“To discover leaders society must now turn to the conquests of peace: industry, science, and social achievement.” 70:2.21 (786.12)
We often recognize leadership by looking for the people with the loudest voices, the highest positions, or the greatest ability to command attention. But there is another kind of leadership—one revealed not through conflict or domination, but through what a person creates for the benefit of others. The conquests of peace are different from the victories of the past. They require people who can solve problems, discover new possibilities, create useful things, improve human conditions, and bring people together around something greater than themselves.
This gives us a practical way to think about leadership in our everyday lives. We don't have to hold a title to lead. The person who finds a better way to serve a customer is leading. The scientist who pursues a discovery that can improve human life is leading. The entrepreneur who creates meaningful opportunities is leading. The teacher who helps a student see possibilities they couldn't see before is leading. Leadership begins wherever someone takes responsibility for making something better.
There is also a spiritual lesson here. If spiritual growth means becoming increasingly conscious of our relationship with the Father and our responsibility toward one another, then leadership should naturally become less about “How many people follow me?” and more about “How many lives are better because I was here?” Peace does not mean inactivity. Quite the opposite. The conquests of peace demand courage, imagination, discipline, cooperation, and service. They challenge us to direct our ambition toward creation rather than destruction.
Perhaps this is one of the great tests of maturity: what do we do with our ability to influence the world? We can use intelligence to manipulate or to solve. We can use wealth to accumulate or to empower. We can use authority to control or to serve. We can use influence to divide or to inspire. The spiritually mature person begins to understand that the greatest victories are not necessarily the ones that make us more powerful—they are the ones that make the world around us more capable of flourishing.
And that brings leadership right back to ordinary life. You don't need a position, a company, or a following to begin. You can lead by improving the meeting you're in, the family you're part of, the community you serve, or the work you're responsible for. Everyday leadership is simply the decision to leave something better than you found it.
What could you improve, create, discover, or contribute today that would make someone else's life a little better?