I feel like a need a shower having even dared to say that one's relationships need to be purposeful, let alone strategic, but bear with me. A leader has to be in relational contact with the people they lead. It is essential! We're not talking about being besties with everyone under your influence, and depending on your situation, it may not be possible to relate one on one with everyone you lead.
That said, it is important to realise that regardless the size of the group, effective leadership is all about relationships. People won't care how much you know until they know how you care! So how does the strategic part apply? If we are to lead people to a destination that we feel they could benefit from striving to get there, and the state of the world can be improved if we were to move there then this is a strategic move. Because to achieve these things, one needs to realise that relationship are important and enter into them.
The relationship itself isn't strategic, as that would be bording on manipulation, but the need to be strategic about developing relationships with people you lead is essential.
Which leads us to ask:
- Are you relating to all the people you need to relate to in order to lead them to a better place?
- What is it about your relating patterns that may need to be tweaked or fine tuned?
- How easy or difficult is it for you to relate to people and where does that come from?
- Is there something you need to address in yourself to free you to relate more effectively?
I know there are some brilliant leaders who find large groups of people daunting and very intimidating to relate to. But this issue is not what this is about. Leading others is about entering into relationship with people, so they know they are loved, will love you and hence will follow you!
