What is a leader? Base line, a leader is one who has followers.
Are leaders endowed with a certain personality or trait that clearly identifies them?
The Stanford marshmallow experiment was a series of studies on delayed gratification in the late 1960s and early 1970s led by psychologist Walter Mischel, then a professor at Stanford University.1 In these studies, a child was offered a choice between one small reward provided immediately or two small rewards if they waited for a short period, during which the tester left the room and then returned (The reward was sometimes a marshmallow).
In follow-up studies, Mischel found unexpected correlations between the results of the marshmallow test and the success of the children many years later.2 The first follow-up study, in 1988, showed that preschool children who delayed gratification longer in the self-imposed delay paradigm, were described more than 10 years later by their parents as adolescents who were significantly more competent. A second follow-up study, in 1990, showed that the ability to delay gratification also correlated with higher SAT scores.2
What defines a good leader? A leader galvanizes followers to accomplish the mission.
By shear definition, the topic on leadership is broad. There are a plethora of books and seminars on leadership. Simplistically, leaders are found ruling a kingdom of sorts—the worldly kingdom or a heavenly Kingdom. For our purpose, let us focus on Kingdom principles—standards that are based on Godly principles as revealed through Scripture. Let us decipher an altruistic leader tasked to advance HIS Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.3
What are the traits of a Kingdom leader? Among others, he takes the initiative to lead and carry out God’s mission. Again, for an easier peg I’ve used an acrostic to describe a common characteristic trait, LEAD: Learner, Empathy, Attitude and Aptitude, and a Disciple.
And Jesus said, “. . .The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.”4 “(Christian) Schwarz uses this parable to make the point that some things become automatic when all the right elements combine together. This is true of relationships.”5
Notes:
1. Mischel, Walter; Ebbesen, Ebbe B.; Raskoff Zeiss, Antonette (1972). "Cognitive and attentional mechanisms in delay of gratification". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
2. Shoda, Yuichi; Mischel, Walter; Peake, Philip K. (1990). "Predicting Adolescent Cognitive and Self-Regulatory Competencies from Preschool Delay of Gratification: Identifying Diagnostic Conditions"(PDF). Developmental Psychology.
3. Matthew 6:10
4. Mark 4:26-28
5. Joey Bonifacio, The LEGO Principle, 116
