Leading from the Front
Recently we saw the images of Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine walking on the war-torn streets of the capital city of Kyiv, leading from the front.
The leaders in the western world have come to value unity to the extent that they only walk in lockstep, and their leadership has become very tentative. You don’t call a meeting to find out what everybody else thinks if people are being slaughtered in the streets. Leadership often involves risk-taking. If Moses had a committee, he would still be in the wilderness.
In the history of the world, the generals who have led from the front got wounded more often and died more frequently, but they lacked no soldiers willing to die for them. Image is vital in the world today. If our enemies perceive us as weak, they will try to take advantage of us. Johnson and President Zelenskyy walking down that street in Kyiv, spoke more to Putin than the rhetoric of all the other western leaders.
Prime Minister Johnson did what he had to do. Most great leaders have learned that no man or woman is irreplaceable. To use a cliché, Johnson did not just talk the talk, but he walked the walk. If America wants to continue to be the leader of the free world, we need to lead more from the front.
Ken Barnes worked with Youth With A Mission for seventeen years, primarily involved in discipleship training and evangelism. He is the author of The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places, published in 2011 by YWAM Publishing, and Broken Vessels in 2021 through Kindle Direct Publishing. He holds a Master of Science degree from Virginia Commonwealth University in Curriculum and Instruction. He currently is a freelance writer.
Ken’s Website— https://kenbarnes.us/
Ken blogs at https://kenbarnes.us/blog/
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