Relationships have the power to expand or shrink the way you think about yourself. In fact, we tend to take on the qualities – for better or worse – of the people closest to us.
Maximize the power of relationship leadership:
#1. Relationships shape your future. Someone said, “Show me your friends and I’ll show you your future.”
Reflection points:
- What’s true of your daily interactions that makes the future of others brighter?
- Make a list of your five strongest relationships and predict your future based on those relationships.
#2. Jim Rohn said, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” Relationships mold your character.
Reflection points:
- What is there about you that inspires others to bring their best?
- What qualities do you exhibit that, if acquired by others, would make them better people/leaders?
#3. Relationships shape perception. A friend by your side makes hills seem less steep.
Reflection points:
- What is true of your interactions that inspires others to take on new challenges?
- What was true of a person who successfully challenged you to take on a new challenge?
#4. Solomon wrote, “If two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone?” Eccl. 4:9 Relationships enable endurance.
Reflection points:
- How are your interactions inspiring others to keep going when the path is steep?
- What is true of the person who sucks the life out of you? How will you NOT be like that?
#5. “I want to make my family proud.” (Spoken – in some form – by Olympic gold medalists.) Relationships give meaning to hard work and success.
Great effort requires a great reason.
Reflection points:
- How might you serve others so profoundly that they seek to make you proud?
- Ask a friend, “What makes you proud of me?” Say, “The thing that makes me proud of you is….”
How might you better integrate relationship leadership into your daily practice?
Who helped you become a better person? How?
Bonus material:
Task vs. Relationship Leadership Theories (Chron)
Leadership as a Relationship: Why We Matters more than I (ckju)
