A VIEW ON LEADERSHIP

Leadership and the dearth of quality leaders in modern times is an area of great concern. The world needs quality leaders, the church is in need of great leaders. Leaders like Moses, David, and Abraham Lincoln. We often find ourselves settling for “the lesser of two evil” when seeking out leaders nowadays.

The truth is that, we have all assumed (or will one day assume) a leadership role in one capacity or the other at a certain point in time, some to lesser degree. Leadership is not the sole reserve of those placed in charge of a team or group. There are subtle leadership roles within a team or group just as there are distinct and more obvious ones. Having the capacity to spur others on a given path in order to fulfill the given mandate is leadership. A leader doesn’t imply an authoritarian or dictator!  A leader inspires and motivates. A leader doesn’t have to be always right. Moses in the bible grew into leadership. He kept evolving in leading the Israelite. For instance, Moses wasn’t a delegator initially, but he later learnt that acting in so many roles wasn’t effective leadership.

As a leader within your team or group, you need to be able to convince them of the suitability of your ideas, over theirs by presenting superior arguments without, exuding an air of superiority over them.

In the case where their arguments make better sense than yours, you buy into theirs after critical analysis and proper assessment as a collective unit.

As I said in a prior article:

“Life is seen in different ways by different people. The Perspective in which we see things defines our understanding of such; being able to rationalize things from others perspective creates mutual respect. You don’t necessarily need to accept an individual’s outlook. Merely seeing things from their standpoint is sufficient.”

In reference to the quote above, I am saying a modern leader should go a step ahead by logically and systematically going over the views  of others to the extent of wholly adopting or tinkering, adapting and incorporating  them with the skeletal  framework of the initial plan to actualize or execute the teams’ given mandate.

Sustained loyalty as against ephemeral loyalty (more-or-less sycophancy) can only be fostered through trust, which is a by-product of a bond that can only be created when all persons within the team view the mandate or set objectives/goals of the team as their personal duties (which they are obliged to fulfill), as against seeing it as the objectives of the leader or team lead. In essence everyone within the team is a leader. Different strengths and personalities only suggest that different (leadership) roles exist within the team.

A sure way to make anyone buy into another’s idea as his/hers, is to grant him/her the sense that he/she has played a role in the birth and formation of the strategy/idea.

As believers, we are called to be leaders. Leaders of Souls to Christ and ultimately heaven! I consider a believer to automatically be a leader. We are the light of the world, a city set upon the hill (Matthew Chapter 5 Verse 14). Just as a lighthouse serves as navigational aid to ships, so also are we called to do for the world.

There are certain skills we need to adopt, just are as there are certain tendencies we need to do away with as leaders/believers.

A believer’s ability to empathise and come to a good understanding of the peculiarities that are akin to an individual or group of individuals is an essential skill/gift required for soul-winning.

Our tendency to out rightly condemn others is a NEGATIVE habit that ought to be expunged from our consciousness as believers.

Christ, as our ultimate leadership model, didn’t come to condemn us, but to give us the way to total liberation and freedom from sin (John Chapter 3 Verse 17).

Our duties as believers should be to condemn sin and not men; for God loves even the sinner but he detests sin.

A key moment in Apostle Paul’s ministry will help us come to a better understanding of this concept (condemn the sin and not the sinner). Paul in Athens (Acts Chapter 17, especially from Verse 22 down) didn’t condemn the Athenians (the Areopagus) but rather their belief system, and he further went on to appeal to them even making use of their false belief to build His message.

Be the leader the world so greatly needs!

Image from: http://connectedprincipals.com/archives/8928