As young adults, we may look forward to a future where we hold important leadership positions. What attribute should we develop to lead like Christ?
All of us can be leaders—whether we come from destitute circumstances, consider ourselves followers, or simply lack the desire to lead. Although we often focus on leaders such as bishops, Relief Society presidents, managers, politicians, and other conspicuous people, to be a leader is not necessarily to be in a position of visibility. To be a true leader is to be like Christ, the leader of leaders, the one who leads with love.
PHOTO BY ANDREW CHARNEY
People can lead in ways that help others become better or not better. President Dieter F. Uchtdorf contrasts these two leadership methods in his 2017 general conference address, “Perfect Love Casteth Out Fear.” On the one hand, people can lead using fear. President Uchtdorf says, “It is true that fear can have a powerful influence over our actions and behavior… Fear rarely has the power to change our hearts, and it will never transform us into people who love what is right and who want to obey Heavenly Father.” Some people use fear as a tool to coerce and manipulate those whom they have stewardship over, but it never makes us the people God wants us to be.
On the other hand, President Uchtdorf talks about love as the second leadership method, and he references the way that God leads and guides his children. President Uchtdorf says, “God motivates through persuasion, long-suffering, gentleness, meekness, and love unfeigned… He wants us to rise up, try again, and become stronger.” The difference between the two leadership methods is simple: one method motivates followers to be internally better, and the other method does not. To help others become better is to align our wills with God’s, whose ultimate goal is to bring about the salvation of his children.
As we look to the future, we prepare now to lead with love. We can pray for charity and for opportunities to be the Lord’s loving hands. When we inevitably take over what the generations before us have built, we will continue to build, and we will build with love.
Read President Dieter F. Uchtdorf’s talk “Perfect Love Casteth Out Fear” to learn more about leading like Christ.
Source: General Conference
—Scout McMillan, Latter-day Saint Insights
FEATURE IMAGE BY MARKUS SPISKE
Find more insights
Read “Leading as Christ Would,” a Latter-day Saint Insights article by Camden Hardy-Harrison, to know more about the leadership attributes of Jesus Christ.
Take a look at Dylan Parker’s Latter-day Saint Insights article “Love Is Our Response” to understand how we can develop charity better.