Nurturing Relationships

Remember as you lead, people don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.  And you have to earn the right to lead. You can’t just assume that because you have been chosen to be the leader that everyone is going to be ready to follow or go in the direction you want to take your team.

So you have to nurture relationships. You can cultivate relationships by remembering people's names. You nurture them by building authentic relationships, and you enhance and nurture relationships by doing icebreakers or activities, mixers and fun things with your team so that they are not just working all the time, but they are actually spending with each other in loving, balanced, Christlike relationships. 

They say the family that prays together stay’s together, but I would add that the family that plays together also stays together. So don’t forget to nurture relationships. You know, when it's someone’s birthday remember that birthday. If you're the leader, send them a card and sign your name, if it’s their anniversary, send them a card and sign your name. 

There’s nothing like nurturing relationships. When people know that you care for them, when they know that you have a heart of love, then they will be willing to listen and follow in the direction that God has called you to lead them. 

So nurture relationships, and in nurturing relationships, you’ll be manifesting to others the revolutionary love of Jesus. Think about His leadership approach. He nurtured relationships by healing the sick, by cleansing the lepers, by loving on people, by feeding the five thousand, and by investing in his team the twelve disciples. 

So invest in your team. Nurture relationships. Get to know the people you work with, and in doing so, you’ll be the type of leader that they love following because they will see God's love and care manifested through your caring character and because they’ll know you’re following Christ.