i spend a lot of time wishing i was both cooler and more mature then my age allows for. my recent birthday forced me into my last year of 20-something-ness—a reality i’m not quite prepared for. so now i’m wondering what to make of the decades to come as they relate to family, career, ministry, and in this case, leadership. in the midst of this pre-mid-life crisis, i came across a picture of one 30 year-old leader. here’s some personal leadership reflections on 2 Samuel 5— a scene from the life of David when he becomes king over all of Israel at age 30 (a few thousand years ago).

1). DAVID WAS A LEADER LONG BEFORE HE WAS IN CHARGE.
v 2: “The people came to David and said, ‘In the past while Saul was king, you were the one who led Israel on the military campaigns. And the Lord said to you, ‘You will lead my people’…David was thirty years old when he became king.” (go back and read from 1st samuel 16 to 2nd samuel 4, reminding yourself that he still isn’t 30 years old). David didn’t wait to be old or king to do big things. David knew that leadership isn’t about being in charge. in fact, he knew how to both honor and lead under a king that hated him. then, despite being qualified or ready to step up earlier, David became king. But he used the time until then to remain faithful and humble. in the words of Perry Noble, he was more concerned about being “developed,” not “discovered.”

2). GOD MADE POSSIBLE DAVID’S LEADERSHIP.
v.10: “He became more and more powerful, because the Lord God Almighty was with him.”

3). DAVID KNEW HIS CAUSE (AND IT WASN’T HIMSELF).
v 12: “David knew that the Lord had established him as king over Israel and had exalted his kingdom for the sake of his people Israel.”

4). WHEN HIS LEADERSHIP WAS THREATENED, DAVID WENT TO A PLACE OF STRENGTH.
v 17: “The Philistines went up in full force to search for him, but David heard about it and went down to the stronghold.”

5). DAVID SOUGHT GOD’S INPUT AND HE FOLLOWED IT.
v 23/25: (the Philistines are attacking) “David inquired of the Lord, and he answered, ‘Do not go straight up, but circle around behind them’…So David did as the Lord commanded him, and he struck down the Philistine army.”

**

two books on leadership:
(the first i’m reading and loving, the second is next on the list)

Leading With A Limp – Dan Allender
Leading From the Second Chair – Mike Bonem, Roger Patterson

so i find myself frequently talking to people about what it means to be young and a leader. i feel like i’m always pressing older leaders to engage us young grasshoppers in this discussion—not just through a workbook, but through relationships, resources and opportunity. we crave these things, however, you might not know it. i stumbled across this great quote by Brad Lomenick (in an interview with Tony Morgan):

Young leaders…still love to be led and deeply desire to be molded by those who have gone before us. I think there is a perception that because we have a tendency to have a “free agent” mentality towards our careers and vocation and calling that we are rebelling against wise mentors and older leaders. This is not the case. Young leaders still deeply desire to have someone lead them…The challenge is that our approach is different- we don’t (as a general rule) play into the more traditional idealism of waiting our turn, brown-nosing our way to the top, or not voicing our opinion because we haven’t “arrived” yet.

thoughts? what does that mean if you’re a young leader? an older leader?