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September 15, 2009
Great Relational Leaders
What they do and what they don’t do
Lot’s of great leadership nuggets can be found at 21stCenturyStrategiesInc.com. I was reviewing some archived material there recently and came across a list of relational leadership traits to avoid, put together by Dan Reeves. I’ve adapted Dan’s list a bit and repurposed it as a list of relational characteristics that describe great small-group leaders.
Great relational small-group leaders...
- Are not stingy with their praise of others.
- Confidently affirm those things they agree with or believe, while being honest and humble about their own failures.
- Are willing to initiate healthy mentoring conversations about things that make them concerned.
- Do not tend to jump immediately to negative conclusions when interpreting people’s actions.
- Do not find it easy to understand people’s motivations without asking them.
- Prefer first-hand information rather than second-hand information.
- Give the benefit of the doubt.
- Do not tend to want all permissions run through them.
- Are very comfortable with independent thinkers.
- Do not tend to be locked into the safety of rules, regulations, and organizational efficiency.
- Tend to see what can go right with an idea, rather than what might go wrong.
- Focus more on mission than maintenance.
- Are more concerned about people than process.
- Are able to use and release leaders with skills, knowledge and abilities different from or better than their own.
- Avoid using the legitimacy of their power and control as an excuse to solve problems and make decisions in isolation.
- Are not insecure.
Do you agree with this list? What relational characteristics have I missed?
posted by Dan Lentz on September 15, 2009 1:01 PM
