Servant leadership: the relationships of a leader
The first task of a leader is not to keep the machinery moving, but to help those under his charge live and serve. Although 1 Timothy was an authoritative statement to be implicitly obeyed, it was characterized by the graceful empowerment and loving freedom one would expect in a letter to a friend or colleague. Paul greets Timothy as his “own son in the faith.”1 He wanted Timothy to accomplish God’s will for his life. (1 Timothy 1:18). We can see Paul’s concern for Timothy’s spiritual health (1 Timothy 4:12-16, 6:11-16) as well as his physical health (1 Timothy 5:23). “Leaders are not afraid of the strengths of their associates, that is, leaders appreciate talent and facilitate synergies in relationships.” two
Leadership is an ongoing relationship between the leader and his or her superiors, colleagues, customers, and followers. “Because personal relationship defines the existing quality of interpersonal interaction between the leader and potential followers, followers will not join the leader without the required relationship. Leadership is relationship.”3. Leaders require extensive skills in managing relationships with all important stakeholders, including superiors, peers, and external constituents. “Relationship behavior is the degree to which the leader engages in two-way or multi-way communication. It includes listening, encouraging, facilitating, providing clarification, and providing social-emotional support.” The purpose of the relationship is to give each person the opportunity to grow and contribute to their full potential and build strengths in the midst of differences.
Do leaders shape culture or are they shaped by it? Both! The cultural subconscious of the organization sees strengths in differences. Therefore, the differences that people bring with them within the organization affect not only the organizational culture but also the way leaders react to differences. The apostle Paul was a cross-cultural missionary, a Jew who sought to be “everything to everyone” to bring them the gospel (1 Corinthians 9:19-23). Paul passes on his urge to lead several classes to Timothy. The first kinds of people mentioned are the generational differences of men and women. Paul instructed Timothy: “Do not rebuke an older man, but treat him as a father, young men as brothers, older women as mothers, younger sisters with purity.” (1 Timothy 5:1-2). Paul orders Timothy’s actions toward the four classes of free people within the community. From an organizational context, a leader’s approach should be one of influential charm. “Influence at work requires that you know what you are doing, that you have reasonable plans, that you are competent at the task at hand, but that is often not enough. It’s just the price of admission.”5.
Over time, each organization develops distinctive beliefs and patterns. Many of these are unconscious or taken for granted, reflected in myths, fairy tales, stories, rituals, ceremonies and other symbolic forms. Managers who understand the power of organizational culture are much better equipped to understand and influence their organizations. “Your organization’s greatest potential is tied directly to aligning what your people do best with what your organization needs most.”6.
Leaders must also be able to recognize different value systems in a global context. North American culture, for example, is clearly different from the personal relationship approach that is so important in Asia and South America. The individualistic attitudes so common in Canada and the US contrast sharply with the common goal approach found in Japan. “Leaders of companies spanning different cultures need to develop a strong sense of such systems, and of the many other differences that can so easily lead to misunderstandings that can block the functioning of effective organizations.”7.
Paul reminds us to consider this change in understanding of the differences in 1 Timothy 5:3… “Honor widows who are indeed widows.” Paul was instructing Timothy to care for widows who were truly lonely and helpless. Widows were particularly vulnerable in ancient societies because pensions, government assistance, or life insurance were not available. In the eschatological sense, Paul is instructing the contemporary leader to care for his followers. Many western organizations are setting up factories in third world countries to capitalize on cheap labor. Similarly, many in Western society are taking advantage of immigrants and foreign nationals who are unaware of labor laws such as minimum wage and workers’ compensation. Leaders will have to find ways to lead across multiple stakeholders and the complexities they represent on a global level. This difficult juggling act requires clear values and entrenched ethical standards. In Redefining Diversity, Roosevelt Thomas viewed diversity as moving from a vehicle for “understanding differences” to minimize tension to a “strategic force contributing to globalization.”8. Paul’s concept of “honor” is the key to effective leadership of diverse people in a global workplace. He establishes and maintains quality relationships, creates conditions that foster self-actualization, and fosters a climate where people can be genuine and valued for who they are.
Globalization brings with it issues of cross-cultural understanding, such as international relations, workforce diversity, ethics, and multicultural communications. It is essential that leaders help other stakeholders to change their context from local and/or regional to global. Leaders who know how to get the most out of their protégés guide them in changing their context to envision worthwhile goals and move toward their achievement. “When a leader sees a circumstance in a larger, more meaningful context and is willing to explain it, that leader is in effect creating the context, drawing everyone’s attention to the idea that the context is bigger than it first appears. ”.9. When followers understand what the organizational context is and can put it into perspective, change is inevitable. When others have not considered the context that leadership has considered, they must be properly informed so that they can understand. Helping followers understand the expanding context is the first step in aligning conflicting values.
A church with an evangelical ministry and a pastor who only values praise and worship would hardly survive. Paul declares the importance of spreading conflicting values by warning Timothy of erroneous doctrine: “That you may command some who teach no other doctrine.” (1 Timothy 1:3). Paul is warning Timothy of heretical teachers, but he is also warning contemporary leaders of conflicting values. Flat hierarchies, globalization, and cross-functional teams present new challenges for leaders who must influence people who have different styles or points of view.
Conflicts arise when people fail to understand the values of the organization: an employee who values honesty over profits and an organization that values high profits over honesty. When the honesty of the employee replaces the profitability of organizations? Organizations have been deeply hurt by such value conflicts, primarily because employees did not feel they had a forum to discuss these conflicts. An open exchange of values is essential to clarify the limits of behavior and personal responsibility. “Value commitments, value judgments, value standards, value relationships, and value experiences are the everyday expression of symbolic human meanings that bring order and meaning to human transactions.”11.
Leaders project values in the organization through their perceptions, attitudes and behaviors. A leader’s preferences are also revealed in the attitudes she adopts toward the organization’s stakeholders. While there will always be differences between leaders and the organizational community regarding levels of importance, building consensus on key values is an important task. “One of the most important keys to greater effectiveness is a close link between personal and organizational values. An American Management Association survey of 1,460 managers and CEOs suggests that understanding this relationship will provide a new lever for corporate vitality”.12 . Any organization, religious or secular, that wants to attract the best leaders of tomorrow must clarify the link between personal and organizational values.
1. 1 Timothy 1:2: This phrase was intended to state explicitly that Timothy was one of Paul’s converts; the relationship between them was so strong, that Paul writes as a father would to his own son—A Spiritual Father.
2. Don Clayton, Leadershift: The Work-life Balance Program, (Camberwell: Australian Council for Education Research, 2004), 11.
3. Warren Blank, The 9 Natural Laws of Leadership, (New York: AMACOM Books, 1995), The Second Natural Law of Leadership explains that the power we call leadership refers to the interaction of leader and follower. Followers are allies who bond with the leader and together create the energy that drives organizations. 10-12.
4. Lee G. Bolman and Terrence E. Deal, Reframing Organizations: Art, Choice, and Leadership, (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1997), 300.
5. Allan R. Cohen, Influence Without Authority 2nd Ed, (Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 2005, Influence is about trades, exchanging something others value for what you want, 7.
6. John Hoover, Unleashing Leadership, (Franklin Lakes: The Career Press, 2005), p. 9.
7. Tony Kippenberger, Leadership Express, (Oxford: Capstone Publishing Ltd., 2002), .37.
8. Robert Roosevelt Thomas, Redefining Diversity, (New York: AMACOM Books, 1996), Global diversity enables leaders to “serve the best customers in the world” and would be a lever for competitive advantage. 188.
9. Terry Pearce, Leading Out Loud: Inspiring Change Through Authentic Communication, (San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 2003), 94.
10. Allan R. Cohen, Influence Without Authority, 2nd Edition, (Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 2005), 9-10
11. William C. Frederick, Values, Nature, and Culture in Corporate America, (Cary: Oxford University Press, Inc, 1995), 111.
12. Dennis T. Jaffe, Organizational Vision, Values, and Mission, (Menlo Park: Course Technology Crisp, 1993), 22.