Leadership has been an interesting topic for me lately as I've had the extra time to read. I see it active in public speaking, standing out in the crowd, making important decisions and standing behind them. Leaders move people to action. They lift spirits and create a focus toward accomplishment. Leaders promote teamwork and without leaders, we would all be lost.
But what is a leader, truly? I can scan the television, read the newspapers or attend important meetings all in the course of a day but I can often spend an entire week without ever seeing a leader. Leadership isn't just a theory, it isn't a black suit, it's a personality. It's character in action. I see people following ideas or getting excited about a collection of words spoken with fervor but where are the true examples of leadership? We are sheep who look around and see a valley of never-ending wool. We can never pinpoint a shepherd. Some of us run in one direction, and the herd follows in hopes of finding a leader. What if those of us in the middle of the herd made our way to the edge, would we find the shepherd we seek? I think we'd find more sheep.
Why is it that we have leaders in history that stood up for their beliefs and yet today, I can't name a leader that will stand long enough to take constructive criticism.
JFK - As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.
Martin Luther King Jr. - A man who won't die for something is not fit to live.
Abraham Lincoln - I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, and stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong.
Mahatma Gandhi - A man who was completely innocent, offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of others, including his enemies, and became the ransom of the world. It was a perfect act.
Jesus - Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.
It's obvious what's common among the few men listed above. They stood in the face of adversity and were killed for their unwavering stances. Today, all I see is make-believe leaders. No one stands firm in their beliefs. Those in the limelight, able to make the biggest change in this world are not willing to take a stand and stay standing even when bullets fly.
It's as simple as that; they are afraid to die.
Know what I'd like to see in our leaders? Courage to make mistakes. Humility to accept our imperfections and the strength to make decisions anyway. Unwavering stances on morality and ethical practices. The ability to read and prevent problems instead of cleaning up the mess afterward. Compassion to love us enough to make tough decisions.
I think it's time to forge new leaders. No man is worth following if he'll deny you to save his own life. This new postmodernism idea is killing us one cheeseball at a time.
Stand up for your beliefs! Be open to new ideas but don't let pressure be the catalyst to change. Be the good shepherd who will lay down his life against the wolves who strive to take life away, not the hired hand.
"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep." John 10:11-15
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