power and personal power from a different lens, we have all turned to what Simon Walker calls\u00a0<\/span>Leading Out of Who You are: Training in the Exercise of Power\u00a0<\/span>where he combines eight different patterns of power, each with its own character. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Walker observes power from a relationship standpoint. \u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

For Walker, power is not a weapon leaders wield to meet their own needs and get their own way. \u00a0Rather, Walker observes, \u201cWhat is important is whether a leader understands the kind of power she is using and whether it is the appropriate kind to use in that situation.\u201d<\/span>[5]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0 According to Mike Cosper, who wrote a piece covering Tim Keller\u2019s powerful influence as a pastor to New York City, \u201cKeller was the evangelical of record for secular elites because he was the local pastor. He\u2019d been there for 30 years, through some of the city\u2019s darkest moments, and they loved and respected him for it.\u201d<\/span>[6]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0 Keller observed power from a relationship standpoint.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Is it a fallacy to think that leaders in our current cultures are not observing their power from a relationship standpoint? Why do I ask this? \u00a0When I held my Discovery Workshops and interviews last year seeking feedback on my NPO,\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0I asked my stakeholders to name reasons for the current leadership crisis; in other words, why do we have a bankruptcy of leaders in the pipeline? \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Although varied, here\u2019s how they responded: (Bear with me, I have a reason for sharing this)!<\/span><\/p>\n