Leadership

You younger men, follow the leadership of those who are older. And all of you serve each other with humble spirits, for God gives special blessings to those who are humble, but sets himself against those who are proud.                       I Peter 5:5

For many years I have done workshops for local community leadership programs. Attending these workshops are young leaders in their respective communities, and I was asked to give then some principles of leadership. I spoke with them about types of leaders, some of whom were positional leaders, some who were influential leaders, and some who were inspirational leaders. I suggested that not all leaders have positions of authority, but they may be given authority by others as influencers. People are drawn to other people because of what they see demonstrated and modeled in their lives.

I asked my audience, what do you do with power? Do you wield it for your own position, or do you give it away by empowering others? For whose benefit are you leading- for yourself, or for the benefit of those you lead?

These are the type of questions I wanted my young leaders to wrestle with. I would give them examples of very different types of leaders. General George Patton, for example was a military leader of renown. His style of leadership was highly charismatic and inspirational. He challenged others to follow him, and tolerated nothing less than total commitment.

Rosa Parks, on the other hand was also a leader, but she led in a very different way. Her courage and personal commitment to her cause energized a whole generation of people who stood for civil rights.

Both were leaders, and they could not have been more different! What was the commonality? Both were passionate for their cause. Both were willing to make personal sacrifice. Both took immense criticism for their leadership role. Both were sold out for the benefit of the mission.

These are just two examples of leaders. I included many more in my workshop. Yet I wanted to emphasize that the mission is greater than the leader. The leader must keep in mind the larger mission.

So, as a leader where you currently are (and you ARE a leader to others), what is the mission you hold most dear?

Prayer: Lord, you have called us to various missions for the benefit of others. Give us the strength to lead for their benefit,Amen