Leaders make it happen

"To lead the orchestra you must turn your back on the crowd" is James Crooks' advice for those who would lead in any field. Leading from behind may be a valid principle for management but not for leadership. The effective leader doesn't ask where his con¬stituents want to go, but turns them in the direction they should go. This requires both vision and resilience.
       Every field has its leaders. Never do they strike us as average individuals performing at a slightly higher level than their colleagues. They seem to have an uncanny sense of which route will take us where we should go. We may or may not ever get there but along the way we will have a growing respect for the one who could look beyond and have the courage to head us in that direction. Quite a bit has been written on the difference between coercive and authentic leadership. History is full of examples of leaders who by sheer force have taken a nation to an undesirable goal. Who would have thought that a nation like Germany, as advanced and sophisticated as it was in the early 20th century, would have earned a reputation for unimaginable cruelty? Coercive leadership in any of its forms is an admission of moral bankruptcy.
       Effective leaders focus on the raison d'etre of the organization. Their role is to make it possible for the group to get to where it should go. Discovering new goals is more the task of the visionary. JFK didn't tell us that it would be a good idea to go to the moon (as if no one had ever thought of that before) but redirected our energies so we actually got there. Had he kept looking at the audience he could never have conducted the orchestra. We all had our instruments ready, but someone had to give the downbeat. That is the essence of leadership – not to ask the musicians what they would like to play but to give them the score and tell them it is time to start.
       I’ve been asking myself how does this understanding of leadership relate to the church. We have a lot of local “leaders,” or are they “managers” because they do not tell us where to go, only how to get there. The true leader of the church is Jesus Christ. But he is not here so how does he lead us? I can see why you ask and I believe that he leads today by speaking through his Word. Our leader may be in heaven, that’s true, but he’s left us both a purpose statement and a strategy to arrive at the goal he has given us. Scripture is a sole option for today’s manager. Just draw back and let him speak. We may cloth an idea with words and illustrations but only God can make it all speak to the heart