WANTED: Teen Leaders

Dave Ramsey FB post*

            Have you ever looked up to someone, only to be let down? Have you ever felt absolutely horrible knowing that someone looked up to you, but then you let them down? I’m sure you’ve felt one, if not both, of these feelings. We all make mistakes, and all of us are let down and will be let down by someone else, this is just life. Doesn’t it seem like good leadership is just hard to find anymore? Well, I want to say that it doesn’t have to be. We can be the leaders that our generation needs! But what is good leadership, and how do you find it? Many times as teens, we are taken in by the “cool kids.” The people who seem to have all the friends, or all the fame, or all the fortune, or all the looks, or all the muscles, but these people are not always the best leaders. How can you tell? True leaders lead by example. These kind of people inspire their followers. They live the kind of life and have an attitude that makes others say “that’s the kind of person I want to be…the kind of person I should be.” Leading by example means that you are not intimidating others into doing what you want. It means that you aren’t manipulative in your goals and actions towards others

A good leader leads with humility and involvement. They don’t order their followers around like slaves, and they don’t lord over them as if they were some higher power to be reckoned with. They “get down” if you will, and perform the tasks with those that are following, showing them that “Hey, I’m not above you, we are in this together.”

Good leaders exhibit integrity. They are willing to take a loss rather than compromise their honesty, values, and the principles they stand for. This type of leader will admit if they are wrong. If someone brings something to their attention, saying that leader made an error or had faulty information, they don’t pounce on them. “How dare you even SUGGEST that I could even POSSIBLY be wrong about anything!” Yeah, I know, we’ve all been there. We all remember that person that grinds us down to nothing because we made an observation, and simply wanted to warn them. We wanted to say, “Hey, look out!” Not because we wanted to be right, or better than someone else, but because we cared. So remember that feeling, and try to spare others from having to go through that. Don’t be that kind of leader…that kind of person. Don’t be the “leaders” that step on others to lift themselves up…don’t be the “leaders” that guilt trip people into doing what they want… “leaders” that divide and conquer groups of friends that might somehow threaten their power hold over their peer group… “leaders” that spread rumors and put other’s at odds just for the fun of it…for a show… “leaders” that when they fail, it suddenly becomes “your idea” and “all your fault”… “leaders” that are simply abusive because they can be. I know you know what I’m talking about it, and it’s OK, at some point or another, we’ve been there, it’s what you do when you get there that makes the difference.

You might ask, “how do these people even become leaders?”  Well in total honesty, we can be tricked as followers. Being a leader is only half the picture. We have to learn to be good followers. By that I mean, we’ve got to learn to spot “the good ones.” A lot of the time we like to blame others, but guys, we make our own choices. We choose our friends, our influences, and our leaders. You might be thinking, “Well, that’s the problem, I don’t see any good leaders around me! What am I supposed to do?” You might not like my answer, but that’s when we need to stand up and be a leader. Be a leader in the face of adversity. Lead in the right direction, away from the negative influences. Those “cool people” are not the only people in the world. I promise! There are others, who might not have the courage to stand up first, but they’ll be right behind you! I’ll give you an example. Back in the 1900’s you had this guy named Lenin…yeah, murderer communist dude….Nice guy…he started down the road he chose when he was a teen. He rebelled against his parents (no this isn’t a rant against being rebellious. I promise. J) and decided that he was going to do his thing, and lead in the direction he wanted to go. We see now the results of that. We see who he was able to get to follow him. We also know about the suffering and horrible atrocities committed. I know, I know…get to the point Seth. OK, my point is, Look at what Lenin did, what one “bad” person did. Now, think about what one good person could do, one good person, leading in the right direction, and inspiring people to take the right paths. I mean, that’s an amazing thought! Look guys, I think we can all admit there’s a problem, but nobody really wants to admit what the cause(s) of the problem is! If we could get some great leaders for our generation, Some teens who were willing to say, “Hey! I’ll be a beacon! I’ll stand up! I’ll lead,” just think about the possibilities! Your entire world could change! I want leave you with this thought. Not because it’ll make you feel good, or because it’s mushy, or because it’s what you’re supposed to say, but because it’s true.

YOU can make a difference and YOU are important, 

Don’t forget it!

That's all for now. Thanks for reading! :)