The Art of Pain in Leadership

Leaders are not superheroes. They are ordinary people called by God and willing to sacrifice their time, gifts, etc. to lead others. They have this internal urge to alter the status quo to create a different world. But it comes with a price tag, the cost of leadership, and the cost includes six realities: crisis, complexity, betrayal, loneliness, weariness, and glory. As leaders seek to lead well, a lot of pain occurs as weaknesses and sins are revealed in leaders as well as followers. That pain is part of the leadership journey and is sometimes forgotten or considered failure. Many books on the market teach us, “Take these 20 steps and you will be a successful leader…” That biblical leadership is the reverse and is mainly servant leadership is therefore often contradictory to the secular perception. It is leading out of weakness and pain, trusting God to be the Shepherd.