When you walk in any workplace they will stand out. These are leaders who demand authority, enforce a chain of command and are quick to punish the slightest hint of disloyalty. They are more than willing to catch someone doing the wrong thing and in fact when they get a whiff of a good catch, their eyes light up, they get their fewest moments of job satisfaction. These leaders are just rulers. On the other hand, you will find leaders who mix with their juniors, who delegate when necessary, who earn respect not because their name lies higher on the company organizational chart but because people feel comfortable around them, look for inspiration and advice and want to be like them. These leaders are actually servants. These leaders ooze authority, they do not demand for it. In today’s world, leaders need to be more of servants than rulers. In fact the world needs more servants than rulers. For starters, information is at everyone’s fingertips so denying information and seeking to stifle curiosity or creativity as a ruler would do is a complete non-starter. Instead, we need leaders who encourage the potential, in others. Fred Smith writes in the Leadership journal that leaders have “a quality that makes people listen to them. Potential leaders have a “holding court” quality about them. When they speak, people listen. Other people may talk a great deal, but nobody listens to them. They’re making a speech; they’re not giving leadership. I take notice of people to whom others listen.” Pat Williams in The Keys to Unlocking Their Potential, adds that Every leader must be able to communicate the vision to the entire team-and must do so effectively and persuasively so that all the team members will buy into it. You may just be wondering now why you should bother to be a leader, anyway. Everyone is a leader. By virtue of your existence you are leading someone every day. That person is you. You can otherwise be a church leader, or a political leader or a family leader or even a leader in jail. So think about it. Would you like to lead yourself like a ruler or like a servant? Remember, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. So it all boils down to if you would like to be a leader by active persuasion other than by forceful coercion. The respective results can only be crystal clear.Have an inspired Sunday! kelviod@yahoo.com
