LET’S give due attention to this need of raising and training
leaders. We cannot and should not take this for granted. We should not think
that leaders would just come out of the blue, whether we like or not, whether
we do something about it or not. We have to look for them, those with
potentials, and train and form them to be such.
While it’s true that God’s grace can make leaders out of the
commonest of persons, it’s also true that grace requires human cooperation not
only from those directly called to be leaders but also from all of us who in
varying degrees are involved in raising and training leaders.
Yes, St. Paul once said that God often chooses the weak, the
foolish and base things of the world to confound the strong, the wise and the
proud. Or if we want to be more graphic, God can, as the Bible says, lift up
the poor from the dunghill so he can sit with princes. (cfr 1 Sam 2,8)
Just the same, these divine affirmations do not preclude the
necessity for some leadership training to be done by us. Christ himself,
insofar as he is man, submitted himself to the rearing and care of Mary and
Joseph to become later on the supreme servant-leader of God’s people tasked for
the salvation of mankind.
He had the reputation of “doing all things well” (bene omnia
fecit), and this must be due to a large extent to the formation Mary and Joseph
must gave him in his formative years as a kid.
We need to be more aware of this concern. We cannot be oblivious
to the increasingly obvious fact that more and more people, the youngsters
especially, seem to refuse to grow to maturity, assuming more responsibilities,
and to become good, effective leaders.
There seems to be an epidemic of what may be called as
the Peter Pan syndrome, a condition that restrains people to grow up. They prefer
to stay young, carefree, capricious, irresponsible. They prefer to simply
follow what is convenient and advantageous to them, taken in a self-centered
way.
Yes, it’s true that our age has produced, thanks be to God,
great inventors, innovators, entrepreneurs, and leaders in the fields of
politics, culture, academics, etc. But we can also say that a tremendous number
of people are wasting precious talents and gifts in idleness or misusing them
in varied selfish and often harmful pursuits.
We have to alert the basic social and educational units, namely
the family first, and then the schools, and then onward in the ascending social
and educational hierarchy, to pay special attention to this concern, and to
equip them with the relevant skills.
It cannot be denied that many parents and teachers nowadays
are getting below par in carrying out their duties. This is also a very
worrying concern that needs to be promptly addressed.
Though for sure a lot of details and items have to be tackled
in the often long and winding process of formation, those in charge of these
social and formative units should not get lost as to what is the essential
purpose of their educational task.
It would be good that early on, the different potentials of
children are recognized and given their proper plan of development. We have to
consider their character and temperaments, their talents and aptitude, and know
where to place them where they can be at their best condition.
Leadership can take many forms. There’s a type of leader who
goes in front of a group, another who walks beside or behind the group. There’s
the innovative and creative type, and also the inspiring one.
In all types, there should be an easily recognizable amount
of competence in the field involved, a certain vision and a self-propelling
motivation. A good leader is also one who knows how to follow, for he needs to
read the signs of the times, to discern the needs of the people and the common
good.
Obviously, a good leader would realize that he needs God to
be one, for only in God would he be able to serve both God and man properly.
Only in God would he have the necessary wisdom, knowledge and strength to lead.
Remember St. Paul saying, “I can do all things in him (God)
who strengthens me.” (Phil 4,13) Being with God and acquiring all the human
skills of leadership are not incompatible. In fact, they mutually need each
other.
So, a good leader is first of all a man of God, before he
can be a man for others.
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