“Don’t necessarily avoid sharp edges. Occasionally they are necessary to leadership.” Donald Rumsfeld

I search for various quotes on leadership to find thoughts to consider each week. One particular website lists 100 of the most famous quotes by leaders.
I did something random and scrolled to the middle of the list to see what came up. Well, you read it above.

I could not help but think how significant this thought is regarding our leadership. Often times we go to great lengths to avoid areas in our life we would consider “sharp edges.”

I am not one who supports searching for those challenges, nor do I recommend someone looking for those edges.

As well, I do not like dealing with them. However, I have learned how valuable those edges can be to developing me as a leader.

We know the sharp edges exist and we are going to face them at different times and in several ways. While we are not looking for them, we should not avoid them, but learn from them and allow God to work through them to help shape us as His leaders.