Principles of Leadership

“Servant Leadership Principles” According to Dr. Richard J. Krejcir, Jesus modeled effective leadership by being a servant and incarnational leader. Krejcir goes on to distinguish between the two types of leaders. He suggests that the servant leaders do the “hands on work” while the incarnational leaders “are more visionary…set the tone and empower the Servant leaders.” He emphasizes that both leaders will be humble, enthusiastic, and value the opinions of others. While they do not worry about manipulating or gaining control, they seek to be loyal to Jesus Christ. Krejcir is right to point out that these principles are often missing in leadership models outside of the church, but should be employed by those within the church. If leaders in the church commit themselves to being humble, enthusiastic, and to value the opinions of others, with the ultimate goal of honoring Jesus Christ we would probably enjoy our work more. There could be a real freedom in giving up control. Yet, in complex situations these principles are certainly hard to live out. It is easy to say “be humble and value other people’s opinions,” but it is hard to live that out when conflicting opinions reverberate within a congregation. If only disagreements were a rare occurrence in the church, this list of principles might be sufficiently strong. But since real life teaches us that conflicts are inevitable, the reader realizes Krejcir’s principles are in the sky, and it is up to our prayers, hard work, and practice to bring them down to earth. © 1989, 2005, Richard J. Krejcir, Ph.D. Schaeffer Institute of Church Leadership, www.churchleadership.org http://www.churchleadership.org/articles_view.asp?articleid=41928&columnid=4540