Category: Light From Many Lamps (Page 2 of 2)

Thank you JGarland for your  “Light from Many Lamps” post on the reading in Part 2 on Abraham Lincoln (Watson, 1951, pp. 68-71). It was really well written and well referenced! I was struck by two things that JGarland pointed out about Lincoln through this post:

• His strong emotions/sensitivity, coupled with mental toughness.
• His humility, coupled with his confidence.

I noticed that in these coupled traits Lincoln possessed: 1) emotions and toughness 2) humility and confidence; they can sometimes be seen in juxtaposition with each other, rather than how strong they can be when combined together.

Generally, leaders are discouraged to express their emotions or to show sensitivity, but Lincoln though he was sensitive, also carried great mental toughness and resoluteness. I think that combination is really powerful and not something you see all the time. When it comes to leadership, we tend to think of emotions equating to being mentally weak, but Lincoln demonstrated the opposite in his leadership.

Personally, it has taken me awhile to feel comfortable to express my emotions as a leader and it is something I am still growing in. I would rather appear “strong” emotionally especially as a woman in leadership, as people tend to easily dismiss women leaders when their emotions show too much. Women leaders sometimes decide because of this issue, that they are going to be tough and that means showing no emotions. Lincoln, though a male leader, paved a way in this. I think male leaders probably face similar feelings in terms of “appearing strong” when leading, but for different reasons than women.

The point about his humility coupled with confidence really stood out to me as well, since again this is an interesting and unique combination of traits Lincoln possessed and something I can relate to. In this last year I have noticed I have had a “growth spurt” in confidence as a leader. It came out of a very humbling year where I faced a lot of deep rooted fears and God grew me through it. I now have a new found confidence that has been showing, but it is rooted in the lessons of humility through trials. I think in general we have a hard time figuring out where humility fits with confidence or what that can look like, until we see it portrayed in the life of a leader we admire.

It seems that sometimes the qualities of good leaders are combinations of seemingly contradictory traits. These traits when mingled together and applied in difficult or unexpected circumstances lead to extraordinary leadership, as it did for Lincoln when he led America through difficult years.

References

I really appreciated Daniel’s blog post on the story “Seneca” in Light from Many Lamps. I can resonate with the story and also Daniel’s comment on God knowing what is best for us and sometimes how it causes us to step outside of our comfort zone.

Recently, as a leader I was faced with a difficult ministry decision that to be honest, was pretty blind-siding. It came as a suggestion from leaders above me, but the decision was basically left in my hands and it had many implications and was emotionally difficult. It also was a decision that would be taking me in a different direction in ministry. I was sure God had meant me to stay serving in this particular place for awhile longer and had not been expecting a change in direction.

Through much prayer, thought, discernment and guidance from others, I came to a decision that I did not expect. The decision was to move in a different direction in ministry, to a different place and in a faster time frame than I had thought. Through the discerning process, God made it clear to me that He knew what was best for me, He knew what was best overall for the ministry, and also how this fit in His plan is to advance His Kingdom.

The quote Daniel referenced from this story is very fitting to what my experience has been: “True happiness is to understand our duties toward God and man; to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future” (Watson, 1951, p. 8).

Moving in this direction is really out of my comfort zone and that was a struggle to process through, but I am aware and have experienced in the past that obedience to God’s will is the best course of action.  Interestingly enough, before I knew about this change, I had a sense God was leading me into a “new season”. I thought that only had to do with entering this MA Lead program, little did I know it was going to be new in many other ways!

Monica

Watson, L.E. (1951). Light from Many Lamps. New York: Simon and Schuster.