Our goal is not to lead from the front as seen and celebrated figures, but to lead from beneath as compost. We die to our own reputations, and we sabotage social norms that esteem and idealize punctiliousness, prestige, and propriety. Our leadership agenda is to provide the subterranean/unseen/uncelebrated nutrients for the “non-ordained” body to flourish and thrive as fruit-bearing trees. We lead not with the brandished badge of authority, but with the quiet license of secret and shrewd service (like SHERPAS) — moving away from a culture of policies and programs; and toward a culture of freedom, mobilization, and enigmatic Gospel[1]-aligned initiative.

And as my buddy BeeHawkes reminded me yesterday – – – > “Officer training isn’t a leadership development course. Rather, officer training is a process of identification. The goal is not to manufacture leaders, but to identify the ones whom God has already activated (see the story of David, youngest son of Jesse, citizen of boondock village Bethlehem, friend of enigmatic prophet Samuel).”

[1] Matthew 11:25 – At that time Jesus declared, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children.”