LOVE IN LEADERSHIP - PART 2

 LOVE IN LEADERSHIP - PART 2

Continuing from our last article, we have been made to understand that Leadership is meant to be carried out in love. The kind of leadership that was shown to us by Christ was one founded on Love. As leaders, we are to serve those we are leading; we cannot serve without first having a heart full of love.

In the same 1 Corinthians we looked at before; verse 4 continues, "...Love is gentle and consistently kind to all". If we are to be honest with ourselves, nobody likes being spoken to rudely or being criticised. It makes us feel less of ourselves which is not the essence of leadership. 

If as a leader for example, I  am being criticised on a daily basis, it surely will dent my confidence in my capabilities as a leader. Therefore we should express  kindness always. And this kindness is a characteristic feature of the Love we are to have. This should also be consciously and consistently done. It should not be a "when I feel like" thing but should be a constant occurrence. The operative word there for me in that verse is "...consistently kind..." If our kindness is not consistent, then it is not effective. As leaders, we should know that though true that we are leaders, this does not necessarily mean that we are better, therefore we should be gentle. Being gentle does not mean being quiet or stupid. A gentle leader knows how to react, when not to react, how not to react and when to react. We should cultivate this as leaders. Any "followers" you supposedly have are potential leaders, therefore we should be gentle in our affairs i.e. how we deal with them.

The same chapter continues by stating (paraphrased) "...Love refuses to be jealous when blessings come to someone else..."Ohh! this is very dangerous as a leader to do. To be jealous means to have resentment  towards someone for perceived advantage or superiority they hold. If we read this definition very well, as I'm sure we have; we realize that this resentment that we have is only because we perceive it as an advantage I.e. we only perceive the other person has an advantage which sometimes may not be true .Well, how about we perceive this,leadership is not a shop of achievements and position but a space for all to step in. Which leads to the next statement in that same Bible passage "...love does not brag about one's achievements nor inflate its own importance". I am sure most of us have watched teachings or videos where the speaker or teacher basically just states all he has achieved and how he is the author and the finisher of his life...lol. 

An important question to ask is "How do you feel when you hear things like this?"Well, I myself feel sometimes that if I don't achieve all this person as achieved  then I am less of a leader and not as successful; this breeds the so called "inferiority complex". If you will agree with me, I feel that this is exactly what happens when we brag to people about our achievements.

A quick reminder again, we are talking about a different model, which is totally different from the world's view. As leaders in this world, our every action should be to the advantage of the other and not to their disadvantage.

TO BE CONTINUED

Thank you