THE VALUE OF LEADERSHIP

Leadership is the vehicle through which vision, mission, goals and purpose are articulated and implemented. Leadership is about positive influence and teamwork. True leadership essentially involves service.

For many of us the word leadership has the connotation of power, prestige, honour, personal advantage and gain.
True leadership seeks to be of service to people, rather than dominating people. It encourages and inspires people to maximise their potential, and respects rather than exploits others.

Leaders should always be goal-oriented, seeing the bigger picture and understanding the purpose of life in communities and nations. Leadership focuses on purpose; and therefore to lead implies that one has foresight and a sense of direction. True leaders possess the wisdom and capacity to create a conducive environment for individuals and groups to progressively maximise their potential. Leadership is key to making things happen on individual, family, community and national levels.

Warren Bennis says; “Leadership is a function of knowing yourself, having a vision that is well communicated, building trust among colleagues and taking effective action to realise your own leadership potential.” Leadership is that process by which we influence others to become better citizens.  Leaders must embrace wisdom, and live wisdom driven lifestyles in order to positively transform societies.

We never ‘arrive’ when it comes to wisdom, it’s a lifetime journey. Wisdom principles are guiding lights in the journey of leadership. Wisdom is superior intelligence beyond knowledge or mere information. We have so many great informed leaders in the world today, yet so few wise leaders. Today’s challenges need more than informed or knowledgeable leaders, but wise leaders. In fact we can trace most of today’s problems to lack of wisdom. Wisdom is an essential element of leadership.

The nations are full of educated people but unfortunately very few wise people. As a result, in the words of Dale C. Bronner, “We have children using superior technology but receiving an inferior education. We have laws that are legally right but morally wrong. We have rich homes but relationally poor families.” As leaders we must be wise and intelligent in all our dealings as we build our communities and nations. We must endeavor to discover and internalise wisdom principles for ourselves, communities and nation. For a leader, wisdom is better than power, money, skill, knowledge, or material things, because it is a source of guidance and answers to society’s ills.

Wisdom

Proverbs 4:7, 8 declares; “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom. And in all your getting get understanding. Exalt her, and she will promote you; she will bring you honor, when you embrace her.” The wisdom posture and intellectual quality of a leader is key to understanding human behavior, group behaviour, human relations and managerial skills.

Leaders must have the ability to understand times and retain important information at different seasons of community and national life. It is also imperative for leaders to possess emotional intelligence, that quality and ability to control personal feelings to articulate organisational, community and national vision without pushing personal agendas. As leaders we must also cultivate adaptability qualities - the ability to handle change or crises. Life and progress usually comes with unsettling changes and problematic times.

Effective leaders must therefore learn how to adjust to inevitable changes that usually accompany progressive organisations, communities and nations. Leaders must also be time conscious, they must possess the ability to manage time. Since vision is accomplished in time, it’s therefore important to manage time. True leaders will always use time effectively. Prioritising is the key factor in time management. Prioritising will always give birth to the spirit of excellence. As a matter of fact leaders must possess the quality of excellence. Excellence is defined as exalted merit or being superior in virtue. Excellence is doing acts that match one’s full potential; doing your best in any given circumstance or assignment.

It is actually doing more than what is normally required of you. It is going the extra mile. Actually excellence is commitment to exercising consistency. Consistency is birthed through winning habits. We are what we repeatedly do on a daily basis. Cultivating winning habits is important for leaders. As a matter of fact, winning in life is a combination of good attitude and positive habits.

Hidden in the schedule of our habits is the prediction of our future.  Our leadership success will always be found in our daily routines. It all starts with our thinking patterns, especially about ourselves and about life.

It is often said ‘habits shape our character, and our character determines our destiny’. As leaders we must be decisive about developing good habits that will ultimately generationally impact on our communities and nation, and positively transform the world. Every change begins with a decision, which is basically an act of the will, and not a reaction of the emotions or feelings. One of the best decisions a leader could ever make is to pursue wisdom principles and cultivate a positive character.

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