Covenantal Relationships

In LeadershipIsAnArt, MaxDePree argues that: "The best people working for organizations are like volunteers. Since they could probably find good jobs in any number of groups, they choose to work somewhere for reasons less tangible than salary or position. Volunteers do not need contracts, they need covenants. ... A covenantal relationship rests on shared commitment to ideas, to issues, to values, to goals, and to management process. ... [They] fill deep needs and they enable work to have meaning and be fulfilling."

In ManagementChallengesForTheTwentyFirstCentury, PeterDrucker likewise asserts that employers must treat knowledge workers almost "like volunteers" or risk losing them. -- BobbyWoolf, 08/26/00

TheServant (p. 33) likewise argues that employees are volunteers. Therefore, when choosing between PowerVersusAuthority, you need to lead employees with your authority (influence), not force your will on them through your power as their employer. -- BobbyWoolf, 08/30/00

Well, provided one believes in free will, employees are volunteers, in a very real sense. Nobody's forcing you to work where you work. You can always leave, even if this would make your life difficult for awhile. This assumes we're talking about working in a free market; a starving employee in a sweatshop in North Korea would say differently. -- BrentNewhall