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CityLight.org
april 2012
A
re leaders born or do they learn to
be leaders? Many are born with the
personality to be leaders. There is
some truth to that, but it is also true that
anyone can learn to be a leader. Born lead-
ers come with a desire to associate with
people and while they are not trying to
lead, they naturally do it. Our middle son,
Greg, is like that. Greg's natural leadership
ability showed up at about five or six years
What A Difference A Leader Makes
Gladys Grimaud
Continued on page 22
"To choose God meant to be blessed. Not to
choose God meant to be cursed. "
carried over into adulthood. He learned
from watching Greg, but he also learned
from reading more than fifty books a year,
many of them on leadership. Today, David
is the President of Grimaud Enterprises,
Inc. and responsible for providing training
for a hundred Precision Tune Auto Care
Centers throughout the United States.
He leads on purpose, and yes, shares his
Christian faith along the way.
Then, there is Keith, the youngest son.
Keith's creative talents enhance both the
place where he works, Chapin Furniture,
and the church he attends, Columbia
First Church of the Nazarene. His two
older brothers contributed to his lead-
ership style no doubt, but Keith's main
leadership style flows out of his commit-
ment to God and family. Keith's example
of leading in prayer and serving others
can be seen at home, church, work, and
in his community. This statement can also
be said of David and Greg. As a mother, I
am very proud and pleased with the out-
come of our three sons.
So, how did that happen? And what dif-
ference does it make?
of age when his friends began to appear at
our front door en masse. Greg's requests
for cookies usually meant that he was not
just asking for himself but also asking for
a string of little boys waiting patiently at
the front door for him to return with both
hands crammed with cookies. He was not
trying to be manipulative; he just loved his
friends and wanted to share a good thing
with them, his mom's home-baked cook-
ies. Later, as a teenager, Greg packed the
pews at our church with his friends from
school, again, just wanting to share a good
thing with them, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Our oldest son, David, is also a leader.
He has a totally different personality than
Greg. More of an introvert and thinker
as a child, David's thirst for knowledge