On Leadership

“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”        Matthew 20:28

I will be teaching on principles of leadership this week at a local Chamber of Commerce Leadership program, and it has me thinking again about leadership concepts. One of the key principles of leadership is the idea of “for whose benefit is this?”

As a counselor I employ this idea all the time, because it is an ethical principal of my profession. My goal is to be there for my client, not to have my own needs met. Closely linked to this concept is the idea that leaders are in their position to serve those whom they lead, not to be served by them.

The best leaders know and incorporate this attribute as part of who they are. If you want a leadership position to feed your own ego, you are not fit to be a leader. Jesus was a prime example of this. He was the perfect example of leadership, even giving his life in the service of those who followed him.

Many of the concepts of leadership that I teach seem to be counterintuitive. Indeed, Jesus was an example of this, saying things like “for even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

So, this week, I will offer a few more ideas on leadership. I hope you stay tuned…

Prayer: Lord, you have taught us through Jesus what true leadership is, Amen