My View

I’ve always aspired to lead. Earlier in life I just thought it was something everybody wanted to do. I couldn’t just stand there, without doing anything. Getting to know myself and my history better I’ve come to realise that it’s part of my personality. They call it an ENTJ. Growing up it exhibited itself as me being the one “directing” myself and my brothers in a “Western” movie scene. The scene took about 3 mins to film, and lasts for about 10 secs. My uncle had just bought himself a video camera, and wanted to film us. I thought we might as well do something useful on the film. I was around 9.

In school, it meant being president of the students’ union. My English teacher thought the term “president” was funny, and started referring to me as “Mr. President”.

I’ve been asked to lead organisations from a very early age. Positions I couldn’t have handled. So I said no.

I’ve always been interested in leadership, and even more so by great leaders. And this post is about great leaders.

I am more and more starting to realise that I’m not the great leader I thought I was. This might sound absurdly self boasting and arrogant to the non-ENTJs out there (around 99 %?). But that’s a normal thought for me. I usually think of myself as good at what I do. But lately, and very much through the lives of really great leaders, I’ve started to see that there is a depth that I lack.

What’s struck me is that true leadership is not so much dependent on gifting. It’s got more to do with being willing to walk the pain-stakingly slow road of laying down oneself. It’s about sacrifice, endurance, discipline, humility. The great leaders we see on stage, in the pulpit, or wherever, didn’t just hop up there. They were formed to be great leaders through a series of processes.

I guess all these ponderings come down to two points. Firstly: You’re not born a great leader (as I thought I was). You’re formed into a great leader. secondly: Jesus is calling me to “lay down my life, so that I will gain it”.