{"id":41907,"date":"2025-08-28T18:48:54","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T01:48:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=41907"},"modified":"2025-08-28T18:48:54","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T01:48:54","slug":"not-a-role-but-a-relationship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/not-a-role-but-a-relationship\/","title":{"rendered":"Not a Role but a Relationship"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"This summer, my youngest son and I decided to take on a challenge together: a Lord of the Rings movie marathon. We set aside time across several evenings, pressing \u201cplay\u201d and letting ourselves be swept back into Tolkien\u2019s world of hobbits, wizards, and wandering kings. By the time we reached the climactic scenes in The Return of the King, I was struck once again by the character of Aragorn. Though he is the rightful heir to Gondor\u2019s throne, what makes him such a compelling leader is not his title or birthright. His authority emerges from the relationships he nurtures\u2014the trust of hobbits, the respect of elves, the loyalty of men. In Aragorn, leadership is not defined by role, but by relationship.<\/p>\n

That same theme runs through Edgar and Peter Schein\u2019s book, Humble Leadership: The Power of Relationships, Openness, and Trust<\/em>.[1]<\/sup><\/a> They argue that in today\u2019s world, where complexity outpaces control, leadership cannot be reduced to a title, a job description, or a position of power. Instead, leadership is always and only about the quality of relationships we build.<\/p>\n

A Perspective Shift<\/strong><\/p>\n

This book introduces an approach to leadership based more on personal relationships than transactional roles.[2]<\/sup><\/a> This approach contradicts many assumptions about leadership. Many often think in terms of positions, structures, or formal authority. But the Scheins insist that leadership emerges not from a corner office or a title on a nameplate, but from trust, openness, and collaboration. True leadership begins when we stop hiding behind roles and start engaging people as people.<\/p>\n

The Scheins capture this shift in a single sentence: \u201cWe see leadership as a complex mosaic of relationships, not as a two-dimensional, top-down status in a hierarchy, nor as a set of unusual gifts or talents of \u2018high-potential\u2019 individuals.\u201d[3]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 In other words, leadership is not found in titles, r\u00e9sum\u00e9s, or skill inventories. Leadership emerges in the quality of the relationships we cultivate.<\/p>\n

This perspective challenges the old heroic model of leadership. For much of the modern era, we celebrated leaders as larger-than-life individuals\u2014commanders at the top of a hierarchy, visionaries who seemed to operate above everyone else. But the Scheins argue that leadership is not about occupying a role at the top, but about the relational web that allows people to move forward together. \u201cLeadership is the creation and implementation of something new and better.\u201d[4]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0 That \u201csomething new and better\u201d doesn\u2019t come from one person\u2019s genius; it grows out of trust, openness, and collaboration.<\/p>\n

This is why the Scheins insist that \u201cleadership is always a relationship, not a role.\u201d Titles may grant authority, but they cannot create trust. Only relationships can do that. In our increasingly complex and interconnected world, it is precisely those trust-based relationships that create the conditions for innovation and change.\"\"<\/p>\n

We see a similar truth in Scripture. When the resurrected Jesus restores Peter in John 21, he does not sit him down and hand him a formal role description. He doesn\u2019t say, \u201cPeter, here\u2019s your title and here are your duties.\u201d Instead, he asks a relational question: \u201cDo you love me?\u201d Three times, Jesus ties Peter\u2019s future leadership to the quality of their relationship. Out of that restored trust flows a commission: \u201cFeed my sheep.\u201d Jesus makes it clear\u2014leadership in his kingdom is not built on status or role but on relationship, love, and trust.<\/p>\n

A Different Kind of Humble<\/strong><\/p>\n

If leadership is fundamentally about relationships, then the question becomes: how do we cultivate those relationships in ways that actually enable growth and collaboration? The Scheins provide a compelling answer through the concepts of situational humility and Level 2 relationships. They write, \u201cSituational humility and the formation of Level 2 relationships\u2014relationships that acknowledge the whole person\u2014is the essence of Humble Leadership.\u201d[5]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

What makes this idea so striking is how it reframes humility as a skill to be practiced intentionally, rather than just a personal virtue. \u201cSituational humility is a developed skill characterized by the openness to see and understand all the elements of a situation by\u2026 accepting uncertainty, being open to what others may know, and recognizing when biases can distort perceptions.\u201d[6]<\/sup><\/a> Leaders create environments where people feel safe to be open, which allows teams to innovate and achieve \u201csomething new and better.\u201d[7]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

Level 2 relationships deepen this approach: \u201cThe essence of Level 2 is that the people involved\u2026 move from being seen as entities performing roles\u2026 to being seen as whole people with whom we can develop personal relationships around shared goals and experiences.\u201d[8]<\/sup><\/a> Complex tasks require this depth of trust and openness.[9]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

The Bible illustrates this relational humility perfectly. When Jesus restores Peter in John 21, he meets him personally, not transactionally, asking, \u201cDo you love me?\u201d before commissioning him to lead. For me, this is a key new understanding of humility\u2014it is a skill to practice, directly shaping leadership and trust.<\/p>\n

Critical Question<\/strong><\/p>\n

If leadership is not about titles, roles, or authority, but about trust, openness, and relationships, then we are left with a challenging question:<\/p>\n

Am I leading from position, or from relationships that see people as whole and valued?<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Where might I be relying on transactional, Level 1 interactions because they feel safer or more efficient? How can I practice situational humility this week\u2014by listening more, inviting input, and creating space for others to speak openly? Leadership, the Scheins remind us, is an active choice to invest in relationships that enable something new and better.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n

Returning to our Lord of the Rings marathon, Aragorn\u2019s leadership was never about the crown\u2014it was about the fellowship he nurtured along the journey. Similarly, Edgar and Peter Schein invite leaders to move beyond titles and roles, cultivating situational humility and Level 2 relationships that honor people as whole individuals.<\/p>\n

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

[1]<\/sup><\/a> Edgar H. Scheinand Peter A. Schein,\u00a0 Humble Leadership, Second Edition: The Power of Relationships, Openness, and Trus<\/em>t. (N.p.: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2023).<\/p>\n

[2]<\/sup><\/a> Schein and Schein, Humble Leadership,<\/em> 1.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/sup><\/a> Schein and Schein, Humble Leadership,<\/em> x-xi.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/sup><\/a> Schein and Schein, Humble Leadership,<\/em> 4.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/sup><\/a> Schein and Schein, Humble Leadership,<\/em>1-2.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/sup><\/a> Schein and Schein, Humble Leadership,<\/em> 8.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/sup><\/a> Schein and Schein, Humble Leadership,<\/em> 12.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/sup><\/a> Schein and Schein, Humble Leadership,<\/em> 22.<\/p>\n

[9]<\/sup><\/a> Schein and Schein, Humble Leadership, <\/em>30.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This summer, my youngest son and I decided to take on a challenge together: a Lord of the Rings movie marathon. We set aside time across several evenings, pressing \u201cplay\u201d and letting ourselves be swept back into Tolkien\u2019s world of hobbits, wizards, and wandering kings. By the time we reached the climactic scenes in The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":194,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3469],"class_list":["post-41907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dlgp03-schein","cohort-dlgp03"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/194"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41907"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41907\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":41912,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41907\/revisions\/41912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}