What Makes a Good Leader?

by Jordan Koehn

What are the first words that come to mind when you hear the question: What makes a good leader? If you went out and asked different people this question, the answers would vary drastically. The answers to this question can range across a lot of different areas and descriptions depending on someone’s background, life experiences, and perspective on leadership. Leaders have wins and fails and you may have experienced the positive or negatives sides of a leader’s decisions. Whether we are leading others or others are leading us, you are always being led by something.

Think about a leader in your life that you feel like led really well? What characteristics did they embody that made them a strong leader? Were they a good listener or supportive? Did they lead you closer to Christ or encourage you to be your best self? Jesus is an example of a perfect leader. He came and showed the pharisees, disciples, and others that gathered around him what true servant leadership looked like. As a leader and rabbi, though many of his lessons were counter-cultural at the time, he showed them how to love their neighbors, how to deal with conflict, how to rearrange priorities for what is most important, how to welcome in the outcasts, and to serve as a leader.

Over the next couple of weeks, you are going to hear from different Fort Wilderness staff on what makes a good leader. They are going to share from their hearts and experiences as leaders and lessons they have learned over their years in practicing leadership. I hope that as you are in your various friend groups, communities, and homes that you can begin to examine how you lead. Do you lead yourself and others in a way that is God honoring and points them back to Jesus?