Leadership is a process. It doesn’t just come. You have to intentionally build it in yourself if you must live a life of purpose and intent.
Building leadership skills is not primarily for others to be led by you; it is for your benefit. You build through discipline by controlling your time, desires, and influences.
To be a leader is to give to others, invest in others, show others a way or pattern to follow, bear the burden of others, and always fill up your life for the benefit of yourself and others.
If you want to know what true leadership is, read the Book of Nehemiah. It also shows us how an individual’s presence can impact a nation. Nehemiah used his office to bring back the Jews to order, stability, and proper focus on God.
Being a leader who would impact the people under your care requires a sincere relationship with God and with the people, relentless prayer, big vision, burden-bearing, positivity, firm action (when needed), understanding, a listening ear, wisdom, boldness, well-of-knowledge, courage, and humility.
A true leader must embrace these mindsets for effective results:
1. Constant Need: Jesus blessed the poor in spirit with the blessing of the Kingdom of Heaven. What a blessing! Like the Kingdom of heaven is theirs, no negotiation, no withdrawal.
According to the teachings of Christ, the Kingdom of Heaven refers to the reunion of His children with Him in His eternal glory. So, those who have lived a life of being poor in the spirit automatically get the Kingdom of Heaven as a reward. The poor in spirit is aware of his spiritual emptiness. The individual is perpetually in a state where they never outgrow their spiritual neediness before God. They never reach a point/state where they feel or think they have all their spiritual needs in their pilgrim journey. They rely on God for every spiritual supply and always need intimacy with God.
A Kingdom leader must have the mindset of one in constant need of grace and intimacy of God. They must never fail to acknowledge that their sufficiency is of God.
2. Humility: The disposition of our minds determines the spirit we carry.
Jesus instructively taught that the Kingdom of Heaven is for the poor in spirit, not haughty nor naughty. It takes a humble heart to keep realising one’s need even when bearing worthy fruits. This humility of the mind can only be possible when we have completely surrendered to the workings of God’s grace.
As a Kingdom leader without humility, my message and mission will experience great resistance because God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble.
To inherit the Kingdom of Heaven, we must be humble. Kingdom leaders need humility to lead those God has given them because there may come a time of conflict, disagreement, and disappointment. Our heart posture determines the outcome of such trying times. It also takes humility to learn from God and the people we are leading because, as leaders, we don’t know it all.
Without humility our relationship with God goes sour because He resists the proud.
3. Mercy: We can’t give what we don’t have. So, to be merciful, we must first obtain mercy from God through repentance from sin and acceptance of Jesus Christ through faith. A Kingdom leader is expected to extend the same mercy to the spiritually weak, disabled, injured, poor, offended, offender, disappointed, ungrateful, sinning souls, etc.
A Kingdom leader is not called to condemn but to show mercy by expressing passion for souls. A merciful Kingdom leader is compassionate, understanding, and kind-hearted. Souls can hardly be won into God’s Kingdom without a merciful heart.
4. Meekness: Whenever I encounter the word “meek,” it reminds me of Moses. In God’s record, Moses was known as the meekest on earth. Moses is a typical example of a Kingdom leader.
A meek person is patient and accepting of wrongs, serves others, and can remain calm even when provoked. A meek person is also submissive. Moses lived out these qualities. He was a patient leader, accepting wrongs while pleading to God to pardon the people’s wrongdoings, and he was a man who was submissive to God.
Humans are considered complicated creatures to lead because they have feelings, desires, needs, perceptions, etc., and everyone is unique. Although the end of Moses is disheartening, we see a leader who submitted to God wholly. No wonder the children of Israel told Joshua they pledged their allegiance to him(Joshua), provided God would be with him as he was with Moses. God’s presence and manifestation are always with those who have wholly submitted and surrendered to Him.
Kingdom leaders must always maintain a meek disposition to enjoy the associated reward through their submissiveness to God.
5. Discipline: Enjoying the blessings of the earth requires meekness. Discipline is also needed to acquire something or be rewarded for well-done work. Discipline is a valuable virtue and a manifestation of the fruit of the Spirit that cannot be ignored.
A Kingdom leader must subdued and have control over their feelings, desires, actions, reactions, words etc if he must fulfill destiny. Discipline prevents a Kingdom leader from living a careless life.
6. Purity: Only those who are pure in heart shall see God. In one of Jesus’ teachings, he said it is not what enters a man that defiles him but what comes out from him. No wonder the wise king Solomon said, ‘Guard your heart with all diligence(carefulness) because out of it flows the issues of life.’ The mind is so powerful that whatever it conceives, it births. Purity of heart is having love, a pure intention towards God and men, freedom from deceit, and anything capable of defiling and soiling our relationship with God.
A Kingdom leader must be pure in heart to see(experience) Him at all times in truth and in spirit, which enables us to enjoy constant and consistent fellowship with God.
7. Diligence: The purity of the heart cannot be maintained without diligence. It is usual for thoughts to arise, but they become abnormal when thoughts of no value to our spiritual and physical wellbeing are allowed to fester. Thoughts can come as a result of what we see or hear, but it is the duty of the Kingdom leader to take charge of their mind by applying diligence. Apostle Paul, in his letter to the Philippians, instructs that the things we should permit our minds to brood over are things that are lovely, pure, true, just, of virtue, praise and good report.
As a Kingdom leader, we can only maintain purity of heart when we are diligent(careful).
Impactful leadership and leadership capacity are achievable when God is fully involved and when the right mindsets are embraced.
