Holistic Leadership: Being remembered
In a brief blog Kenney Grigg questions of an understanding of leadership that is too constrictive and narrow. He defines leadership as 'a process of stepping forward in each of our spheres of influence to have a positive, God-honoring impact.' Such leadership embraces home and community as well as work. Such leadership cannot be about having a 'public' face and a 'private' one that are signficantly different. In other words there is a holistic breadth to it that cannot easily be disregarded in any part of a leader's life. It is soul leadership in that it expresses something of the soul of that sole individual wherever expressed and in whatever circumstances. Grigg cites a local example:
"Recently, an icon in the Richmond legal community passed away. The first sentence of a Richmond Times-Dispatch article grabbed me like few “leads”, both for its eloquence and for the description of the impact of a life well-lived:
James B. Wilkinson, a Richmond Circuit Court judge for 31 years whose civic, judicial, and spiritual leadership was inspirational to generations of people, public and private, died Wednesday after a prolonged but rarely inhibiting illness.
The article described the Judge as “all about God, country, and family.” It detailed his military service during World War II; his legal education and career as a prosecutor and judge; his dedication to his community and family. The article also described his strong faith and dedicated service for over 50 years in his church. I know one man who was in a prayer group with the Judge through the years who vouches for his deep faith and commitment to the Lord."
Grigg notes three things about the life described:
1. the scope of its impact
2. its inspirational quality
3. its combination of private and public
Clearly Judge Wilkinson was in a position of influence wider than that available in many contemporary roles, and Grigg urges his readers to consider the smaller but significant segments of life every individual is involved in. Even in our highly secularized times, however, it remains the case that clergy have at the least the possibility of that wider influence evident in Judge Wilkinson's life. Soul leadership is conscious of that privilege and strives to use it to godly purpose.