Lesson #6: Peter Pan & leadership

My daughter is three years old and loves to sing. At any moment, she is likely to break out in song and joyfully sing at the top of her lungs. Her favorite song comes from one of her favorite Disney movies, Peter Pan. She sings the lyrics of Following the Leader whenever we need to go somewhere together, such as a bedroom upstairs, a room downstairs, or the park across the street. With her gorgeous blue eyes she looks at me and says, “OK daddy here we go, follow me and form a line. Following the leader, the leader, the leader, following the leader wherever we may go…” My daughter’s view of leadership is very pure and innocent. It is a very simple perspective; it includes the two basic ingredients – a leader and a follower. But that's not it. There is more to her perspective, one that she gets from watching Peter Pan. A common phrase you hear throughout the movie from Peter is, come on let's go.

In the movie, Peter separates himself from everyone else by showing the initiative and calling others to follow with the phrase, “come on, let’s go.” How many of us can say the same thing? The idea and motion of initiative is what separates those who lead and those who follow. Initiative can be defined as “The ability to act on your own; the ability to act and make decisions without the help or advice of other people.” It can further be defined as the “Introductory step. The first step in a process that, once taken, determines subsequent events.” In other words, it is a key characteristic in the life of a leader because it encompasses the idea of moving in a direction, taking the “first step”. Without the “first step” one is left standing along with everyone else waiting for someone to move and follow. In a sense, showing initiative awakens oneself amongst others who are sleeping. Let me explain:

If we look at the life of Jonathan in the Old Testament (1 Samuel 14) we catch a glimpse of a wonderful example of initiative. He literally moves forward, showing initiative while being surrounded by men who were sleeping. Even his father, Saul – the King of Israel was taking a nap. While amongst sleepers under a pomegranate tree, Jonathan awakes and calls his armor bearer towards him and says, “come, let’s go… (1 Samuel 14:6)” Did you catch the fact that the rest of the men were sleeping under a tree? That is right they were asleep, paralyzed because they did not know what to do. They lay motionless under a pomegranate tree, following the lead of their king Saul, who was afraid. He figured that his defeat at the hands of the Philistine’s was immanent. Therefore, instead of showing initiative and taking a step forward he lay complacent and did nothing. His perceived outcome caused him to react out of fear instead of moving forward with initiative. Sound familiar? We do this often, don’t we? We do nothing instead of doing something; we lay motionless, afraid of acting – afraid of showing initiative.

Initiative is an act of faith, stepping out into the unknown. It is a contagious act, compelling others to follow prompting them to faith as well. Notice that, Jonathan’s armor bearer did not hesitate when Jonathan called him. In fact, he took it one step further and responded to Jonathan be informing him that “I am with you heart and soul (1 Samuel 14:7).” What a response! What an encouragement! What a bond that was bound by a divine love that inevitably led to a divine moment!

Now do you see why this is such a distinguishing characteristic in the life of the leader? The ability to act and respond causes movement, movement that is compelling – drawing others to follow. Jonathan did not move alone, he had a companion for his battle. His nameless armor bearer faithfully responded by following Jonathan into battle where they slay “some twenty men” in about a half an acre (1 Samuel 14:13).