The life of a leader epitomizes who a leader is: his value system, his way of life, his character, his communication, his vocation, his assignment and et cetera. The life of a leader is not apart from the leader; it is exactly who he is. Leadership is not limited to functionality alone, the major trunk of leadership is seen in responsibility and therefore, the life of a leader is such that exudes responsibility. In Acts 20:28, Paul wrote and said: “Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.”
Listen to Podcast: The Life of A Leader
What that Scripture is telling us rises and fall on responsibility. Although, in this case, your own flock may not be church members, they could be people that work in your organization, they could be people that you are leading in a project, that is, your team members or they could even be citizens of your nation state or your province. Irrespective of who they are, those represents your flock and it is your duty as a leader to be responsible for them. So, leadership is responsibility. The life of a leader is the life of responsibility.
Haven said all these, what then are the expectations that are hanging on the shoulders of a leader? What are the things that are expected of your leadership even as lives and destinies are attached to your leadership? Below are a few things that I have enumerated for our consideration.
- A consistent life of integrity! Because people are always looking up to you as the leader, you cannot simply afford not to be a man or a woman of integrity. A leader with integrity exhibits values that never change over time. Let me read the story of Daniel to us in the book of Daniel chapter 6 to buttress this point. Daniel 6:1-5. The Bible says:
“It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom one hundred and twenty satraps, to be over the whole kingdom; 2 and over these, three governors, of whom Daniel was one, that the satraps might give account to them, so that the king would suffer no loss. 3 Then this Daniel distinguished himself above the governors and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king gave thought to setting him over the whole realm. 4 So the governors and satraps sought to find some charge against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find no charge or fault, because he was faithful; nor was there any error or fault found in him. 5 Then these men said, “We shall not find any charge against this Daniel unless we find it against him concerning the law of his God.”
I remember someone once said: “Reputation is what men think you are, while character is what God knows you are.” In the case of Daniel that I just read to us, he was both. In the eyes of his colleagues, they knew he was a reputable man and they cannot find any occasion of wrongdoing with him. They said in verse 5: “We shall not find any charge against this Daniel unless we find it against him concerning the law of his God.” Are you a reputable leader? Are you a leader with an unflinching character before God? As a leader, if you want your legacy to speak long after you have exited the scene, then you must walk uprightly and in integrity. Proverbs 20:7 says: “the righteous man (leader) walks in his integrity; his children are blessed after him.”
- A Proven Life of Consistency! The life of a leader must be a consistent life. Now, consistent as used here does not mean that a leader’s life is expected to be constant and not evolving, just remaining on the same spot. That is not the point actually. Consistent in this context simply means that the leader’s life is consistent with the values and life principles that he or she holds dear and have come to accept to be true. Now, after Daniel heard of the conspiracies of his other colleagues against him, it did not deter him from being who he had been. He simply intensified with the values that he has held dear before their conspiracies was put together. See what the Bible says in Daniel 6:10: “Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows opened toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days.”
Wow! What a consistent leader. Daniel was not even afraid that he was going to be thrown into the lion’s den. In the face of threats and what have you that is facing your leadership assignment, are you holding on to the values that you hold dear as a leader or you are simply caving in to the pressure that is associated with your leadership assignment? You need to think about this. Jesus also exemplified consistency in his leadership assignment on earth. Luke wrote concerning His consistency in Acts 1:1-2. It says: “The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, 2 until the day in which He was taken up…” So, that tells us that Jesus was consistent with his leadership core values until He was taken up, until He was done. So, the life of a leader is a life of consistency.
- A Life of Conviction! No one should be more resolute or firm about their convictions than leaders. When you are faced with difficulties or challenging times in your leadership assignment, it is your convictions that would help you through. A leader without convictions would believe anything, fall for anything. Your convictions as a leader would also determine whether people will follow you or whether they will stop following you. If you jump to verse 21-23 of Daniel 6, you would see vividly there how Daniel’s conviction was the reason behind him coming out of the lion’s den. It says: “Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever! 22 My God sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouths, so that they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent before Him; and also, O king, I have done no wrong before you.” 23 Now the king was exceedingly glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So, Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no injury whatever was found on him, because he believed in his God.”
Daniel believed in his God and no injury was found on him. As a leader, what do you believe in? Part of the things that make up your life as a leader are your convictions and therefore, you cannot afford not to have any. Your convictions would vindicate you from your opposition as a leader. This played out in the life of Daniel. In verse 24, the Bible says: “And the king gave the command, and they brought those men who had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions—them, their children, and their wives; and the lions overpowered them, and broke all their bones in pieces before they ever came to the bottom of the den.” Did you see that? It didn’t even end there. The king also made a decree that every one within his sphere of authority should submit to the rulership of the God of Daniel. How did this happen? Through Daniel’s convictions. Your convictions as a leader would win you more followers.
From Verse 25-27, it says:
Then King Darius wrote: To all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you. 26 I make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom men must tremble and fear before the God of Daniel.
For He is the living God,
And steadfast forever;
His kingdom is the one which shall not be destroyed,
And His dominion shall endure to the end.
27 He delivers and rescues,
And He works signs and wonders
In heaven and on earth,
Who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.
- A Proven Life of Sacrifice! A leader’s life is a sacrificial life. As a matter of fact, if you are not the type that loves to sacrifice: you cannot sacrifice your time, you cannot sacrifice your comfort, you cannot sacrifice your money, for anything, then there is nothing you are doing leading because, leadership assignments would cost you your time, it would cost you your comfort, it would cost you your money and even in some extreme cases, it may even cost you your life. A sacrifice is something that you gave up for the sake of other things. For example, God gave up Christ Jesus through the work of redemption so that He might gain a group of people known as believers or Christians in the world today (John 3:16). Also, Christ was rich, but become poor so that we through His poverty might become rich (2 Corinthians 8:9).
So, there is no sacrifice that does not require or involve giving up something. You cannot tell yourself as a leader that you are sacrificing a lot for your organization, for your team, for your nation and yet, nothing seems to be leaving you. You as the leader, you are living in opulence and wealth, and your followers are poor and still, you claim you are sacrificing a lot for them. No, you are not. You are a politician, you claim you are representing your people in the government and all you do is corner all their constituency monies, that is not sacrifice. That is stealing. The life of a leader is a sacrificial life, and if you are not ready to make that necessary sacrifice, then you are not fit to be called a leader.
So, in summary, this is what I have been trying to explain to us since I started this podcast. The life of a leader epitomizes who a leader is and that life is displayed in responsibility. It takes knowing that one has a responsibility to live a life of integrity. It takes knowing that one has a responsibility to live a consistent life, it takes knowing that one has a responsibility to live a life of conviction, and it takes knowing that one has a responsibility to live a sacrificial life.
I believe you have learnt something!
Alright!!! 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 Obayomi Abiola.
Stay blessed and God bless you.
[Centre for New Dimension Leadership]
