I was reading a book recently and there was a quote in there that captured my attention. Olive Drane said, “I remember being at a workshop on leadership at which a nun drew a diagram of how different human systems connect. Neat circles intersected in different ways until she drew a line flying off the edge into a different orbit. ‘That’s where real leaders usually find themselves,’ she commented, ‘out on the edge, both marginalized and admired by those who manage the systems.’ I’ve often wondered how we can live with this reality while still remaining incarnationally located in the center (not as the center of attraction, but being more obviously and easily integrated into other people’s lives and ways of being).”
The calling to be a leader is not an easy thing, but the reality is that every single one of us will be a leader in some shape or form – whether it is being a parent, a manager in a company, small group leader, leading a ministry team, etc. The leaders that make a difference are the ones who are willing to be “incarnationally centered” in order to be involved in people’s lives. Nevertheless, the ones that blaze the trail for others to follow are constantly living “out on the edge.” We just have to make sure that we are not constantly “flying off the edge into a different orbit.”