7. Shepherding the Flock: Shepherd Leadership in Multi-Cultural Environment

Unlike charismatic, transformational, transactional, authentic, servant, or spiritual leadership theories, the shepherd leadership theory has received limited attention and, mainly, in the context of church leadership. Looking at an organization through a “flock” metaphor, this study endeavors to expand the boundaries of understanding of what constitutes shepherd leadership behavior and how it can be effectively applied to multi-cultural organizations through historical socio-cultural analysis of Biblical examples of shepherding and Jesus’ leadership (Averin, 2015). Specifically, analysis of social-cultural topics of the New Testament is employed to identify Jesus’ calls for conversion, cross-cultural unity, and noble sacrifice. Building on these calls, this study makes several propositions about effectiveness of shepherd leadership in the multi-cultural environments by emphasizing clear communication, prioritizing relationships over tasks, and exemplifying a leader’s sacrificial behavior toward the followers.