C h a p t e r 1 8
LEADERS ARE
PARTNERS
“I thank my God every time I remember you...because of your
partnership in the Gospel from the first day until now...”
(Phil. 1:3-5)Effective leaders are not rugged individualists or isolationists – but rather
“team players.” A team can be defined this way: “Two or more people moving
along a path of interaction toward a common goal.”^1 For a leader to be a team-
builder – he or she must be people-oriented rather than program-oriented.
Programs do not follow leaders – only people do. When a leader does
not have a people priority, he will develop a program priority. People will
become a means to the end – rather than an end in themselves. The leader
will ultimately use people as pawns to accomplish his plans and programs.
Once his plans or purposes have been achieved, he will discard the people
and continue to “go it alone.” This attitude reveals that he was not really
interested in the people all along – but only in his own plans.
Good leaders – especially good Biblical leaders – will have a people priority.
Because they want to raise up leaders and mentor people into maturity, they
will seek to build covenant relationships rather than functional relationships.
They will see their followers as real partners and not just pawns. Rather