Born Leader

Recently I was reading in the Bible about Deborah, the judge and prophetess. I wondered if Deborah would have led from her God-given appointment as a judge or was she a leader who led by influence instead of position. These thoughts about positional versus influential leadership guided my thoughts to the expression “born leader.”

I was rather shy growing up. By the time I was an adolescent, I was like most kids-I had a fear of getting up in front of people. Treon Jackson broke me of that fear. I wrote about her recently as one of my heroes. Mrs. Jackson and her husband, J.L., were the leaders of my Training Union class for 10–12-year-olds at my church. She literally made me get up in front of my peers and read a “part” in Training Union one Sunday night. She told me that if I did not do it that she would tell my mama and daddy that I was not listening to her, and she was sure that I would receive a very severe punishment.

I read my part out of fear, but once it was done, I discovered that I liked it. From that point on in my life, I have not been afraid to get in front of people and talk. In high school I enjoyed parts in school plays and participated in student government.

We all have regrets from college, but one of mine is not something I did, but rather something that I did not do—major in speech or drama. I changed majors so much in college that when I was a junior I had to find a major where I could use some of the hodgepodge of courses that I had assembled in my transcript.

We often hear people talk about “born leaders.” Do you think it is true that some people are leaders because they were born that way? I don’t think leadership is a quality that you have to be born with. Leadership is not about being genetically lucky and being born into the right family. However, there are some essential characteristics that a leader must have as part of their makeup. One of those is the courage to speak out and risk rejection. Mrs. Jackson threatened me to do that part, but I had to have the courage to do it without worrying about what my peers would do or say.

Another trait that a leader must have is the ability or the desire to challenge the status quo—to stand up for what you believe or to break new ground. Leaders ask the “why” questions. Leaders look for the desired outcome and how it fits with the mission and values.

Max Dupree wrote a little book years ago that remains one of my all-time favorite books on leadership. In “The Art of Leadership” Dupree says that leadership is about people awareness and a lot of gut. For me that means that a leader steps up to the plate when there is a defining moment that begs for a leader to emerge. That leader does not wait for that moment to ask what she need to do to lead. She had been preparing for a long time for the right moment to exhibit her leadership skills. I was attending a meeting a few years ago where the legendary basketball coach John Wooden was speaking. I recall Coach Wooden saying something like this: “Once the opportunity to lead arrives it is too late to prepare.”

You don’t have to be a leader today to prepare to be a leader someday. Many people miss the opportunity to be a leader because they are waiting on someone to ask them to be a leader. It is like being “on deck” waiting for your turn to bat without ever getting up to the plate and taking a swing.

Go ahead—step into the batter’s box. Speak out and change the status quo!