FIFTY MILLION STRONG 



responsive to the needs of the great body of American pupils 

 and students, half rural and half urban. So it is possible now 

 for a country lad to go to urban institutions of learning and 

 receive a training that will fit him to become a leader of 

 leaders and a trainer of leaders in Rural America. Notwith- 

 standing the fact that half the ministers of this country are 

 rural ministers, there was, until recent years, not a single 

 theological school that devoted any special attention to the 

 training of young men for rural pastoral work. But the 

 start has been made in training young ministers for the rural 

 field, and the likelihood is that in good time America will have 

 a magnificent rural ministry, dedicated to the interests of 

 Rural America, having its own conventions to discuss the 

 problems of rural life, developing a rural esprit de corps, 

 aspiring only to life service in the country, containing strong, 

 virile men, many of whom because of their familiarity with 

 the movements and activities that are contributing to a 

 greater rural civilization are as worthy of the degree Doctor 

 of Country Life as any urban minister is worthy of his 

 Doctor of Divinity. What has been said of rural pastors can 

 be in a measure also said of every other class of rural 

 workers. The most hopeful sign in America today is that 

 the trend relative to Rural America is in the right direction. 

 A study of successful leadership reveals its qualities, or 

 characteristics, and to the extent to which one possesses 

 these, to that extent is one qualified for successful leader- 

 ship. 1 A first requisite of successful leadership is a sense of 

 humor, and it is on this that the crises of life make the 

 heaviest demands. Many and many a time when all appeared 

 lost or when it seemed useless to put forth any more effort, 

 a word, a gesture or an act has saved a situation and turned 

 defeat into victory. Numerous instances might be given in 

 illustration. Accounts of polar expeditions, hazardous ex- 

 plorations, military campaigns and the like, abound in cases 

 to the point. 



1 The writer names twelve qualities or characteristics of successful 

 leadership. The fundamentals of leadership, according to Prof. G. Wal- 

 ter Fiske, are: Knowledge, Power, Skill, Character, Vision. 



IIO 



