leadership has been on my mind a lot lately. almost seven days a week now i am conscious of several young people trying to make their way into leadership positions. whether it is during a group game in pe or during a youth group meeting, i see success and failures in leadership from young people. i see their potential followers completely disregard certain leadership and i see leaders successfully and gracefully lead their followers.
group dynamics are thought provoking all the way from 1st grade to 12th grade. there are leaders who intentionally lead and fail miserably and leaders who don’t even know they’re leading and people follow them willingly. the people who succeed in leading others are marked by one specific thing, gracefulness, while the people who stink at it are marked by an entirely different characteristic, domination.
the leaders who get no respect and are often disregarded by the very people they want to follow them color their leadership with force, a domineering attitude. you can see this happen when one screams out orders or tries to take control when control isn’t necessary. control freaks. dictators. when this happens the followers lose respect for their so-called leaders. i say “so-called” because, i wonder if people actually do what a dictator-leader says, is the dictator truly leading or is he sabotaging his own leadership for the future.
there is a leader that people want to follow and love to follow. this is because this leader is graceful and fluid. he leads through example, encouragement and empowerment. sometimes the people following him think they are the ones leading, when in all reality, they’re following him subconsciously. he doesn’t have to yell or scream, he just speaks and folks heed his words.
christ showed us these things when he took his waist band and washed his disciples feet at the dinner table as a picture of what true greatness is. a leader serves. a leader humbles himself. christ said the the greatest among the people will be the one who serves and that the one who lifts himself up will be brought back down. christ was the ultimate servant-leader not because he washed feet, but because he left his throne in heaven to come down in our flesh and serve us by suffering and dying in the way that we deserve. now he lives again and millions try to follow him every day.
it’s excellent to see the truth of christ’s teaching all around me though children playing and through teenagers becoming young adults.
may you and i be the kind of leaders christ said would be great. may the students learn from him.
