Intro and Part One

"Leadership is the most observed and least understood phenomena on earth." ~ James MacGregor Burns

  Through reading various books and articles, there will be an attempt to demystify leadership.  In the process of learning and introspection, real-world and real life applications will hopefully be drawn in the betterment of self.  The Leader's Companion, a compilation of essays on leadership, was edited by J. Thomas Wren and will be the primary text for leadership learnings.  The presuppositions stated within the book's preface are as follows:

1) Leadership is essential to the human condition and is not a fad but a current and timeless concept. 

2) Leadership is the province of all, not just the privileged or elite few.  As such, it involves multiple elements of process and not simply actions of the leader. 

3) It is vitally important to understand leadership. With this understanding, mutual goals can be more easily achieved (Wren, 1995).

Part One - The Crisis of Leadership

  John Gardner opens the first essay of The Leader's Companion by debunking the common cry for more and better leadership (1995).  He suggests that the cry for leadership are the only words that one can muster against the growing concerns of social disintegration, moral disorientation and the spinning compass needle of our time.  As we lower our standards and expectations of leaders to a shallow shadow of what they should be, we become susceptible to manipulation by the leaders we appoint.  Even the simple conversation concerning leadership is shallow because it ignores the greater topic of the accomplishment of group purpose.  For that goal is what necessitates leadership in any form.  

  As we face monumental issues, we are immobilized and unable to react.  Gardner suggests that this is due to our suppression of awareness because we have failed to maintain the conviction that we are able to make an impact (Wren, 1995).  In our dispersed leadership positions, we fail to see the power of our own positions.  Gardner suggests that "vitality at middle and lower levels of leadership can produce greater vitality in the higher levels of leadership" (Wren, 1995 p. 6).  In our dispersed leadership positions, Gardner leaves us on a note of hope for we have so much untapped potential for the ability to achieve group purposes.  

  Robert Greenleaf brings the idea of servant leadership to the table as a solution to our perceived problem of leadership (Wren, 1995).  He references the novel Journey to the East in which the character Leo is a servant to a band of traveling men.  He sustains them physically and in other ways through his service, so much that when he suddenly leaves, the group of men disband due to disarray.  It is only later in the novel that the narrator discovers that Leo was actually the head leader of the Order that sponsored the band of men.  This imagery and narrative proclaim the value of servitude in leadership.  By taking a stance of humility and service, a leader is able to better tap into innovation and improvement.  Greenleaf supports Gardner in proclaiming that leaders are made, not born yet suggests that servitude is an even more difficult trait to learn.  Yet to the degree at which it is more difficult to attain, it is exponentially more valuable.  

  I meet these ideas and words amidst the uncertainty of my own personal future.  Yet as I focus on my own future, there is room for enabling those around me in my current leadership positions.  My Young Life team contains 5 freshman leaders who barely know the ropes of the ministry and I have the ability to come and show them what our group purpose is so they may continue the journey of striving for achieving our purpose.  It is simple for me to dismiss my own leadership in the void of positions I was appointed to yet my service in various areas can be influential in shaping those leaders that surround me.  

  As for the studying of biology that I have undertaken in my undergraduate education, the servant leadership theory is much more applicable.  For the major is inherently competitive amongst the students.  This competition is equally borne out of the personality of the average biology student and the fact that often the degree is followed by education at a graduate school or medical school that are competitive to get into.  I have the ability and opportunity to give of my time and knowledge of the program to students who are just beginning the journey.  

Wren, J (1995) A Leader's Companion. New York: The Free Press