“Let me ask you something. If someone prays for
patience, you think God gives them patience? Or does He give them the
opportunity to be patient? If he prayed for courage, does God give him courage,
or does He give him opportunities to be courageous? If someone prayed for the
family to be closer, do you think God zaps them with warm fuzzy feelings, or
does He give them opportunities to love each other?”
Morgan Freeman as God in Evan Almighty
Often,
things don’t come in the pretty little packages that we imagine they
would.
Patience
doesn’t come in the form of patience
but
rather,
the
opportunities to be patient.
Courage
doesn’t come in the form of courage,
but
rather,
the
opportunities to be courageous.
Love
doesn’t come in the form of love,
but
rather,
the
opportunities to show love.
Leadership
doesn’t come in the form of leading,
but
rather,
the
opportunities to be a servant.
We
often think that leadership says,
“I
am above you.
You
are below me.
Do
as I say.
And
by the way,
you’re
doing everything wrong”.
We
lead with our egos.
This
hurts people.
It
puts people in crappy positions.
And
they have to make decisions that they don’t want to make.
And
then we aren’t raising effective leaders.
We
put people down when our egos are inflamed.
Ego
engulfs us
and
leaves no room for others.
Ego
extinguishes others’ spirits.
I’m
not the best leader
but
I do know the most important part of leadership.
Service.
That
there is Leadership 101.
You
just need one word.
Service.
Don’t
worry about the leading.
Just
serve.
The
leading will fall into place.
True
leadership asks,
“How
can I help you?
How
can I ensure that you are being the best you?
Where
can I serve alongside you?
What
are your goals, dreams, and aspirations?
How
can we get there?
What
can I do to be a better leader?”
Leading
through service elevates the lives of others.
There
is no ego.
Just
a servant’s heart.
A
heart humble enough to let others’ spirits grow.
A
heart wise enough to know that,
just because
someone else's spirit is illuminated,
does
not take away the light from your spirit.
My
friend Steve Schultz put it this way:
Lead.
Love. Elevate.
Brilliant.
Succinct.
Spot-on.
“The
world needs good leaders.”
Many
people have said this.
Most
recently,
I
heard this from someone who is far from a good leader.
I
wanted to scoff.
Actually,
I
think I did.
And
then I gossiped about it later on,
when
I should have taken it as an opportunity.
An
opportunity to be a good leader.
I
missed it.
But
there’s tomorrow.
And
the next day.
And
the day after that.
His
mercies are new each morning.
His
graces abound each sunrise.
So
too should ours.
Let
us lead as Jesus did.
Through
love.
Lead.
Love. Elevate.
