Perhaps one of my favorite leadership quotes comes from John Buchan, “The task of leadership is not to put greatness into humanity, but to elicit it, for the greatness is already there.”

There is something special about this thought and its application, primarily within the spiritual realm of God’s church.

Far too often, we attempt to put greatness into others. Somehow, we fall prey to the mindset that if we can put greatness into others, they will be great.

We all need to learn the power of the lesson expressed above. Greatness is already there, in each and every person. Our task is to elicit it, draw it out of them.

Leaders must work to use the greatness that exists in each person, helping them reach their potential by implementing their own deep seeded greatness.

The challenge is how to avoid the attempt to make others what we want them to be in the journey. The kind of leadership Buchan describes requires yielding control and allowing others to blossom in the fruit of the greatness God has placed in them.

This is leadership!