When people hear the word ‘leader’, their minds go to that special someone who occupies an office where he superintends over others. And when people think about ‘leadership, they can only think about the lofty position from which the leader functions. A ‘Leader’ is sometimes placed on a pedestal that makes those who see themselves as his subordinates venerate him. In many cases, a myth of infallibility is built around him, ignoring the fact that even idols can have clay feet. Once we convince ourselves that since we don’t occupy a ‘leadership’ position, we are not leaders, that becomes our justification for pointing fingers and blaming “leaders” for anything and everything that could be wrong in society. Consequently, even the man who steals rail lines, the police man or judge whose appetite for graft is almost insatiable, the doctor who directs patients from his regular job in the public hospital to his own private clinic which is just a few minutes’ drive away from his employer’s, the undergraduate who cheats to pass his examinations, and the lecturer involved in sex-for-marks with his female students, all continue to blame government for the horrible state of health care, the falling standards in education, and the intolerable level of leadership corruption.
A title, however, does not make a leader. Leadership is first and foremost a disposition before it is a position. The position is merely an enabler or an amplifier of the disposition. Power only manifests character, it doesn’t change it. Except by some radical, divine intervention, a rogue outside of power cannot become a saint in power. He can only become a more accomplished rogue. In a democracy, leadership largely reflects followership because the leaders emerge from among, and are elected by the people. Leadership lies in all of us.
If a position does not make a leader, who then is a leader? Leaders are influencers and enablers of people. Even if we agree that it is not a walk in the park, it is not rocket science either. Anyone, including you reading this, can be a leader if you develop the right disposition where you are now!
Leaders are visionaries. Have you ever been involved in a discussion with others and while everyone was chatting away, you began to get some ideas and envision certain possibilities emerging from what everyone else was probably complaining about? Every great society is built by visionaries. Where others see adversity, leaders see opportunities. Where others see problems, leaders see prospects. Only a visionary stands in what others call a forest and sees plantations or real estate. It takes those who can see the invisible to attempt or do the impossible. A vision is simply a picture of potential possibilities waiting to be made tangible. Great realities begin in the imagination.
Can you solve a problem for people? Success is a given when you can solve a significant problem for a significant number of people in a significant way that makes them willing to reward you significantly! Anyone can identify a problem. You don’t need any significant intelligence to complain about or analyze a problem. If you are a good student of your environment and the problems you see in the environment inspire in you a desire to solve at least one of them, you are potentially a leader. The problems that intimidate others inspire the leader. While people around him think and talk “problems”, the leader thinks and talks “solutions”. The leader’s potential reward is in the people he can solve problems for. If you want to see your dormant innate leadership emerge, get out of the grumbling gang and join the solutions squad.
Service is the conduit for connecting people to the solutions you may have to their problems. Anybody who can serve is a potential leader. Service is the rent that we pay to validate our occupancy of space on planet earth. It is our platform of expressing the dimension of deity in our humanity. Through quality service, we can connect with the hearts and emotions of people before we connect with their respect or economic compensation for the value we offer. In a world that sees leadership as platform of exercising authority and dominion over others, the servant-leader stands out because he is relatable. People are sustainably inspired by a leader who walks where they walk and who, like the scriptures say about Jesus, understands the feeling of their weaknesses. You cannot truly serve people in whose shoes you have not walked or cannot walk. True service is about giving preference to others over ourselves. That is why ‘self’ and ‘serve’ (self-serving) don’t make a great combination.
Sophistry is not synonymous with quality leadership. Many great leaders don’t have the gift of gab. Their simplicity of expression is sometimes baffling. As a sage once said, if you cannot explain something in a way that a five-year old can understand it, you don’t understand it either. Communication is a core strength of great leadership. It is not about jargons and long-winding language. It is about the ability to convey a message so simply, yet so profoundly that anyone who hears it can relate to it.
Are there people around you who look up to you as a model of conduct? If the answer is yes, then you are a leader. Leaders set standards to which they hold themselves and which they model in their conduct. These standards are their value guides or what are generally known as core values that determine how they conduct themselves in their relationship with others. Do you hate injustice? Do you stand for honesty and integrity at all times? Can you be trusted? Do you keep your word even if it hurts you? Can those who know you vouch for your integrity? This has nothing to do with perfection. The best of men are still men at their best. No man is infallible. Even a Goliath can have a chink in his armour. However, are you intentional about doing the right things? Is your life transparent? When you make mistakes, are you sincere in readily admitting them? If yes, welcome to the circle of potentially great leaders.
If you are put in charge of resources for a collective, is your conduct above board? If you cannot be trusted with club funds, what should we expect when you get to a position that gives you access to public funds? Stewardship is a quality of great leaders. This entails accountability as well as resourcefulness. Faithful stewardship is a hallmark of responsibility that understands that one’s entire life is a task, a trust, and a test. When we consistently fail the moral test in the execution of our assignments, it puts a strain on our conscience. A strained conscience is perhaps the heaviest burden anyone can bear. The damaging effect on our trust quotient is crippling.
Anyone who can successfully build structure and order into his life will also effortlessly do so for a collective. Order is the precursor of growth. Great leaders are known more for their routines than their achievements. If you can plan and set priorities in your time, relationships, resources, and activities, stand up to be counted.
You too can lead.
Remember, the sky is not your limit, God is!
