Do we really want to lead?
There’s a difference between liking the idea of being a leader and actually being one.
I’ve long considered myself a reader.
I like to read. I like to go to bookstores. I like buying books.
But, in previous years, I’ve really struggled to read.
So I said I was a reader,
But I think I mostly just like the idea of having read,
I like the thought of being a reader.
I think leadership is similar.
We like to lead. We like the reputation. We like being in charge.
We think we want to be leaders.
But we struggle to actually lead.
I wonder if sometimes we mostly just like the idea of having led,
Maybe we just like the thought of being a leader.
I believe I was born to be a shepherd. Not the actual sheep type of shepherd. I don’t think I have the proper work ethic for farm work.
I believe I was born to be a shepherd in the pastoral sense. A shepherd of people. Sure, involved in a church, my faith requires that. But mostly in the general sense. I find myself most fulfilled when I’m helping others find their way. Not in a bossy way or know-it-all way, but in a caring and guiding sort of way. This, at least for me, is what it means to lead.
There are many ways to lead. We shouldn’t let a silly thing like our personalities stop us from serving others by leading. Leadership is less a trait and more of a posture. You can be a visionary leader, or a tough leader, or a great communicating leader, or a detail-oriented operational leader, or any number of different type of leader. But I believe to my core that a leader must be a servant leader.
2 Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; 3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.
1 Peter 5:2-3
Peter was referencing church pastors in these verses. But, if you’re like me and believe that God is the one who created all of this (gesturing generally toward all of this), it only makes sense that the principles He gave for leading His church would be principles applicable to all walks of leadership life.
We don’t have to be leaders. But if we are willing, it means we watch over those we’ve been entrusted to lead. We don’t lead to pursue selfish gain (well, we shouldn’t anyway). We lead to serve. It’s not about bossing people around. It’s about being who people need to get to where they want to be.
Leadership can look many different ways in many different contexts. But leadership is leadership at its core. The basics stay the same whether you’re Ted Lasso or Ted in accounting.
Because no matter where you happen to be leading,
People don’t belong to you.
Your staff isn’t yours.
Your influence isn’t yours.
Leadership is stewardship.
It’s about guiding and providing for the people who trust you.
Wanting to have read isn’t the same as reading.
Wanting to have led isn’t the same as leading.
Many of us have long said we are leaders.
We like to lead. We like the reputation. We like being in charge.
We think we want to be leaders.
But we struggle to actually lead.
Maybe we mostly just like the idea of having led.
Maybe the real question is: do we really want to lead?