I’ve heard it said that anything healthy is growing and I believe that statement to be true. Healthy things grow and if they are growing well, they are reproducing and multiplying. In fact, everything God created, He created with the power to reproduce and multiply itself.
Transformational Leadership Is God’s Idea
Regarding animals, Genesis 1:21-22 states, “So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that scurries and swarms in the water, and every sort of bird—each producing offspring of the same kind. And God saw that it was good. Then God blessed them, saying, ‘Be fruitful and multiply. Let the fish fill the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth.’”
Regarding human beings, Genesis 1:27-28 states, “So God created human beings in His own image. In the image of God he created them; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them and said, ‘Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.’”
And lastly God even states in Genesis 1:29 that He has given human beings every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for food which means that even the plants and fruit trees have God’s creative reproductive power to grow and multiply. Therefore, it should be no surprise that apples reproduce apples, geese reproduce geese, fish reproduce fish, and people reproduce people. And I want to go one step further: leaders reproduce leaders and servant leaders reproduce servant leaders in God’s kingdom. This kind of heart conviction among servant leaders on a team demonstrates the power of transformational leadership through a multiplication team value. John Maxwell observes and further teaches that leaders teach what they know, but they reproduce who they are. That’s why servant leaders in the kingdom of God become servant leaders like our Lord Jesus Christ and then reproduce other servant leaders in His kingdom.
Transformational Leadership Serves People
In Matthew 20:25-28, Jesus called His disciples together and said, “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must become your slave. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.” This statement by Jesus is a powerful life transformational statement. He is saying that if we are going to be like Him and lead like Him, we must be different than the cultural leaders of the world. We must become like Jesus leading others by serving them and selflessly giving our lives for them. When we do this well, the kingdom of God begins to grow and multiply because the people and cultures around us become open to the life transforming message of the gospel when they see it actually working in us.
So let me state it again. Leaders in the kingdom of God are servant leaders who reproduce servant leaders in the kingdom of God. As such, servant leaders in the kingdom of God are powerful transformational leaders who multiply themselves and their kingdom impact in the community, region, and world around them.
Transformational Leadership Multiplies Leaders
Do you know that there is a big difference between being a transformational leader and being a transactional leader? Leadership that multiplies growth is transformational leadership; whereas, leadership that merely adds growth is transactional leadership. Let me illustrate with simple math how multiplied growth is transformational and additive growth is really more transactional than transformational.
2x2x2x2x2x2x2=128 whereas 2+2+2+2+2+2+2=14. If this represents a community of 128 people, the initial two transformational leaders who reproduce themselves and then teach the reproduced leaders to also reproduce themselves once each year, the entire community of 128 people would be completely reached and transformed in 7 short years. However, in contrast, if the those initial two leaders were only transactional leaders where they merely reproduced themselves once each year, but did not teach the reproduced leaders to also reproduce themselves, it would take 64 years to reach the entire community of 128 people. This is why transformational leadership is so powerful: transformational leaders reproduce and multiply other transformational leaders.
In 2 Timothy 2:2, the apostle Paul tells Timothy, “You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others.” As each servant leader in the kingdom of God follows this command of Scripture, sharing the Good News of the Gospel and teaching others to do the same, our community, region, and world will be completely transformed by the kingdom of God in a very short time.
As transformational leaders in God’s kingdom, we must always be reproducing ourselves and teaching others to reproduce themselves as well. Think about it! Everything God created, He created with the ability to reproduce and powerfully multiply itself. His awesome creative power is placed in all of His creation in the form of a seed that can be exponentially multiplied and His covenantal promise to us is that for as long as the earth remains, seedtime and harvest shall not cease. This means that you and I have the awesome privilege and tremendous responsibility to continually and consistently reproduce ourselves in the kingdom of God until the day He returns. Together, as you and I grow ourselves and multiply ourselves as servant leaders like Jesus, our transformational impact in the lives of the people and the communities we serve is and will continue to be colossal.
Transformational Leadership Transforms Culture
A simple and practical 3 step multiplication strategy for multiplying servant leaders in the kingdom of God and completely transforming the culture for Christ is as follows:
1) Discover servant leaders in the kingdom of God
2) Develop servant leaders in the kingdom of God
3) Deploy servant leaders in the kingdom of God
Regardless of our individual spheres of leadership influence, as servant leaders in God’s kingdom, if we discover servant leaders, develop servant leaders, and deploy servant leaders, God’s kingdom will grow beyond our wildest imaginations and the culture around us will be powerfully transformed for God’s glory!
To God’s glory, have a blessed “Make It Happen” day!
Transformational Leadership Copyright 2013, Gary J. Borgstede. You have permission to reprint the leadership article, Transformational Leadership, in its entirety only, and forward to your colleagues and friends, provided the copyright notice remains part of the reprint and transmission. All other rights reserved.
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