From Peril to Pearl
“Leaders are made, not born”
-Eve Poole-
Introduction
Leadership could be said to be a skill that has existed since the beginning of human civilization and continues to be relevant today. It has long been a scientific field that is studied and applied to various aspects of human life. Knowledge of leadership and its developments, relevant to the context of the times, is still essential for humans. Many courses and books on leadership are available, both general and written for specific segments, such as leadership in Christianity. This explains why, over the centuries, various books have presented writings on leadership.[1]
This shows that leadership is an integral part of human life, including in the church context, even though it exists there. According to John Maxwell, of the many books that have been written about leadership, the best and most glorious source is the Bible.[2] This is based on the premise that the Ultimate Leader in this life is God himself. Although Eve Poole’s book “Leadersmithing” does not specifically mention explicitly regarding Christianity, her writing should be recommended for every Christian leader or for those who are preparing to become spiritual leaders. In this book, we find many leadership principles closely related to Christian values, likely due to Poole’s background as a scholar in theology.
Leaders are Made, Not Born
Poole strongly emphasizes that leaders are formed, made, and trained, not something that appears without a process.[3] Leaders are made, not born. Leaders are forged, not instant results. Poole emphasizes the importance of character in the forging process to form a leader. The most important characteristics that form a leader is courage, brain, and heart.[4] According to Poole, character is better than self-confidence. Character protects one’s future ability to lead. Characters such as courage, grit, and determination are the main characteristics that appear in a leader when trouble strikes and the character is something real, not fake.[5] In Poole’s view, a leader is a position that can bring a person into vulnerability, that’s why leaders must demonstrate tough leadership to be able to provide the people they lead with a sense of clarity and direction in the face of uncertainty. Therefore, through the forging process, prospective leaders or emerging leaders who develop themselves need to have a deep understanding of values and goals so that they do not lose their way and the decision they choose is wise and brings goodness.[6]
From Peril to Pearl
This subtitle “peril to pearl” was inspired by Eve Poole’s presentation on YouTube.[7] On Youtube, Poole quotes a Bible verse found in Romans 5:3-5 as follows: “but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame”. She mentioned and explained how a shell has a “grit” heart to make peril into a pearl. A true leader is forged through various challenges that make him wiser, stronger, braver, and has a sharp vision. A good leader also has a strong desire to learn from others and learn valuable lessons from experience. As pearls are produced from something that irritates and covers it to produce something beautiful and of high value, a leader is forged through difficult things that shape them to be like a pearl. What I want to add is from peril to pearl, there are perseverance and prayer as well.
Conclusion
This article does not intend to simplify the process of becoming a leader. This article was written to strengthen me in going through the leader-smithing process in this doctoral program and also in my ministry. I have faith that God the Ultimate Leader, is forging and shaping me to be a leader through other people, experiences, and learning. This is indeed not an easy process to undergo. We may feel overwhelmed in living it. In my opinion, in going through this process, it is okay if you ever feel uncertain, feel tired, feel helpless, because we are all human beings. But as long as we still have hope in God, and we know our hope in God will never disappoint because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. I also believe that each of us has “gold” that God has planted in us. Let us follow and trust Him to answer His calling. Maxwell asserts that the call of leadership is a consistent pattern in the Bible.[8] The call enters us into the good and great works that God wants for His children. This is my call and that of all of us to serve God through our service to others, regardless of the topic of our respective NPOs. So, returning to ourselves, are we truly willing to follow the process prepared by the master and creator of our lives?
[1] Eve Poole, Leadersmithing: Revealing the Trade Secrets of Leadership (London: New York, NY: Bloomsbury Business, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2017.), 1.
[2] John C. Maxwell, The Maxwell Leadership Bible (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson Publisher, 2002), vii.
[3] Eve Poole, 3.
[4] Eve Poole, 8.
[5] Eve Poole, 47.
[6] Eve Poole, 50.
[7] Eve Poole, “Leadersmithing,” TED, April 12, 2017, Youtube video, 18:00, https://youtu.be/73L1613KDnw
[8] John C. Maxwell, viii.
About the Author
Dinka Utomo
Dinka Nehemia Utomo is an ordained pastor of the Protestant Church in the Western part of Indonesia (Gereja Protestan di Indonesia bagian Barat or GPIB). He has served for more than 15 years. The first five years of his ministry were in the remote area of East Kalimantan, including people from the indigenous Dayak tribe in the small villages in the middle of the forest, frequently reached using small boats down the river. For more than 15 years, Dinka has served several GPIB congregations in several cities in Indonesia. He has always had a passion for equipping Christian families, teaching and guiding them to build equal relations between husband and wife, maintaining commitment, love, and loyalty, creating a healthy and constructive Christian family atmosphere, and rejecting all forms of violence and sexual violence. Dinka's beloved wife, Verra, is also a GPIB pastor. They have two blessed children. Dinka and his wife and children love to spend quality family time, such as lunch or dinner, and vacation to exotic places.6 responses to “From Peril to Pearl”
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Hi Dinka, You pulled out a gem from the reading, “According to Poole, character is better than self-confidence.” I have struggled with self-confidence my whole life. It has been a slow journey, but when I gave up on trying to get it I actually relaxed a bit and stopped worrying about it. Character is so important to any leader. An important foundational piece to leadership. How would you encourage young leaders in this important area of their development? In my post I mentioned the question Poole asked leaders, “What do you know now that you wish you had known ten years ago?” How would you answer that question? Thank you for a wonderful post!
Mr. Dinka, I appreciated how you had emphasized the fact that leaders are made. You reminded me of the book by Tom Camacho about coaching in which the master refiner (God Himself) purifies and molds us through the process of perfection.
Dinka, I too believe that in our smithing as leaders, we need to give ourselves grace in the fact that we will experience uncertainty, self-doubt and be wearied by the combination. We have One we can follow and as you stated, as long as we put our hope in God’s plans and purposes, His hope does not disappoint. Thinking about my own weaknesses as a leader, I am grateful for the truths that were developed in me as a child, that often came through the dedication of leaders in ministry (pastors, worship leaders, SS teachers, ushers, bible study leaders, etc). The truths that are often accessed in my heart and brain are by way of song lyrics. I am a musician and have a jukebox kind of mind. I hear phrases that spark tunes in my mind. In this thought I think of the lyrics within the song “Jesus Loves Me”. . . they are weak, but He is strong. Thankful that by God’s grace He is familiar with weakness and comes right alongside of us as leaders to provide correction, guidance and strength.
“Leaders are not born they are forged!” I cannot agree enough with this statement. I fine-tuned my leadership skills from being forged by fire. I love that Poole describes it as a journey and not a space that we achieve but as an on-going experience. It becomes easier to acknowledge areas of growth when you embrace the process as on-going.
What a great post Dinka, that forging process is not easy but its worth it especially when it makes us stronger and more effective to serve others. George Mumford, the Mindful Athlete, says that a masterpiece is in each one of us and its our job to let God chip away at the stone so it can be revealed.
What a great post Dinka, that forging process is not easy but its worth it especially when it makes us stronger and more effective to serve others. There are so many analogies that illustrate this principle that resonates with us pearls, diamonds, steel, gold, etc. I think this is why crucibles and battles keep showing up in mythologies around the world as Campbell points out in his “Heroes with a Thousand Faces”. Its not east, but it is worth it.