Free Passing It On: Growing Your Future Leaders by Myles Munroe Page B

Immediately
     after that, He tells them.
Matthew 17:22–23 When they came together in Galilee, he said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They
     will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised to life.” And the disciples were filled with grief.
Protecting the Turf
    The last thing that many leaders—whether religious, corporate, educational, or political—want today is a replacement. They
     protect their turf. The leaders are more concerned about protecting their position than about replicating and replacing themselves
     through mentoring.
    The measure of true leadership, however, is the ability to leave . True leadership makes itself unnecessary through mentoring. Leaders must begin to accept that they are not as “irreplaceable”
     as they think. Somehow we think that if we do not do something, no one will do it, or that if we cannot do it, no one can.
     This too is a very dangerous fallacy. We must lead with the consciousness that we have to become unnecessary to the organization.
     The more we think that way, the easier it is to mentor others, develop our successors, and invest in our replacements.
    When our enterprise no longer needs us, this is the most telling evidence of success, not failure. When it is not necessary
     for me to be in a board meeting to know that it will run smoothly and productively, that is a good sign. When I am absent
     from a marketing meeting and the team produces greatpromotional campaigns that I could not conceive, this reveals a good sign that my leadership has been effective. I am not
     in the pulpit preaching every Sunday morning. Yet the church continues to fill up with people, and the congregation is inspired
     and exalted. That is evidence that the positive results and impact of mentoring those in the environment of the ministry are
     experiencing a measure of success.
    True leadership makes itself increasingly unnecessary . Gradually the leader can leave because he did such a great job. The greatest example of this is Jesus Christ. He sat with
     the disciples in the upper room, and He talked about leaving. After He died and rose from the grave, He lingered with them
     for a while and then finally left. To a degree, they were still dependent on Him. We can tell because they stayed, looking
     up and staring after He ascended into heaven.
Acts 1:6–11 So when they met together, they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to
     them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when
     the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of
     the earth.” After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking
     intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they
     said, “ why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
    I believe the angels that came gave us one of the greatest leadership lessons. The angels essentially said to them, “Why do
     you stand here gazing?” Many people do that when a leader leaves. They gaze at the chair the CEO sat in. They tiptoe past
     the office the last president used. They encase the pastor’s robe in glass. They keep the family homestead just as Mama left
     it. They keep their deceased husband’s ashes in plain sight on the living room mantle even if they remarry. They remain immobilized
     because of their dependency.
    The angels motivated the disciples to get off the mountain, go back to Jerusalem, find the other disciples, and get back to
     work. “The same Jesus you see leaving will come again, but in the meantime, you go and be empowered to do your own