There are some topics we keep coming back to without ever really getting to the bottom of, and leadership is one of them. The Wall Street Journal has an article about a leadership seminar called 'The Future of Leadership' organized by Oxford University's Saïd Business School, which took place in the Cabinet War Rooms to commemorate the 70thth anniversary of Winston Churchill's first government. Leadership, whether secular or religious, raises the same questions: 'What is a good leader?', 'Are you born a leader or do you become one?'
The conference brought together some fifty key leaders to reflect on leadership. The ideas discussed are not new, but they are instructive and deserve further consideration, especially now that the church has realized the importance of leader development in church growth and kingdom expansion, almost as much as prayer and evangelism.
Future blog posts will address leadership and leader-related issues arising from this forum and explore how they might apply to the church and ministry.
According to the participants,
- – 'A good leader must have a global vision and not just a national one.' Indeed, the era of autarky is over. Our respective nations and communities are suffering the consequences of what is happening in other parts of the world. Thus, Greece's economic woes have not spared others. The entire Eurozone had to react and come to Greece's rescue. Even the New York Stock Exchange felt the tremors. What business leader, what national leader can cloister themselves behind their national borders and pretend not to see anything? What Christian leader could imagine today that it is enough for them to continue as in the past to pray for 'their nation' when their nation can no longer go it alone. We must recognize our mutual dependence and join hands. Moreover, the circulation of ideas knows no national borders, and in this war of ideas we must join forces. It is with this in mind that we organized a European prayer conference in January. The aim was to bring together men and women of prayer from different European countries to become aware of this shared future and to go beyond the narrow national framework.
- A good leader must take the long view rather than focus on short-term success. This, I believe, is absolutely fundamental. When pastors emphasize short-term 'success,' the temptation is great to employ unethical means to promote ministerial growth. In a Christian world where pecking order (position on the ministerial ladder) is less dependent on the degree of consecration and holiness of the man of God than on the size of his church or the number of attendees at his conferences, it is easy, for the glory of God, to take shortcuts, accept compromise, and turn a blind eye to sin. Laying a solid foundation, putting down roots in prayer and integrity, seems to require too much time with results that are not always immediate. No matter! Developing values, building solid foundations without compromise, allows for something that lasts. We do not want to be shooting stars. Churches that were bustling with activity ten years ago, built with careless abandon, are now mere shadows of their former selves. It shouldn't be this way.
Click to read part two FUTURE LEADERSHIP (PART TWO)
