Leadership
Is “leadership” a personality that was born with you, or is it something that can be acquired later on in life through study or training? If it is the later, how old you need to be before you loose the opportunity to “get it”? I am not just talking about “servant-hood”, that Christians consider as how “leadership” is demonstrated. I am talking about the ability to lead, willingness to show initiative, charisma, etc. The characteristic that can bring an idea to fruitation. The attitude that can gather crowd and achieve.
I remembered once talking to PG, he said that it is in fact much easier to kick start a student ministry in USyd than in UNSW. The reason? USyd students tend to have that leadership attribute in their blood. It is easier to get an idea rolling, as people will take initiative, get organised, and lead to succeed. It is not that the graduate courses there are particularly encouraging the students to taking leadership, but just how the students were when they entered the uni. For example, if you want to get into politics in Australia, there is only one obvious choice – The University of Sydney. At the same time, if you are in politics, it is most likely that you’ll send your kids to USyd as well. This “prestige” factor affects where some of the able, rich and famous send their kids to. Those kids grew up observing how leadership is exercised, and it is just second nature to them to take up responsibilities. They were brought up thinking that they can lead, and most of the time it also happens to be case.
It might be too much a generalisation (and sorry to those who were graduated from UNSW), but it does emphasis on how the upbringing of a kid can affect that child’s ability. One evening Vivian and I were chatting about bringing up Anna in Christian values. I said that if we have a baby boy in the future, I have to make sure that he will be brought up knowing how to lead and take initiative. But then when I looked at myself, and pondered how can I be a model to my future kids. I have just started picking up some pieces, and have wondered whether I am already over the cut-off age.
Guys at church generally lack this “leadership” thing. Guys can sometimes just stand there eating supper and talking about the latest games, and let the girls busily moving the tables around.
Sad.
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I would say that someone can be born with leadership characteristics but it can be acquired, while charisma is something that can’t be acquired. I’d say Chris has the charisma and leadership while Josh doesn’t have charisma but has leadership. (leadership doesn;t have to be an upfront thing, just that my examples happen to be).
I do agree that the upbringing of a kid affects a child’s ability and I would add personality.
As for guys at church and the table example you gave…I’d say that sometimes it is because the girls always do a lot of stuff and don’t give any chance to guys to serve/take initiative…
Some church friends and I were invited a few times to have dinner in a brother’s place. I was amazed how the brothers cooked and washed the dishes themselves…and I was there without having to do anything…I felt like a princess..hehehe
So is leadership and charisma two different things? Otherwise, how do you define leadership then?
In my opinion, leadership often involves with being up front. You might be a great engineer that makes stuff works, but that does not make you a leader. You might be a strategist that can plan your, your allies’ and your enemies’ next one hundred moves, but that does not make you a leader. A leader is someone you look up to when you need directions, when you are lost and confused, when you have no idea where the train is going. One can lead because he/she has that magic dust which makes his/her followers willing to follow. A leader is someone who has confidence in all circumstances, where his/her followers’ trust can be rested.
No comment on your examples though. I am pathetic. I can’t lead.
But back to my example, I do not think “having no chance” is a valid excuse for not being initiative. There are plenty of oppotunities. Everywhere. All the time. Besides, girls will not “always do a lot of stuff”, if they know that there will be people taking initiative.
MYC bible study is one interesting arena to observe. Five, six guys that might not know each other well (does not apply to FOCUS). A set of questions. Bible passage, and no set leader!! However, usually it only takes 30 minutes to make leadership obvious. Out of many MYC that I have been to, someone, who takes initiative, responsibility, and pushes the small group along to complete the task, always grabs the role of leadership before the end of the first study.
I’m a firm believer (an example) that leadership can be an acquired trait. I had a rather frustrating high school (doesn’t everyone?) and made up my mind that college would be different. I had an opportunity between 11th and 12th grades to attend a pre-college program. This would be a group of 50+ kids who had never met before and, before going, I decided to pretend I was ‘cool’ and go4it. It worked out pretty well as I was asked to M.C. the closing program at the end of 4 week session.
So I slinked back to high school, somewhat changed, but with a lot of baggage. When I went back to the same college for my degree, several students from that program were there and I was elected to a position freshman year and it took off from there. Not a stellar collegiate career, but a solid one.
I’ve continued to use this gift of leadership in my church and work life, serving as an officer in my congregation for the past 28 years. (Can it really be that many?)
So yes, taking on the role of a leader can be acquired – it only takes some courage and the right opportunity.
i think leadership is both natural and acquired, at least for the sort of leadership we are talking about – i.e. as part of God’s people. as we naturally become more like our Lord Jesus Christ, the willingness to lay down our lives becomes more prominent, which is the hallmark of leadership as Jesus described. but also, as this super-natural (God’s work) process is working, so leadership can be acquired from circumstances (e.g. what does my congregation need that i can fulfill) and from people (i.e. from other Christian models).
furthermore, i think another dimension to leadership is imparted and imputed. (i can’t think of other words this early =D). by imparted, i mean that its what others declare you to be in leadership. by imputed, i mean that there are qualities inherent in oneself that warrants leadership (i.e. a life of service which others are willing to follow). i think in any scenario, imparted and imputed are both needed for effective leadership.
I think leadership is the ability to influence others, which is a complicated thing involves character, credibility, knowledge, communication skill, and relationship. Hence it can be acquired by improving these things.
Along with leadERship, I think there is also leadEDship, which is the ability of someone to be influenced by others. Higher leadERships is required for lower leadEDship.
From my experience, majority of Chinese people I know, including myself, tend to have lower leadEDship. Not necessarily a bad thing. We all want to be king, or at least some sort of mini-boss, that makes us hard to be lead.
about the imputed and imparted bit.. that’s rite, sometimes you can become leader, and trained as leader cos there is no one else available (or everyone is of equal quality) :) So, I spose you can pick and choose and train people to be leader regardless of their skills, but Not in terms of their godliness in life (this is a must..) Though the Original leadership skill of a person WILL help significantly..
MYC ilustration is also interesting, cos in the bible study where everyone doesn’t want to say something, usually the regular bible study leader will start something.. and the whole group automatically follows. Not necessarily showing anything in terms of leadership.. :(
Personality wise, some ppl is MORE comfortable to lead or NOT to lead.. but all can be trained.. I spose..
Arie,
Regarding the MYC illustration, I think it will only make sense if you go to the faculty ones (not the FOCUS ones), as you know the people in your group, but you rarely study Bible together previously. When you go with your FOCUS group, people alredy look up to the leaders in the group. But in a group where people don’t really know each other, “leaders” are naturally elected, as they should.
Just somethings that I think people might “miss out” if they never go with their faculty…
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John Howard and John Anderson went to USyd. Howard’s son and Paul Keating’s daughter went to UNSW though. I remember one time when my manager had to run to the mail centre to stop a letter being sent to Kirribilli House. It was a late payment reminder or something like that. Can’t send that to the PM :-)