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Not too long ago, I decided to take a second look at leadership. What I found was contrary to what I learned in conventional leadership.
THE SCOPE
While I considered leadership in general, my focus was on leadership in light of people who want the best in their desire to fulfill their God-ordained purposes.The more I studied the subject, the more I had 'sticky questions' about two fundamental concepts that I learned in conventional leadership. These concepts are:
1. "Leadership is influence"
2. "Everything rises and falls on the leadership"
Zooming in on these two concepts, I observed a gap; a widening chasm between what is true and what is conventional. I saw a trench between where we are heading and where we really desire to be.
THE GAP
BRIDGING THE GAP
THE SCOPE
While I considered leadership in general, my focus was on leadership in light of people who want the best in their desire to fulfill their God-ordained purposes.The more I studied the subject, the more I had 'sticky questions' about two fundamental concepts that I learned in conventional leadership. These concepts are:
1. "Leadership is influence"
2. "Everything rises and falls on the leadership"
Zooming in on these two concepts, I observed a gap; a widening chasm between what is true and what is conventional. I saw a trench between where we are heading and where we really desire to be.
THE GAP
- First, if influence is the capacity to have an effect on the behaviour of someone else, then 'anyone' who has achieved a measure of 'success' by 'any means' can influence other people. Likewise, any of us who can adopt a few psychological techniques and management skills can influence (or effect the behaviour of) others to do what we want. If this is true, then leadership is nothing more than skillful manipulation of people's emotions through emotional intelligence. If this is not the case, then there must be something more authentic about great leaders than their ability to influence others.
- Second, if everything rises and falls on leadership, then the person in the first position must be the Ultimate One and must have the power to set the pace and chat the course for everything and everyone else to follow. In reality, however, we know that no man has the power to set the pace and chat the course for everything and everyone else to follow. Only God can do that. If everything rises and falls on leadership of a man, then so many things are bound to rise and fall out of place with that leadership. Therefore, everything does not rise and fall on leadership (as understood in conventional leadership), but on divine guidance. Meaning, if the first position in any organization is not being occupied by God who is the Ultimate One and on whom "everything rises and falls", then there is no true leadership in that organization.
Leadership is not influence; leadership is impact. A good number of us may have been influenced by 'influential people' to do things we were neither aware of their founding principles nor were we necessarily interested in. but none of us has ever needed to be influenced or coaxed into doing what truly impacts us. No one needs influence to engage with a purpose he feel connected with. We may follow a "leader" who influences us (usually for the benefit of the 'influencer') but only on a short term. People want to be imparted and once they find a person who impacts them, they willingly follow on a long term (usually for their own benefits). Besides, I have learned that no one really wants to be 'under the influence' of another. On the flip side, nearly all of us enjoy and desire positive impact. Therefore, the true leader is one who genuinely has the interests of others at heart and is ready to pursue those interest even if doing so is at the expense of his own personal interests. This is the key to impact
Everything does not rise and fall of the (human) leader whom we can see but the Ultimate One (God) whom we cannot see. Therefore, the effective leader (worthy of our following) is one who is following God with dedication. If the leader we follow is following no one, it is guaranteed that we will end up at nowhere. If the leader is not following God who is the Ultimate One, then we will be at the mercy of many things, since everything rises and falls on the leadership of the Ultimate One.
The world is in desperate need of leaders who follow the Ultimate One on whom everything rises and falls. If these leaders do not yet exist, we must commit to raising them or we do not have a future. This is why we do not need more leadership schools, we need more schools of the Holy Spirit.
In our search for true leaders - at home, work, school, business and life, we do not need to look for "influential people"; let's look for "impactful people". We do not need men and women full of skills; we need men and women full of the Spirit. We do not need self-guided individuals; we need Spirit-led leaders. The measure of a leader is not in the number of people who follow him but in the strength of the one he follows.
Peter Okaka
Pastor, FreshWater House
Peter Okaka
Pastor, FreshWater House
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