Default Leadership: 2 Significant Gaffes Leaders Make
July 2009

Leaders are responsible for many things; acquiring and shaping vision, personal and corporate communication, strategic planning, budgeting, training, supervision, executing the plan, and the plan’s results. These are basic functions that all leaders can identify with. But there’s a missing ingredient from this list. What is it? It’s the way leaders treat and relate with team members, a key indicator of one’s ability to lead effectively. This is why most people in leadership positions are not leaders; some are task oriented but not centered on people. Some in positions of leadership lead for selfish reasons, to achieve a personal goal or to advance themselves. Then there are those leaders who don’t know how to lead because they’ve never been trained properly. Leadership is not that complicated; it’s simply being a genuine person, and learning to connect well with others on a personal level, and then learning to leverage your followers’ talents and skills to achieve organizational goals.

Organizations’ today are in desperate need of good leaders. There are times when leaders get so busy in the daily grind of work schedules that they fail to build relational value with their followers. As a result relationships wane, even dissolve substantively because the mission becomes more important than community. Leaders cannot allow relationships to suffer; they must learn to be intentional and diligent to work on their people skills continuously.

This article addresses two significant gaffes leaders make. In the thirty years of my workplace experience I have personally seen leaders, including myself, default in many areas but these two stand out the most. As leaders try not to make the mistake of being…

Long on vision, short on relationship

A leader who has a lot of vision but lacks the skills or time to build solid relationships will eventually live alone in the future. Leaders need to have a vision for where they’re taking a project or organization, this much is true, but they also need relationships to bring the vision to fruition. Leaders who “drive” hard tend to make this mistake; they don’t take the time to value or build meaningful, intimate relationships, which add value to the vision in the long haul. In turn, the vision suffers a dose of malnutrition because the synergy required to build and sustain momentum becomes sluggish, even nonexistent. It is not good to toss out idea after idea without building meaningful relationships nor is it wise to hurry people to get things done quickly and miss what’s truly important; relationship.

What can a leader do to bring balance into his or her life? First, understand that the future isn’t going anywhere you’ll get there soon enough. You may even have to put up with a little delay. Delay is better than decay. Delay is a slowdown, whereas, decay is a meltdown. Second, be intentional and strategic about developing relationships. Depending on the size of your staff take the time to connect with everyone at a personal level at least once a week; some relationships take more time than others to develop. Therefore, learn to schedule times of connection with your staff on your calendar. Again, plan accordingly. Maximize this time of connection by asking questions about their life, as they open up show genuine concern, and follow up within a few days. Be open to offer assistance when it’s in your power to do so. Third, show them you’re a real person with feelings and vulnerabilities. A vulnerable boss is better than a shielded one; one who is honest is better than one who is unapproachable and distant. These are a few strategies you can put in place to close the relational gap. Within time you’ll see results as people become easier to lead, and the vision becomes more appetizing for all involved

The second gaffe leaders make is neglecting their team members.

Neglect: Love gathers but inattention scatters

A second default is when leaders fall short in loving their followers unconditionally. When this happens people become disengaged and eventually “scatter.” Employees and followers will leave your organization and find an alternate place where they can be nurtured, appreciated, developed and celebrated. People will tolerate a leader to a certain point, especially when the relationship never seems to advance to deeper levels. This is evident in the biblical story of King Saul when he was persecuting David. Saul’s power grip as a king was weakening, while David’s leadership influence was gaining momentum among the people. The storyline goes like this:

David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and his father’s household heard about it, they went down to him there. All those who were in distress or in debt or discontented gathered around him, and he became their leader. (1 Samuel 21: 2 NIV)

What King Saul was unable to do, build meaningful relationships, David accomplished. Why? It comes down to one simple thing; the ability to love others unconditionally. Love has a powerful gathering effect. When someone genuinely loves people, they’ll attract and garner support much quicker than those who don’t.

There is nothing worse than a neglected employee who carries his or her workload everyday but is relationally deprived. You cannot neglect your team members for too long. In The Way of the Shepherd, authors Dr. Kevin Leman and William Pentak offer this advice:

You have to really care about your people. You can go through all the right mechanics but if you don’t genuinely care about the people who report to you, you’ll never be the kind of leader they’ll drop everything to follow. If they’re nothing but stinking sheep to you, they’ll never do their best work for you and they don’t stay in your fold for long.

As a leader you have to take time for your people, and at times deal with their problems you’re going to be a respected and followed. Love is the relational tonic that soothes, heals and restores, at the same time, possesses the potency able to increase relational capacity. Neglect, on the other hand, causes relationships to become lean. In time people will look somewhere else for a leader who will lead them with love.

Leaders, your first priority to any organization is building relational value. It’s out of relational value that production increases. When people are loved, they’ll put out more effort for you. King Solomon, the wisest man of the ages, confirms this principle:

Be diligent to know the state of your flocks, and attend to your herds… [then] the lambs will provide your clothing, the goats the price of a field. You shall have enough goats’ milk for your food. For the food of your household, and the nourishment of your maidservants. (Proverbs 27:23, 26 & 27 - NKJV)

In simple terms, building relational value by exercising love, and attending regularly to your team members’ increases production, builds commitment and long-term loyalty. In sum, love gathers, inattention scatters.

Joel Garcia
The Jogar Group
President and Coaching Leader

The Jogar Group was created for the purpose of transforming C.E.O.’s (Churches, Executives and Organizations) to enhance personal performance, which inevitably lead to organizational expansion. The Jogar Group provides consulting services; team training and development; organizational development; leadership seminars and lectures; and one-on-one executive coaching and mentoring. The key to the Jogar Group’s developmental strategy is to discover and cultivate the individual or team member’s talents, abilities, and gifts. Then create strategies that will empower them to enhance their personal and organizational performance. For more information contact us at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it for more information.