Chapter 4: Leadership Is Narrative: The Leader Draws Followers into a Story That Frames All of Life
We love stories. Even more, we love the thought of being part of the stories we hear. That is why boys and girls pretend to be knights and princesses. But when we grow up, we realize grand stories of castles and dragons are not as easily available to become a part of, at least not in the ordinary way. A leader helps those who follow him see the story of which they are a part. But to do that, he must first see how he fits into the story. As Al Mohler points out, all stories are rooted in the true story of the gospel. Once a leader sees how his story fits into the gospel story, he can then lead others to do the same.
Facts and data may be true, but they need a story to help people see the bigger picture. Leaders are not content to pull levers and check boxes and then lead others to do the same. They desire to craft a captivating story that shows the beauty of each person’s part in the greater story. A person will often move from the second-person pronoun to the first-person pronoun once he has become part of the story.
This post is part of a larger series of posts. Each post is a short reflection on a chapter of The Conviction to Lead: 25 Principles for Leadership that Matters by Albert Mohler (ISBN 978-0-7642-1004-4).
Musica Theologica 