How the Elephant got its trunk.

The leader and his intentionality.

In my last missive I wrote about the difference between Pastoral Leadership and Relational Leadership and how my friend good-heartedly referred to my pursuit of Relational leadership as a mad hatter's tea party. Well for me the process has been more akin to the story by Rudyard Kipling of the Elephant's Child and how the Elephant got its trunk. For me a long arduous struggle backwards and forwards that has resulted in what I believe today. A curiosity and questioning spirit that always seemed to get me into trouble, until eventually out of struggle came clarity and a new found enthusiasm that drives me ever forward to learn more and to observe and impart wherever possible.

http://www.boop.org/jan/justso/elephant.htm it is well worth a read and make my musings a little clearer.

Over the last seventy five years business has seen the evolution of structure from more sophisticated production systems and better uses of manpower to an emphasis on good management techniques . From corporate management structures only to team management and leadership. From leadership to relational leadership. It is this latter area that I believe the church and its leaderships have not fully grasped.

I have been thinking a lot about change, in fact my new book due out soon is about the change process and this is what relational leadership is all about; the relational process by which people are brought together to accomplish change and to make differences that will benefit all. The emphasis being on the Relational leadership principles needed to accomplish the change process.

One of the aspects of relational leadership is that it is purposeful or intentional in what it endeavours to accomplish. Just like the elephant child who intentionally went to find answers, so too should leaders be intentional in their purpose. This is the individual ability to find others of like mind and establish and communicate a common purpose, that results not in the creation of followers but of other leaders. It creates a leader-leader model not a leader-follower model. In other words every follower becomes a leader, just as the Adult Elephants did.

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