A few days, I was having a conversation with our youngest daughter about her volleyball team. She had signed up to play for her school and was assigned to a team. She wasn’t too happy; she didn’t think they were all that good.
Not knowing if that were true or not — and not wanting to argue — I simply asked her this question: “What are you going to do to make them better?” To which I added, “That’s what leaders do.”
It’s true. Leaders exist to help other people improve.
A leader looks at a situation and asks, “What can I do to make this better?”
A whiner looks at the same difficult situation and complains, “Why do I have to deal with this?”
A blamer looks at the same problem and says, “Whose fault is this?”
A person in denial wonders, “What is everyone so upset about?”
I was trying to help my daughter understand a very basic principle: you are either part of the problem or part of the solution. Active or passive, positive or negative, you are still a contributor. The question is: What are you choosing to contribute?
If God has placed you in a position of leadership, no matter what it is, then make the people around you better. That’s what leaders do.