Go Ahead and Lead
Go Ahead and Lead
Leadership is about accepting responsibility for others. We are obligated to more than just ourselves. We are obligated to countless people over whom we have direct or indirect, immediate or future influence.
If we are moral people, we cannot NOT be leaders.
I’m thinking about Charles Valentine. Charles’s birth was the by-product of a sexual assault; his mother chose to marry her rapist. From the beginning, Charles’s life was a mess. His family had a long history of multiple suicides, alcoholism, sexual abuse and insanity. As he grew older, Charles found an escape through money and began making lots of it. At one point, he owned and operated five successful businesses. But being haunted by a legitimate fear of going insane hurled him into a thirty-six-year abusive relationship with drugs and alcohol that got him thrown in jail many times.
One day he was a successful entrepreneur in the process of acquiring fifteen-plus new businesses, and thirty-some years later—after snorting perhaps millions of dollars’ worth of cocaine—he was living in an old Ford Pinto with his dog. He had lost everything and was convinced he would end up sharing the fate of several of his relatives—living in a mental institution and dying from insanity.
Through a series of miraculous events, Charles began the long, arduous journey into recovery. After undergoing treatment in a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center, Charles found his way into our church. He didn’t have a car or a driver’s license. He did have a criminal record.
I was amazed to see Charles, on many occasions, attend every offered weekend service. His life began to transform. He began to conceive prodigious visions when he realized God had more in store for him—even more than recovery—which was miraculous in itself.
He was tasked with creating our PATH Ministry (Peace over Addiction Through Healing), which meets weekly around the 12 steps and provides programs and services to recovering addicts and alcoholics. More than one thousand people have gone through the recovery programs in the past ten-plus years. Charles is now widely recognized in the metropolitan area as a significant leader in the field of substance abuse recovery.
Fourteen years into his recovery, Charles married his beautiful wife, Lisa. They founded the Valentine Foundation and have seen their vision to open Valentine Homes, live-in residences for recovering addicts, come true. And thousands of people have been affected by Charles’s book The Man in the Tombs.
By God’s grace, Charles has a wonderful life. But it was not enough for him to have a future just for him. He is making certain that many others can make the choice to live a wonderful life as well.
I believe everyone is a leader somewhere.
If you are a mother, you are a leader. If you are a teacher, you are a leader. If you are gifted in the arts, you are a leader. Excellent athlete? Leader. Manager? Pastor? Politician? Neurologist? CEO? Obviously, a leader.
“There is this infernal question about whether leaders are born or made.
I think the answer is yes—leaders are born and made.”
In his highly acclaimed text on leadership, Richard Daft wrote that “the diversity of traits that effective leaders possess indicates that leadership ability is not necessarily a genetic endowment. . . . it is important to remember that most people are not born with natural leadership skills and qualities, but leadership can be learned and developed.”1
Best-selling authors James Kouzes and Barry Posner put it like this:
We’ve gathered a huge amount of data—from more than 4,000 cases and 200,000 surveys—showing that leadership is an observable, learnable set of practices. After assessing all of this information, the conclusion we’ve come to is this: Leadership is everyone’s business. . . . Everyone must function as a leader at some time.2
Leadership is art and science. It can be studied. Its principles can be observed, learned, and tested. But the artistry of leadership can be experienced only as one accepts the responsibility of leadership and starts leading.
Someone can have a God-given inclination for music, for example, but she still must study its science and practice in order to artfully perform. Conversely, someone may not be born with a genetic bent toward music, yet he can still learn to play—although he will have to work harder for his performance to be considered artful.
In regard to leadership, some people are born with a proclivity for leadership or with what we typically consider to be natural leadership traits. Those born leaders still must study how to lead. They must practice leadership in order to learn to lead well.
Moreover, it’s just as true that someone with an unlikely leadership makeup can study leadership, practice its techniques, and learn to lead well. Leading may be harder for that person, and his leadership may not always appear natural and fluid. But that’s okay. Sometimes you just have to go ahead and lead.
Do you consider yourself a natural leader or is it something you’ve had to learn? Drop a comment and let’s talk about it.
Richard L. Daft, The Leadership Experience, 4th Ed. (Mason, OH: Thomson, 2008). 38.
James M. Kouzes and barry z. Posner, Leadership Practices inventory: Self Edition, 3rd ed. (San Francisco: Pfeiffer, 2003), X.
Adapted from Live Ten (Thomas Nelson) by Terry A. Smith. All rights reserved.
Speaking of leaders, the ultimate leader is Jesus. I’ve made a study of His leadership methodology; you can read about it in my book, The Hospitable Leader. You can also download “The 5 Welcomes of Hospitality” right now, free.
Photo by Tim Foster on Unsplash