To Be a Leader by Dee Bernhardt To be a leader is to be vulnerable--to meet the disapproving stares of others with the joy and certainty of God's infinite love; To be a leader is to be imperfect--to enjoy the enriching process of a new challenge with the hope and confidence of the Master; To be a leader is to be naive--to believe the very best of all people in the love and acceptance of our Savior; To be a leader is to be trusting--to disregard dire projections of gloom for the joy and creativity of our Creator; To be a leader is to be honest--to own our sinfulness with the sincerity and authenticity of the Spirit; To be a leader is to be unique--to accept the wonderful gift of self, in the knowledge and understanding of community; To be a leader is to be free--to welcome recurring waves of change with the awe and wonder of a child; To be a leader is to be empowering--to share the exhilarating power of information in the establishment of inter-connectedness; To be a leader is to be humble--to give the inestimable gift of flexibility with the grace and forgiveness of God; To be a leader is to be whole--to know the startling reality that I am central, yet peripheral, in God's plan for the world; To be a leader is to be weak--to understand that I can rest in the hollow of God's hand only in the total yielding and complete trusting of my child's heart.