Leadership Thought: What Kind of Leader Are You?

Dear Friends,

What kind of leader are you?

You may have heard people talking about the difference between being a transactional leader and a transformational leader. Transactional leadership involves training people because you expect to get something out of them. You train them, and in return they offer their skills to help make your company profitable.

The bottom-line question for the transactional leader is, “how can I make my company more profitable?” The bottom line for a transformational leader is, “how can I make you, my employee, more successful?” The transformational leader knows that if he can make you more successful, you will make the company more successful.

If you value the development of people as much as you value profit, you are probably a transformational leader.

John Wooden, the legendary basketball coach at UCLA was a transformational leader. It was said of him by one of his players that “he wanted more for us than he wanted from us.” His focus was on developing the person to be the best he could be. The player went on to point out how coach Wooden taught his players life skills that would benefit them beyond the basketball court. And in demonstrating transformational leadership, coach Wooden was able to cultivate the kind of environment that resulted in wins, not only on the court but off the court as well.

Anyone who has gone to a Chick-fil-A restaurant has experienced transformational leadership. From the person outside taking your orders to improve the time of delivery, to the person behind the counter who greets you with a smile and makes you feel like they are your best friend, you notice the difference.

Why are Chick-fil-A’s different from most fast-food chains and why do people line  up to eat at their restaurants? It is because they offer  a quality product served by quality people who are trained to be that way.

Yes, Chick-fil-A  wants to be successful for unless they are successful, they won’t remain in business. But they also want their employees to be successful, so they invest in them and train them to be the best kind of people they can be. They hire good people, and they make them better. They train them in how to be successful not only behind the counter but wherever life might take them. Those working for Chick-Fil-A are trained to give "second mile service," and while smaller than companies like McDonalds and many of its other competitor's, it believes that it will compete and win, not through strength but through service. Like Ben Franklin, they know that "the handshake of the host affects the taste of the roast," and that the attitude of the leader affects the attitude of the office.

Jesus was a transformational leader. He invested in people because he believed in people. He wanted more for them than He wanted from them.

He demonstrated incredible confidence in the potential of people to be used for a higher purpose, and He led out of his character and heart for the world.

As transformational leaders we are called to do and be the same. As His followers we should be asking the same question often asked by Chick-Fil-A employees: “How can I serve you.”

Yours in faith and friendship

Tom