Mosaic of Faith & Leadership: Weaving Insights for Inspired Leadership

• The Currency of Relationships and Influence in the Leader’s Journey

• The Currency of Relationships and Influence in the Leader’s Journey

• The Currency of Relationships and Influence in the Leader’s Journey

• The Currency of Relationships and Influence in the Leader’s Journey

• The Currency of Relationships and Influence in the Leader’s Journey

“Trust is one of the most powerful forms of motivation and inspiration.”

Stephen M. R. Covey, The Speed of Trust

Introduction

This short blog post is the first of (hopefully of many more to follow) blog posts or short articles focusing on leadership and faith. Everything I share comes from insights and or thoughts that I have gained from experience, from others (mentors and friends), and from books I have read. It might be helpful to consider it a mosaic of faith and leadership. Much of what I share will come from the context of being a dad, a non-profit leader, and a minister (Salvation Army Officer). I hope you find value in the content and engage with what I share. I want to encourage you to share your thoughts regarding the covered topics and ask questions. The old proverb still rings true today, “as iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another” (Proverbs 27:17). So here we go…

My Philosophy on Leadership

There are a ton of books that highlight a myriad of leadership models. You may be familiar with a number of these models, such as servant leadership and transformational leadership, and you fill in the blank. From my experience, no one leader fits into a single model or theory. You might say leadership is complicated, and every leader must adopt a different model depending on the context. In other words, one’s approach to leadership can and should change based on the situation. All that to say, I believe there is a common thread that runs through every leadership model. Any guesses? Relationships. As I think back on all of the great leaders who have impacted my life, I realize that every one of them prioritized relationships with others. You’ve probably heard hundreds of times (if not more) that leadership has little to do with one’s position and everything to do with one’s influence. It’s true, and that is why relationships are foundational. Try to influence someone without a relationship. It’s almost impossible, and the degree of influence you might have without a relationship is miniscule. So, one of the primary tasks of a leader is to build relationships or influence.

The Currency of Relationships and Influence

How do you measure the strength of your relationships or the degree of your influence? You can think of this question in the context of your family or professional life. Some may be tempted to say that love is the appropriate measure for relationships. While love is important, I don’t think it is the best measure of the strength of relationships or the degree of influence. I’m convinced that trust is the best measure. I know some of you are thinking that to the degree that love exists, trust will mirror it. As a dad, I have an immense and equal amount of love for my kids, but each of my children trusts me at different levels. Therefore, the leader must understand the importance of trust and how to create it. By the way, it isn’t just about the “followers” trusting the leader; the leader must also extend trust to those they lead. I may elaborate on this topic in the near future.

How to Create Trust?

So, the question is, “How do you build trust?” There are hundreds of answers to this question. I highly recommend Stephen M. R. Covey’s book The Speed of Trust for much more information and insight into building trust. In his book, he suggests that credibility is synonymous with trust and that four cores of credibility correspond with an individual’s character and competence (Covey, 2018, p. 59). The four cores of credibility are integrity and intent (character), capabilities, and results (competence). So, to build trust, which will lead to strengthened relationships and increased influence, the leader must have strong character and high competence. Perhaps this is why the writer of the book of Proverbs says skilled men will work before kings rather than obscure men (Proverbs 22:29) and why the Apostle Paul admonished the Philippians to have their minds on that which is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, and excellent (Philippians 4:8). So, let’s do just that and make a commitment to building our character and learning new skills to increase our level of competence. Doing so will help you build trust, strengthen relationships, develop influence, and be a better leader!

I’d love for you to share your insights and or questions.

References

Covey, S., M.R. (2018) The speed of trust: The one thing that changes everything. Free Press.