Leadership
PASTOR DAVE’S MUSINGS FROM THE HEARTLAND
August 28, 2022
LEADERSHIP
This week I would like to look at three of Roland Young’s 13 insights which have to do with leadership.
Number 9: “Leadership is the essence of improving institutions, public or private.”
Number 10: “The responsibility of an elected official is to act for the welfare of a majority of his or her constituents. The elected official should not have a single issue but should lead with honesty, justice, and integrity.”
Number 11: “Anticipation is what provides meaning, value, and purpose to living. Planning for the future is much more important than what has happened in the past.”
While I would agree with the spirit of Young’s 9th insight, I would chose the word “essential” rather than “essence.” Without good leadership it is almost impossible to improve public or private institutions. However, good leadership is no guarantee of improvement taking place. Other factors may prevent it.
In the Book of Judges the Hebrew people are a loose confederation of twelve tribes. When one or more of the tribes are threatened, several of the tribes will come together and raise an army. At such times God will raise up a leader (judge) such as Deborah, Gideon, and Samson. Utilizing a variety of innovative strategies, the threat is defeated.
The first sentence of Roland’s 10th insight seems almost Un-American. At the heart of the nation’s constitution is the protection of the rights of the minorities. The second sentence contains two elements. First, public officials should not just have a single issue. It has been my observation that when single issue candidates are elected to office, they generally are not prepared to adequately deal with the broad issues and complexities with which they have to deal.
The ending of Young’s 10th insight – should lead with honesty, justice, and integrity – could well have come from scriptures. “He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humble with your God (Micah 6:8).” With the possible exception of Samson the leaders that God raised up in the Book of Judges exemplified these qualities.
Young’s 11th is a reminder that a good leader should focus on the future rather living in the past. When I was an active pastor I assumed that every year the churches I served would lose 10% of their membership and 10% of their income; things would break and need to be fixed or replaced; and groups and programs would run their course and need to be replaced. While it is important to be aware of the past, concentrating on the “Good Old Days” is very seldom helpful in dealing with today’s programs and what is to come in the future.
In his 11th insight Roland also points out that focusing on the future “provides meaning, value, and purpose to living.” I am reminded of Elie Wiesel’s observation in his book Night which was based on his experience in a Nazi concentration camp. He was trying to understand why some people persevered and others just gave up and died. He concluded that those who persevered had something for which to hope in the future and this provided them with meaning, value and purpose to go on.
In his This I Believe Roland Young points out the important part of leadership is for the health of public or private institutions. His insights might give us some guidance when it comes time to vote this coming November.