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It is not usually uncommon that leaders encounter one form of resistance or the other in the course of leadership. But your response to such resistance as a leader would distinguish you, and would determine whether you would arrive at your leadership destiny or not. A resistance talks about anything that opposes a progressive flow of a leader’s success in his or her leadership endeavors. To tell you that resistance is not uncommon in leadership, Paul said something in 1 Corinthians 16:8-9: “But I will stay on at Ephesus until Pentecost, 9 because a great door for effective work has opened to me, and there are many who oppose me.” Did we see that? A resistance is an opposition to effective leadership work.
Listen to Podcast: How to Respond to Resistance in Leadership as a Leader
How do you then respond to resistance as a leader? That is exactly the focus of this podcast today so that when you are faced with resistance, you can exactly know what to do in order to overcome them. I am going to show us just two important ways to respond to resistance.
#1. Investigate The Source of The Resistance. You don’t respond to resistance without first and foremost understanding the source of the resistance. Resistance don’t just happen, certain elements must have been the reason for it and as a leader, it is important that you find out where it is coming from. Let me show us an example with this account of Jesus being resisted. In Luke 9:51-6, the Bible says:
“As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem. 52 And he sent messengers on ahead, who went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him; 53 but the people there did not welcome him, because he was heading for Jerusalem. 54 When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?” 55 But Jesus turned and rebuked them. 56 Then he and his disciples went to another village.”
Jesus was resisted to entering Samaria by the people of Samaria because the Bible says His original intention was to go to Jerusalem. His plan was not Samaria, and the people there resisted Him. The moment Jesus discovered that that was their reason for the resistance, He simply rebuked His disciples from doing anything contrary against them. So, the lesson here is this: know the source of the resistance before you take any action against it.
#2. Eliminate The Resistance Once It Has Been Discovered. You don’t continue to struggle with the resistance the moment it has been revealed to you. Once you have discovered the resistance, eliminate them as soon as possible so that they don’t continue to hinder your effective leadership work. If they are human resistance, get them out of the system. There is a story in the book of Joshua 7 that I want to us to corroborate this particular point. The Bible says from verse 1-5:
“But the Israelites were unfaithful in regard to the devoted things; Achan son of Karmi, the son of Zimri, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of them. So, the Lord’s anger burned against Israel. 2 Now Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth Aven to the east of Bethel, and told them, “Go up and spy out the region.” So, the men went up and spied out Ai. 3 When they returned to Joshua, they said, “Not all the army will have to go up against Ai. Send two or three thousand men to take it and do not weary the whole army, for only a few people live there.” 4 So about three thousand went up; but they were routed by the men of Ai, 5 who killed about thirty-six of them. They chased the Israelites from the city gate as far as the stone quarries and struck them down on the slopes. At this the hearts of the people melted in fear and became like water.”
The children of Israel had just taken over Jericho, a mighty fortified city. The next place for them to conquer was a small city called Ai, and Joshua was advised that just a small contingent of the soldiers should go take over the city of Ai, and the Bible says they were greatly resisted, and some of the soldiers even lost their lives in the process. Joshua became very angry and had to investigate what exactly went wrong. See what God said to him in the cause of the investigation from verse 10-12:
“The Lord said to Joshua, “Stand up! What are you doing down on your face? 11 Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenant, which I commanded them to keep. They have taken some of the devoted things; they have stolen, they have lied, they have put them with their own possessions. 12 That is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies; they turn their backs and run because they have been made liable to destruction. I will not be with you anymore unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction.”
So, it was discovered that the source of their resistance was because a man within the camp of Israel by the name Achan had stolen and because he did that, God was angry with the entire camp and their enemies came upon them. Now, see what happened next the moment it was discovered that Achan had been the source of their resistance. The Bible says from verse 24-26:
“Then Joshua, together with all Israel, took Achan son of Zerah, the silver, the robe, the gold bar, his sons and daughters, his cattle, donkeys and sheep, his tent and all that he had, to the Valley of Achor. 25 Joshua said, “Why have you brought this trouble on us? The Lord will bring trouble on you today.” Then all Israel stoned him, and after they had stoned the rest, they burned them. 26 Over Achan they heaped up a large pile of rocks, which remains to this day. Then the Lord turned from his fierce anger. Therefore, that place has been called the Valley of Achor ever since.”
Did we see that? The moment it was discovered that Achan was the problem, himself and his entire family was taken out of the way so that Israel can return back to making progress as at other times. You don’t pamper resistance; you simply eliminate them as soon as possible.
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, I remain Abiola Obayomi. Stay blessed and God bless you.
[Centre for New Dimension Leadership]
