The word leadership gets written about a lot, and I mean a lot. Most people want to be leaders. There are countless books on the subject and the last I read, leadership education in the United States was closing in on becoming a 20 billion dollar industry, when you consider the money spent on those books, conferences, coaching and training. I love reading books about people who stepped up at an unexpected time in their lives and took the reins of leadership. It’s encouraging to hear about people who persevered and built companies or influenced entire industries. Everyone calls these people true leaders!
I’ve shared with many people that being a leader and being in leadership are two different things. You can be in a leadership position, but not truly be a leader. On the flip side, you can be leading, but not be in a leadership position. I call this leading from behind. It’s really important to understand the difference because most people strive to be in a leadership position as opposed to actually desiring to lead. We need to understand that leadership is just the art of influencing people.
My view of servant leadership is a biblical one that, in recent years, has made it into secular streams of teaching. A few weeks ago, I was interviewed for an hour on the subject of leadership for a conference taking place in Europe. I was asked all sorts of questions on the topic and spent a lot of time painting a picture of what leadership looks like. In thinking back on that interview, the discussion centered around the “how” and the “why” to lead, but we never discussed the “when.” When should we lead? I presume that because most people are in a job, business or situation, these first areas are what interests them, especially the “how.” But I think it’s a good question to ask “when” should we lead—especially if we are not in a leadership position.
We all understand that stepping up when the chips are down is important, and those times can be defining moments in a persons life. It’s important to keep our heads up and look for those opportunities as they present themselves. But to be honest, keeping our heads down and plugging away—leading from behind—is more in line with how we influence people. It’s interesting that when we understand this principal, it builds character in us and we end up finding all kinds of opportunities to lead and influence.
Five years ago, I stepped out of my role as president and CEO of the company I purchased. I tell people I retired, but in reality God called me out of my company and into something else. As it turns out, I’m now on staff at a church and not in any type of leadership position. I love what God has me doing, but I’ve found myself in a very strange place in life. How does someone who is built to lead people, who has the gift of leadership, not lead? I figured my leadership wasn’t needed and that I was done leading people. The “when” was in the past and now I was in a different position. That’s when I really started figuring out “how” to lead.
In my previous leadership position, I casted vision and explained to someone what needed to be done and they did it. Now that I’m not the leader casting the vision, I’m forced to care a lot more about someone else’s vision and help them however I can. I’m now in a position to spend more time caring, listening and serving others in order to make an impact. By working in a different role than I’ve been used to, I’ve learned that I need to influence someone in small ways in order to have them move closer to their own vision. Isn’t that really what servant leadership is all about? Isn’t that leading from behind? It has finally gone from head knowledge to my heart, and I truly understand that leadership is not a position. It’s leading from behind—what we should all be doing every day, with everybody. To those of you that are not in leadership positions but want to lead—lead on!