Find the Pearl!

A smelly old pouchcan can be filled with pearls.
So, too, Christians, in the exterior person,
Ought to be humble and of lowly esteem,
But inside, in the secret self,
They possess the “pearl of great price.”

Makarios the Great

Clear and present and enough would be the reiterated lesson that a leader – a boss – should be humble and filled with great depth of character, prepartion and ability. Clear and present and enough would be the reiterated lesson that leadership is not about what we get but what the organziation, the followers and the world gets.

New to the game is the lesson that leaders are to develop “smelly old pouches” opening them up so that the “Pearl of Great Price” can be seen. It is easy to lead the beautiful, the rich, the cool and the educated. Who is it who leads what the world sees as the smelly old pouches – the ugly, the poor, the socially challenged and the uneducated? Who is it who sees her leadership as responsible not for dismissing the challenged but giving the challenged to opportunity to be revealed for their true value?

It is easy to replace someone but hard to polish them. It is easy to reclothe someone but hard to open the pouch. Leaders take whoever and try to move them from where they are to the next place. We need to look beyond the exterior and see the pearl – we, as leaders, need to show others how this is done.