The Making Of A Leader

The Making of a Leader

The great Vince Lombardi once said, “Leaders aren’t born, they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work. And that’s the price we’ll have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal.”

I love the topic of leadership, probably more than leading itself. There is something about learning from the life experiences of other leaders and applying their principles to help us lead better. I enjoy reading about some of the great leaders of our country like George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. There are also many lessons about leadership found in the Bible from looking at Moses, King David, and Jesus. Each of these men embraced his calling to leadership and gave us so much to consider.

As a young man, I was eager to immerse myself in the writings about church leadership, but I came away frustrated. That is because no one was speaking directly to me, a subordinate. I wasn’t leading much of anything to speak of, and when I would read leadership books by John Maxwell, Bill Hybels, or John Kotter, I would walk away knowing something was missing. I wasn’t just frustrated in my study of leadership, I was frustrated that I didn’t get to lead more aggressively at a younger age.

Then one day, in the midst of my “lack of leadership” frustration, God spoke to my heart and told me to follow my leader. In that moment everything changed. I found contentment, new purpose, and new opportunity. It was also in that season of following that I learned to lead. I wrote about what I learned during that time in my first book, coauthored with Mike Bonem, called Leading from the Second Chair.

Matthew 8:9 states, “I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it” (ESV).

You see, it was when I learned to follow that God equipped me to lead.

I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.

Matthew 8:9, ESV