Chaplain Crouterfield is the Course Officer of the Navy chaplain school here at Ft. Jackson. He is also a mentor. He takes some time before he begins to teach to have a 'mentoring moment' with us. Today's moment was the following: leadership is a personal expense. It is a simple statement but with serious implications.
The significance of the statement is in understanding that there are positive and negative effects of leading on the leader. More specifically, being a leader requires personal sacrifice. It will exact an expense on every part of you - whether it be financial, emotional, spiritual, your time or your family.
To be a Navy chaplain means to understand the impact that being a leader will have on our lives. One of my classmates used the following image: The Navy pays for a certain amount for us to be leaders. The rest is going to be out-of-pocket expenses. Better still was the forethought that if you know what to expect and the impact leadership will have on you, that you will be more prepared for when it does.
As Chaplain Croutefield concluded, "Love them enough to pay the price."
"leadership is a personal expense" and "The Navy pays for a certain amount for us to be leaders. The rest is going to be out-of-pocket expenses"
ReplyDeleteSo so powerful, and applicable to mentoring/leadership roles outside the military as well.
I'm incredibly moved to be (re)experiencing this journey with you.