Leading Together

According to Dictionary.com, a leader is “a person that leads; a guiding or directing head.”

While I normally find this website to be very helpful, in this case I think their definition is way too narrow.

It’s easy to point to someone on the church’s Board of Trustees and say, “Oh, they’re the leader” – but I believe that’s only partly true. A Trustee is a leader, the Board President is a leader, but none of them is the leader.

If you’re one of the many people who claims they’re “just not a leader,” I’d like to challenge you to take a different view of leadership, by viewing a leader as anyone who gets the job done. (And, no, it doesn’t matter whether the job is big and sweeping or small and specific.)

This different view fits beautifully with Unitarian Universalists’ commitment to being inclusive. By using “they get it done” as the primary criterion for leadership, we expand the definition to include all members. Here’s what that looks like.

  • Do you bus your own dishes at coffee hour? Leader.

  • Have you ever taken notes at a team meeting? Leader.

  • Do you say “Hi” to new people on Sunday? Leader.

  • Have you brought your awesome organizing skills to a project? Leader.

  • Have you ever suggested and/or presented a topic for a Forum? Leader.

  • Have you ever spoken in some capacity at a worship service? Leader.

  • Have you attended and voted at a congregational meeting? Leader.

In other words, I believe that each of us who contributes to the Peoples community is serving a leadership function.

You don’t need official titles. You don’t need to be scared at the thought of leading. Also, you don’t get to minimize your contributions. And you don’t get to ignore your own agency and value.

There’s no question that there has to be a person or an entity to make final decisions about the life of the church. In my mind, there’s also no question that every member has the right and responsibility to share their perspectives, concerns, and insights about that church life.

That’s what shared leadership and shared ministry is all about. Together we’re more effective, more energized, more powerful...just more.

So as your new Board of Trustees gets launched this month, remember that they’re only the most obvious faces of leadership. The other faces are the ones you see in your mirrors.

Submitted by Kathleen Mavity