Role Changes

What happens when your role in a community changes. Have you ever noticed the way other people’s expectations of you change? Especially when you move into a leadership position. People can begin to lean on you harder, expect a higher standard out of you, and even think that you now have more information or knowledge than you did before you had the role.

None of these expectations are bad. Being leaned on, having a high standard, and even being more knowledgeable can all be good things. The thing is the dramatic shift. Why would these relational attributes be limited to people in a particular role?

Trust. There is an assumption that those elevated to roles of leadership are recognized to be trustworthy. This trustworthiness paves the way for the expectation of responsibility that shifts all the other aspects of the relationship.

So I have two questions: why are we waiting until leaders are instituted to give them our trust? What would happen if everyone in a community continually tested those around them for such an important quality?