Leading From Behind?

“With upright heart, the shepherd led them and guided them with his skillful hand.”  Psalm 78:72

As we celebrate the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday today and look to the inauguration of our 45th President at the end of this week, my mind turns to what it means to lead and what makes a good leader.

Webster defines leading as, “to go before or with; to show the way.”  Since Randy is such a cowboy fan, I equate this definition to the “scout or point rider” in the Old West. This person would go ahead of the others to look for trouble, find the best path to take, find the best stopping places, look for water, etc.  The rest of the wagon train, cattle drive, or whoever was following could go no faster or make no more progress than he allowed.

I liken Martin Luther King and many others in our past history to a scout. These leaders see the dream, the vision, and they inspire others to follow, but they lead through example.  You would always see Dr. King right in there with his followers not expecting them to do something he wouldn’t do.  That makes all the difference to me.  If a leader can’t stand tall and stick his or her neck out, then why should the followers be expected to do so?

I know many great leaders in our world, country, state, county, city, church, and the list goes on.  The ones I will follow are the ones who lead with courage, conviction, perseverance, strength, faith, and example.

Our grandson, Mason, is a perfect example to me of what it means to be a leader.  He has so much energy, laughter, willingness to dream, and vision. He might be 8, but he is already leading.  If you need him for a project, he is there – ready to help and even offer suggestions as to how it should be done.  He leads with no complaints and gets it done!  Sometimes I am sure his teachers wish he would not lead with such enthusiasm!

As we begin this new phase in our country, I can’t say what kind of leader we have for sure, but I can say that he doesn’t mind putting himself out there.  I can only pray for our nation and our world as I support our country.  We certainly need leaders who don’t lead from behind but by example.

As Lewis Grizzard once said, “If you ain’t the lead dog, the scenery never changes.”