EFFECTIVENESS AND EFFICIENCY IN LEADERSHIP

 EFFECTIVENESS AND EFFICIENCY IN LEADERSHIP

We must understand that the subject of Leadership is very broad and cannot be defined by only one definition. In this week's article, we will be talking about the concept of Efficiency and Effectiveness in Leadership. One of the simplest definition of Leadership is the ability to serve. We must understand that Leadership determines the rise and fall of everything. Therefore, for anything to rise and fall, it all depends on Leadership. Leadership can be seen as a foundation of a building; and as a foundation,  it determines how strong or weak a house can be. Jesus Christ gave a powerful illustration of what a good foundation of a building should look like(Matthew 7:24). He said "anyone that hears and doeth these sayings; is a wise man that buildeth his house upon a rock". He made us to understand that anything that comes upon the house will never make the house fall. For it was founded upon a Rock.

Good Leadership can be likened to a rock while Bad Leadership can be likened to a sand. We will be considering two things that makes for a good Leadership - Effectiveness and Efficiency.

What is EFFECTIVENESS and EFFICIENCY?

Effectiveness is having the power or potential to produce a desired goal while Efficiency is the extent to which time is well used for the intended task. From this definition we understand that good Leadership requires Time and Potentials. How then is time and  potential  used towards good Leadership?

Effectiveness and Efficiency work hand-in-hand to conform to a good Leadership which stands as Rock and as the foundation of a house.

In one word basically, Efficiency means to be efficient and Effectiveness in layman terms is the ability to produce a desired "effect" or achieve a desired "result". 

Efficiency also means not wasting time while working towards a desired goal. Jesus Christ, as always, our ultimate model exhibited this throughout His sojourn on earth.

Let's put some definitions in place - Efficient & Effective Leadership:

An Efficient leader is one that accomplishes or fulfils what is intended with maximum effect. What is intended here refers to the RESULTS produced.

_Matthew 20: 26-27 "But it shall not be so among you, but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister, and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant"._

Well, one important question to answer is "How important is Efficiency in Leadership?". To answer this, it is also very important for us to know that without Effectiveness and Efficiency, we cannot have progress in this life as leaders.

John C. Maxwell says in one of his books that these two are the foundation for success. The excellence of our journey as leaders depends on how effective and efficient we are in it and as earlier stated, the proof of Efficiency and Effectiveness  is the RESULTS produced.

TO BE CONTINUED...

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The Winning Mindset Part 3

The Winning Mindset Part 3

 How do I lay hold on the Victory of Perception?

1. Guard your mind gates: Our mind gates are our eyes and ears. Anything that gets into our mind,pass through those two medium,eyes and ears. Don't stay close to people who talk down on you. Don't feed on what makes you think less of yourself. Build an association where everyone has a proper view of themselves. My spiritual father once said that the way people see others is a reflection of how they see themselves. So,if you stay around people who are small minded,they will let you think nothing good can also come out of you. Stay around people who are constantly talking big and encouraging you to go for the best in life. 

2. Have a healthy relationship with God: I said earlier that the potential of a product is best only revealed by the manufacturer. You can't know yourself without knowing God. The more you interact with God in close relationship,you will begin to discover yourself like a man opening the pages of book. Don't let people deceive you, self discovery isn't what you do with a self help book; you need God to truly discover yourself. As you talk to God and interact with him, through prayers and studying of His word, the Bible; you come into a realization of who you are and you have encounters like Gideon did which would open you up into a consciousness of who you truly are.

3. Meditation: Keep the picture of your identity before you always. I have writings on the wall of my room that communicate my identity. You come into my room and see quotes like "Just as was said of Daniel, I'm ten times better than my contemporaries". "I am designed for success and I produce after my nature, effortlessly". "I can't fail, it's impossible". Set a structure that constantly reminds you of who you are. 

In a world of so many voices, it's easy to be distracted and lose focus of who you really are. Everybody is talking,your lecturer thinks he knows who you are,your coursemates try to describe you, your parents are trying to tell you how you should be like. However, remember that let God be true, and let every man be a liar. If what any man says isn't in alignment with what God has said about you, discard it and believe God above all else. Your report card might show that you are 30th out of 35 students and you feel like you are a failure, but keep your identity before you, till your experiences look like your identity. It might take a while but keep at it, don't let your experiences decide your identity rather let your identity determine your experiences. That you have a CGPA of 2.5/5.0 doesn't mean you a failure. If God says you are the head and not the tail, then keep the word above your experiences, till you now clearly see that even in your academics, you are now the head. Don't shift your convictions to fit your experiences,let your convictions shape your experiences. You were made for more. You were designed to succeed. You have all it takes to be the best in life. Believe it, make it your confessions, keep it before you and running in your mind, till it settles in your consciousness, that success is not what you are trying to achieve rather it is who you are. I hope to hear your testimonies from this amazing truth. Thank you for your time. I call you blessed.

                        The Impact Team

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The Winning Mindset 2: The Victory of Perception

 The Winning Mindset 2: The Victory of Perception

We continue our discussion on the winning mindset. This article would be treating the subject of perception. The title for this article under this series is specifically called The Victory of Perception because true victory starts from the mind. If you can win the war in your mind, you can physically play out the victory.

Let me start with a Bible story of a young man called Gideon. There was a war in Israel,the Midianites were warring against Israel and Gideon took wheat to thresh at the winepress,due to fear of the Midianites. Winepress is for making wine from grapes not for threshing wheat but because of fear, Gideon,a young man,hid at the winepress and was threshing wheat when he had a divinely orchestrated appearance. The angel of God appeared to him and the angel's opening remark to Gideon was interesting,he said "God is with you,oh mighty man of valour". I'm sure Gideon might have searched around to see who the angel was addressing as a mighty man of valour. Definitely not me, Gideon would have thought. And Gideon asked the angel,that if truly God was with us,why are the Midianites killing us and we are victims of war. The angel told him a very important statement. It gets interesting here,just follow me. The angel told Gideon, "Go in this your might, because you will be the one to save Israel from the Midianites". But Gideon said my family is the least in our clan and even I am the least in my family, so Gideon was saying, I'm the most unqualified for this work.

What exactly am I driving at? It's the Victory of Perception. God saw Gideon as a mighty man of valour,but he saw himself as the least and that was the reason for that divinely granted appearance of the angel to him. The potential of any product is best described by the manufacturer,you will agree with me. Have you ever been bored and just scrolling through your phone's settings and you then see amazing features, you didn't even know the phone could perform? That's because we don't read the manual,not like I also do, but you get the point. The manufacturer built the device with possibilities and potential that the product might not experience till it damages or destroys,but the manufacturer can reveal the potential of the products because he made it. 

If we want to truly know ourselves,then we must know God and allow him reveal our true identity to us. Many of us are functioning below par,below potential,we are under utilising the possibilities that we carry because of ignorance. We don't know how much we can do. The Victory of Perception is simply seeing yourself as the manufacturer has made you. It means identifying with the mind of the creator about you. 

Until we realise that we are actually built to succeed in life(which of course includes our academics),we might never achieve anything worthwhile. I assure you that your academic story would change the moment you realise you were designed and built with what it takes to be the best at your academics. There's much more that you can do than what you are seeing. If only you would realise who you truly are. One of my mentors,a lecturer, told us about his academic prowess and as the class clapped for him. He told us not to bother, he was only giving expression to who he was. You don't clap for a goat for bleating, you don't thank a lion for roaring, you don't send an appreciation email to Apple because your iPhone took a really nice picture, it was made to do that.

TO BE CONTINUED...

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PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT AND YOU -PART 2.

 PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT AND YOU -PART 2.

 The essence of personal development is not to make you a perfect person; it is to make you a better version of yourself. Personal development should be made a priority in our lives.

First, you should know why you want to self-develop because that will serve as an inner drive for you to keep on growing. Many things you need to discover about yourself will then begin to unfold.

-Highlight the areas you want to work on.

-Identify and break old habits holding you back.

-Record your progress.

Personal development helps you to overcome the self-imposed fears, insecurities, low self esteem, self doubts and the myriad of other limitations. Personal development will help you form new positive habits in line with achieving your goals and being the person God wants you to be. 

And also, some of the habits you thought you’ve worked on might pop up again and you might want to beat yourself up for it with negative words but don’t be hard on yourself.

Choose to invest in yourself intentionally. Be intentional about your personal development and choose to invest in yourself. Personal development yields the best returns on investment.

The Impact Team

Living to Impact lives

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GOD'S PLAN VERSUS OUR PLAN

 HIS PLAN VERSUS OUR PLAN - PART 2

Beginning this week, we looked into Understanding God's plan and our plan. We understand from scriptures that every plan of man must be in alignment with God's plan. Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths".

We must understand that God speaks and every word He has spoken to us through the Bible is for our profiting. We see from the lives of every one who followed God carefully how He led them and therefore resulted into blessings for them. The Israelites, though a trouble-some lot but they were not without the help and instructions from God, hence their journey to the promised Land.

As man we cannot do without obtaining timely instructions, and these instructions can only come when we know what God's plan for us is or when we go in search for such. We understood in the life of Abraham that when God revealed his plan to him and he kept on following that plan, He was receiving instructions which were timely and important to fulfilling the vision.

Vision is unfolding of God's plan for our lives... Without vision, a man's course through the earth will result into futility because your plans alone are not enough. We must seek to find what is God saying. As we learnt from the previous article, that our ways and His ways are not the same. God does not think like man; man is limited in His thinking but God is the All Knowledgeable and all wise God. 

We should also know that His ways lead to perfect peace. "For I know the thoughts that I think towards you, they are thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end". This is to tell us by ourselves we cannot think this thoughts of Peace or by our strength obtain this expected end. The world today has made us see this clear; so many who started the race without God, when hardship came, they were drifted away by the wind". That's why in times like these, you see men bending away from truth saying they are trying to make ends meet. If you follow after God's plan, you need not find excuse for lies; He keeps leading as He keeps instructing.

Bishop Oyedepo will always say instructions are gateway to our high places in life. But not just instructions but following after these instructions, obeying them. It is not just enough to receive the word; it is also important that we carry out what is being said. So many receive the instructions but few make good use of them; and if you cannot obey, then you cannot enjoy the benefits. Deuteronomy 28:1".

We must understand what various forms God's plan can be made known to us?

1. God speaks through His voice: The Bible makes us understand that there is a still small voice which God speaks but as still as that voice it, it's also clear. God spoke in the old testament days and He is still speaking till now. One very important tool He uses is His voice. He led the Israelites through the wilderness by His voice and to this He still leads. Sometimes, we may assume this voice or it might be the voice of the devil we are listening to because the devil also speaks. He spoke to Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. How then do we know it's God speaking? 

Whatever God speaks validates the Word written. God will never go against His word. Psalm 138:2 "for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy names". If God speaks, there is an assurance that if you check the Bible, what He has spoken is not different from what is written. We must understand that there is a written word of God which as believers we must have good understanding of, the Bible. And God will not speak contrary to His word. It's the devil that will speak contrary to this word of God

Another is Whatever God speaks, He will bring it to pass. When God speaks and then we obey, there is a force that backs up the word to bring it to pass.

God speaks according to His capacity to perform. (Ezekiel 12:25) Never a time in the scriptures did He speak just to entice humanity. When He gives instructions, it is clear He is giving instructions; when He gives stern warnings, it is clear. So, God speaks with utmost clarity. You do not have to be in doubt. The word He speaks is able to make you have faith in Him. Romans 10:17 "Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God". This is not just the written word but also the spoken word.

Also, whatever God speaks, His word brings Peace and Joy. One way you can know it's the devil, is when after hearing the voice, your heart is troubled, you are wounded, rest is taken away from you. The Bible makes us understand that the voice of God calms the storm. If this voice is not doing this, then it sure is not God.

In this dispensation, as believers, we cannot do without having access to the voice of the Holy Spirit. He is meant to be the voice of our age. He is the means through which God speaks to us now. (Romans 8:16) There was a time God spoke directly; another time it was Jesus Christ but in our dispensation, we must learn how to make good use of the voice of the Spirit of God.

2. God speaks through His word: Another vital tool God uses to unveil His plans to us is from His word. This is to say, a believer who does not know God's word cannot access God's plan for His life. The instructions are written therein and as was said earlier, they are for our profiting. Even Jesus Christ though being the son of God had to find out what was written concerning Him from the Word (Luke 4:17-20). This tells us how important it is for us to have the Word; and not just having it but obeying the Word, following all it says (Joshua 1:8). Let's look at this; if Jesus knew not that God has given to him the riches and all things in the world; when the devil tempted him after those 40 days and 40 nights, He could have submitted to him robbing himself of every good thing. This is the same way it happens to us believers. Let us know the Word. The Word you know, believe, obey and run with in Faith is what is able to profit you.

3. God speaks through the mouths of His anointed prophets:

Jeremiah 3:15 "And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding".

We are made to understand that there are authorities placed in our lives who will speak God's word into our lives and also pray His word on our lives. What we must not then do is make a mess of this privilege. Let's look at the story of our Father Abraham and the High priest of God, Melchizedek, the king of Salem(Genesis 14:18-20), Abraham understood the importance of a prophet and his words, hence we see after he came from war, Abraham saw the prophet, acknowledged Him and then honoured Him and we see what blessings came from this meeting. There are also people like this in our lives, it is now our responsibility to find out these truthful men and follow them. Note the word "truthful" because not everyone who calls himself a prophet is truthful. The Bible tells us clearly how can we then know a false prophet. Deuteronomy 18:21-22"And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken?When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him". Such men who are God's anointed prophets, when they speak, God himself backs up the word and confirms it in our lives. We will be doing ourselves a great disadvantage if we do not honour these men and also obey their words because they speak God's words.

TO BE CONTINUED...

TMTL... Building men and women of Excellence

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GOD'S PLAN VERSUS OUR PLAN

 HIS PLAN VERSUS OUR PLAN - PART 1

Jeremiah 6:16-17

"Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein.

Also I set watchmen over you, saying, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. But they said, We will not hearken".

Hallelujah!!!! we thank God for a new week. We pray it shall be a wonderful week for us all.

In the anchor scripture above, God was speaking to the children of Benjamin and also to the house of Israel; a word of caution. Here, we see that they had began to stray, to do what God had not commanded them and to also disobey His instructions. Verse 16 tells us about the corrections and reproof but still they would not accept. They wanted to have it their own way not God's way. Many a times, this is how we as children of God are; we want to have it our way, even when it comes to us hearing from God, we want to hear it our way. God spoke to Moses from the cloud; He must also speak to me from the cloud. He appeared to Him in a burning bush; if He is not appearing that way to me, then it is not God. And Just like the unrepentant children of Israel, we have hard times understanding the will and plan of God.

One thing we must understand it is never always our plan. The scripture says in Proverbs 14:12  "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death". Another in Isaiah 55:8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD". Two, God is the one who has been before creation and will continue to be even after all is done with; and as such when it comes to planning or living our lives, we can expect to be as perfect as He is or as all knowing as He is or as without flaws as He is. Many times, we want our plans and will to be at the same level with His or some times even want Him to subject His plans to ours. We must understand that there is no problem in a man's will aligning with God's plan for His life; as a matter of fact your will must be in full alignment to enjoy the full blessings. But we must know that sometimes what we want may not always be that which is best and right for us. God desires that it is His will that comes to pass in our lives because as man, we can not be without mistakes so He desires for us to follow His path which never leads astray. Three, God alone knows our end; we ourselves are ignorant of this very fact but where we fail is failing to accept this. How many years of your life have you known to assume what will happen in the next twenty or fifty years to come. Only the Father knows; and only Him can bring us to this plan easy and without failing. 

We must also get to the level where we bring our will and plan into God's own will and plan; and when we start to execute this according to God's own plan, it is seen as our plan. I hope we understand? 

This is because the latter  is what men will see; it is you that they will see prosperous in whatsoever you do not God: it is you they will see enjoying success in everything not God...and they will be like tell us how did you plan your life that things are working for you this way? It is not you who planned, it is God who planned it but you had to bring yourself into this alignment. And as it is not God that enjoys the benefits of Obedience, it is your life that shows forth the proofs. Every man in the scriptures that walked and worked in alignment with God's perfect plan did to their benefits. They were the ones who received the Father's blessings not the other way round. In that same manner, we must fully understand that God's plan must come first before any other thing that comes from us. The scripture says it is in man to desire a thing but only God has the capacity to bring it to pass. Proverbs 19:21 "man proposes, God disposes". This is why even today, when we are asked our 10 year or 5 year plan; if the things we have fashioned out are not at the center of God's plan for our lives, it might just end up an adventure in futility. Surprisingly, it may even work out but it will not work out according to the Heaven's standard. Yes, there is an Heavenly standard, a "God-standard" by which the events of our lives should unfold. God said unto prophet Jeremiah in Jeremiah 1:5 "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee, and before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee and I ordained thee a prophet unto nations". It is possible if prophet Jeremiah had no understanding or revelation of this truth, he could still be a prophet but may not be unto many nations. Why is this so? God is merciful; He wants the good, perfect and acceptable for us His children but first, we must come to the understanding that it is always His thoughts and plans over our thoughts and plans.

TO BE CONTINUED

THE MEN THAT LEAD

Building men and women of quality Excellence...

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