Leadership is Not a Transaction

by Midnight Freemason Contributor

RWB Michael H Shirley

“Charity sees the need, not the cause.” –German proverb

“Transactional Leadership” is a phrase to describe a rewards and punishments system of management. It is a perfectly valid form of management, but it is not leadership, and ought not be called that. We can hope that others will improve, but if we help them with the understanding that they will do something in return we are engaged in a transaction: we are giving nothing. A gift has no strings attached; when we expect something in return, we are thinking only of ourselves. If we would lead, we must give of ourselves, and set the example we hope others will imitate. Leadership is not a transaction.

~MHS

R.W.B. Michael H. Shirley serves the Grand Lodge of Illinois, A.F. & A.M, as Leadership Development Chairman and Assistant Area Deputy Grand Master of the Eastern Area. A Certified Lodge Instructor, he is a Past Master and Life Member of Tuscola Lodge No. 332 and a plural member of Island City Lodge No. 330, F & AM, in Minocqua, Wisconsin. He is Past Most Wise Master of the George E. Burow Chapter of Rose Croix in the Valley of Danville, IL; he is also a member of the Illinois Lodge of Research, the York Rite, Eastern Illinois Council No. 356 Allied Masonic Degrees, Eastern Star, Illini High Twelve, and the Tall Cedars of Lebanon.The author of several article on British and American history, he teaches at Eastern Illinois University.You can contact him at: m.h.shirley@gmail.com