{"id":31146,"date":"2023-02-17T03:05:31","date_gmt":"2023-02-17T11:05:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=31146"},"modified":"2023-02-17T03:05:31","modified_gmt":"2023-02-17T11:05:31","slug":"from-peril-to-pearl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/from-peril-to-pearl\/","title":{"rendered":"From Peril to Pearl"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cLeaders are made, not born\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

-Eve Poole-<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\n

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]<\/a><\/p>\n

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]<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

Leaders are Made, Not Born<\/strong><\/p>\n

Poole strongly emphasizes that leaders are formed, made, and trained, not something that appears without a process.[3]<\/a> 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]<\/a> 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]<\/a> 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]<\/a><\/p>\n

From Peril to Pearl<\/strong><\/p>\n

This subtitle \u201cperil to pearl\u201d was inspired by Eve Poole’s presentation on YouTube.[7]<\/a> On Youtube, Poole quotes a Bible verse found in Romans 5:3-5 as follows: \u201cbut 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\u201d. She mentioned and explained how a shell has a \u201cgrit\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n

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 \u201cgold\u201d 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]<\/a> 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?<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Eve Poole, Leadersmithing: Revealing the Trade Secrets of Leadership<\/em> (London: New York, NY: Bloomsbury Business, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2017.), 1.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> John C. Maxwell, The Maxwell Leadership Bible <\/em>(Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson Publisher, 2002), vii.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Eve Poole, 3.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Eve Poole, 8.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Eve Poole, 47.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Eve Poole, 50.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Eve Poole, \u201cLeadersmithing,\u201d TED, April 12, 2017, Youtube video, 18:00, https:\/\/youtu.be\/73L1613KDnw<\/a><\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> John C. Maxwell, viii.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cLeaders are made, not born\u201d -Eve Poole- \u00a0Introduction 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, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":173,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2310],"tags":[2616],"class_list":["post-31146","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-doctor-of-leadership-3","tag-dlgp02-poole","cohort-dlgp02"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31146","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/173"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31146"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31146\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31147,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31146\/revisions\/31147"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31146"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31146"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31146"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}