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Leadership roles in the 21st century: helping others see and take action part 2 by Edison Macusi
The five essential traits of spiritual leadership
- Vision-the eyes of the leader beholds the
panorama of how far, how wide and how long he can go in the
revealed purposes of God. Vision takes precedence in the life of
leader because he must see so that he can lead others. The lack of
vision sounds the death knell to any existing enterprise or
organization. It is by having a vision that we can understand and
see how many more steps we need to get nearer to what God called us
to do. Just as Jesus said that the eye is the lamp of the body,
without vision we will only see darkness or we will remain
confused, bewildered, and end up walking in the assembly of the
dead. Life without vision is also a life that lacks purpose and is
as good as dead. It is calling forth one that does not exist yet to
become one.
- Courage-courage is the indomitable will of the
leader to persist even when things have gone awry. It is
completing the task that one has started regardless of
circumstances. The recent story of the five fishermen that drifted
ashore to Micronesia from their starting point in the Davao Gulf
tells us how much endurance and steadfastness these men have. They
endured even when the only thing they could see was a vast blue sea
and their skins blistered under the heat of the sun. Their courage
to live even when things seem hopeless bear fruit when a Japanese
boat spotted them drifting near the islands of Micronesia. It was
terrible, but in the same way, true leaders never give up. When
Winston Churchill blurted out to his people that they must stop
Hitler now, he only received castigation by the press and the
government. However upon Hitler’s attack of Poland, the sinister
heart of the dictator only came into full view before the Britons and
the French, too late for them to put a stand against the war
machine that Der Fuhrer has accumulated and produced in
the past four years. Such discernment and insight of Churchill made
him both loved and unpopular at the same time. Nevertheless, true
leaders are not easily swayed by the opinion of others, they stand for
their own even if this means foolhardy.
- Patience-patience is discipline under
pressure. Almost everyone nowadays have their own profiles and
visions. Yet few seem to achieve what they have elegantly written
in prose at their doors. Though many profess to have faith, or to
have visions, few possess the discipline to grow and cultivate their
vision little by little until like the seawater that covered a pool,
it has spread all over. Certainly, it takes no discipline to simply
scatter around the seed of a squash and then watch it grow. In
contrast, a Mahogany or Narra tree takes time to grow and deepen
its roots, the crown is just a reflection of the branching roots
deep underground. Big trees are well rooted, anchored deep and
stable, they show us the leader who possess the discipline in this
life. Disciples are supposed to be the most disciplined people in
the world because one cannot really follow Christ who does not
learn to discipline himself. Those who lack patience cannot
inherit the promises of God (see Hebrews 6:12).
- Integrity-integrity means living right. It is
honoring God not just during Sundays but even when no one is
looking around. Those with integrity walk with blameless hearts.
Like Daniel, the only thing that critics should find accusation in
us is our relationship with God, that we are praying too much time with
Him. Even the apostles were accused because they were with Jesus.
To walk therefore in integrity is to walk in true authority. No one
can ask anybody with true authority without having first learned
to be obedient to his own words. Others obey us, only when we have
been faithful in obeying others too. Without complete obedience,
one cannot command others to obey. The life that we live is the
greatest message that we can have in this world. When a man of God sins,
part of his integrity is marred, it is hard to recover a good name
that is destroyed by one careless act.
- Initiative-living with initiative does not
mean coercing others. No, it means planning what needs to be done
and doing it creatively so that you have done it the smart way.
Leaders do not wait for others to do what they can do as long as
they understand what needs to be done and they knew how to employ the
necessary tool to do it. One should never refuse to do what they can
actually do. Our refusal and underestimation of talents could cause
us to bury and forget the deposit of good seed which the Lord has
given us. Everything starts with a seed, so none should despise the
day of small beginnings. A prosperous business has only prospered
because someone took the initiative to establish it. If we do not
take risk and make mistakes on the way, we have not really entered
the real world of discipleship. Everyone stumbles in some ways but
the wise always learns to get up because they knew this is never
final and there is hope to begin anew. Click here to continue reading
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