The Empowerment of Leadership

Are you a natural leader? Have you ever been asked to lead? Have you ever asked someone else to lead? Do you run when you hear the very mention of being the leader of something? This post might be for you.

Recently, I was graciously asked to be the leader of the Producing Team at CCC Montgomery. I was humbled to accept the position, knowing that it would be a challenge for me. I have only "officially" been the leader for a few days now, but I can tell you there's something special about it. Now let me make this disclaimer early and strongly: I do not view myself as anything better than you. I am merely a man who said yes to a call. Anyone is capable of it and I encourage you to do the same someday.

Now that that's said, let me continue. In my experience of leadership, the same feeling has always come to me when there. There is truly a phenomenal empowerment in being a leader of something. This something could be anything from a class group to leader of a country. The true challenge for a leader is how he handles this empowerment. I personally try to keep this in check constantly. If I am in a leadership position, that means that others are expecting me to lead. How can I lead when my ego leads only to destruction and failure? Herein lies what I feel is the greatest challenge of being a leader--keeping it in check. This isn't anything new. You've all heard things that reflect the same idea. A leader can easily fall into the trap of thinking it is all about himself/herself. With leadership, though, it is the exact opposite. LEADERSHIP IS ALL ABOUT THOSE WHO TRUST AND FOLLOW YOU.

For me, that empowers me in a totally different way. Once my ego is aside, I can truly be empowered to put other people's hopes and dreams first. I can be empowered to invest in someone and see the fruitful results of this. Empowerment is what encourages me to keep going. It is not a selfish empowerment that keeps me striving as a leader; rather, it is the exact opposite. If people on my team are happy and accomplishing things together, then we are all empowered, but the leader can be even more. There's satisfaction in this empowerment that many don't find.

When Christ said, "the first shall be last," I think he was warning those who let the empowerment go to their head. But I think he was encouraging us in how we model our leadership as well. When you are a leader, you should be encouraged to put yourself last. There is no better position than that! We have all seen it in real life: the best leaders are those who are servants.

If you are a leader today or tomorrow, take encouragement in Christ's model for you. If you don't think this will ever be you, I think you might be wrong. No matter what your leadership is, you can and will be empowered by it. What will you do with that empowerment?