Focusing on building relationships is a very important aspect of servant leadership. Last week I wrote about sharing your leadership point of view as an important element in building relationships with people.
For the next couple of months I want to talk about the importance of love in building relationships. Not the emotional feelings of love, but the behaviors of love. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 outlines the 8 behaviors of love that we should choose to model throughout our life.
Choosing to model these 8 behaviors will certainly drive relationships in a positive direction with the people we work and live with.
The first behavior is patience. Patience is showing self-control. As leaders we deal with any variety of issues every day. No matter what the circumstances, there is never a reason to lose self-control.
One of the key aspects of driving an engaged workforce is allowing people to be in control of the goal and their work towards the achievement of the desired purpose of the organization. By being patient and allowing people to make a few mistakes or do things differently than you would do, a leader can drive an atmosphere of “No fear”. Recognizing people in a positive fashion for their innovative thoughts and ideas will lead them to constantly bring not only their hands and feet to work, but much more importantly their heart and brain.
By intentionally choosing to be patient, a leader speaks to people about how important they are to the success of the organization and it will build their self-esteem. This is a powerful aspect of building relationships with people and passion within the organization.
What are some ways that you are intentional as a leader to try to improve your patience with your people?
Mark Deterding
Because I work primarily with students, I try to be intentional about remembering that this is the first time they have made this mistake, even though it may be the fourth time I have had to deal with it. Also, I try to be introspective if those under me are making similar mistakes repeatedly. Could it be that I am not preparing them well?
Great post!
Noah, your thoughts on looking first at yourself as the leader in determining if you have done everything possible to help your students succeed is outstanding! Going in with the assumption that people want to succeed and are not trying to make mistakes, will help leaders understand that it is their role to create the environment for success for their people. Thanks so much for the feedback!
Great Site!