Manipulation...

So the other day I had a conversation with a friend about manipulation and leadership.  I'd had the conversation several times before so I was pretty confident (perhaps arrogant) in my reply.

The conversations generally go like this  (I won't tell you which voice is mine... but you can probably figure it out)

VOICE 1:I hate it when religious leaders try to manipulate people.  They have this "preacher voice" or certain words (or certain music) which they know will stir the emotions in people and get them to behave or react in a certain way...  UGH!

VOICE 2:Isn't that what leadership is though?  Manipulating... encouraging people to do something that they did not want to do before?  When a shepherd (using a biblical example) calls to his sheep to move them to another pasture, isn't that manipulation?  The sheep won't just get up and wander to better pasture on their own... without a leader to encourage them to change... guide them to better they will stay put until all the grass is eaten to the roots and dies... then they die.  Manipulating them to move before the grass is dead is important.

We don't like the idea of being manipulated but perhaps that's a result of our North American individualism and arrogance.  In cultures where community is more important than the individual families, businesses, mothers, fathers, youth... individuals are manipulated into (or out of) certain behaviours all the time but the broader community.

I'm not sure how many people out there are reading this but what are your thoughts... is leadership manipulation?  Is it OK for the evangelist or the preacher... or the prophet for that matter to manipulate?  Could it be that we have a negative view of something that is not negative at all.. Could it be that our reaction to manipulation is due to the fact that too often the manipulator is seeking to fleece us rather than to help us or is it due to our ingrained belief that I am my own person and don't need or want your input...

...let the conversation continue...