FEATURE: AFRICAN-AMERICAN FAITH LEADERS
It’s BIGGER,
Thank You
By Bishop Joseph Warren Walker, III-D.Min
Discipline, focus and drive got you where you are today. You lost
count of the sacrifices long ago – free weekends, discretionary
purchases, a good night’s sleep – all to achieve your vision. You did
it. Now get over it.
We all want to be effective leaders so that we can guide others to
contribute to our vision, but we tend to overlook the importance
of humility in leadership. By humility, I don’t mean modesty about
what you have achieved; I mean being humble enough to abandon
the “Big Chief” mentality and embrace the input of others. Forget
the CEO or Executive or Senior Whatever title you have and get down
in the trenches. Better yet, lift up those around you and empower
them to work alongside you. In doing so, you not only effectively
lead others, but also guide them to follow suit.
The need for personal recognition can be a powerful, yet blinding,
force. I experienced this myself several years ago. I was sitting in a
meeting during which we were trying to find a way to overcome the
challenge of getting other churches and pastors to come together.
The issue, one of my colleagues suggested, was that no one could
figure out who should be in charge. The role of the leader had
become more important than the work being done.
People get used to operating in this “Big Chief” motif because
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