Exploring our definition

This may be in any context – church, family, business, government, or education. Moreover, it may be at any level throughout an organisation.

The leader may be good or bad. There is both good and bad leadership. A good leader leads you somewhere good; a bad leader leads you somewhere bad. A leader leads you; he moves you; he takes you somewhere different from where you are now – that place may be either good or bad. Hitler, Stalin, and Mussolini were all extraordinary leaders. They were very effective leaders. They moved many people great distances. However, they were bad leaders. Where they moved the people to was bad.

The good leader “helps” people move. He does not make them move. This is how he does it:

The leader is at the front – calling to the people, “Look! Here’s the vision!” “Here’s where we can go!” “Here’s what we can accomplish!” “Wow!” “Let’s go!”

The leader is behind – picking the people up when they fall, encouraging them, “You can do it!”

The leader is beside – showing the way to the people, “Watch! Here’s how to do it! Here’s the path to walk in to get where we’re going.”

The leader must have followers. A person may be a great speaker, writer, scientist, inventor, musician or artist, but if no one is following him, he is not a “leader.”

These followers must be people. Leadership involves people. It is distinct from administrative paperwork, committee meetings, planning activities, or writing sermons.

Leadership involves movement; leadership involves change. Leaders must be willing to follow God when the “cloud” moves and to repeatedly let go of old ideas and old ways of doing things in order to adopt new and better ones. Moreover, they must be able to help their followers generate the high levels of enthusiasm needed to accomplish change. For the change to succeed, many people across the entire organisation must move, but the leader is the one who often starts the movement or gives it direction and momentum.

In speaking of “change,” we do not mean leaders will change orthodox doctrine or the eternal truths of the Word of God. Some spiritual leaders resist the idea of change because of their commitment to the unchanging Word of God. However, you can take a bottle of pure water and pour it into a variety of very different containers without the water itself being changed at all. In the same way, the eternal truths of God can be expressed in many ways and in many different forms. Sometimes, however, these forms become chains or straitjackets. They stifle us and make us ineffective in our ministries to others. It is these external forms – structures, processes, habits, ministry strategies, etc. – that God often wants to change.

The leader first understands where the people are now. Realistically, he examines the current state. He defines the need for change; he is not interested merely in change for its own sake. The leader must understand his people – their needs, conditions, circumstances, aspirations and capacities:

Know well the condition of your flocks, and give attention to your herds... (Proverbs 27:23)

Very importantly, the proposed change must serve the people, not merely the leader’s own personal ambitions. Moreover, a good leader is deeply concerned with maintaining social harmony among the people throughout the change.

After defining where the people are now, the leader then defines where they could and/or should go – the potential, the opportunity, the vision for the future or the solution to a major current problem. Then he defines how they will get there – the path, the broad plan. Then he says, “Let’s go!” and leads them there. Along the way he encourages them to continue through the inevitable setbacks and disappointments until finally they reach their goal.

The “somewhere else” does not involve change for its own sake. It must be in the purposes of God. God uses leaders to take His people where He wants them to go.