Who are the most influential leaders in your life? What made them such great leaders?
I fear that our cultural understanding of leadership is going further and further astray from what true leadership is. We Americans seem to have a bizarre attraction to two types of leaders: celebrities and powerful communicators with bold, brash opinions. We judge leaders by the size of their platform.
I was recently asked to speak to the Mom’s Matter group in our church about what healthy leadership in the home and beyond looks like. One of the comments by the leadership team that was made to me was that many moms believe they “don’t need to be or can’t be a leader because they are just moms.”
I believe that’s an issue with men and women alike. The task of leadership feels daunting and we feel like we are unequal to the task, and so we shrink back from it.
If leadership is influence, then every one of us is called to leadership. God has gifted you with influence. God has called and equipped you to influence your family. God has called and equipped you to influence your friends. God has called and equipped you to influence your church.
You are called to lead.
But the order of how we develop as leaders is important. We are called to lead our home first and that leadership is intended to cascade outward.