It is impossible to lead people without equity, without you having created and fostered a relationship.  Without them trusting and believing in you, you have no prayer of TRULY leading them.

Many great leadership failures happen because the leader tried to discipline, fire, promote, or make a risky decision without any equity.  That leader assumes that barking an order will get a result.  And when that happens, the leader becomes a boss (an earthly title) and forfeits his mantle of leadership (a spiritual position).  Guess which of those positions is more easy to quit on?

If you are finding it difficult to lead or manage or direct, one of the first questions that you should ask is how much equity you’ve built up in the people that you are attempting to lead.  When was the last time you had lunch with them or talked to them on the phone or had them over to your house or visited them at their house or … you get the idea.  And if you can’t remember the last time, you’re probably in trouble because those things are not one time deals.  They have to be done over and over and over.

Equity.  It’s the gasoline of leadership.