Leadership

Leadership. That one word. We think it’s so mystical yet it is so important to how everything works. Because the officer elections are THIS week, I wanted to talk about this nebulous word a little and then delve into some more practical examples of how this applies to ARC.

Definitions

I talked about this at the parent meeting, and I think I need to hash it out a little more. There are three stages that you will progress through in your education are:
1) Listener
2) Communicator
3) Leader

Too often we homeschoolers often stop at the first one. The Classical education model calls them grammar, logic, and rhetoric. At the Austin RHETORIC club, we are here to pull you all the way to the third stage. So, let’s define some terms here:
1) Listener: someone that is able to understand other’s ideas.
2) Communicator: someone who is able to make others understand their ideas.
3) Leader: someone who gets others to act on what they know.

There’s no such thing…

as someone who just “isn’t the leadership type.” Anyone who makes a difference on mankind in some way is a leader. Wait, did that not make sense? Read the definition above again. We generally think of Obama as a leader, but Michael Jackson was a leader. Einstein was a leader. All these men are able to get others to ACT. And you have the greatest message of all… the gospel. Can you get people to act on the truth inside of you?

So, LEADERSHIP IS FOR EVERYONE. Not all the time, and not in all cases, but at some level, you MUST be a leader. That is the only way you will make a difference… unless you plan on doing everything yourself. (good luck with that )

Here’s the Plan

1) I want every one of you students to prayerfully consider how you can be a leader in ARC. We formally recognize several people as leaders. They are known as the club officers. You can read all about the possible positions on the website here: http://www.austinrhetoricclub.org/ about/officers/

2) (side note) the list just got updated, so I recommend EVERYONE read it. (even if you think you know what each officer is supposed to do)

Advantages

You will be pushed to a totally new level as an officer. It will be a bunch of work, but it is well worth it. There are some awesome verses in Psalms that I stumbled across today. I think God led me to read them. Check it out:

Proverbs 14:23 All hard work brings a profit,
but mere talk leads only to poverty.

Believe me when I say ARC is not about talking. It’s about more. It’s about leadership.

Proverbs 15:22 Plans fail for lack of counsel,
but with many advisers they succeed.

I want to ask that you become one of those advisers for the Austin Rhetoric Club. I only ask that you remember one thing:

Proverbs 16:3 Commit to the LORD whatever you do,
and your plans will succeed.

Being an officer in ARC was one of the most growing experiences in high school. Please, don’t miss out. Pray about it.