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4 Leadership Traps to Avoid

3. Avoiding Necessary Confrontation

If you love confrontation, then you are probably a jerk.

But if you never confront, then you are certainly not a good leader. 

You can’t simply ignore a problem when it comes to your attention. If you do, one of two things will happen: 1) rather than the problem going away, it usually gets bigger; 2) the people you are leading lose respect for you.

When you become aware of a problem, you just need to confront it immediately (Gal. 2:11; Eph. 4:25-27). You also need to confront it personally (not via email—emails are great for facts but terrible for feelings). And you need to confront it gracefully—with truth and grace.

4. Leading by Positional Authority

Leading by positional authority means the people are following you because they have to. Your influence over them is based on your title, and usually such a leader is big on “rights.”

A couple of examples of leading by positional authority would be Emperor Commodus in the movie Gladiator and Charles Logan on the TV series 24. Someone leading by positional authority will have a lot more difficulty working with volunteers, with younger people and with highly educated people.

Twenty-five years ago, this was the leadership style that was being taught and the way most leaders led. It just does not work today.

To lead by personal or relational authority, the people you lead have bought into you because you have invested in them and in their development, and are willing to give them credit for their work. It’s a “want to” work relationship; not a “have to.”

I recently read this quote that describes a great leader: “When there is danger, the leader is out in front. When there is celebration, the leader is in the back.” People buy into you and the vision. You take the people with you; not just point them where they are to go. It is like the difference in a tour guide and a travel agent.

Help make the people you lead successful. That is a win-win situation.