Let me begin this article by sharing with us a Scripture that would form the basis for our discussion today. In Micah 2:13 (GNT), the Bible says: “God will open the way for them and lead them out of exile. They will break out of the city gates and go free. Their king, the LORD Himself, will lead them out.” One of the things that must be at the core of your leadership is the ability to open the way and lead others successfully. As a matter of fact, there is no point leading if no one is following. It then means that for others to be able to follow you successfully, you must be able to lead them out.
Listen to Podcast: Mastering The Art of Leadership
How can you then achieve this in your leadership, being able to lead others and succeed while doing it? The following art of leadership I am going to be sharing with you I believe would be of tremendous help to you, if you are going to apply them to your leadership.
The very first art of leadership is rooted in followership. You cannot be a successful leader if you haven’t followed at some point or the other. Sometimes you wonder why people aren’t following you, it is simply because you haven’t followed as well. There is a beautiful Scripture to illustrate this in Luke 7:8. The Centurion said to Jesus: “For I also am a man placed under authority, having soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” The Centurion himself had been a follower or better put; someone under authority as well. So, it was not difficult for others to take instructions from him.
The second art of leadership you must master as a leader is making people to obey you without force or coercion. When leadership is enforced through force or coercion, it is no longer leadership but something else. Jesus said something in John 10:27 that I believe is profound in this regard. He said: “The sheep that are my own hear my voice and listen to me; I know them, and they follow me.” We see from here that Jesus didn’t say He had to compel followership or obedience from them. They simply recognize Jesus as their leader and they willingly follow Him. If you as a leader have to resort to coercion or brute force to compel obedience from your followers, then it means you haven’t learnt this art of leadership yet.
The third art of leadership you must master as a leader is the tools of leadership. What tools are you working with as a leader? How skillful are you handling them? For David, it was his bare hands, a sling and five smooth stones. 1 Samuel 17:34-35 & 40 says: “But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, 35 I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it. Then he took his staff in his hand; and he chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag, in a pouch which he had, and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine.”
In another place, the same David said: “Blessed be the LORD my rock, who trains my hands for war, and my fingers for battle…” (Psalm 144:1). So, as a leader, you must have a tool for your own leadership and you must master them. For Moses, his tool of leadership was the rod in his hands. It was not an ordinary rod. But the day he misused it, it cost him his leadership for life. As a leader, you must master your leadership tools and you must be able to use them wisely.
The fourth art of leadership you must master as a leader is that of reproducing yourself in others. This we can see clearly in the example of God, who is our ultimate leader. He said In Genesis 1:26-27: “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God, He created him; male and female He created them.”A leader who has not mastered the art of reproducing himself in others would find himself or herself getting tired or being overwhelmed by the assignment. One advantage of reproducing yourself in others is that it gives you room for you to step aside and allow the people you have reproduced yourself in to take the lead.
For example, after God was done making man, He stepped aside and gave man everything that he needs to continue from where He stopped. Take a look at the many inventions we have in the world today created by man, it would not have been possible for man to be able to create or invent anything if God has not reproduced himself in us. So, that innovative and inventive spirit man got it from God. So, as a leader, take a cue from God, reproduce yourself in other people and watch them do the work as you would have them do it. The Bible says “Jesus sent His disciples to places where He Himself had determined to go.” How is this so? Because He had poured Himself into them and He knew that they would represent Him well. This art is important and you must master it as a leader.
The fifth art of leadership you must master as a leader is self-control. I remember a clergy man said something like this a long while ago: “the reason why there is self-control is because there is a self to be controlled.” Self-control for leaders is not a negotiable thing, it must actually be imbibed. In 2 Timothy 1:7 (AMP), Paul wrote to Timothy and said: “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but He has given us a spirit of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control.” A leader who does not have self-control will plunge himself or herself into serious troubles. For example, Adam and Eve lacked self-control at some point in their leadership.
They got to that point where it was the same tree that God instructed them not to eat that eventually became desirable unto them for food. See what the Bible says in Genesis 3:6-7: “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.” At some point, David also lost his self-control with Beersheba. When he could no longer control his urge for the woman, he committed adultery with her and also got her husband killed. These examples are a result of caution and self-control thrown into the wind. So, a leader must always have self-control.
In summary, these are the five art of leadership that you must master as we have shared with ourselves today on Leaderview. They are: (i) the art of followership, (ii) the art of making people to obey you without force or coercion, (iii) the art of mastering your leadership tools, (iv) the art of reproducing yourself in others, and finally, (v) the art of self-control.
This is where we will call it a day on today’s episode of Leaderview. I believe you have learnt something. 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]
