Updated 2/17/12
Do you ever find yourself lacking in experience, or the expertise to really help someone else, or some situation that requires more than what you have to offer?
Are matters made more complex for you by the fact that you see yourself as the person “in charge” and therefore, you think, “to ask for help would make it look like I don’t know what I’m doing…” and that this might give those you lead reason to doubt you?
If so, you’re not alone!
I think we too often make the mistake of thinking that because we’ve been given the title of “leader” that this somehow means we know everything, are supposed to know everything, or are the best at something, and therefore whatever we think – or do – must be right.
When leaders cease to be learners then we as leaders stunt our ability to lead effectively.
It can happen at the “professional” level — with those of us who are in paid leadership positions — believing that our years of experience, and education, have to show themselves for something… but it can also happen at the student leader level, when well-intentioned student leaders believe that if they show any sign(s) of weakness, that the peers that they lead will call their leadership into question…
Leadership is not easy… and I think the world has shown us some misguided notions of what leadership is supposed to look like. It too often places the “leader” on a pedestal as someone who: knows it all, does it all and has it all together.
The Bible, on the other hand, tends to look at leadership from a different perspective. I like how the apostle Paul talks about this, in the book of Romans – and particularly the way Eugene Peterson captures it in The Message – when he records in chapter 12:
- How have you embraced your weaknesses as a way of inviting others into a shared leadership experience?
- OR, how have you fought this notion and attempted to be something you are not? And how has that turned out?
Please take a moment to share your thoughts in the comment section below.
