How do we find leaders? Are they born or are they developed?Although there are born leaders, I believe there are leaders around us that many people do not see as leaders because they haven't discovered their own ability yet. I love watching people blossom. I think that's why I like Central Dallas so much. Most places look for leaders who have already demonstrated the ability to lead and whose skills are already refined. Central Dallas is different. Central Dallas takes us where we are and helps us become something we never knew we could be.
We have a small praise team at church. At church yesterday one of the ladies who normally blends in with the rest of the praise team sung the lead. She seemed to be a little nervous and somewhat timid. But if the past is any predictor of what will happen, I would say with a little time and a few more opportunities to be in the spotlight, her timidity will begin to disappear, her confidence will grow, and being in the lead will become old hat.
Over the last 11 years, I have watched Central Dallas grow...a lot! In the past, we sought out talent wherever we could find it. We each took on roles because we had to. Through that, we discovered a lot of hidden talents. As we get bigger at Central Dallas, it gets easier and easier to find already developed talent. I don't want to fall into that trap, though. I think it is important to have various degrees of talent; however, I hope we don't ever lose our focus of discovering undiscovered leaders.
1 comment:
The last two blogs challenged me to think about leadership. It is nearly impossible to distinguish if a leader is born or developed. I think the key is in the choices a leader makes, specifically the sacrifices they make. Let me be up front and say that I think there are many types and levels of leadership. There are formal and informal driven leaders who are recognized for rolling up their sleeves and accomplishing the task at hand. There are formal and informal charismatic leaders who inspire others to achieve more. There are many other types of leaders as well, but this is not the point. I think the common thread of leadership is sacrifice. How much a person is willing to give in order to improve someone else's way of life. That's right, someone else's way of life, not their own. In fact, the sacrifice they give was time, effort, hard work, even their life, and in the end they reaped very little of the reward it brought. Interestingly enough, the person/leader does not realize how much of an impact they made. Example 1: While going to college, I talked to many students whose parents worked 2 or 3 jobs in order to give their child different opportunities than what they had. Example 2: The CEO/Founder of the company I work for bought the company from the previous corporate giant because the doors were about to be shut and 130 people were about to lose their jobs. When I say he bought the company, it's not like he had the cash in his pocket. He sacrificed nearly everything he had in order to provide for this "family." And yet, he will never know how many people have passed through those doors and advanced their families means of living. Are people willing to do this today or are they waiting for someone else to be the leader for them? The people I hear about and meet who are working at CDM summer and after school programs appear to be leaders. They are sacrificing their time and effort for the betterment of others.
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