Find The Leader

If you want to know the temperature of your organization, you should put a thermometer in the leader’s mouth – Rick Warren

Many years back when I was doing my chaplain residency in a hospital here in South Carolina, I learned an important leadership lesson that has stuck with me ever since.

The skill being taught was this – find the leader.

The exercise would prove to be an invaluable one not only in my chaplaincy experiences but in many others outside it.

In my chaplaincy work, when called to a room where a patient had died, often I would be asked to help clear the room. Clearing the room is a delicate balancing act. On the one hand, you have to be respectful of the grief and emotions that are being processed and on the other helping the nursing staff do their job.

In a room packed with people, upon entry into it, the goal would be to find and identify the leader of the room within the first minute. This person would be your ally in offering your services to the family while facilitating the needs of the hospital staff. The goal? To respectfully do this in a timely manner and to help transition the people in the room to a home. Finding the leader was essential for everyone involved.

The secret to pulling it all off successfully was made within the first minute. Get it right, and things more often than not would go smooth. Get it wrong, and it could end up being a very stressful experience.

Think about your workplace. If you were to walk into your break room, conference room, or in your area of work, who would stand out as the leader? Could you identify that person within a minute of your arrival into it?

The reality for the majority of you reading this is not about needing to find that person within one minute of walking into the room. But the underlying principle is this – people tend to gravitate to leaders.

For many, the leader in the room won’t be the flashiest or the most outspoken. But their qualities will be undeniable. The more important thing, of course, is not to find that leader but to be that leader.

In the book, Developing The Leader Within You 2.0, John Maxwell shares a heartfelt story about a prayer he wrote more than a decade ago before turning 60. It resonated with me as my 60th is on the horizon in a few months. Maxwell states, “I wrote the prayer for myself, even though it reveals some of my personal struggles. And I share it with you now in the hope that it helps you.”

I can find no better way to tell you how to find the leader or be the leader than to share his prayer with you:

Lord, as I grow older, I would like to be known as…

Available–rather than a hard worker.

Compassionate–more than competent.

Content-not driven.

Generous-nstead of rich

Gentle-over being powerful.

Listener-more than a great communicator.

Loving-versus quick or bright.

Reliable-not famous.

Sacrificial-nstead of successful.

Self-controlled–rather than exciting.

Thoughtful-more than gifted.

I want to be a foot washer!

Final Thoughts

In a world that longs for genuine and selfless leaders, finding the leader can often be hard. But if leaders are going to change the world, leaders need to set an example. Click To Tweet

Finding the leader may be a challenge. Being the leader begins by looking in the mirror with honest reflection. Before anything else, it’s an inside job. That’s where you will find and develop the leader.