The Leadership Mantle

“Leadership means accepting responsibility for whatever we believe to be the call and the expectation of God upon our lives together…..Offering inspiration and direction to the other with the intent that together we’ll do the right thing.” (from When Men Think Private Thoughts)

Not a lot of people want to “own up” or take responsibility for their actions, let alone for a group they lead. I had to do it yesterday, realizing I had muffed up something I was in charge of.  Didn’t like that feeling, but decided it was the better course of action than blaming and making excuses. I treated it as a learning opportunity, and one of my bosses showed grace and helped me with a path forward.

With leadership truly comes responsibility and that’s why many shy away from that “burden.”  But we cannot resist the call of God when He tells us that He needs us to lead, and to lead well. Partly, it’s because He has people that need to be guided and encouraged and prodded in the direction He wants them to go, and He needs leaders to be those shepherds and guides and coaches.  A leader that can mold his/her group into a team has accomplished something special: multiplying and expanding individual efforts into big outcomes that benefit so many people.