Introduction
Leadership advancement is the practice of cultivating governance abilities and proficiencies through various undertakings. During the process, individuals are taught vital management competencies that enable them to lead, encourage and direct their teams to success properly. Training is essential to cultivate a culture of headship throughout an establishment appropriately. The procedure can be done internally within the organization using mentorship programs and externally using conferences and seminars. A governance coaching program is essential because it establishes better results from an organization, especially for better leaders who aim to achieve. The development of bosses also makes them more agile and enables them to solve problems both quickly and effectively. It also improves communication, innovation, teamwork, loyalty, understanding, and commitment. Developed leadership skills can inspire further engagement from their staff, leading to increased result satisfaction.
A leadership development plan helps both the association and the staff. The management design presents the protocol and steps to be followed, the expectations of individuals undertaking the development, and how the outcome would benefit both the organization and the personnel. There are critical aspects of good leadership development involving both relational and model elements essential in equipping leaders. A proper leadership development foundation involves theological understanding that must determine who a leader is from the scriptures. The paper aims to discuss the leadership development plan based on the biblical passages for Leadership. With reference to the biblical passages, analysis is done based on the biblical principles of Leadership, different management styles, and the development of a healthy ministry environment to accomplish an organization’s mission.
The Biblical Passages for Leadership
In the biblical scriptures, leaders are described as servants. The Bible states that whoever intends to be a leader should be a servant. Jesus instructed his disciples not to imitate the gentile rulers who employed authority over them. He taught that for us to be good leaders, we needed to know how to serve first. We needed to contradict the status quo, mainly if it included ruling through oppression and unjust actions over our subordinates. Therefore, a good leader humbles himself in the service of others.
A leader’s moral obligation is to always be fair in their actions. It is written that “if a king judges the poor with truth, his throne will forever be established.” A leader can only be as credible as to how much he upholds truth and fairness over the people he rules. Proficient leaders also find strength in those that they lead, no matter how weak they may seem. The Bible expresses that leaders should at all times be humble and think of others as better than themselves. Leaders should not be boastful but rather humble at all times. An encouraging spirit should accompany the humble nature even to those who lack capacity in something. Hence, a competent leader sees good potential in the uniqueness of those he leads.
A great leader is sensitive in their actions, reactions, and talks. A fool expresses all his feelings, but a wise man holds them back. This verse brings out that a good leader knows when to talk and when to listen. These leaders don’t argue when they are not supposed to and know who to bring up an argument. Developed leaders are also open to taking advice when the need arises. The scripture states that where there is a lack of guidance, people fall, but with plenty of counselors, victory is always witnessed. When leaders open up to taking advice, they don’t run out of ideas. Therefore, considerate leaders still have innovative ideas to improve themselves and their organizations.
Great leaders delegate duties and reward quantitatively based on performances. A faithful servant is one that his master can give a managing responsibility, and when their master returns, they will be rewarded if they would have done a remarkable job. This verse brings out that a good leader can determine whether an individual has the potential to lead others or not. Honesty is a virtue in Leadership that is also rewarded. The Bible illustrates that capable men should be selected for leadership positions, fear God, be honorable, and despise dishonest gains. A developed leader knows the consequences to his character and a reward for doing the right thing. An exemplary leader will always strive to do the right thing at all times.
Leaders take pride in what they do and know the extent of their responsibility. It is written that whatever one does, they should do it with their might, for there is no knowledge or work in the grave. Good leaders, therefore, ensure that quality results are met despite the difficulty of the task at hand. The Bible talks about expectations from those to whom much has been given. Therefore, leaders don’t act blindly but rather know how much is expected of them.
The Biblical Principles Related to Leadership
Leadership development entails bringing up individuals who are instruments of hope within the church and community. It is the theological base from which the philosophy of developing leaders is built. Hence, our philosophy should not be the only way to carry out leadership development but is also driven by leadership development theology principles. The biblical principles of Leadership are;
First, universality is one of the biblical principles of Leadership. Universality is the quality of inclusivity that involves the sharing by everyone or everything among a particular group of people. Jesus practiced this principle when he called his disciples together. This principle is evident when the disciples were divided amongst themselves, with two of them wanting to be most important and the rest being mad at them for it. Universality is evident as one of the principles because a leader needs to know how to be inclusive and involve everyone he governs. Hence, a leadership development plan should include ways of equipping managers with skills of universality.
Second, the principle of integrity is vital in Biblical Leadership. In the Bible, almost all things that qualify a person for governance are linked to their character. Integrity is essential among pacesetters because a leader’s private life will be made public at some point. Since a manager’s personal life affects their influence on the public, it is essential to maintain integrity. People also judge God by looking at the lives of those who represent Him. Therefore, leaders lose moral credibility when they betray their ethical commitments.
Third, the Bible elaborates on the principle of utility for better leaders. The utility aspect is brought out when He told His disciples that whoever wanted to become great had to be servants. With this, Jesus signified a desire for something logical and worth yearning. The desire to become great is not rebuked but instead explained that serving others is the correct way of doing it. Thus, developed leaders should always be trying to be hardworking and truly useful to their subordinates.
The fourth principle of biblical Leadership is that of availability. The Bible explains it in the sense that whoever wants to be a leader must be a slave of all. In this sense, a leader who is a slave denies himself the rights and gives himself entirely to others. As leaders lead by example, biblical leaders should, for example, arrive first to serve those who come later. Therefore, developed leaders who are conscientious with the Bible are always available to help others entirely.
The other principle of Leadership that is biblical is that of reproducibility. It is written in the scriptures that even the son of man did not come to be served. Jesus did not take advantage of His Godly nature to exploit others but rather humbled Himself to help others and be productive as a leader. Leadership should be considered in that a leader desires to have better results in his work just as a servant works hard to impress their master. Therefore, Jesus modeled servant Leadership and, in the same manner, should developing leaders perform their duties to get results.
Humility is a critical principle that leaders should work towards having. A leader should be diligent in serving to do practical work in favor of others. In the Bible, the call for discipleship involves submission and standing below in a humble manner. It is difficult for a leader without biblical principles to lower themselves in the service of others. Therefore, developing leaders should be taught that Leadership demands that one considers others as superior to oneself.
The principle of disparity is evident in biblical governance skills. Anyone acting as a superior icon needs to exercise a difference in how they conduct themselves. Remarkable leaders must behave in a way that is better than what other ordinary individuals do. Since the world has a particular perception of leaders, biblical leaders need to act better than worldly ones.
A person in charge should be selfless and generous to his people. Just as Jesus was willing to offer his life for the sins of humankind, a director should show generosity for the good of others. As described in the Bible, the life of Jesus showed that He lived a selfless life helping the sick and feeding the hungry. The Messiah set himself up as a model for all the things He was doing, and the upcoming leaders should emulate this.
Leadership Styles at the Organizational Level
The leadership style is considered a combination of distinctive characteristics, qualities, and mannerisms applied by superiors to relate to their subordinates. Leading others is perceived as a pattern of managerial behavior configured to incorporate personal and organizational interests in achieving a specific goal. The style of Leadership affects the culture of the ministry and therefore impacts its performance. The styles include;
Transformational style
Transformational Leadership is a method of governance that focuses on developing the followers and considering their needs. The leaders who center on the style concentrate on developing their subordinates’ overall value system, moral improvement, skills advancement, and general motivational level increase. Transformational governance performs as a strong connection between a leader and his acolytes. When developing ministry leaders, consideration should be put into ensuring those that encourage others look beyond their self-interests. Transformational leaders tend to be more effective because they inspire those that they lead, stimulating their performances. Subordinates of such leaders tend to identify themselves with their managers and create a conducive environment. Hence, the performance of the organization is positively associated with the transformational style of Leadership.
Charismatic style
Charismatic Leadership involves vision development by the leader and its execution by the followers. It invites innovation and resourcefulness of the leader, which in turn motivates the followers into production. Charismatic governance, however, negatively impacts when the leader leaves and the followers are left without direction because they depend so much on the leader. Charismatic leaders also tend not to train other leaders, leaving gaps that only they can fill. During leadership development, the ministry needs to consider individual leaders who can motivate others and teach them to be better tomorrow’s leaders. The charismatic leadership style is not entirely encouraged because it may have negative impacts on the ministry.
Bureaucratic Leadership
Bureaucratic leaders influence the people that they lead to abide by their procedures and policies. The leaders commit firmly to their ideas and strategies, forgetting the needs of their people. In most cases, these leaders appear to be aloof and rarely associate with their subordinates. People who are led by bureaucracy are not developed and motivated to commit to their organizations. Since the system does not inspire its people, it negatively impacts the administration’s performance. Biblical ministry leaders need to work with their people; therefore, this system is not the best to be applied in a ministry setup.
Democratic Leadership
The democratic style of governance is decentralized, and the decision-making process is inclusive of all the subordinates. The method motivates its people to perform their duties better because their views and ideas are valued. Democracy assumes that everyone with who the organization associates have equal rights. Representative Leadership has a positive impact on the organization and, therefore, is an excellent model for ministry work. The involved people are given a chance to be creative and implement their ideas, teaching others leadership qualities to secure their future.
Autocratic leadership style
Autocratic leaders are definitive and bossy and always want their followers to work on their terms and demands. Classically, autocracy forces the subordinates to implement ideas given by the governance without having a way out. A dictatorship is a greedy form of power, with its leaders having fewer creative ideas and supporting one-sided opinions. The harsh environment affects the others lowering their satisfaction and negatively affecting their motivation. Absolutism limits socialization in the organization promoting conflicts among members. The autocratic style is not a biblical type of Leadership because the leaders do not have faith in their people.
Pacesetting leadership style
The pacesetting leadership style is utilized by managers who set examples for their subjects to follow. The pacesetters raise the standards and motivate their followers by setting higher bars and pushing their members to achieve the desired goals. This leadership style is quite effective in achieving the desired results, but it is not favorable to the team members. This governance style may end up stressing the members as it exposes them to a lot of pressure. As much as this leadership style is results-oriented, it is not encouraged in a mission setup because it does not embrace Leadership by service rule. The teams’ heads tend to be so bossy and expect only results but don’t mind about the subjects.
Creating a healthy ministry environment to allow mission accomplishment
An effective working environment should be fostered to be positive and conducive to productivity for success to be realized. The setting is the whole aspect, including both physical and social experience that affects an individual. A healthy environment condition allows for safe, comfortable, and ideal working conditions. The following should be considered when one wants to create a better working environment;
The first thing to be considered should be the communication channels present. For people to work in harmony, a healthy communication pattern needs to be established among them. The transmission of information among team members in a relaxed and precise way helps build trust and encourages collaboration. Within a working organization, interaction sets the tone and drives the diverse thinking that leads to innovation. In a ministry, communication is vital because it allows learning to occur and hence plans for future improvements.
They should come up with management styles that are inclusive and friendly to new ideas. The governance of the organization dramatically influences the productivity of the people it governs. Appropriate leadership styles should be considered to get better results and create a healthy work environment, like democratic Leadership. This all-inclusive and transformational style considers the followers’ needs. With the right leadership styles, people feel free to express new ideas and enhance productivity.
The association needs to appoint the right leaders to uphold the virtues of the organization. The leaders at the establishment would help propel the organization’s mission while motivating others to join them. A conducive working environment is mostly influenced by those who are in charge. Transparent leaders, for example, cultivate the value of trust among their members, which in turn increases harmony. When there is the ability of leaders to co-exist with others, bonds are formed, leading to culture establishment.
The establishment ought to set realistic goals for the ministry at a given time. Clear and achievable expectations tend to increase motivation for workers. Individuals will commit to getting results when they are not working under a lot of pressure and are almost certain to achieve the end goal. When expectations are met, it results in pride, which also motivates them for the following purpose being set. Hence, achievable goals attract the best work and result in satisfaction.
Leaders should offer rewards to work well done as well as compensation when needed. People tend to stay where they feel appreciated and wanted. When incentives are given for work well done, people are motivated to work harder to benefit. Returns of good work also encourage competition which in turn leads to innovation. Compensations for accidents and overtime also help boost and increase commitment. An environment with healthy competition and commitment is somewhat the right working environment.
My plan on develop leaders who serve the mission
Firstly, I will make a leadership development plan and involve the people I intend to train. With their help, we will come up with a plan for their development. Including them in planning will make them understand that I value them and entirely regard their abilities. Inclusivity will enable them to realize that they should always practice what they are teaching as they grow to become leaders.
I will set goals for leadership development for my organization. To put my objectives, I will analyze the group present and compare it to that which is in my vision. The analysis will help me develop the group’s strengths and weaknesses, which will help me understand the areas they need to build. After identifying the areas of need, I will select achievable objectives to help me tackle the shortcomings.
I will select the methods that are appropriate for cultivating the leaders that the organization needs. Regarding the organization’s mission, different approaches can be used in shaping individuals to become leaders. I will apply methods like mentoring, exchange programs, workshops, retreats, orientations, and teaching as I lead to ensure the proper delivery of the intended virtues. The practices may differ among different groups and departments in the organization.
I will recruit new people into leadership positions as part of the growth plan. Since new members are the next generation of managers, it is vital to equip them with the skills. When new people are brought into an establishment, they tend to get with their new ideas. I will uphold transparency to develop loyalty and trust among the people. With trust built, the organization will be working towards community building, leading to purpose fulfillment.
Conclusion
Leadership is one of the main determinants linked to any association’s success and failure. The governance of an association is essential in creating the vision and mission of the organization. Authority is vital in planning strategies, laying policies, and designing methods to propel the organization towards attaining its mission. Hence, good management is critical to the survival of the organization.
There are a lot of scriptures in the Bible that supports the development of upright leaders. The Bible states the values that a leader should have, mainly referring to the life of Jesus. The theological understanding of governance reveals that biblical Leadership comes with an obligation to develop others. Biblical leaders are called to lead by humbly serving others. Biblical Leadership is about equipping others for the work of ministry and being instruments of service.
Biblical principles of Leadership are intertwined to bring out one perfect guide. The faultless director is Jesus, who upheld all the principles of Leadership. The biblical principles like universality, availability, and utility are essential for an individual to become a biblical leader fully. The biblical philosophy of governance development is not on independent thinking but on conversing with the scriptures’ foundation.
There are different styles of governance, and all have an impact on organizational performance. From the discussed techniques, democratic Leadership and transformational Leadership proved to have positive effects on the organizations. The leadership style needs to give the subordinates chances to make decisions and provide a sense of belonging. The type of Leadership also dramatically influences the environment of working. Hence good Leadership is vital to the growth and productivity of an organization.
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