Take the Lead

Anyone who claims to be a leader but has no one following him is only taking a stroll. This is a paraphrased saying of a guru in leadership matters in our time, John C. Maxwell.What then is leadership? It is the uncanny ability to influence and impact a people. It is the capacity that one has developed over time to chart the course for a people and steer the boat towards same direction.

However, as much as leadership has to do with people, it does not start with people. It sure has to do with people but it starts with a person. It has to do with many but starts with a man.

This is the root cause of many failures in leadership positions today. Ranging from the political arena, to the business environment, to the leadership of a nation, even down to the family environment.

The missing point is this. Any man who will have to lead many successfully must have first been able to lead himself successfully.

A man was alone in his house with his lad. He needed to spend time in his study. However this lad of his will not allow him because of his incessant running around and disturbance. The man thought of what to do to keep the little boy busy and he arrived at a conclusion. He found a sheet of paper on which the map of the world was drawn, tore it into many pieces and asked the boy to arrange the pieces to form the map. This he thought will keep the boy busy at least for some while. To his amazement the lad did not spend half the time the dad thought he would have spent to finish the work and submit. When the dad found out how he was able to do it fast, he discovered that there was a picture of a man at the other side of the paper on which the map of the world was, which was what the lad concentrated his attention on.

What is the message here? If you can arrange and lead your [personal] world, then you can arrange and lead your [public] world. Private leadership precedes public leadership. Individual leadership comes before organizational/communal/societal leadership. What then is self leadership? It is that ability to catch a vision for ones life and self control oneself all the way to achieve that vision. The qualities you gather when leading yourself are the things that help when leading others. The primary cause for failures in leadership is that people have not succeeded in leading themselves.

LEAD YOURSELF WELL FOR YOUR WORLD IS WAITING FOR YOU TO LEAD HER.

See you at the top.

Kayode Adeolu

Associate Pastor, Headstone Church

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