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Is Your Leadership in Style?
The fall fashion magazines are out, telling us how we ought to dress this year. In the same way, many models of leadership tell us how we “ought” to lead. Is leadership about imitating others? About finding the right model? Or is there another way?
I’ve always been captivated by Audrey Hepburn. I saw her first movie, Roman Holiday, on the big screen a while back, and was just as entranced as I was at fifteen when I first saw the movie on TV. In her book Audreystyle, Pamela Clarke Keogh comments, “Audrey’s enduring affect on fashion rested, in part, on her ability to evolve with changing eras while remaining true to her singular vision….Audrey believed that everyone has her own style, and ‘when you have found it, you should stick to it.’ [emphasis added] She never wore designers’ clothes straight off the runway, but modified them to suit her. She took basic, elemental pieces and made the most of them, imprinting them with her personality, sometimes by means of a simple accessory.”
In the same way, having an impact as a leader (and as a human being) means finding your singular vision, knowing deeply what that is, and then, out of that vision, adapting to changing times. It means having an ear to the ground listening for what’s happening, without slavishly adopting trends and techniques that may not fit who you are.
Leaders in our society are deluged with information about leadership, about organizational development, about whatever our own fields may be. We could spend all day trying to keep up with the latest advice, the most up-to-the-minute model, the current media leadership darling (soon to be replaced with another ideal leader).
We make a difference in ministry with our presence, by who we are on the deepest level. Out of that sense of self, we can go on for a long time, energized by our vision, rather than burning out by trying to be everything to everybody. So when we do see trends and techniques, we can use them and adapt them to suit our own style, our vision of who we are, and what we have to say.
As Audrey suggests, when you find out who you are, you should stick to it. That is your work, and what you have to offer not only to your followers, but also family, friends and the world at large.
Rev. Margaret J. Marcuson works with church leaders who want to learn an easier, more effective way to lead. The author of Leaders Who Last: Sustaining Yourself and Your Ministry (Seabury, 2009), she can be reached at Margaret@margaretmarcuson.com.
I’ve always been captivated by Audrey Hepburn. I saw her first movie, Roman Holiday, on the big screen a while back, and was just as entranced as I was at fifteen when I first saw the movie on TV. In her book Audreystyle, Pamela Clarke Keogh comments, “Audrey’s enduring affect on fashion rested, in part, on her ability to evolve with changing eras while remaining true to her singular vision….Audrey believed that everyone has her own style, and ‘when you have found it, you should stick to it.’ [emphasis added] She never wore designers’ clothes straight off the runway, but modified them to suit her. She took basic, elemental pieces and made the most of them, imprinting them with her personality, sometimes by means of a simple accessory.”
In the same way, having an impact as a leader (and as a human being) means finding your singular vision, knowing deeply what that is, and then, out of that vision, adapting to changing times. It means having an ear to the ground listening for what’s happening, without slavishly adopting trends and techniques that may not fit who you are.
Leaders in our society are deluged with information about leadership, about organizational development, about whatever our own fields may be. We could spend all day trying to keep up with the latest advice, the most up-to-the-minute model, the current media leadership darling (soon to be replaced with another ideal leader).
We make a difference in ministry with our presence, by who we are on the deepest level. Out of that sense of self, we can go on for a long time, energized by our vision, rather than burning out by trying to be everything to everybody. So when we do see trends and techniques, we can use them and adapt them to suit our own style, our vision of who we are, and what we have to say.
As Audrey suggests, when you find out who you are, you should stick to it. That is your work, and what you have to offer not only to your followers, but also family, friends and the world at large.
Rev. Margaret J. Marcuson works with church leaders who want to learn an easier, more effective way to lead. The author of Leaders Who Last: Sustaining Yourself and Your Ministry (Seabury, 2009), she can be reached at Margaret@margaretmarcuson.com.
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Margaret Marcuson
Rev. Margaret Marcuson works with churches that want to create a ministry that lasts and clergy who want more impact on the people they serve best. She is the author of Leaders Who Last: Sustaining Yourself and Your Ministry (Seabury, 2009). She served as pastor of the First Baptist Church of Gardner, Massachusetts for thirteen years.
