Steve is the thirty-something founding pastor of a midtown church. During his six-year tenure, his church has grown spiritually, numerically, and financially. He is articulate, well-liked, and well-respected, not only in his congregation but also in his community. He has trained other pastors, served in several denominational roles, and been published in several forums, including a blog that is read by several hundred of his peers around the country.

Yet Steve hesitates to call himself a leader.

Why? To Steve, a "leader" is a lone ranger, an outspoken general who calls the shots from an insular position at the top of an organizational hierarchy. Instead, Steve would prefer to call himself an "influencer." As such, he is an integral member of a network of relationships, and he considers those relationships infinitely more important than successfully achieving any particular organizational post or three-year plan.

But not everyone shares Steve's definition. A generation ahead in ministry, a ...