If you keep doing what you’ve been doing, you’ll keep getting what you’ve been getting.”1
Whether it is in politics or in religion, there appears to be a mandate by constituents and followers for a change; a transformation in leadership. This appeared to be evident in the result of our national political elections last year and the growing membership in mega-churches globally in the last several years. This change is needed because many feel that we are on the threshold of crisises and opportunities. It appears that people are tired of being tired of the same old things and ways.
Mega-church senior pastors and our new President represent a paradigm shift in the culture regarding leadership and a new way of getting what we want and changing what we have been doing. In their leadership style, they want to change what we have been doing to achieved different results.
Transformational Leadership starts with the development of a vision, the creation of a compelling picture of the future. It is a desired potential situation to which people can identify. It is a vision that will excite and convert prospective constituents and followers. A person with vision and passion can achieve great things. Our President and mega-church senior pastors are achieving great things. Both believe in The Scripture that says ‘Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2).
Transformational leaders challenge the process. They get things done by injecting enthusiasm and energy. People will follow a person who inspires them. Moral values are important to this type of leadership. The Transformational Leader searches for ways to transform the organization, while making an implicit promise to followers that they too will be transformed in some positive way. Transformational leaders are often charismatic individuals, who succeed through a belief in others or a higher being or calling rather than a belief in themselves.
Our President and mega-church senior pastors could be categorized as transformational leaders. They serve as role models for constituents and followers. Constituents and followers trust and respect the leader; they emulate the leader and internalize his or her ideals. Transformational leaders possess a dynamic vision that others can come to believe in. They make us believe that we can be transformed and have a belief in something or someone that is much greater than ourselves. They allow us to change what we are doing, so that we can get something different from what we had been getting.
1 Herrington, J., Bonem, M, & Furr, J. (2000). Leading Congregational Change. New York: Jossey-Bass.
