DEPICTIONS OF A DISTINGUISHED LEADERSHIP
There are some many definitions and depictions of leadership. Due to these plethora, people’s understanding of leadership is more confused than clarified. One that description of leadership that is most appreciated by the author can be drawn from the biblical text of Matthew 5:13-16. The bible describes the leader as a light amid darkness. Leadership is the act of creating or crafting out a way where there is none. On that basis, a leader is one that “knows the way, goes the way, and shows/leads others the way.” This means a leader cannot be what he is not. For leadership to become a light to others (followers) it must, of inherence, be the light itself. The definition, moves leadership from a theoretical exercise to the pragmatic experience. Leadership is not about knowing, rather becoming. When this is done, leadership will be seen as the spot/searchlight to which others depend upon for guidance in their respective paths. It will be a radar that gives direction to the drivers. Hence, leadership is lightening, empowering and influencing others to shine. That is, leadership is the creation of pathways out of darkness; a leader therefore, becomes someone who stands out in the midst of an association, and in turn helps others to achieve same status.
Furthermore, leadership is the ability to cause a positive change that will transform the lives of the led. It is helping others to discover who they are (values), and what they should be doing/going (vision). Through leadership, followers are moulded to become leaders. In a nutshell, Leadership is people-centred. Where there is no followership there will not be leadership, vice versa. The validity of leadership is seen in the lives of those a leader is leading, which requires these two vital elements, vision and values.
A leader, as was said earlier is a source of light to others. He is one that others look up to for illumination. Thus, how far a follower can see and go in life, is to a large extent determined by the light provided by the leader. Some leaders are providing light, but the light is not adequate to enlighten the darkness on the paths of the followers. On the other hand, a leaders can be providing adequate light but the followers are not focused to allow the illumination guide them. Thus, both leading and following a synchronized activity that depends on each other. If a leader must lead effectively, the followers must also follow efficiently. It is a reason why you need to be intentional in the choice of who/what you follow or follows you.
Leadership is being relevant and responsive to current issues. Leading is an act that ensures that everyone under its jurisdiction is atone to up-to-date information. An outdated follower depicts an outdated follower. Of other factors, a student’s under-performance is traceable to the kind of teachers they have. The teacher as a leader, helps the student to explore hidden potentials, being mentored and motivated to attempt higher. If then leadership is about providing light (insight, ideas), then for that light to keep shining it means the new things required, there must be a constant cycle of renewal. The longevity, intensity and coverage of the influence of such leadership depends on the renewing process, reason being that when a leader stop renewing, he gradually starts becoming a follower to those he has led.
One last description of a leadership is that the leader is placed in a pivotal position where he can be clearly identified from all direction by the ones he is leading. He is always visible to their sight; That is can be called as 360-degree leadership; a leadership that influences around. Such recognition implies that the leader is distinguished and separated from others. This kind of setting is seen in religious gatherings, like the church. In a normal church setting the usual arrangement is that the pulpit will be higher than the pews. This is so to enable the preacher to see and be seen. In that scenario, the height of the pulpit influences the reaction of the pews. When the pulpit is higher than the pews it makes the preacher, who stands on the platform, to be in full view of all the people. By this view, they see all that goes on the platform and also respond appropriately. That is to say, the reactions (positive or negative) of the followers to a leader’s directives depends the level of the leader’s visibility – how much the people can see, hear, or feel him/her. It places the leader in a position of much responsibility of providing adequate light/insight. The reward for distinction is then, recognition. The level to which a leader is distinguished is equal to the influence he has on his followers. Inherently, a leader leads, and followers follow; however, followership is a crown of distinction.
What then happens when the setting is reversed: when the pews are higher than the pulpit; or when the leader is led by the followers? It then describes of a situation where the level of ability, proficiency, professionalism, spirituality, intellectuality etc, of a leader is lower than that of the led, which is a deviation from the ideal situation. In an ideal situation, a leader leads, and followers follow. It is therefore, abnormal, or a misnomer, for the led to become the ones leading; those to be taught becomes the ones teaching; those to be guided becoming the ones guiding; etc. It is a pity that such is the condition of leadership in our generation.
WHY IS IT SO? REASONS FOR INEFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP
Before we answer that question let’s look at a story written in Acts 18:24-26
Meanwhile, a Jew named Apollos, an eloquent speaker who knew the Scriptures well, had arrived in Ephesus from Alexandria in Egypt. 25 He had been taught the way of the Lord, and he taught others about Jesus with an enthusiastic spirit and with accuracy. HOWEVER, he knew only about John’s baptism. 26 When Priscilla and Aquila heard him preaching boldly in the synagogue, they took him aside and explained the way of God even more accurately.
Let’s profile Apollos. Apollo was a Jew, born at Alexandria in Egypt, but of Jewish parents; he came from a cultured city which was the centre of civilization at his time. He was educated in the best university and by lecturers of his time, this can be likened to studying at Havard University, MIT, etc. He had learnt all the theories of leadership, and possesses the credentials for good leadership – excellence and passion. He was a man of excellency, and well fitted for public service. He was an eloquent man, and had vast knowledge in the scriptures and languages of the Old Testament. The ability to speak well properly signifies he was an oracle of a man, as he was famous for speaking relevantly and meticulously, fully and fluently, upon any subject. He did not only have understanding of the scriptures, able to quote texts off-hand, and repeat them, and tell you where to find them (as was the practice of many of the carnal Jews, who were therefore said to have the form of knowledge, and the letter of the law); but Apollos was mighty in the scriptures. What that implies is, he understood the sense and meaning of scriptures; he knew how to make use of them and to apply them; how to reason strongly out of the scriptures; a convincing, commanding, confirming power went along with all his expositions and applications of the scripture. Knowledge qualifies a leader. Such is an example of leaders we want, who will be distinguished from other leaders in the society, those that are vast in knowledge in their respective fields of study, and who also practice who they have learnt. A leader is one that has knowledge of leadership and also how to apply it to practical living. Leadership is not all about have a head knowledge, but a heart for the people. Today as a nation and church, we have too many Doctors of Philosophy but still we are sick and suffering with wrong philosophies and ideologies.
Apollos noticed a lack in an institution (Church) and sought to fill the void. Remember, He came to Ephesus when Paul had left, as at this time, Paul left the Church of Ephesus to continue his missionary expansion, which necessitated the need of a new leader. A leader that will be distinguished must be passionate in solving problem, of course, problem-solvers never loose recognition. As was earlier said, “followership is a crown of distinction.” Ephesus was a public city of commerce, and there is the tendency that everyone that came to the city was purposefully for trade, yet the sole concern of this man was not how to make money, but how to develop people, to trade his talent for the honour of God and the good of his people. Being distinguished is an act of doing things differently from others, and as a leader, you must be intentional in leading exceptionally and in growing people and not number.
As highly profiled Apollos was, there was a question to his leadership. The Bible introduced it with the conjunction, however (in another form, but, notwithstanding) followed by a limiting description, he knew only. One major problem of Apollos was that he was DEFICIENT. The question becomes, how can a man who have such intimidating profile for leadership be deficient? The simple answer is that he possessed an incomplete and a knowledge that have lost significance. The Christian faith have moved from the Baptism of John to the Baptism of the Holy Ghost, and yet all he knew only was the latter. Yet it surprises me that this man was vigorous with outdated information.
Apollos is described as a man of knowledge and information, full of vigour and strength to change the world, but little did his know that his knowledge is no longer applicable to the modern development of his times. Change is not just function of strength and knowledge, but also of time. Outdated knowledge was one thing that nearly destroyed the ministry and leadership of Apollos. He was like some of us who excel in outdated information and formula. We will graduate from universities and only to realise that some of the things we were taught cannot be applied our present practical life experiences. It is a common saying that everything rises and falls on leadership, but that is determined by the knowledge the leader possesses. This is why we must be careful in the choice of university and course of study, if not we would be taught with knowledge that does not have current relevance, or theories with no modern application. Apollos was not in-tune to the current happening of his time, yet he was vigorous. Some person can lead out of ignorance, depending on those following, and the location. Someone can seriously be sweating when preaching yet nothing happens. This is why sometime you need to move out of areas of championship to try other warriors, if not you may end up a local champion. Do not be the best in your local community and not being recognized outside by anybody.
TOOLS FOR EFFECTIVE CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP
Apollos went to Ephesus to teach and lead the people, but he ended up been taught and led by the people, because by reason of the teaching and leadership of Paul before Apollos came, the people had surpassed what Apollos knew. Notwithstanding, it was when Priscilla and Aquila heard him preaching boldly in the synagogue, they took him aside and explained the way of God even more accurately/adequately/perfectly. It is therefore, the continuous act of leadership to override is outdated concept of leadership to how it can be applied adequately to modern times; otherwise, as is the trend most leadership, we will keep losing leaders and followers to other people because we do not know how to utilize them.
When all a leader knows is the same as the followers, it may lead to tension and redefinition of roles. Definitely a leader does not know it all, but sharing the same level of ability, spirituality and intellectuality with the follower is a misnomer. The best level is for followers to get close to you, but not entirely you, because a leader is always a step ahead of the followers. By experience, when a follower knows what you know or worst still, knows more than you, the natural thinking is how he can become a leader to others. The follower would want to move out of your nest, to build its nest. On that scenario, an attempt to keep the follower in your nest is tantamount to sending an invitation of revolt. In such case, a tool that will help the leader is to UPGRADE. Upgrade self, team, or task. Dickson Madoghwe suggested that upgrading can also happen by for a leader to relocation to another place, or redeploy a follower to another place, or change of leadership style, or enlist more person that will help in his area of weakness. Note that before you can upgrade others in the course of your leadership, you need to upgrade, and then every member of the team will automatically align themselves.
Upgrading can also happen by maintaining a constant presence with those you are leading, especially online presence. Very helpful is an article written by the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary through its leadership platform EQUIP, it is titled: A Gospel Imperative – Christian Leadership in a Digital Age. There are some notable excerpts which may include, “If the leader is not leading in the digital world, his leadership is, by definition, limited to those who also ignore or neglect that world, and that population is shrinking every minute.” Also, “if you are not present on the Internet, you simply do not exist, as far as anyone under 30 years of age is concerned.” Again, “if you are satisfied to lead from the past, stay out of the digital world. If you want to influence the future, brace yourself and get in the fast lane.”
You cannot be effective as leaders if you are ignorant of the world your followers belong; you will be perceived as aliens and soon will discover that you have lost them to those whom they share same nationality. These “digital natives” have evolved more than we can think. The only way to get them is not demean them to your level, but to allow yourself to be explained the modern way more accurately/adequately/perfectly. Ways of creating online presence are web, blog, social media, podcast, etc. The aim is to keep our followers and audience with current trends.
A leader below the level of the follower is like a blind man, because you can never be able to lead them. However, a correction of this blindness is an upgrade of your leadership. Hence before a man has to lead, he has to take can of his leadership blind spots (see Matthew 7:3-5). What are your blind spots? It is expected that you:
“First, get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye” (v. 5)
Effective Christian Leadership is measured by the tools the leaders use. The tools can be technological, psychological, etc.
CONCLUSION: REQUIREMENTS FOR UTILIZING MODERN TOOLS FOR EFFECTIVE CHRISTIAN LEADERSHIP
Depending on the number of people you lead and the industry you’re working in, the usage of modern tools can help you to be a better leader than you already are. Achieving those feet depends on your perception about the tools. Therefore, I leave you with these three requires for requirements for utilizing modern tools for effective Christian leadership
First, understand that knowledge is progressive. Ones understanding of leadership is evolving. What was a new idea yesterday can be an old idea tomorrow; and that the application of knowledge depends on the person, place and period. A leader must therefore, keep growing because your growth determines who you are, your distinction, and what/who you attract.
Second, overcome the natural resistance to change. Most people do not like change, they do not appreciate modern ways of doing things, facilities and technologies. Do not have a negative attitude towards every new suggestion.
Third, a leader should be innovative to come up with new ideas. Relevance in leadership is highly linked to Innovation. Leadership becomes boring when old methods and ideas are repeated. Leadership is simply the act of leading which requires a lot from the leader, a major of it is having the ability to create and chart new ideas, solutions, methods, patterns. If people already know what you know they won’t follow you. Go and ask advertiser, and pitch creators. Followership is a prove of one who is dependent of guidance to a certain course. So, a leader is a person of innovation. Remove innovation from leadership you become a follower.
I will close with the with these two quotes; “innovation is the mother of civilization;” “Adventure is the sister of creativity.” Remember, your desire to improve can inspire your team to do better, which will eventually lead to improved work performance (both individual and group) and good results for the organization you work for. Using the right tools can be the perfect way to do it!