The back of the room

The Rev Dr Martin Johnstone explains why good leadership is delighting in the gifts of others.

THE best leaders I have encountered are much more interested in seeing others around them flourish and shine, than in their own significance.

They delight in seeing someone in their team doing a spectacular job. All the more so if it is better than they could have managed themselves.

Leadership focused on nurturing, nourishing, and delighting in others comes with maturity. This is not necessarily maturity of age but of emotional intelligence. Something of its essence is captured in a poem (not written by me) during my years living and working in Lanarkshire.

When I was young

I had a fear of growing ordinary.

I feared my sinking

In a grey and shapeless crowd,

Of being unnoticed and passing-

The world unchanged.

And now I have become

What I most feared.

I am not rich or gifted,

Have no great talents

Or schemes to change the world.

Yet, amongst the poets and comedians,

The artists and the lovers I call my friends,

I cannot find these grey and faceless folk

Who used to threaten me.

And so I shine-

A diamond.

Carefully cut and set amidst a sea of

diamonds.

And together

We are brilliant!

My friend Paul, who I have written about before, exemplified this model of leadership. During his long life, he had an enormous impact on countless people but most of it happened with Paul at the back of the room, encouraging others to step into the limelight.

Indeed part of Paul’s ongoing legacy is that one of the principles of the UK-wide Poverty Truth Network (that I now help to co-ordinate) is that people should only embark on this sort of work if they are willing to get off their pedestal and allow others to take centre stage.

Another person who had a huge influence on me was John. John was an elder in one of the congregations in Bellshill where I was minister. Had alcohol not blighted a significant part of his life, I have no doubt that John, who had been very heavily involved in the Labour Party, would have become a major figure in UK politics.

I once asked John if he regretted the booze getting in the way of his political career. He was clear that, in his opinion at least, his life had been better spent as a regular part of AA meetings, helping others to get their lives back on track.

“ Over the years, I have become more and more convinced about the importance of prophetic leadership, uncomfortable though it often is.

During my years in Bellshill, John took me under his wing and helped me to flourish. Taking his funeral was one of the hardest things that I have ever had to do.

There are others I could point to whose ‘back of the room’ leadership has given me the space to grow and develop. I hope that they know who they are. I am very grateful.

I also hope, in some small ways, that I have tried to model the leadership that they taught me, trying to see the potential and brilliance in others, particularly those who might be failing to see it in themselves. People who, at times, the rest of society might be quick to write off. And watching, and delighting, as they shine and hoping that just a little bit of the reflected glory has touched me.

“And together we are brilliant.”