By: Mrs. Elizabeth George (Suja)

                      Are you a leader?

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”—by John Quincy Adams. 

 Are you a leader?  Of course many times we don’t see ourselves as leaders in a typical way of having a position of high power and influence.  You might not have a position of authority at work or a specific job in your church really shows your leadership.  It is my conviction that leadership is shown more through the actions of our day to day life. Are we showing a great leadership in our role as a parent, as a spouse, as a child, as a sibling or as a friend?    

It doesn’t matter what our role is but what matters is how we take on responsibility.  Be faithful to your role, be honest to your conscience and be a great role model in your position.  Integrity should be a priority in our relationship with others irrespective of who we are dealing with and our relationship should be based on trust and respect. Jesus Christ, the greatest leader showed his greatest attributes as a leader not through his organizational skills, nor his positions, but through his relationship to his disciples and followers. We see many leaders in the bible- some with much success and others with great failures.  Those who believed in their strength failed, whereas those who acted as servants to the Lord thrived and strengthened themselves in him.

Leadership is influence.  If you have good character, your influence will change those around you. When we try to influence the next generation, we should not boast about our achievements, instead we should leave the legacy of a servant leader.   If we try to think about those who influenced our lives, most of the time they turned out to be the ordinary people around our life.  I have never forgotten the smiling face of a lady from my years in college; she was the chef in our hostel kitchen. We endearingly called her “Chechi”. I never saw her showing her frustration in her work with others, and she was always kind to us whenever we got sick as she knew we were away from our parents.  In her small role, she significantly made an influence in a parental role.

Leadership is empowering.  When you empower someone who is facing a struggle and you help them learn and grow, you yourself grow as a leader. When you serve a person in need, you portray the humbleness a leader needs.  When you mentor younger individuals, you become a role model for others.  When you are open and willing, God will provide the strength and courage as it is written “I can do all this through him who gives me strength”(Philippians 4:13).

Leadership is a great sacrifice. Again our role model Jesus Christ made the ultimate sacrifice of his life for mankind.  If we can sacrifice our time, money or resources, we are taking one step closer to a more righteous path.

Leadership is hard work. No matter what your role or responsibility, be sincere and let your actions speak.  “If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets as Raphael painted pictures, sweep streets as Michelangelo carved marble, sweep streets as Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry…Sweep streets so well that all host of heaven and earth will have to pause and say: Here lived a great street sweeper who swept his job well” (A famous speech by Abraham Lincoln) 

When your words and actions become true, sincere, and transparent; based on faith in Jesus Christ, you will transform into a great leader through your effect on others.  Leaders are made, not born. Do not just mindlessly follow the crowd and break the mold to leave a legacy that others can one day follow.  May the Risen God help us fulfill this goal in our life and make us all great stewards for his kingdom and may this Easter season inspire us to work on the leaders in each one of us.