Leadership Theories

The relational leadership model really resonated with me because that's exactly the type of leader I strive to be. Having to be a follower in certain clubs before I could become a leader allowed me to observe other leaders and traits of their's that I deemed ineffective. One of the most biggest complaints I've heard about other leaders is that they don't listen to the other club members and just push ahead with their own agenda without any regard to anyone else's opinion. For that reason, when I did eventually ascend into leadership, I strove to create a relationship with other members and really tried to allow their voices to be heard too. I think an important characteristic of a leader is to organize the voices of the followers, and not drown them out completely with yours. Also, without a close relationship to your followers, many times they do not feel comfortable about approaching you with their opinion, so they let their resentment fester, and in the end, every leader-follower combination is a team and you are as strong as your weakest link.

I believe this picture represents the relational leadership model perfectly. The leader, or person in the center, is ensuring that they are communicating with everyone, and all voices are heard. In addition, the leader is linking various opinions together to form one big opinion that represents the team. It embodies every characteristic that a relational leader should hope to follow. It is also important to note that the arrows are double sided instead of one sided, where the leader would just push their own opinions forward.