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Many people have been leaders in time past that we don’t get to talk about them again today. A number of reasons may have been adjudged for this, but chief among them is the fact that nobody remembers them again for anything or what they did. When you see a leader, whose influence transcends time and generations, it is simply because what they did simply outlived them and people still get to talk about them or refer to their contributions to humanity through leadership while they were leading their generation.
Listen to Podcast: How to Become A Thought Leader Within Your Own Sphere of Leadership
Some of them you could refer to them as ‘thought leaders’, people whose works, leadership style, words and opinions became so important to be thrown aside, even for us in this modern time that we live in. So, we talk about people like Jesus Christ who modeled what sacrificial leadership ought to look like through surrendering his life so that humankind can become better and live to fulfill their God-given potentials. We talk about John C. Maxwell whose contribution to leadership and influence in our world today cannot be put aside. So, today on this podcast I want to share with us on how to be a thought leader within your own sphere of leadership using lessons I garnered while studying the leadership model of Jesus.
Who is a Thought Leader?
There are a number of ways in which people have looked at thought leadership or who a thought leader is. But since we are looking at the life of Jesus, let us go straight into the Bible to examine His leadership. A thought leader is one who has found his or her niche and he or she stays there. Jesus found His niche and He stayed there. He did not try to become what He is not. In John 6:14-15, the Bible says: Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.” 15 Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.” Here they wanted to make Jesus a political king so that He could deliver them from the Roman oppression at the time. But Jesus knew He was not meant to be a political king, even though He is the King of kings, the Bible says He departed from them. So, a thought leader is he or she who has found his or her area of niche and then stayed there.
Also, Matthew 7:28-29 shows us who a thought leader is still from the life of Jesus. It says: “And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, 29 for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.” One of the distinguishing traits of thought leaders is that they are authorities in their field. The distinguishing factor between how Jesus taught the people and the way the Scribes taught them is AUTHORITY. Jesus spoke about the kingdom and He did this passionately and authoritatively. The scribes teach and write about the law of Moses, they taught the people based on the writings of Moses and other prophets. But Jesus’ teachings were revelation based, He own His words. So, Jesus’ word commanded more power and attention than the words of the Scribes and Pharisees. From here, we could see that to be a thought leader, you must be authoritative in your speaking and teachings. Your words and speeches must be bankable, people must be able to rely on them that they are absolute truth and nothing else.
How can you Become a Thought Leader?
The secret to becoming a thought leader or having a transgenerational effect in leadership is in you leading with the hope of leaving behind a legacy that would outlive you. What do you want to be remembered for? This is a question of your legacy. How do you want to be remembered? The reason why you don’t get to read anything about certain leaders is because there was no conscious effort on their part towards registering their names in the hearts of men forever. But this was exactly what Jesus did. He left behind so much legacies and this is why we cannot afford not to study Him or talk about Him when it comes to matters of leadership.
So, what were Jesus’ legacies? The very first one I want to share with us is that of service. Jesus came to the earth not to serve Himself but to serve the will of the Father. Hebrews 10 from verse 5-7 shows us. It says:
5 Therefore, when He came into the world, He said:
“Sacrifice and offering You did not desire,
But a body You have prepared for Me.
6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin
You had no pleasure.
7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come—
In the volume of the book it is written of Me—
To do Your will, O God.’”
Also, In John 17:4-5, He said: “I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do. 5 And now, O Father, glorify Me together with Yourself, with the glory which I had with You before the world was.” With these statements, Jesus was showing us that He was never on earth to serve Himself, but the will of the Almighty God. What does that tell us? You should know that as a leader, you are actually in the true sense of it, a servant. And that is why we talk about servant leadership all the time. Many leaders see themselves not as servants but as ‘Primus inter pares’, a Latin word which means first among equals. They see themselves better than the people that they are leading and so, they were never humble or submissive in their leadership. They see themselves as the most superior and others as inferior.
Jesus said something profound to His disciples, He said: even though I am your leader, but am I not among you as one who serves? (paraphrased). And so, He washed their feet and He poured Himself into them passionately. But those leaders who see themselves mainly as the best among the rest and allow that position to manipulate them into becoming arrogant, disrespectful and rude never leave behind a lasting legacy. Nobody cares to remember them again the moment their time was done and so, they go into oblivion.
What am I trying to say in essence? Becoming a thought leader requires that you lead with a legacy in mind. It is your legacy that would make you transgenerational, it is your legacy that would make people to remember you even long after you have left the scene. So, the starting point to becoming a thought leader as I begin to close is that you have a niche and you stick with it, you are authoritative, not in the sense of being bossy but in the sense of leading articulately well in the area of your niche, and then have a mindset of service.
I believe you have learnt something!
This is where we are going to draw the curtains on today’s episode of Leaderview. Please don’t forget to share this podcast with your friends, drop your comments in the comments section and let me know your thoughts on what we have shared with ourselves today. Till next time on Leaderview, stay blessed and God bless you.
[Centre for New Dimension Leadership]
