At a certain point in my career I had the opportunity to consider moving from a position that I really enjoyed at an academic medical center to the leadership team of a small but very busy community hospital. While the chance to move was an exciting opportunity, I was very attached to the people and the mission of the medical center. It was a tough decision that I have to admit I agonized over a bit. Many of my friends provided good counsel. In the end, it was a principle from the New Testament of the Bible that ultimately guided the decision; a move that proved to be one of the greatest experiences of my life.
In the first century, the world was a pretty dark place. In today’s world with electric lights everywhere, I don’t think that we don’t appreciate how dark it really was (a point made very well in William Manchester’s book, “A World Lit Only By Fire.”) After sunset in the Middle East, the only light in a home came from small lamps, usually burning olive oil. Jesus used this metaphor to describe the influence he expected his followers to have in the world. “You don’t put a lamp under a basket” he argued. “You put it on a lampstand so that it will provide light for all in the room.”
Leadership is like a lampstand. If we believe that the call to lead is in fact a vocation and not merely an occupational sidebar or career necessity, then the influence we have as leaders can be thought of as light. And as we move to higher positions of authority and responsibility, we are moving to progressively higher lampstands. A higher lampstand provides the chance for us to have greater influence. But it also comes with risks. At least four come immediately to mind:
It’s hard to keep lit the lamp lit. It’s tough to get oil to the lamp way up there. If you think of the kinds of things that keep us encouraged and excited about the work we do, the higher the lampstand, the harder it is to keep that level of excitement. From a higher position it is much easier to see everything that is wrong with a situation. And so it can be easier to become discouraged. It is also lonelier. You have fewer peers, and fewer people with whom you can “let your hair down.”
It’s easier to blow the lamp out. It can really be drafty up there. The great risk of senior leadership is the tendency to become cynical. We enter our fields with the fire of idealism and dreams that set us apart from others in the first place. But as we rise through our professions we have increasing exposure to people and situations that can blow out that flame; dull that idealism and change the way we view our reasons for starting out in the first place.
Balance is a big deal. A little lack of balance can really rock the lamp. It is easy to imagine that a lamp a foot or two off the ground could tolerate a wobbly stand. If that stand is six or eight feet tall, a little imbalance becomes a big wobble and puts the lamp at risk. With higher, more senior positions it is much tougher to maintain the personal balance that provides time for rest, exercise, proper nutrition, sleep, relaxation, deep thought, and spiritual growth. Disciplined “rituals” and habits (regular bedtime and awakening, regular meals, a weekly day of rest) provide the framework for balance in busy lives.
It’s a long way down. A lamp that falls from any height will probably shatter. And it will make a mess. Here the metaphor becomes pretty vivid. Picture a clay or porcelain lamp lit and filled with oil falling from six or eight feet onto tile or marble floor. The lamp shatters, the oil spills and perhaps catches fire and sets other objects on fire. So the drop of dishonor for senior leaders can shatter both themselves and their organizations; particularly those who look up to them. It’s too easy to be glib, but these falls often involve “self” (careerism, greed), “sauce” (alcohol or drug-abuse), or “sex” (adultery, fraternization) and represent the kind of lapses in judgment that can call a leader’s entire effectiveness into question. The fall can leave the organization charred and badly burned.
For many leaders, the chance to move “to a higher lampstand” can be an opportunity for greater influence for the good of the employees, for the organization’s mission and for personal growth. But we need to take the steps with our eyes open to the risks and not just the opportunities.
It is a long way to the ground.
Chuck Callahan Henry V 4.3 – Lead from the Front https://henryv43.wordpress.com/
Henry V 4.3 
Sir,
In Plato’s republic the dialectic of a “just man” leads the discussants to agree that the leaders (to include “guardians” who are todays military leaders) must be of all things “just”. They will never argue for themselves to be placed in positions of authority or leadership because to do so would counter their just principals (argued by the allegory of the invisible ring and absolute power corrupting absolutely). They would of course accept the positions if asked to do so by their peers or leaders and would execute those offices to the best of their abilities. If we accept the positions for the right reasons, continually monitor ourselves and remain humble, and remember the trap of presumed “invisibility” (former President Clinton remarking why he did what he did; “because I could”) then I believe we will succeed in these avocations.