Follow The Leader?
There is a widening void in many areas of leadership. Effective leadership can’t be taught, it’s inherent to a cause. Leadership does not result from the taking or assumption of power, but by accepting the will of would be followers. We elect public officials, based on party loyalty, propaganda, charisma or in some cases, carefully orchestrated experiences. Experience is never a replacement for leadership qualities any more than a party endorsement, wealth, education or charisma is. Control is sought after by the greedy, while leadership results from of an arising or existing need being addressed by someone’s sacrifice. In high school, the one voted “most likely to succeed” is often the most universally popular student or highest academic performer. These experiences rarely translate into a successful venture or life.
So what constitutes a successful leader? We’ve talked about leadership roles being accepted not sought, but that’s only half of the recipe. The other half is what a visionary leader does with that trust. We all measure success differently, so now we specialize, i.e. teacher of the year, sports MVP, Nobel/Oscar/Grammy/Faulkner award winner etc. All such successes are marked by names destined to be quickly forgotten. Then we have leaders who have earned their deserved place in history, those names stick to history, as though time has no impact. Those people either led their followers to a better result or in the case of abused leadership, to their demise. We do have one, who’s sacrificial leadership has now lasted 2 millennium and who’s definition of success is simply to serve and please God. His following went from zero to 2.5 billion living followers, over history the actual number is staggering. His teachings were named after him (Christianity) and good character is defined by His moniker (Christian). He is our role model while His mentor is His Father. Jesus set the bar too high for any of us jump over alone, but he’s promised to help us along in our designated areas. Romans 12:7,8 “If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully“. For us to proceed successfully, we must have the Lord’s help. God IS the missing element in too many leadership wanna be’s today. We have many tough paths to travel and need to follow leaders who enlist, not ignore God.
JC Calkins with COMMON SENSE 4 UNCOMMON PEOPLE
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Enjoyed.