Written by: Stefania Tarasut on March 15, 2014

Book: Making Room for Leadership by MaryKate Morse

Leadership is a skill to be learned and a gift that must be stewarded properly. Without intentional learning and diligent stewardship leadership can, and more often then not it is harmful to the leader and hurtful to the people being led.

What struck me the in reading MaryKate Morse’s book, Making Room for Leadership, is that power and leadership seem to be different sides of the same coin.

A person can have power, but power alone does not make one a leader. Power is like the yeast that causes the bread to rise. A little bit can make the dough rise… a lot of it, even though it will still rise, it will cause your dough to go bad or have many air holes in it. Who wants bread with lots of holes in it? Power mixed with wisdom and intentional stewardship will cause the community to move forward. When power is not stewarded well the community might still move forward, but many will fall along the way. Power is not worth the cost of a broken community… just like you don’t only want the crust on the bread.

On the other hand, a leader cannot lead if she doesn’t have any power. The two need to go hand in hand in order for the leader to make an impact. I really appreciated the practical leadership skills Morse gives in chapter 11. As I was reading through them I felt a little frustrated that I didn’t think of these things before. Her suggestions are as follows:

1. Where you sit matters, so be intentional about which seat you occupy at the table.
2. How you gesture matters, so make sure that your heart and mind are on the same page.
3. How and when you speak matters, so know your audience well. She says that “knowing your audience is good leadership, not manipulation.” (p174) I like that!
4. Keeping personal boundaries matters, so don’t make things personal and watch for what and how you feel. Strong emotions can and probably will cause people to tune you out… which causes you to loose credibility and authority.
5. Being prepared matters so be prepared. This is important. So many times we thing that because we’ve thought about things we are ready to articulate them properly, but this isn’t true. If we’re prepared, people are more inclined to trust us.

Morse goes on to finish chapter 11 by reminding all of us, “Leadership at the top is lonely. A leader often becomes a lightning rod for dissatisfied and broken people. Sometimes more power means you are less known.” (p181) Isn’t that interesting? Even though everyone knows your name, no one knows the person inside. So humbling! This is why leadership is a skill to be learned and a gift that must be stewarded properly. It’s not only lonely at times, but hard work. Unless we take ownership of it will probably consume us first.

Finally, may this be our prayer as we lead, “Lord, with you and like you, in this space I serve.” (p181) With Christ and like Christ… we can do this!

About the Author

Stefania Tarasut