Fleshing out Transformational Leadership

James MacGregor Burns in his classic book Leadership, wrote about transformational leadership. Burns defined a transformational leader as someone who “recognizes and exploits an existing need or demands of a potential follower.”He further developed transformational leaders as people who “looks for potential motives in followers, seeks to satisfy higher needs, and engages the full person of the follower.”The desired results of transformational leaders are a shared relationship of motivation and elevation that changes both the leader and the follower into moral agents.

Churches today are in need of leadership with a vision of seeing greater potential in individuals and thus desiring to transform them by developing the greater good in people. Transformational leadership in church will allow people to be transformed into a person that reflects Christ and displays the power of the Holy Spirit. When a person experiences true transformation, the areas of their life that are in need of change or improvement will become evident. Transformation takes place through a personal relationship with the leader inspiring and shaping the follower into the person God desires them to become.

Church leaders must have a heart of transforming people to more reflect Christ. Henry Blackaby in his book Spiritual Leadership challenges the leader’s goal. He writes “The primary goal of spiritual leadership is not excellence, in the sense of doing things perfectly. Rather, it is taking people from where they are to where God wants them to be.” Therefore, the work of transformational leaders is to assist people in developing a vision of what God wants them to be. Transformational leaders work with people to encourage them to move from where they are towards where God would have them be on their spiritual journey.

I pray that as a person, husband, father, and pastor that I will be a transformational leader. My heart is to be the kind of leader that moves people along on their spiritual journey. I want to challenge people to reflect Christ more in their daily spiritual journey. Transforming people to be more like Christ as they lead others.