2 Culturally Defined Levels of Relationship

All leadership theories acknowledge that leadership involves “relationships,” yet very few take the trouble to analyze and explain what they mean by that word. For us, the concept of relationship refers sociologically to how people connect with each other. When we discuss managerial culture, we will argue that these interpersonal connections have a particular meaning in the context of hierarchy and bureaucracy. Inasmuch as we are focusing on different levels of relationship, we must begin by explaining what we mean by the word itself and by showing how the US cultural context provides implicitly defined relationship levels around which we can build our particular work-related Level 2 concept. To fully understand the process of Humble Leadership, it is necessary to understand the subtle interactions that occur in a relationship and how these relate to levels of openness and trust.