As we forge our way deeper into the twenty-first our organizations must be filled with leaders who lead with humility. With our insatiable appetite for power and prestige during the past century we change the meaning of leadership. What we came to know was that power must be taken first of all, secondly, it must be used to invoke fear to the followers. This attitude lead leaders into believing that they have the right to treat people as they please.
Today we would do well to take a different approach to leadership, and am bold enough to say that the life of Christ gives us a perfect example. In the Sermon on the Mount the master started with the Beatitudes, to ensure that the disciples got the message he took them into the mountains away from the multitudes. The Beatitudes are the attitudes or traits that should be in all those who aspire to lead. The first one says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
Poor her means humble, in other words, blessed are the humble in spirit. Leaders who wish to lead must be humble in order to reach the destination. Humble does not mean weak, it does not mean that you are a push over. It means that you recognise that power is a destructive force and must be carefully managed and used appropriateately. This means that good leaders, humble leaders use the influence method through inspiring others rather than the actual force of power.
This does not mean that times may arise when it is necessary to use actual power, but when the time does, power would be clearly seen as the right choice. When a leader has humility he is patient, long suffering, always ensuring that all the facts are clearly known before speaking. In an organization staff must have confidence in the ability of the leader to not be hoodwinked or quickly sold on misinformation. For once who made a poor judgement your legacy will become tarnished and team members will begin to second guess your ability to lead.
Humility gives us an opportunity to make all team members feel like somebody, and when you can do that for the team your team will go the extra mile for it's leader. Humility gives the leader an opportunity to demonstrate how much he cares, when team members see that the leader is caring, they will move mountains. Why don't we try a humility today.
Today we would do well to take a different approach to leadership, and am bold enough to say that the life of Christ gives us a perfect example. In the Sermon on the Mount the master started with the Beatitudes, to ensure that the disciples got the message he took them into the mountains away from the multitudes. The Beatitudes are the attitudes or traits that should be in all those who aspire to lead. The first one says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
Poor her means humble, in other words, blessed are the humble in spirit. Leaders who wish to lead must be humble in order to reach the destination. Humble does not mean weak, it does not mean that you are a push over. It means that you recognise that power is a destructive force and must be carefully managed and used appropriateately. This means that good leaders, humble leaders use the influence method through inspiring others rather than the actual force of power.
This does not mean that times may arise when it is necessary to use actual power, but when the time does, power would be clearly seen as the right choice. When a leader has humility he is patient, long suffering, always ensuring that all the facts are clearly known before speaking. In an organization staff must have confidence in the ability of the leader to not be hoodwinked or quickly sold on misinformation. For once who made a poor judgement your legacy will become tarnished and team members will begin to second guess your ability to lead.
Humility gives us an opportunity to make all team members feel like somebody, and when you can do that for the team your team will go the extra mile for it's leader. Humility gives the leader an opportunity to demonstrate how much he cares, when team members see that the leader is caring, they will move mountains. Why don't we try a humility today.
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