What followers want from their leaders

So, what is it about a leader that commands a following?  The Gallup people have done some extensive research with respect to why people follow, and the results are very interesting.  The top four characteristics were trust, compassion, stability and hope, in that order. 

The goal of the Gallop research was to involve people across a broad spectrum including corporate organizations, schools, churches, social networks and families. A random sampling of 10,000 plus ‘followers’ focused specifically on the question, “what leader has the most positive influence in your daily life” and what are the three words best describing what this person contributes to your daily life.  Deliberate with the design of the survey and the questions asked, they were excluding leaders who may have a predominantly negative influence.

The survey was also designed in such a way to let the followers define how leaders make a difference to them in their own words. Instead of listing categories for the respondents to choose from, they left the questions open ended to see what people would identify as vital characteristics.  This effectively removed any bias of pre-determined categories or words, such as ‘vision’ or ‘purpose’ that get most of the attention in leadership research.

The Gallup research showed that ‘followers’ have a very clear picture of what they want and need from the most influential leaders.

Trust

In any position of leadership, whether that be as the sports coach, business leader, church leader or other industry professional, trust is the “do or die” foundation for leading others.  Respondents also mentioned, honesty, integrity, and respect as significant traits in the leaders in their lives. All of these words are outcomes of strong relationships built on trust.  

Trust was also a factor in regard to productivity and engagement.  Employees were less likely to be engaged with a lack of trust in their leaders but, had increased speed and efficiency in productivity when they had a high level of trust and familiarity.  So, the message here is clear; be authentic, be open and be candid, because that is the only way to build trust with your people. 

Paul J. Zak has done a lot of research on trust and says creating a culture of trust is what makes the difference to employees. “Employees in high-trust organizations are more productive, have more energy at work, collaborate better with their colleagues, and stay with their employers longer than people working at low-trust companies. They also suffer less chronic stress and are happier with their lives, and these factors fuel stronger performance.”

Compassion

According to Tom Rath, and Barry Conchie, in their book, Strengths Based Leadership,  genuinely caring about your followers is another imperative quality leaders must have.  Respondents used words like caring, friendship, happiness and love in the survey.  When your employees and followers feel like you care about them, four things happen; they are significantly more likely to stay, have much more engaged customers, more productive and are more productive.

In the church, this can be applied to your employees, volunteers and your congregation.

Richard Branson is famous on this front.  He is routinely quoted saying your employees are your most valuable asset.  There are variations to it depending on the source, but he is clear, you need to take care of you staff and when you do, they will take care of your clients.  He certainly has been quoted on many other aspects of leadership, but his philosophy is clear, you have to genuinely care about people to be a good leader. 

Stability

The Gallup research showed people want stability not only in their leaders but also the financial viability of the organization as a whole.  People need constant support and reassurance from their leaders.  I do not think this means as leaders we have to hold people’s hands, but it does mean you need to be accessible and available to your followers when they need you.  The survey reported that security, strength, support and peace were words mentioned frequently.

Rath and Conchie also went on to state that transparency was the major factor in creating stability at the organizational level.  Interestingly, it was right around this time, maybe a little prior, that transparency and accountability became paramount in the charity sector as well.  Donors began asking where their money was going and how it was being used (thanks goes to the Boomers on this front) and this was new and uncomfortable for some charities.  But overall, it did bring improved processes and reporting in the sector which was ultimately of benefit to both donors and organizations. 

Providing your people access to important information is key to maintaining their support and giving them a sense of purpose and stability in relation to the organization.

Hope

I have to admit, I was both pleased and a little surprised to see hope on this list.  Not for church leaders, we give people hope every day.  Hope is one of the basic tenets of Christianity.  In fact, faith, love and hope are referenced often in the bible, and we know that the bible says, love is the greatest of the three. 

The literature on leadership has always made reference to inspiration and vision, but I have not often seen the word hope mentioned in conjunction with leadership.  This is paramount and worth making note of for Christian leaders because hope is not something most leaders in the secular world make attempts to instill or fulfill, so it would follow that this is a void the church can fill for people in their daily lives. 

Rath and Conchie found, “the vast majority of leaders we interviewed did not spend enough time deliberately creating more hope and optimism for the future” and that most of their time was spent “reacting to the needs of the day instead of initiating for the future”.  They go on to cite that reacting in real time is actually easier than planning or initiating new projects or vision for the future.  This ties into what Covey said years earlier about being a proactive leader. 

Rath and Conchie go on to say, organizations create a culture of “reactivity” that actually becomes a valued norm.  “Our ability to progress in our career is often determined by our effectiveness in responding to near term needs.  When high value is placed on solving these kinds of problems, it creates a culture in which leaders spend little or no time thinking about what could be done because they receive more accolades for simply doing what needs to be done”.

Solving problems is simply easier than initiating something new, but as a leader, if you are not creating an environment of hope and helping people see a path forward, probably no one else is either. 

Effective Christian leadership is more than just learning principles of leadership though.  It requires every pastor, minister, coordinator, director, and other leader to develop the character of a leader from the inside out.  Leaders in the church hold a unique position in that church leaders need to not only lead their staff, but the congregation as well.  So, church leaders are called to lead in more than one capacity and manage more than one group of followers.  

I came across a list of the 100 top books on leadership on Sharefaith.com.  They are a Christian organization who specialize in creating cutting-edge media and technology resources that equip entire ministry teams and all ministry platforms to serve and teach with excellence.

However, their top 100 list is indeed comprehensive and worth taking a look at.  On this list you will find many recognizable Christian authors and great books on Christian leadership…and one book on Leadership & Stewardship, by J. Clif Christopher, Not Your Parents Offering Plate. 

Did you notice though, in a list of 100, only one of these books is dedicated to stewardship and giving?

In the vast expanse of leadership literature, very few people address the importance of stewardship as part of the role of church leadership.  My father always said this is the single biggest reason churches struggle financially…because the formal leadership of the church does not see stewardship as part of their role as a leader, and thus they do not address the issue as part of their preaching and teaching ministry. 

Incidentally, chapter four in Christopher’s book is titled, The Pastor Must Be a Fund-raiser!

Having the characteristics and traits of a good leader is a good start but demonstrating a life that follows the culture you want to create is crucial.  Living your values and expectations out loud and modelling what you want from your team and your congregation is exponentially more important than everything else, except a clear sense of vision and purpose.