When You're the Leader (3)

Sunday, 28 November 2010 00:00
'...the leader should be like a servant.' Luke 22:26 NLT

Michael Bruner writes about how, as a brash young college student, he attended a lecture by a former US Attorney General. He says: 'Afterwards I approached him to see if we could meet for coffee. To his associates' shock, he said, "How about tomorrow"...We met and talked for an hour...I peppered him with questions. What famous people had he met? What was it like to be Attorney General in the 60s? When I asked him who was the greatest person he'd ever met, he said, "I don't think of people in those terms." He went on to tell me something I'll never forget. "Don't ever seek to be the greatest. Seek instead to do great things. If you aspire to greatness, your greatness will die with you. But if you aspire to do great things, your legacy will live on. The only way to do this is by being a servant. Lead by serving and you'll do great things." I was too young in the faith to know he'd taken those words from Scripture...Jesus was the embodiment of servant leadership. He didn't just tell the disciples what they should do, He did it along with them...As I left the hotel that morning and waited to cross the street, a blind man with a seeing-eye dog came up alongside me. I stared at the beautiful Lab...his senses alert, his sole purpose in life to serve his...master. Then the light turned green and gently the dog led [him] across the street...God had sent me a living parable. I learned a lesson that morning I would never forget. Pursue great things, not greatness; lead by serving.'

** I should think of pursuing great things rather than pursuing greatness. Yes, greatness will die with me but the great things that were left behind will be a forever legacy. I want to be that kind of person. A person who will leave behind something great fro other people to use and apply in their lives. I must change my selfish desires and start being a good leader by serving others. Those who cannot pay me back. Those people who really need help.