Leading by Friending
Posted: Thu May 15, 2008 8:45 am
It’s a funny thing how something that is good for us is good for the flock as well. That’s God’s economy at work.
I had lunch with a couple of key leaders in my church yesterday. We had come together to talk about some strategic decisions we need to make for the next year. But almost half of our lunch was spent telling stories and laughing about our lives.
I realized how much I liked being with these people. They weren’t my strategic staff. They weren’t just some helpful volunteers that would get us to the next stop on the journey. They were my friends. Friends who cared for me and who gave me the great gift of themselves.
You can call it “leadership by walking around� but I think I’d call it “leading by friending� I don’t have a shop floor to walk around on but I do have a lot of friendships that need to be maintained and are necessary for our church to grow. But that’s not why I maintain them. I maintain them because they are such a blessing to me. They are good for me. And they are good for the church.
I had lunch with a couple of key leaders in my church yesterday. We had come together to talk about some strategic decisions we need to make for the next year. But almost half of our lunch was spent telling stories and laughing about our lives.
I realized how much I liked being with these people. They weren’t my strategic staff. They weren’t just some helpful volunteers that would get us to the next stop on the journey. They were my friends. Friends who cared for me and who gave me the great gift of themselves.
You can call it “leadership by walking around� but I think I’d call it “leading by friending� I don’t have a shop floor to walk around on but I do have a lot of friendships that need to be maintained and are necessary for our church to grow. But that’s not why I maintain them. I maintain them because they are such a blessing to me. They are good for me. And they are good for the church.