I've heard it said that good art is born of pain. While the relative merits of my art here are for the reader to judge, my greatest sense of personal satisfaction comes from writing to address some powerful irritant. This series began in an attempt to alert my adult son to unproductive choices he was making at one point. A dramatic rendition of that behavior appears in at least one of the vignettes blended into the lessons.
In the process of expressing my disappointment with him, I realized there was far too much for one or two lessons. Suddenly I found myself writing a dozen articles, as the urge to write was not exhausted until there were twelve. I share them here at the recommendation of my son, and the urging of others who have read them.
1. The Nature of Leadership -- Are leaders made or born? Is it nurture or nature? In the secular world, the debate rages. From the Bible we know that it is both.
2. Serving is Greatness -- Leaders don't ignore their own needs, but remember that theirs are but one set of needs in the same basket with everyone else's needs.
3. Civilization Is a Good Idea -- Our Father calls us to a standard of behavior far above that proposed by human wisdom.
4. Treading a Fine Line -- Ask anyone who has passed through some sort of military initiation process: if the trainers were genuinely competent themselves in what they demanded from you, the yelling and screaming was not long resented. It was clear what they expected was entirely doable.
5. Drawing the Line -- One of the hardest things a leader has to do is cut someone out of the action.
6. Why Leaders in the First Place? -- When just about the whole world seems threatening, the majority of humans would rather let somebody else do the fighting, if possible. When fighting becomes necessary, few are willing to take the lead.
7. Bucking the Pary Line -- We have mentioned the importance of placing a high priority on the welfare of those you lead. It's hard enough to decide what to do when that concern conflicts with your mission.
8. How Many Hands Do You Have? -- Go ahead -- delegate.
9. When It's Not Your Problem -- Every parent of more than one child, every school teacher, every one who has ever babysat, or anyone ever having some form of responsibility for young children has faced it: the dreaded petty feuding.
10. You Write the Rules -- When it comes your turn to write the rules, to publish policy, to establish procedures, never forget: Systems cannot be honorable; only people can.
11. Defining Honor -- Honorable people do honorable things. More than that, they are known for honorable living in general.
12. We All Fall Down -- If, from our doing, we fail virtually every time, if our memories are one long string of victories for Satan, have we really lost? I say not.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE: People of honor need no copyright laws; they are only too happy to give credit where credit is due. Others will ignore copyright laws whenever they please. If you are of the latter, please note what Moses said about dishonorable behavior -- "be sure your sin will find you out" (Numbers 32:23)