Born Leaders

Our Sunday School lesson today was on Deborah, the judge and prophetess. I thought a lot about positional versus influential leadership as I wondered if Deborah would have led from her God-given appointment as a judge or was she a leader who led by influence. That discussion will wait for another day. I am wondering more about the expression “born leader.”

Believe it or not but I was rather shy growing up. Like most kids I had a fear of getting up in front of people. Treon Jackson broke me of that fear. She and her husband, J.L., were the leaders of my Training Union class for ages 10-12 year olds. She literally made me get up in front of my peers and read a “part” in Training Union one Sunday night. She told me that if I did not do it that she would tell my mama and daddy that I was not listening to her, and she was sure that I would receive a very severe punishment.

I read that part out of fear, but once it was done, I discovered that I liked to do things like that. From that point on in my life, I have not been afraid to get in front of people and talk. In high school I enjoyed parts in school plays and participated in student government.

We all have regrets from college, but one of mine is not something I did, but rather something that I did not do—major in speech or drama. I changed majors so much in college that when I was a junior I had to find a major where I could use some of the hodgepodge of courses that I had assembled in my transcript.

So, the adage that we often hear is that leaders are born leaders. Do you think that is true? I don’t think leadership is a quality that you have to be born with. Leadership is not about being genetically lucky and being born into the “right” family. However, there are some characteristics that a leader must have that are part of their makeup. One of those is the courage to speak out and risk rejection. Mrs. Jackson threatened me to do that part, but I had to have the courage to do it without worrying about what my peers would do or say.

Another trait that a leader must have is the ability or the desire to challenge the status quo—to stand up for what you believe or to break new ground. Leaders ask questions like “why?” or “how?” They look for the desired outcome and how it fits with the mission.

Max Dupree wrote a little book years ago that remains my all-time favorite book on leadership. In “The Art of Leadership” Dupree says that leadership is about people awareness and a lot of gut. For me that means that a leader steps up to the plate when there is a defining moment that begs for a leader to emerge. That leader does not wait for that moment to ask what she needed to do to lead. She had been preparing for a long time for the right moment to exhibit her leadership skills. John Wooden was at one of our Chick-fil-A seminars a few years ago before he passed away, and I recall him saying something like this: “Once the opportunity to lead arrives it is too late to prepare.”

You don’t have to be a leader today to prepare to be a leader someday. Many people miss the opportunity to be a leader because they are waiting on someone to ask them to be a leader. It is like being “on deck” waiting for your turn to bat without ever getting up to the plate and taking a swing.

Go ahead—step into the batter’s box. Speak out and change the status quo!