Emerging Leaders

By Ren Siebenga  |  January 14th

You are an emerging leader and you say to yourself “I know that person is a good leader, but I can’t put my finger on how she does it”. We often lack a framework of thinking that allows us to pinpoint the different qualities of leadership so that we can learn by watching others. That is why it is helpful to identify words such as courage, story, identity, purpose, competence, action and character.

What is a leader like inside? The foundation stone of leadership is moral COURAGE, because it limits one’s ability to enter areas which are unknown, and to take a stand for what one believes in. Or we might say courage forces us say no a number of times so that we are freed to say an emphatic yes.

What does the leader do and say? The foundation of our leadership that is visible to others is our STORY. We are not trying to get people to “follow us”, but to “follow our story.” This is a vital distinction.

How does the leader nurture the community? The foundation of a community or organization is its IDENTITY; what ACTION does it do and not do, what does it believes in, how does it resolve conflict? A school cannot sell itself if it has no identity. The ultimate outcome of the community is achievement of PURPOSE and the leader has to make sure that everyone has this clearly in view.

Given these words you will be able to watch other leaders exercising them in many situations every day. You will begin to apply the structure to what you observe. This will also make you a better follower because you will discern the stories of the leaders above you and pass them on through your own words and actions. If observing the above leader activities further excites you to explore leadership take the ELDI program.