There is no better example of “walking the walk” of leadership than Jesus himself. Therefore, I have distilled the leadership lessons that Jesus lived from the gospel of Luke. Some of them, He talked about explicitly, others I have inferred from what he did. In either case, I have cited the passages from Luke that were the basis for my understanding of the lessons I found, so the reader can investigate the gospel on his/her own. Perhaps because we share a similar educational background in medical settings, I find Luke’s gospel story, with it’s emphasis on healing, easy for me to read and understand.
These lessons are being compiled into a book, complete with interviews and stories from leaders in a variety of arenas, from business to education, and from politics and government to the church. For now though, here's the first lesson from the gospel of Luke (excerpts are taken from the Message by Eugene Petersen):
1. Leaders have a vision before they start (Luke 4: 16-21)
He came to Nazareth where he had been reared. As he always did on the Sabbath, he went to the meeting place. When he stood up to read, he was handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Unrolling the scroll, he found the place where it was written,
God's Spirit is on me;
he's chosen me to preach the Message of good news to
the poor,
Sent me to announce pardon to prisoners and
recovery of sight to the blind,
To set the burdened and battered free,
to announce, "This is God's year to act!"
He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the assistant, and sat down. Every eye in the place was on him, intent. Then he started in, "You've just heard Scripture make history. It came true just now in this place."
This event is the first event after Jesus returns from his 40 day retreat in the desert, following his Baptism by John in the River Jordan. I find the sequence of these events to be illuminating for leaders, too, since Jesus made his public announcement of his vision and his mission after spending a considerable length of time away his normal daily routine.
The vision itself is personal yet breath-takingly global, simple and, at the same time, impossible to grasp, immediate and eternal. Following this public announcement to the religious establishment, Jesus immediately begins to actually do what he said he would do.
The leadership lessons is clear: do whatever it takes to arrive at a clear, personal, action-oriented vision that is focused on meeting the critical, personal, needs of others before you do anything else. Then, lead from the front.
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