Effective Leadership Approach from a Biblical Perspective

Effective Leadership Approach from a Biblical Perspective

Leadership is an autonomous duty of management (Saitis & Saiti, 2018). People in authority, be it political environment, business world, or societal functions, need to have effective leadership skills and approaches. Effective leadership is necessitated as the lack thereof is bound to disparage other people’s opinions; hence little motivation and regard accomplishing goals and objectives. A leader has a sense of direction and purpose. How best he will steer followers towards the accomplishment of such goals and objectives is dependent on the person’s leadership approach.

Core Attributes

Focus stands out as the single most important attribute a leader should have. Focus is having a clear sense of direction and purpose (Saitis & Saiti, 2018), well defined, and tangible goals and objectives that become the focal point of all activities. By being well defined, another trait of leadership crops up. Decisiveness. Decisiveness in the face of unclear communication breeds rebellion and high employee turnover (Robinson, 2018). When all clearly understand the mission and vision of the company or any groupings of individuals, the leader should then be able to take a stand and abide by it.

Being decisive, however, does not imply dictatorial leadership. Decisiveness is defined as the ability to show significant commitment and consistency to the agreed-upon decisions (Bernheim & Bodoh-Creed, 2020). Effective leadership calls for one to be true to one course and commit everything towards attaining that resolve. However, in extreme negative situations, one should refrain from being that decisive and seek alternative measures. Over decisiveness is a recipe for disaster. Such is the case that happened to Saul, the King of Israel at the time of Prophet Samuel, and when King David was just but a boy.

The book of 1st Samuel chapter thirteen describes a time when Samuel was to come and offer the sacrifice before the Israelites continued with war. Seeing that the priest has not appeared as promised and that soldiers are getting anxious and scattered, Saul took action to offer the burnt offering by himself (1 Samuel 13: 9, New International Version). This action was essential but unnecessary, given that only priests were mandated to offer sacrifices on behalf of the people. Other than glory and continued victory, King Saul doomed his reign and paved the way for David.

Transformational Leadership Style and Approach

The bedrock of transformational leadership is individualized support and growth of junior members in the society or organization (Washington, 2019). Transformational leaders create connections with their followers and empower them to have higher job prospects and morale for the job. Transformational leadership also acknowledges quality work; employees are praised and rewarded whenever they meet or exceed organizational goals and objectives.

A transformational leader is charismatic and inspirational (Washington, 2019). The transformational leadership style also enables them to have intellectual stimulation, the ability to convince large numbers of people to follow a particular direction. The same transcends to individualized consideration. The personal touch of transformative leaders makes other persons stick by their sides and perform self-drive to ensure the company goals and objectives are met.

Contrast to Popular Models

Transformational leadership is distinguished from other leader approaches by its extremity to understand those below the leader’s hierarchy level. A method such as autocratic or dictatorial does not, at any given point, consider juniors’ opinion as regards the affairs of the organization. The leader is highly insensitive to employees’ concerns (Robinson, 2018); only the wellbeing of the organization matters in such leadership approaches. Transformational leadership is thus different in a considerable way by incorporating and treating all individuals with respect and empathy.

Personal Leadership Strengths

From individualization, relator, analytical, commandeering, and a focused leader, Krystal’s leadership qualities promise outstanding success as a leader. Focus, as earlier discussed, is a prerequisite to effective leadership. Krystal is focused, and so is the clear vision and drive as a leader. Analytical skills also come in handy to deliberate on the alternative courses of action and select the best. Even as a relator, Krystal works best with those with whom they are familiar. Familiarization, however, does not discount the fact that Krystal cannot work with new employees whenever they come aboard. The command trait compliments Krystal’s drive and motivation as an effective leader to rally support in the achievement of set goals and objectives. Individualization is what works best for Krystal in this case.

Individualization aligns well with the transformational model of leadership. As with the tenets of individualization, Krystal can be able to empower subjects to have high motivation and morale for the job at hand. Transformative ideas also come handy as after understanding one’s subjects, changing them for the better is more natural and better managed. Krystal will do well as a leader by incorporating these transformative leadership approaches to the set of leadership qualities already acquired.

Conclusion

The discussion herein has based context along empowering one’s subjects. Huge leadership responsibility is to make subjects have better lives. They should also have a better working environment. Such is the calling for Christian leaders; they are called to be servants of their subjects, as Christ was a servant to all (Matthew 20: 26). By utilizing the leadership traits discussed herein and incorporating personal characteristics as well as the preferred leadership approach, humanity and the world at large stands a better chance of getting effective and transformative leaders.

References

Bernheim, B. D., & Bodoh-Creed, A. L. (2020). A theory of decisive leadership. Games and Economic Behavior.

Robinson, R. V. (2018). The Impact of Entrepreneurship Education on Graduate Employability: A Cross Country Comparison.

Saitis, C., & Saiti, A. (2018). Basic dimensions of school leadership. In Initiation of Educators into Educational Management Secrets (pp. 1-29). Springer, Cham.

Washington, K. S. (2016). Spiritual leadership in religious organizations: A grounded theory study (Doctoral dissertation, The University of the Rockies).