{"id":7930,"date":"2011-08-08T12:35:58","date_gmt":"2011-08-08T16:35:58","guid":{"rendered":"\/news_blogs\/john\/?p=7930"},"modified":"2024-01-07T20:10:45","modified_gmt":"2024-01-08T01:10:45","slug":"loving-teamship-loving-your-team-leader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cccc.org\/news_blogs\/john\/2011\/08\/08\/loving-teamship-loving-your-team-leader\/","title":{"rendered":"Loving Your Team Leader"},"content":{"rendered":"
This entry is part 3 of 3 in the series Loving Teamship<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n

This is the last in a series about ‘loving teamship’ that started with loving your teammates<\/a> and then loving your team<\/a>. It is also the flip side of the post Loving Leadership<\/a> that talked about leaders loving their staff members. It may seem strange to talk about loving<\/em> the team leader, especially because that love is focused on one<\/em> person while all the other posts talk about loving an entire class of people<\/em> or a group<\/em>, but Jesus commanded us to love one another, so why would the team leader be excluded from those we are to love?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hebrews 13:17 is a good starting point for this topic. It includes some very practical advice about how you should relate to your leaders, which the biblical author points out is in your own best interest to follow:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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“Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you.”<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Restated, the key point is “Let your leaders lead because when their work is a joy, yours will be too!” You can have confidence in them and submit to them because they in turn are accountable to someone over them (perhaps a board or an overseer, and always ultimately to God himself).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is a lot easier to say “Yes, we should love our leaders” than it is to say, “so I should love my leader” because it is easier to love people in abstract than to love a specific human being with specific traits in a specific scenario. Team members should keep in mind that Christian leaders are as fallible as they are. We all do the best we can, earnestly desiring to grow more like Jesus every day. So I understand that it can be hard to love your leader. It can also be hard to love your neighbour, but that doesn’t give us an excuse not to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The power differential in an employment relationship does present some potential obstacles to loving your leader and these do need to be dealt when they arise. One of these I’ve already posted about<\/a> and more will come in future posts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But on the topic of demonstrating love for your leader, here are some basic ideas to start with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Relations with the Team Leader<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The best way to show love for a leader, aside from what you would do for any other person, is to help the leader lead. There are several specific ways a team member can do this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n