My Stick Figure Timeline

The piece of artwork above was inspired by my life and its relationship to the church.  It begins when I was simply a wee tot in the pew and ends in the present time at The Resurrection House in Omaha.  While you continue to fawn over my brilliantly drawn stick figures, I realized that in certain instances in my church life, others saw something in me that I did not see in myself.  Which relates to exactly what the interns are contemplating this week at Resurrection House.  
Why are you here?  It was one of the first of many questions we are discussing at our retreat this week.  There is a lot to process and contemplate with each question, as well as, questioning the meaning of our actions.  But that's the name of the game, and what is ultimately guiding me to make my next major life decision.  
One of the first questions asked was "What is a leader?"  My response to this was an individual with a vision and the dedication to see it (the vision) through.  A person who is open to change, but is able to still make the vision a reality.  A person to encourage/inspire others to support the vision.  An individual who trusts and believes in other people to support their vision.  As I came up with that answer, I thought to myself NAILED IT, thinking what else could I possibly include?  And after listening to the other responses a lot!  But what I really never saw coming was the director's comment.  He complemented all the interns on the definitions we came up with, but he said that none of us really answered the question.  Are you kidding me?  He explained that we all answered the question what is a good leader, not what is simply a leader.  Alright, explain please.  Our directors response was a leader is someone with authenticity of passion.  Someone who is a leader does not always have a vision or need to be the one coming up with ideas.  A leader guides, but sometimes shoves individuals in the right direction.  A leader must be able to lead a group of people and be authentic about it.
Being authentic about my beliefs is not always easy, especially when people around me do not believe the same thing.  A GOOD leader has the dedication to overcome the barriers of disbelief by staying authentic and believing in what is authentic to them.  A GOOD leader will do something regardless of whether it goes against the current trend, will not make them famous, and will not make them money.  Because they have an authentic belief, they will strive to stay true to their belief.  There is not a magic key to how to be the best leader possible, but I know from now on I will always include in my definition of a leader authenticity.