The erosion of disrespect

There was a period in the 90s when I was a John Maxwell acolyte. "Leadership is influence," is Maxwell’s famous quote. I also used to love to hear John Wimber talk about leadership. To paraphrase, he would say, "Look behind you, if there is no one there, then you are not the leader." Maxwell used the metaphor of a "leadership account." I have seen the famous leadership account in action plenty of times, and let me assure you, it is easy to make withdrawals and not so easy to make deposits. Deposits take trustworthy interactions over a long period of time, but one false move and the account can be drained overnight.

In a recent article, my friend Steve Sjogren said:

"No emotionally healthy person can work in any sort of ongoing way with someone who doesn’t respect them.  None of us are stupid.  We can all pick up on clear signals that we are not held in high esteem. Every member of your team is not only due respect.  They are each a gift from God himself.  Celebrate the gift they bring.  Let them shine where they are strong – and they probably will!  Do what it takes to deal with conflict.  See a therapist – whatever.  Great churches have long term employees that become like family over the long haul."

Disrespect, or negative interactions are like a broken sprinkler pipe leaking water. It is only a matter of time before erosion occurs. If the water runs long enough it can cause some severe damage.

This is really a simple equation. Once you begin to disrespect the leader, then, if you have integrity, you must leave. On the other hand, once a leader begins to disrespect a follower, then they must help the person leave. But as the 50s song goes, leaving, or  "breaking up is hard to do."