RIGHTEOUS LEADERS – PART 2

 RIGHTEOUS LEADERS – PART 2

Proverbs 29:2 “When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice: but when the wicked beareth rule, the people mourn”.

Now we have been made to understand that Leadership is a calling to everyone that is ready to take on the responsibility. However regardless of this, not everybody can assume the post of a leader. You see the paradox. Everyone has the potential to be leaders embedded in us, but not everyone will. Why is this so? Being a leader entails more than the potentials for Leadership There are quite a number of requirements that need to be met, certain virtues and attributes that we need to acquire. Since, we all cannot own these virtues or possess these characteristics; it’s however expedient for us to know this “not everybody can become leaders”. From our earlier Leadership articles, we have been made to understand that “Leaders are not born, they are made”. This should explain why. Being a leader is more like you have to acquire certain skills, learn certain things which will most likely aid you as you climb up the ladder; but these things are not innate (they don’t come with us from the womb). They don’t just grow because you have a genetic locus for their chromosome.  

Today, we will consider two important virtues, amongst many others that a leader must possess. These two ingredients are however necessary if we want to attain success as leaders - Capacity building and Character building. Looking at these two things, there is no way one can be successful as a leader without your mastery of them. Today, we see a lot of things in the Leadership sector; one that you may start to ask yourself, if certain things were put in place, will these events still play out the way they have today. This concept of leadership and true leadership affects all, political leaders, spiritual leaders, stake-holders in firms, even as a small council leader in your street. I have come to realize that we are not built on these things and if built, not well in terms of character and capacity. This is why we as a nation are even backward in certain things. You look at people who have assumed the position of leaders in the country so far, there have been different outcomes. Now we can tell or pin point that there are certain things that made a certain rule more preferable than some others. Majorly, without these two things, you as a leader are set for bad outcomes in leadership. You who is without character or lacks capacity (capacity for doing; for learning; for understanding; for interacting and so on). Please let’s ask ourselves, where do we think such form of leadership will end? This is why it is imperative that we develop ourselves first in these things. It is “character” to know that you are in a position of authority to serve others and not to be served 100% like we see in our own world today.

Capacity is what takes a leader to a higher position while Character is what sustains him in that position. Capacity will present you with opportunities while Character is what will earn you those opportunities. Capacity in leadership is the ability to produce a result or attain a feat in the organization while what sustains the accomplishment or feat is Character. A strong foundation of Character is what sustains you and your leadership. The development of character in an individual begins with the realization of his value as a human and understanding what he was born to accomplish. This brings us to the point that both virtues are as a matter of fact, the results of conscious efforts. You consciously build yourself in the place of Capacity and also consciously build yourself up in Character. Never have this mentality so many possess these days; “I will learn on the job”. No one is meant to learn on the job, in fact we are expected to grow on the job, not to just start planting.

According to Merriam Webster dictionary, Character is the “complex” of mental and ethical trait marking and often individualizing a person, group and nation. Looking at this definition, we are made to understand that Character on its own is a complex of many other things. We do not just arrive there, it’s a sum total of all responsible traits in us. We see our minds and ethics are the building-blocks for Character in us, whether positive or negative. Therefore, as we try to consciously groom character, we make sure we understand that the mind and ethics is the place for this grooming.  Is our mindset positive or negative? What can we also say about our Ethics? Are we building on them or neglecting them? As leaders we must focus on how we can develop and follow principles that will distinguish our lives. We also must understand that there will be obstacles, challenges that will come our way; but how well we have discovered and built ourselves in the place of Capacity and Character is what will help us – the strength of your character and capacity to face and also overcome. I have always said, one of the greatest character a leader should cultivate is INTEGRITY. Because when he fails here, he has failed in all. Nobody trusts you as a leader when you fail the test of Integrity.

TO BE CONTINUED…

The Men That Lead

Building Manhood