Model The Way: Part One of Five of my Leadership Development

MODEL THE WAY

The foundation of my leadership is much bigger than simply emulating someone.  From a spiritual standpoint, Jesus say to me, “Well done, good and faithful servant.  You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter into the joy of your Master.”   (Matthew 25: 23, New American Standard Bible)  God has brought into my life people that have invested in my in order to grow my skills, and now it is my turn to invest in others.  I do not believe in coincidences, God has placed these people in my life for a purpose.

Modeling the way is learning the good, bad and the ugly from those who are in life.  However, in the end, I ask myself what is it can I learn from that person?  Growing up, it was not always perfect, far from it.  I witnessed the struggle my parents went through as my Dad was ‘climbing the corporate ladder’ as he balanced family, job, church, and even elected office.  I have learned valuable lessons from watching my Dad as I grew up.  Even though the early years were difficult, I saw a Dad (and Mom) who worked through their difficulties, yet were committed to each other’s.  Their faith and vows were the bedrock of their lives and our family. 

As I married, I took the ‘good, bad, and the ugly’ from the experiences growing up and took time to learn from each of them.  I learned what not to do in a marriage and daily work to minimize those aspects.  The great things I witness my Dad doing, I do the best to emulate those.  Finally, there will always be ugly times, times where everything is going wrong and there is no one to blame- this is what I call life!

Whether it is being gone for long periods of time from deployments or working through my wife’s miscarriages; I must show patience, understanding, grace and love to those around me.  God has shown me immense grace on a daily basis, and that requires me to do the same to others.  I love my parents, wife, family and those I count as friends.  Like a clay model, modeling the way is a continual process, and hope my children see in me what I saw in my Dad.