Looking For Leaders

Looking For Leaders

There are certain days, crisis, battles and challenges that define a man’s life and his legacy. Those times are crossovers into change which cannot be altered in how he views himself and his ability to handle future troubles. The soldier who faces down the enemy rather than running. The good Samaritan who pulls the victim from the fiery car. The one pivotal decision made that creates an outcome of blessing for others that only he could make.

This is the daily routine for some people. They are called leaders. They have so proven themselves to be decisive, heroic, trustworthy and unselfish that others seek to follow safely behind them. People, both men and women, have these innate qualities but time, life experience and that critical moment has not occurred yet. Thus as we look for potential leaders locally and nationally, we often have no water-mark of the past to define their action to a presented challenge.

Rhetoric cannot help nor hide what is lacking on a person’s resume. They either have been there and proven to be of the right stock or haven’t. Media tends to be misleading as they popularize certain people or manipulate outcomes on polls and strategies. Records of individuals are public and cannot be hidden.

Many key issues are worth exploring as we embrace our own plans for investing in these leaders. Morality must be considered because our children and grand-children are depending on us to define certain things and leave absolutes for them to build on. Financial stability follows as a responsibility and develop. This is now a global issue and boggles the mind. The international involvement militarily in obtaining, protecting and preserving peace in a nuclear world is awesome. There are no simple answers since many of our own citizens are from these nations at risk. God help us if we err in these areas with so many lives at stake.

Education, judicial systems, prison reform, taxes, technology, labor, minorities, ethics, and dozens more call for multi-diversity in knowledge and judgment in sharing in appointment of other leaders. Remember, local leadership counts just as important as the national stage. With all of our cell phones, computers, internets and television coverage of news twenty-four hours a day, we are the most uninformed generation by deliberate choice. We have chosen entertainment, recreation, pleasure, sports, etc. as our reason for existing and priority of attention.

I am always amazed when conversing with people of other countries how much more they know about American life issues than Americans do. That’s sad when you figure we are so prone to complain about inconveniences we face and people who we deem failures in leadership. Making right decisions through a process of exploring facts, information and prospective leaders will unify us and not divide. The more we know, the better the outcome for all of us. Our past leaders historically have proved this and we live in that lap of security today they created.

So, in one sense you are a leader as you cast your vote for Mayor, Commissioner, Senator, or President. That vote may define you more than them. Your portion of our world is very important, as is your influence, your input, your leadership. Come lead, follow and together we build a better world. Paved with prayer, saturated with wisdom and held with patience, you are needed.