Growing up I heard from a lot of the adults in my life that “leadership” was, in no uncertain terms, going to be a part of my future. At the time, it sounded like a great idea. Sure, I can lead others, and when I really thought about it, why shouldn’t others follow me? After all, I’ve got opinions, ideas, and to me they all sounded like pure gold.

Now that I am in a position of leadership, I wish someone had warned me about all that it entailed. It seems like everything these days comes with some kind of warning except leadership. There’s labels on clothes now that tell people not to iron the garment while wearing it! Sadly I ignored that label once, and found out why it was there. Even prescription medication is forced to come with warning labels. I think sometimes if leadership was a prescription drug the warning label might read like this:

Perhaps if this was attached to every leadership position we may think twice about jumping on board. It wasn’t until I jumped into, naively as it were, a leadership role in a large church situation that I learned how many areas of leadership I could really use growth in. I am fortunate to be in a position where I am being allowed to grow as a leader while still maintaining my position. Not everyone has that same luxury, so here are some things to consider before becoming a leader.

1) Being a leader means being a regular conflict.
There is no way to avoid it. Without a doubt if you are in a position of leadership then you will learn that you have a creepy, slimy, male pattern baldness inflicted little hobbit following you around and its name is conflict. Disagreement, miscommunication, and hurt are like golden rings that call out to the obsessive creature that is conflict. In order to be a leader it’s important to become a champion of conflict. Approaching it and acknowledging it when it first shows itself, addressing the why behind the issue, and observing patience, grace, and maturity while resolving it are critical to becoming a conflict champion.

2) Being a leader means being organized for the sake of others.
If you are a hyper organized person, please don’t think that this is something you can just skip. If you are someone who struggles with, hates, or fears structure and organization like the plague (this was me) please don’t run. This issue is critical to your success as a leader, and without it failure is eminent. Understand, organization for the sake of organization is not enough. It must be purposeful and intentional in its nature. Organization should be developed in order to communicate love and appreciation to those around you. Whether its the people who work alongside of you, work under you, volunteer, or are ministered to organization will communicate value and love to those people, and without it a leader will not last long.

3) Being a leader means being a follower first.
One of the most alluring aspects of leadership is the idea of “being in charge”. Often times leaders gravitate to positions of authority simply because of status, influence, and pride. Leadership is not all it’s cracked up to be. As a leader it is pivotal that you first become a follower. We must be willing to submit ourselves first to Christ as our ultimate authority. Not only Christ, but we must also emulate the role David took as a leader too. Even though he had been anointed as the next king of Israel he took on the role of armor bearer for Saul. He carried, and promoted his leader and followed him into battle. Don’t get into leadership if you’re stuck on being first.

Eric Upton is a youth pastor who blogs at Life in the Trenches and has contributed many guests posts here at More Than Dodgeball.