What Is Strategic Leadership?
Strategic leadership knows purpose, vision, and a clear path from where you are to where you want to go. According to Kouzes and Posner, leaders at their best are leaders who model the way, inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable others to act, and encourage the heart.[1] When such practices are evident in a leader's life, people will naturally be drawn to the leader's vision and help achieve the goals.
Second, once the dream is clearly defined with a leader at their best, culture begins to form as strategies and goals are implemented to serve the mission. Dr. Dinwoodie explains that culture is what helps the organization achieve its goal. Know the purpose and vision, then create the strategies to accomplish the vision.[2]
When looking at Jesus, what is the nature of His leadership? Was it strategic?
When looking at the life of Jesus, he modeled certain practices for this disciple to follow. He led by example. Jesus never asked his disciples to do what he first wasn't willing to accomplish. His disciples followed his lead. One example of that is how Jesus practiced Spiritual Disciplines. Jesus practiced solitude, prayer, and fasting. He also served and was committed to the studies of the Scriptures.
Second, He knew his identity. Second, Jesus established a servant leadership culture. He came to serve and not to be served (Mark 10:41-45). Jesus challenged the hierarchical honor Roman-Greco culture and turned it upside down. He introduces a way of leading and honoring by teaching the concept of servant leadership. Fourth, Jesus empowered his followers to carry the mission forward; this is evident when He was able to mobilize by engaging the seventy to go out and heal the sick and tell of the new Kingdom of God at hand (Luke 10).
How did he relate to his followers?
Jesus was inspirational and authentic. He started by enlisting the twelve disciples, inspiring them to see the possibilities beyond the turmoil and uncertainty, a type of leadership that "envisions the future by imagining exciting and ennobling possibilities"[4]. Simon Sinek also addresses this as the Golden Circle: the why, what, and how organizations can inspire. Only a few who know why they do what they do (purpose, cause, and belief) succeed as inspired leaders and organizations.
Moreover, according to Sinek, these successful organizations and leaders think and act from a place of knowing their purpose: " People buy why you do it, not what you're selling. People must believe you. What you do sells the proof of what you believe."[5] Jesus had an inspiring vision to share with anyone willing to hear and believe.
Jesus also exemplified authentic leadership with his followers. He was moved with compassion. According to Northouse, compassion "refers to being sensitive to the plight of others, opening oneself to others, and being willing to help them."[6]
What can we learn from his example?
Jesus was an exemplary leader to his followers. He coached, taught at every opportunity, and was intentional about leading in proximity, e.g., he spent three years with his disciples. Also, The Kingdom Leadership paradigm was servanthood. Jesus became one of them, in Philippians 2:7, "but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men, (NIV)." Servant Leadership was the opposite of the Greco-Roman culture of his time as he introduced leading from the bottom, taking a servant's posture, instead of the top-down what you can do for me.
How can a leader create a culture that reflects this type of strategic leadership?
Jesus left a blueprint in the Scriptures on how leaders should lead with coherent beliefs and ideologies for Godly leadership. As a result, many practical leadership concepts today can be traced back to Christianity, which is connected to the principles Jesus taught his disciples.
The Church and organizations should exemplify what Blanchard addresses in his book Lead Like Jesus; he writes, "Your motivations and beliefs about leadership affect your actions.[7] People will do what you model, your actions, rather than your words. In today's world, the hierarchical approach and adaptation need to be turned upside down to be effective in our leadership. If Jesus came to serve and not be served (Mark 10:45), our lives should also model how Jesus lived here on earth and in every area, including how we lead.
[1]. Kouzes, James M., and Barry Z. Posner. The Leadership Challenge: How to Make Extraordinary Things Happen in Organizations. 6th ed., John Wiley & Sons, 2017. 12.
[2]. David, Dinwoodie. What Is Strategic Leadership? 2014.
[3]. Morris, Robert. The Blessed Church: Simple Secret to Growing the Church You Love. Waterbrook Press, 2014. 116.
[4] Kouzes, James M., and Barry Z. Posner. The Leadership Challenge: How to Make Extraordinary Things Happen in Organizations. 6th ed., John Wiley & Sons, 2017. 15.
[5]. Sinek, Simon. How Great Leaders Inspire Action. 2010.
[6]. Northouse, Peter G. Leadership: Theory and Practice. 9th ed., Sage Publications, 2021. 225.
[7]. Ken, Blanchard; Phil, Hodges; Phyllis, Hendry, Lead Like Jesus Revisited, Thomas Nelson Publishing, 2016. 37.
