Leaders cannot balance all the needs, wants, demands, expectations, suggestions and assumptions of the individuals they seek to serve. And they are not called to. So how can we be intentional about avoiding the people pleasing trap?
Charles Stone has written a free ebook called People Pleasing Leadership as a companion book to his People Pleasing Pastors: Avoiding the Pitfalls of Approval Motivated Leadership that speaks from his ministry experiences about the dangers of the people pleasing trap and presents useful suggestions for how to protect ourselves, our leaders and our pastors from falling in.
If you visit the link above you can view the humourous and informative promotional video, access the free ebook, read reviews of the book, and browse through the other supportive leadership materials available through this ministry.
"While many will not consider this fun pastoral reading, it might be one of the most important books a pastor reads this year. Not only might pastors themselves be helped but also those they serve, those who are overcome with their own soul hurt. Simply recognizing and verbalizing the problem may in itself be decisive for escaping the destructive chains that slowly kill pastors who fear men rather than God (Prov. 29:25)."- from Chuck Huckaby's thorough and thoughtful review of People Pleasing Pastors: Avoiding the Pitfalls of Approval Motivated Leadership.