Leaders fall into two main categories: task-oriented and relationship-oriented.
Task-oriented leaders strive for excellence and can push people away as a result.
Relationship-oriented leaders are great with people but can end up disappointed.
THE PROBLEM:
Task-driven leaders alienate people in pursuit of excellence.
Relationship-driven leaders suffer from disappointment and a sense of betrayal when their
endeavors collapse.
OTHER PROPOSED SOLUTIONS:
All leaders must
- Identify which type of leader they are. This is important to identify early on, as it will affect the kinds of decisions the leader makes in the future.
- Identify their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Doing this will guide leaders into a wiser decision-making process.
- Grow in competency in the other type of leadership. To be most effective, leaders must find a balance between the two types.
- Understand the following:
- Vision, passion, and commitment to excellence are essential. No matter what type of leader a person is, these cannot be compromised.
- Ministry requires visionary leadership from the person in charge. Without vision from the person in charge, nothing will move forward.
- We all only see out of one eye. We must remember our tendency to only see a situation from our own limited perspective.
- We don’t always play fair. At times, we will all allow our personal strengths and weaknesses to get in the way.
- We must connect tasks to vision. Doing so allows task-oriented leaders to keep the vision at the forefront, and it allows relationship-oriented leaders to remember why tasks matter.
- Not everyone is a leader. We should never try to force every person to fit into these two leadership types.