I worked for a guy once who was all over this John Maxwell stuff — theories and ideas about leadership. Supposedly John Maxwell gets the basis for his theories and ideas from Scripture, so I was intrigued. I tried to put much of what I read into practice… but the problem was my boss — he put none of it into practice. He thought that by bringing people around him who would put it into practice, that made him a great leader. It didn’t.
As we look to the Fall and how to develop and encourage Adult Leaders in our Student Ministries program at church, I realize how integral our own leadership of students must be. It is not enough to work with adult leaders — I must also work with students and be a leader as well; if not only to understand what the leaders face, but also to understand (as best as I can) what the students face.
Leadership, to me, is involvement and relationship. From there, it is living. A different boss once said to me, “Knowledge doesn’t make you a leader; when you walk across a tightrope and others follow — without you asking them to — then, you are a leader.”
I like that. Today, God, help me to step out onto that tightrope.
People First 