The Cost to Lead
I’m ranting…it has nothing to do with bodybuilding. Sorry, I’m not that focused.
Leaders. Where have they all gone? From CEO’s to athletic coaches, from local politicians to the school board, it seems like everyone wants to be known as a great leader. In the past few days I have seen firsthand how some leaders need a firm lesson in what their position requires. I have heard a lot of spineless talkers who have no idea how to embody leadership.
A leader looks at the big picture and does not overreact to individual circumstances. A leader takes you where you need to go, not where you want to go. A leader leads in quiet and doesn’t need to be continually lauded as “great”. A leader x-ray’s themselves before leveling judgment upon anyone else. A leader showcases patience and forgiveness. A leader is always his toughest critic. A leader is willing to work harder than anyone else for the better of those he leads. A leader sacrifices for those he loves, as demonstrated by the ultimate leader, Christ Jesus.
Martin Luther King Jr. put it this way: “…if you want to be great, fine. If you want to do great things, fine. If you pursue greatness, fine. But understand this: he who is greatest among you must become a servant to all.”
A lot of people who ask to be considered leaders are glorified “talkers” who say what their constituents want to hear. Far too many are humanistic and selfish glory hounds, they continually take from those around them to fulfill they’re own needs. They continually say what people want to hear and really don’t take a stand on anything. They are excuse makers with vested interests in climbing the ladder and stepping on anyone on their way to the top. They are self- motivated, self-serving and self-loving but they must have some problem with themselves because they need others to make them feel accepted and to define them as leaders. Leaders like this are totally effective in only one thing: proving their inability to lead anyone to anything great.
True leaders are proven by being good followers to whom is greater than them. I have learned that the closer I follow after God’s will in my life, the more natural it is for me to lead. He strengthens me because I put my life in the right order. True character and strength is shown in obedience and submission to those placed above the leader.
So I ask you, as I have asked myself a lot lately (to barrow a phrase from John Maxwell): are you a leader worth following?
January 11, 2008 at 12:09 pm
One word in your rant [ good rant ] - politicans. Politicans only make out they are great leaders , the trick of politics is to tell as many as you can exactly what they want to hear : then blame it on internal or external factors as to why you can no longer deliver. The one thing they are certain to do is increase your payment to them whilst at the same time giving themselves a payrise.
January 13, 2008 at 12:03 pm
Jason,
Not sure I want to lead or be called a leader by others. My heart, on the good (or is that "God") days wants to follow–to somehow quiet my own stupid voice enough to hear His and be strong enough to admit I’m too weak to follow without Him.
Perhaps leaders are the ones identified by future historians, or identified whether what they thought they were leading us to has lasted. Didn’t Jewish leaders think this about Jesus when trying to decide what to do about Him? Didn’t some say that if he wasn’t worth spit then his followers would fade away anyway?
Have a "following His voice" day, my brother Jason.
Dale
January 15, 2008 at 4:58 pm
very good point that what wrong twith counrty to many so called leader not enuff really one
January 16, 2008 at 3:27 am
You hit home buddy. Heard it said once that "the greatest leaders don’t have to tell you their great or that they’re the leader, everyone knows it by simply knowing them and seeing how they live."
Side note, I have a miniature orange cone in my office at the church that I keep by my door(makes me stop before going out or opening the door to others) with a phrase written on it. It reads "The best sermon is a good example".
You write a good sermon. Keep it up.
February 1, 2008 at 11:53 am
I like where you’re coming from. Our church just started to split on Sunday. And some much of it is about leadership, or the lack of it.
Thanks for the perspective