| Although previous studies have attributed empowerment and trust to a leader's use of generalized reciprocity (Coyle-Shapiro, Kessler, & Purcell, 2004; Gouldner, 1960), this dissertation posited that the relational context flowing from a leader's ontological acceptance of kenotic alterity may be identified in terms of generalized norms of reciprocity (i.e., low concern for equivalence of exchange, low concern for immediacy of reciprocation, and shared focus of interest rather than self-interest). This qualitative exegetical analysis of John 21, Colossians 3:3, and 1 Peter 4:1 (RSV) presented a biblical perspective on the essence or starting point of leadership in death, inability, and external locus of control resting in God. Based on an exegetical analysis of these passages, this study qualified the meaning of kenosis (exiting or emptying oneself formulated as death per exegesis) for the benefit of others (alterity) recognizing an external locus of control in the work of Christ, rather than internal self--control or self--constraint, or assumption of skill sets. The study explored the extent and function of the death analogy used in Johannine, Pauline, and Petrine Scriptures to describe kenotic alterity and suggested that resulting affective trust leads to generalized norms of reciprocity. Research presented here further suggested that Scripture's thematic teaching of kenotic emptying using the objectionable figure of death is actually the essence of God-designed leadership. |
