I have a confession to make. Throughout most of my life, at least as far back as I can remember, I’ve always wanted to be a leader. With this passion on my heart, I sought opportunities to lead as I grew up. In high school, I began coaching Little League. In college, I started a 9-year journey as a Youth Minister. And recently, I was the COO for a startup magazine. (But that was short-lived.) While I’ve had some successes, I’ve also had plenty of failures. But in my 36 years of life, I’ve recognized several qualities that describe good leadership: courage, persistence, focus, passion, and confidence…to name a few.
I’m sure most of these don’t come as a surprise, and the list could on and on. But there’s one characteristic of great leaders that I consider to be the most important of all. And it comes from the holiest men and women who have ever walked this earth: the saints.
To be a great leader, you first have to be led.
Now, this is a tough one for me because my pride tells me I can do it all on my own. And being led by someone else indicates that I don’t have it all together. It shows that I have weaknesses, and leaders couldn’t possibly show weakness, could they? But the beauty of the saints is that they knew they didn’t have it all together, acknowledged their weaknesses, and sought to be led by the Lord.
Imagine if we saw that kind of humility from our leaders today. Imagine if our bosses acknowledged they didn’t have it all together. Imagine if our presidential candidates were honest about their own weaknesses instead of pointing out those of others. And imagine if each of us sought first to be led by the Lord.
We would not only get better leaders. We’d get a better world.
On November 1st, All Saints Day rolls around as it does every year. It’s a Holy Day of Obligation in the Church for a reason. The saints are in heaven. They attained the goal of their faith (1 Peter 1:9). And if we want reach heaven and lead others on that journey, it’s time we admit we can’t do it all on our own. The saints showed us the path. Now it’s on us to be led.
Question: Who is your favorite saint, and how does he/she lead you? (Share your thoughts and inspire others in the comments below.)
