A Serving Leadership Framework

At the Reverb Network, we like to describe our serving leadership framework in terms of be, know, and do. In other words, who we are, what we know, and what we do, all contribute to our leadership model. We need to be like Jesus in both character and competence. Our beliefs about leadership, people, and work need to be aligned with that of Jesus. And ultimately our behaviors and actions must display the serving leadership lifestyle of Jesus.

Serving leaders stay aligned in their being, knowing, and doing by practicing spiritual disciplines. For example, serving leaders practice the disciplines of prayer and solitude to develop in self-leadership and character. They read scripture and experience God's unconditional love to know who they are, whose they are, and the details of their mission. Serving leaders also express unconditional love to others on a regular basis, helping everyone fail forward in the mission of leading, loving, and serving like Jesus.

It's important to note that we were first created as human beings, not human doings. In that sense, being precedes doing. Get the being part right and you'll be set up for right doing. But the being and doing must also be supported by right knowing. Who we are in God's image and what we do in light of God's mission for us (see Genesis 1:28) are built on proper knowledge and developed through careful discipline.

Jesus Christ is the foundation of our serving leadership model. Not only do we build on him, but we also follow his role model. We learn his ways―how he loved and interacted with people, how he developed and equipped his disciples, and how he remained focused on the mission that God gave him―to become serving leaders.

[My next post will begin to focus on the being part of our serving leadership framework with special attention given to character development.]