I ran across this blog post at Brant Hansen’s Letters from Kamp Krusty (yes, that is the name of the blog). I have to say, these comparisons hit the nail (or out of touch positional leader) on the head. Check out Brant’s original post here.
Servant Leader: Has something to say
LeaderMan: Wants a platform on which to say something
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LeaderMan: You almost feel you know his family, because he’s your Leader
Servant Leader: You allow him to influence you, because you know his family
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LeaderMan: Wants you to know he’s a Leader
Servant Leader: You’re not sure he knows he’s a leader
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LeaderMan: Loves the idea of the Gospel, and the idea of The Church
Servant Leader: Loves God and the actual individual people God brings across his path
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LeaderMan: A great speaker, but self-described as, “Not really a people person.”
Servant Leader: Makes himself a people person
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LeaderMan: Helps you find where God is leading you in his organization
Servant Leader: Helps you find where God is leading you
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LeaderMan: Gets together with you to talk about his vision
Servant Leader: Just gets together with you
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LeaderMan: Resents “sheep stealing”
Servant Leader: Doesn’t get the “stealing” part, since he doesn’t own anyone to begin with
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LeaderMan: Wants the right people on the bus
Servant Leader: Wants to find the right bus for you, and sit next to you on it
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Servant Leader: Shows you his whole heart
LeaderMan: Shows you a flow chart
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LeaderMan: A visionary who knows what the future looks like
Servant Leader: Knows what your kitchen looks like
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LeaderMan: If it’s worth doing, it worth doing with excellence
Servant Leader: Not exactly sure how to even calculate “worth doing”
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LeaderMan: Talks about confronting one another in love
Servant Leader: Actually confronts you in love
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LeaderMan: Impressed by success and successful people
Servant Leader: Impressed by faithfulness
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LeaderMan: Invests time in you, if you are “key people”
Servant Leader: Wastes time with you
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LeaderMan: Reveals sins of his past
Servant Leader: Reveals sins of his present
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LeaderMan: Gives you things to do
Servant Leader: Gives you freedom
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LeaderMan: Leads because of official position
Servant Leader: Leads in spite of position
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LeaderMan: Deep down, threatened by other Leaders
Servant Leader: Has nothing to lose
Unfortunately, I have to admit that there are too many leaders of the ‘LeaderMan’ type in our contemporary churches. What the church needs is a leadership repentance, purging, and revival. We need to repent of our need to have our itching ears tickled and heaping up the kinds of teachers and leaders who were only too eager to oblige us. We need to purge the ranks of church leadership of all of the ‘LeaderMan’ types of leaders; those leaders who saw (or see) church leadership as an easy hustle, or a way toward financial independence on the backs of God’s people. Finally, we need to experience a revival of Bible-based, Christ-centered, servant leadership. This type of leadership is modeled after the ministry of Jesus Christ, and is always other-focused. Remember, Christ deferred all glory to His Father in heaven.
…You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave; just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many. Matthew 20:25-28