I spent Friday afternoon and Saturday morning (April 12-13) attending a leadership development seminar with Dr. Harry Reeder, senior pastor of Briarwood PCA in Birmingham, AL. The seminar took place at the White Oak Conference Center located just north of Winnsboro, S.C. Dr. Reeder used examples from the lives of Civil War Generals Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson and Joshua Chamberlain to illustrate leadership and character. The one thing that keeps going through my mind is that leadership and character are connected. You can have all the key leadership points mastered, but it takes personal character to make it work. You cannot separate your personal life from your professional life; if you are a mess at home, you will be a mess at work. “In the time of adversity, you will not suddenly become someone you are not” as Dr. Reeder says. Lee, Jackson and Chamberlain were great men before the war; the war happend to be where the rest of world got to know them. Dr. Reeder lists five character traits of successful leaders: dependability, integrity, moral purity, civility and humility. He gave several illustrations of these traits in the lives of Lee, Jackson and Chamberlain. He listed three maxims leaders must live by: 1. Always know your mission and be unalterably committed to achieving it. 2. Always take care of your people. 3. Intentionally multiply new leaders. Dr. Reeder is an excellant speaker and a joy to be around. I highly recommend this CD series titled “Christian Manhood Illustrated” – well worth the $19.
"Everyone should farm something."