It was in Mr. Wolffs class that I pushed myself to take on huge assignments and actually not misbehave for once. And why did I do it? Because Mr. Wolff influenced me through relationships.
Mr. Wolff would often come out at recess and lunchtime to play soccer with us, or hang out on the playground. That is what made him such an awesome teacher. He created relationships with his students and that made him well loved. But beyond his students loving him, we respected him because he invested in us outside of the classroom.
Today I read an article in the "Leadership Journal" you can check out the article here. The premise was the fact that there is a difference between how Baby Boomers and Millenials react to pastoral leadership. I think it goes beyond pastoral leadership to how these generations view leadership in general.
Baby Boomers often tend to respect positions, education, and ultimately authority. Whereas Millenials respect relationships, authenticity and action.
Are either of these groups wrong? I don't think so. I think that it is important to respect those in positions above ours, we can learn from those with higher educations and we need to respect our authorities, however leaders need to invest in relationships, live authentic lives, and not simply waste their position rather they need to put things into action.
But when it comes to leadership dynamics I think that relationships are more powerful than authority. If you want people to follow you, you have to create relationships. If people are forced into following you because of your position they will do so, but not with the same passion and drive as if they are following you out of a relationship.
I'm still working on this, how do I intentionally create relationships so that people will want to follow me.
What ways do you lead through relationship?
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