There are countless different leadership styles available to leaders, and each has its highlights and drawbacks. A little-known and underappreciated leadership style is Biblical leadership, which draws its inspiration from Christian teachings about fairness, equality, and cooperation to fully integrate a person’s spiritual beliefs with their daily life.
We often underestimate the power of leadership principles on the productivity and effectiveness of a given organization, especially as many companies begin without a cohesive and comprehensive vision for what leadership looks like in the organization. However, leadership principles should always be at the foremost of a leader’s mind when guiding their business to success, as they ensure there are clear guidelines, consistent application of rules, and a mutual understanding of what the organization aims to achieve.
The Biblical leadership model draws from time-tested principles and beliefs to guide an organization, with a particular emphasis on how all people need each other and none of us are truly alone. While this leadership method has numerous benefits, today we’ll examine three of its greatest strengths.
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Biblical leadership emphasizes the humanity of employees
It’s easy for employees to feel that they are just another face in the crowd or a name in a list. Given the advances in technology, people feel more disconnected from one another than ever, and that causes serious problems for organizations seeking to build a company culture where employees trust each other and work together.
The main focus of Biblical leadership is people, not technology or processes: it recognizes and celebrates the humanity of every employee by putting them foremost in any organization. After all, no business can succeed without a great team, and great teams are created by honoring the individuality of each individual. In many leadership styles, group cohesion is an afterthought, with the main focus being hitting goals and making quotas; Biblical leadership recognizes that success comes from respecting one another and working closely together.
It creates a company culture based on shared values
Many people shy away from discussing concepts in any way related to religion in the workplace, afraid that it will be seen as offensive, but that’s not always true. Biblical leadership utilizes the positive concepts found in the Bible and helps you build a company culture based on those core values without alienating anyone. One can see Biblical leadership as a philosophy that draws upon some of the most seminal works in human history and brings them into a modern context in a way that everyone can appreciate and understand.
This leadership style sees chaos as a challenge rather than a weakness
One of the most important components of Biblical leadership is that it reframes chaos not as a hopeless state of despair, but as something we, as people, were built to overcome. It’s easy to feel defeated and overwhelmed when looking at a serious challenge facing a company – cash flow issues, personnel problems, missed deadlines – and immediately seek to point fingers or make excuses. However, Biblical leadership acknowledges that chaos is a natural part of life, something that we were designed to conquer.
This highly empowering mindset encourages employees to look for solutions to their problems rather than give up, as it emphasizes that we were designed to overcome challenges: it’s in our very nature as people to conquer any obstacle that comes our way. By viewing chaos as an invitation to improve, Biblical leadership reduces the fear of change, which is the first step to finding solutions.
Biblical leadership encourages people to find joy and purpose in all types of work
Another critical concept in Biblical leadership is that work is holy: being able to achieve and attain goals is just as much a part of personal development as prayer or charitable deeds. In Biblical leadership, everything is sacred, as it is all part of a universal design. This mindset helps people appreciate how important their work is and look at the big picture, recognizing that nothing is too small or insignificant to be sacred. Many individuals grow dispirited when they feel that their work has no meaning, so developing an overarching understanding of work’s value will motivate them on those days when everything seems too difficult to bear.
Final thoughts
Biblical leadership is a highly effective leadership method that emphasizes the humanity of workers, which encourages collaboration and inspiration. It reframes chaos as a challenge and a natural part of being, and it also gives a deeper meaning to all forms of work. The teachings within the Bible are universal, ones that can resonate with everyone no matter their background, and Biblical leadership draws upon those truths to create a sophisticated, empathetic, and effective strategy to motivate every worker.