There’s no shortage of leadership frameworks.
Business schools teach the difference between managing and leading.
Jim Collins describes the “Level 5 Leader.” John Maxwell outlined five levels of influence.
Helpful? Yes.
Complete? Not quite.
What’s missing is this: How do you lead someone in a way that marks their life, even after they’re no longer on your team?
Most professional relationships are temporary by nature. Transformative leaders not only accept this reality but embrace it as an opportunity. They see their role not merely as directing work but as contributing to a person's journey in ways that transcend organizational boundaries.
What kind of leadership imparts identity? First let’s explore different approaches to leadership and delegation. Leaders that impact the identity of those they serve and lead must create a system that not only empowers delegation and development, but influences design. Let me explain.
Delegation - Orchestrating Excellence
Core practice: Strategic delegation aligned with capabilities and objectives
Primary focus: Execution and organizational effectiveness
Outcome: Consistent achievement of tangible results
This foundational leadership approach begins with practical direction:
"Here's what we need to accomplish. Given your abilities, you'll focus here while others address complementary areas."
This approach delivers results—until it reaches its inherent limitations. When leadership remains exclusively at this level, engagement inevitably wanes. Tasks become mechanical. Purpose becomes obscured. People begin to question their value beyond their utility.
Consider this scenario: You lead a worship team at a church. You meticulously assign songs based on vocal ranges. Rehearsals run efficiently. Sunday services unfold flawlessly. Yet you never explore what nurtures your team spiritually or where they aspire to grow musically. The predictable result is emotional and creative disengagement.
Organizations that operate solely at this level may achieve short-term productivity but often experience long-term volatility. Human flourishing requires growth. When people cannot envision their own development path, disconnection becomes inevitable. Leaders under pressure must guard against viewing team members as merely instruments for achieving outcomes rather than as individuals with their own meaningful narratives.
Operational leadership remains essential—but stopping here means you're leading with people rather than for people.
Development - Building Capacity
Core practice: Distributing authority, coaching potential, creating stretch opportunities
Primary focus: Building capability and revealing calling
Outcome: People evolving toward their fullest expression
At this level, leadership becomes deeply personal.
You transcend simply assigning tasks to investing in growth trajectories. You provide thoughtful feedback. You recognize latent strengths before they're fully evident. You create psychological safety for appropriate risk-taking and learning.
Developmental leadership in practice: You identify someone with exceptional organizational acumen who has never led a project. You intentionally walk alongside them, offering guidance without controlling outcomes, debriefing experiences, and affirming progress. They develop new capabilities while experiencing the profound affirmation of being truly seen.
Some describe this as "strengths-based leadership." Tools like Gallup's CliftonStrengths help teams articulate what they naturally excel at and develop language for what energizes them. As Simon Sinek observes, "Leadership is not about being in charge. It is about taking care of those in your charge."
Eventually, transformative leaders make a pivotal choice—to build not just effective organizations but whole people. While operational leadership constructs systems, developmental leadership nurtures the collective spirit of the team.
Design - Marking Identity
Core practice: Speaking to essential nature and potential, naming who someone is becoming beyond their current function
Primary focus: Facilitating personal formation rather than just professional function
Outcome: People moving through life with clarity and purpose—even beyond their association with you
This approach finds its archetypal expression in Jesus's interactions:
"Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men."
"You are Simon... but you will be called Peter."
"Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is no deceit."
He transcended assigning tasks to naming and calling forth identity.
This leadership dimension requires embracing an abundance mentality.
Not everyone you invest in will produce immediate returns for your organization.
Identity-based leadership operates from a different value system—the belief that when people discover their authentic identity, they naturally find their path of greatest impact, whether within your organization or elsewhere.
Consider this scenario: A student whom you mentored in a ministry team completes their education and moves on. Years later, they continue to reference something you articulated about their unique identity. Though their career and location have changed multiple times, your insight continues to shape their self-understanding. This represents a form of spiritual lineage that transcends formal relationships.
This dynamic isn't limited to religious contexts. Many of us carry identity-shaping statements from mentors in education, business, or community settings. Remarkably, these statements often resonate decades later—frequently outlasting the specific skills we learned during those relationships.
"Your formal leadership may be temporary—but your voice can echo in someone's sense of purpose for a lifetime."
This approach demands genuine humility. The goal isn't to retain people indefinitely but to bless and release them toward their fullest expression. That’s identity based leadership. And true leaders impart identity.
The Integration of Dimensions
The most transformative leaders move fluidly among all three areas, recognizing when operational clarity, developmental investment, or identity affirmation is most needed in a particular moment.
The truly remarkable leaders in our lives are those who helped us get things done, helped us grow in capacity, and—perhaps most profoundly—helped us understand who we are. In doing so, they didn't just lead organizations; they shaped lives.
True leaders go the extra mile to impart identity. What kind of leader will you be?