LEADERS ARE READERS PART 1

 LEADERS ARE READERS PART 1

A wonderful new week from us *@TMTL* (Leadership Arm). It shall indeed be a most inspiring and productive week for us all.This week we  will be trying to look at something different; the concept of being Leaders as well as Readers. 

From the Bible in _1Timothy 4:13_, we see an instruction given out to every leader "Till I come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine". Timothy was a leader so this same words apply to us as leaders. One thing I have come to understand is that instructions are the gateway to our high places in life and in the place of seeking out these instructions, the Word becomes paramount.  As such, there is a place of us reading the Word as leaders, not just only leaders but anyone who wants to be successful and prosperous in life. Yes, not every one wants to lead, but we cannot deny the fact that we want to prosper or succeed in this life. And the only way to this has been shown us in _Joshua 1:8 "this book of the law (i.e the WORD( shall not depart from thine mouth, thou shalt meditate both day and night to do according to all that is written therein, for then thou shalt make your way prosperous_ and you shall have good success.  

From scriptures, we see to be successful or prosperous in life, it's not God that ultimately puts it in us. Yes, there will always be the God-factor, but the Bible does not say "then God will make your way prosperous or God will give you success". No, it will only happen if you pay full attention to the place of the Word. But since, we are talking about Leadership this week, it's best to relate as this pertains to us as leaders.

Like any other being who wants to make it in whatever he does, a leader must be a person given to the place of searching out and looking for UNDERSTANDING. This is the "purpose" of Reading. You do not know something, you will like to know or you have just an idea, you will like to build more on it. This among many others is the reason we read. Thus, if as a leader, you do not do these things, then you will be far from understanding. It then becomes the story of the blind leading the blind. What you have no understanding of, how do you expect to impact it into your followers. You have not seen the light and you expect others to see the light through you. How possible is that? And such situations never profit us as leaders, neither the people we lead. Hosea 4:6 tells us what happens when we are void of understanding-we are destroyed. _The path of no understanding is the path leading to destruction_.

Who is a leader? A leader is a person who leads a group of people to a common course or to achieve a common goal. A leader is simply someone that knows the way, the path and the direction to take to get to a destination.So if such things above are expected from us as leaders, lacking in them only shows there is no essence of us leading at all. A leader is expected to be someone that has already walked the path and is now taking others with him, maybe through insight or by his experience. Thus, a leader plays a very vital role; one that must not be taken with levity. 

As I will always say, "Everything rises and falls under Leadership". When a leader does not know where he is going, everywhere will surely look like his direction, and this will surely affect those people he is leading. You are responsible for them and as such you must be knowledgeable to a great extent if you want to inspire your followers. You must go in search for wisdom and understanding and this can only be gotten when you pay attention to Reading, to studying. _Proverbs 5:1-2 "My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding. That thou mayest regard discretion, and that the lips may keep knowledge"._ For us to get knowledge, we have to first pay attention.

Who then is a Reader?

A reader is someone that reads or invests in knowledge. We see "knowledge" once again find its way into the equation. You just cannot run away from it. There is a phrase that goes thus "Knowledge is Power". And I will like to add, if Knowledge then is Power and as Leaders, it is expedient we must wield and control Power to some extent. Therefore, it becomes necessary that we must first find Knowledge. 

A reader is also someone that believes that there is always a better way to doing things and he outrightly goes in search for that way (Jeremiah 6:16). When he finds it, he then brings his followers that same way. I have come to understand that it is investment in Knowledge that empowers a leader for unusual Accomplishments. For a leader to bring his team or group to an era of sustainable empowerment, he himself must have an undying quest for more and more insight in his field of leading. Nothing empowers like Knowledge. Take knowledge from any man, he is empty. We see King Solomon; though he was wise -relationship wise, he wasn't and this ended him. You see why it is very important for us to hold on to knowledge as leaders and not just knowledge, but Knowledge all-round. We might be hitting the nail if we say that we have an army of powerless leaders in Africa because we don't have Readers, but I will like to disprove this. Even though, we don't have many people focusing on it, we still cannot ignore the fact that there are Readers amongst us. The issue now is; they are not the ones in position of Authority - our dilemma. 

The phrase "Leaders are Readers is absolutely correct. A leader cannot be successful without first being an ardent reader, a successful reader also. A man once said "if I can see farther, it is because I am sitting on the shoulders of those who have gone ahead of me. Thus, he won't be lying if he says he can see the end of his journey because he has read the story and found the secrets of great people who have gone ahead of him. 

TO BE CONTINUED..

The Men That Lead

Building Manhood