Being a leader

14 November 2009
When I studied leadership during my Masters course, my lecturer advised all of us not to take a leadership role if we do not want to do some of the difficult stuff that comes with the position.
Frankly, I don’t like being a leader. But since there was no one willing and qualified to be the chair of our KP, I have to. After almost 9 months in this position, I still feel that this position is not for me. I don’t really like it. I even don’t like my KP that much. So it becomes really difficult to lead an organisation that I don’t like. But I have to. Three or four months from now, it will be possible for me to step down as long as I can find the person who is willing to replace me. That might be even a tougher job than keeping the position itself.
I have asked my friends (on-line ones) whether I should resign or not. Most of them gave the same advice. "Look at Moses, Timothy, and other biblical heroes". They were not born as leaders but they eventually became good leaders. Well, I am not them for sure. But one of my friends said that the best leaders are those who believe that they are not leaders because the true leader is God. Consequently, those good leaders submit themselves fully to God and ask God to be present in their daily leadership roles. A good way of looking at leadership, I believe.
Well, I will definitely ask people to evaluate my leadership and if the results are bad, I will be more than happy to resign. But before that happens, I have to do this part well. And you know, I learn a lot from just being a leader of a small community. This experience turns out to be not that bad at all.
So, the moral of the story: life is a journey and sometimes it takes us to rather unpleasant spots. But, we can always learn something from that journey. The journey itself is worthwhile.