A few years back, I remember a discussion that was taking place with some leaders in a congregation in which I was serving. I was trying to emphasize the importance of being a leader when someone is chosen for an official position within the congregation. One gentleman somewhat objected to the way that I was using the word leader. He spoke about how he saw his wife as a leader, as she lived out her Christian life in a way that would be obvious to those around her. As the discussion progressed, I realized that he and I were using the same term, but meaning different thing, and therefore we ended up talking past each other quite a bit. (In the end, I suggested that his use of the word leader might better be replaced with the word witness in the context in which he was talking.)
I am convinced that we frequently find ourselves talking past each other when we assume that we mean the same thing with the words that we use. For instance, with the word today, it can easily be assumed that everyone knows what a leader is. And yet, as the conversation above indicates, people may have different variations to how they understand the word. That's why it is advantageous to actually take time to describe what you mean when you use a particular word, especially in circumstances where the conversation may be stalling for some reason.
So what do I mean by the word "leader" here? In the context in which I primarily use it, it means that you are the person who sets the direction for those within your organization, however large or small. You are the one tasked with getting others to perform certain tasks and actions, to have a common message, to meet certain expectations, and you are the one who sets many of those. A variety of terms are used for this (boss, manager, director, etc.), but it basically means that you are the one in charge.
To recap, the leader is the one who sets the vision for the organization, who then is tasked with communicating that vision, aligning the people toward that vision, and setting up the expectations and behaviors that lend themselves toward that end. As you can tell from this simple definition, this is quite the task. There are many elements to this, many of which I will be writing about in future posts. more than anything, this post is to make sure that I am communicating clearly what I mean when I use the word leader. Yes, there may be other definitions, but I provide this to attempt to keep us talking about things from a common understanding.
I am convinced that we frequently find ourselves talking past each other when we assume that we mean the same thing with the words that we use. For instance, with the word today, it can easily be assumed that everyone knows what a leader is. And yet, as the conversation above indicates, people may have different variations to how they understand the word. That's why it is advantageous to actually take time to describe what you mean when you use a particular word, especially in circumstances where the conversation may be stalling for some reason.
So what do I mean by the word "leader" here? In the context in which I primarily use it, it means that you are the person who sets the direction for those within your organization, however large or small. You are the one tasked with getting others to perform certain tasks and actions, to have a common message, to meet certain expectations, and you are the one who sets many of those. A variety of terms are used for this (boss, manager, director, etc.), but it basically means that you are the one in charge.
To recap, the leader is the one who sets the vision for the organization, who then is tasked with communicating that vision, aligning the people toward that vision, and setting up the expectations and behaviors that lend themselves toward that end. As you can tell from this simple definition, this is quite the task. There are many elements to this, many of which I will be writing about in future posts. more than anything, this post is to make sure that I am communicating clearly what I mean when I use the word leader. Yes, there may be other definitions, but I provide this to attempt to keep us talking about things from a common understanding.
