Leadership and Love

By Doug Franklin November 29, 2012

When followers think a leader is really great, they usually think the leader loves them. Love and leadership go hand in hand. It’s rare to find a leader who is really effective but not loved by his or her followers. So this begs the question, how do we get our followers to love us? Love for a leader usually comes from the leader producing something great inside the follower. When we help our followers realize a truth about themselves and we help them use that truth to be more effective, love follows. Here are a few ideas on how to develop love in your followers:

1. Profile your followers
I like to build a profile of my people. Who are they, what are their strengths, how do they make decisions, what are obstacles that are keeping them from effectiveness, what is their greatest need. By making this profile I spend less time blaming them for problems and more time thinking of ways to make them successful. When I have this profile, I know what roles to put them in, I know why their role is frustrating them and I know how to help them get past their obstacles.

2. Evaluate them
In the church volunteer world this word evaluate doesn’t exist, but it should. When we evaluate we will be identifying areas that our followers need help and extra training. We will also be telling where they are doing a great job. Communicating both of these truths will help followers grow and be more effective. When they grow they will love you.

3. Hold them to goals
Without a finish line how does a runner know if they have won the race. The biggest problem with church leadership is there is no finish line. Most volunteers in the church have no idea what or where the finish line is so we just keep on doing what we have always done. This is how the sacred cow was born. When we have goals (a finish line) we have something to celebrate, something to point at to say, “well done … great job!” Something to show your leadership in their lives has made a difference.