The root and fruit of abusive leadership

The root and fruit of both healthy and abusive leadership are summarised in the following table:

The Root and Fruit of Abusive Leadership

	The Healthy Leader	The Abusive Leader

The Root	Security in Christ	Personal insecurity
The Fruit:
Leadership is ...	The simple expression of God’s calling	To prove God’s calling
Central issue is …	The purpose of the leader	The person of the leader
Leader’s vision …	Serves God & the organisation	Serves the leader
Leader sees himself as …	Equal to followers	Above followers
Leader promotes …	Identification with values and goals	Identification with himself
Leader creates …	Internal inclusiveness	“In” and “out” groups
Power is …	Given away to others	Centralised in leader
Follower capacities are …	Independent of leader	Dependent on leader
Leadership succession is …	In place	Undeveloped

Please read the following passage:

I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority. So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, talking wicked nonsense against us. And not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers, and also stops those who want to and puts them out of the church. Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.

John 3:9-11

Prayer time

Please pray over this, asking the Holy Spirit to convict you of any areas of abusive leadership in your heart or life. Ask Him to change you! Share transparently with your spiritual mother or father, or mentor, the next time you meet with them, asking them to hold you accountable for change.