The role of a leader is powerful and necessary for change, growth, and risk management. As Christians we have a mandate to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the earth. As followers of Jesus, it is required of us to lead others to Christ. In this leading, we share the offer of salvation to those that are lost in their relationship with Jesus. We are to mentor and guide them. We are to hold their hand if necessary and support them in their spiritual journey. Leaders support others in their journey and in the specific purpose of that time. Just as Jesus risk us rejecting the mandate he gave us, others that we desire to lead have the same opportunity to reject our leading. Leading people, organizations, families, and projects have risk. Some of those risks are known, expected, and some never thought of.
Leaders must learn to use their interpersonal skills. God has equipped us to lead and God desires for us to mature into the leader he has designed us to be. God desires to equip us with what we need to perform this task of soul winning. We have tools that are necessary for effectiveness, and it is our responsibility to learn to use the tools he has given. 1 Peter 4:10 ESV states to “as each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace”. Some of the tools we must use is prayer, kindness, worship, fruits of the spirit, wisdom, knowledge, grace, giving, and most importantly the Word of God. As leaders in any organization, we must use the tools we have been given to win over those who we desire to lead. In the organizational setting the tools may look like meetings, interviews, human resource management, compensation, SOP’s, and empathy. As leaders in any setting, the knowledge we gain must be used to analyze the state of the people and the organization. Then a plan must be created to react to any potentially known and unknown risk. After the risks are estimated, if any problems arise, they must be dealt with, then reviewed afterward for planning and auditing of the process. There is no perfect formula for teaching a leader how to estimate and mitigate risk, it too is a learned behavior. It is a muscle that must be regularly flexed so, when necessary, risk can be examined and mitigated much like muscle memory.
A risk management framework is essential to the health of an organization. Risks are inevitable and will be present in any situation where people are involved. Sometimes in our personal lives, we take unexamined risks. It is the building up of small unexamined risks that make big detrimental impacts. Our role as leaders is to help others examine risk, also, to examine possible circumstances that may not be fruitful and productive. As leaders, we are to teach others how to examine and mitigate risk in their personal life as well as in the organizational setting. We are to empower others to emerge, to move forward despite obstacles, to gain access, to grow, to be courageous, and to be perfected in their God-given talents.
In his service, Shekita Jackson
