Why Leadership Is Your Business

Clearly, leadership is an issue that influentially affects all of us. Not only are we impacted by it, but also, we are all called upon to be drivers of it. Even though we are called upon to be involved in leading government or business, guiding young minds, leading a family, standing for what is right, or organizing a dinner, a carpool, or a household, everyone has a leadership role to play. We are each enthroned into many different leadership roles again and again, throughout our lives. We are each called upon to be janitor of what is right and good, lasting and of value, for those in our care.

When we are called upon to lead, the kind of janitor you will be depends greatly on what you understand a janitor to be, on how we think about other people, and on how you determine what is right and worth holding in trust.



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The word janitor as we are applying it here is the same as the word steward that we find in the pages of the Bible and used throughout history. A janitor or steward performs the task of watching over that which is placed in their trust by the one who owns it or for those who will benefit by it. It is a service performed for others. It is not about ownership or dictatorship. It is not a technique. It is who the leader is. It is an attitude—a state of being—a way of looking at the world. But it is not the idle, hands-off leadership that some have attributed to this way of thinking. It is a component of leadership that leaders were not intended to function without.



In the context of what we are talking about, it means not only maintaining the vision and faith in those ideals, beliefs and hopes but, living those values as a model and example for others to follow. It means raising the sights and holding the focus of those we lead such that they are empowered to reach their potentials. It means making a headway. It means loving everyone to the extent of sacrificing for them. It means empowering people by getting the obstacles out of their way and often out of their thinking. To do this, of course, the leader must understand or grip the larger picture at all times and hold the course for the benefit of all.

In the words of William Arthur Ward, “The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.”