Leadership is one of the most powerful forces of influence in the earth today. It takes leadership to run a country, win a championship and to run a house successfully. It takes leadership to grow and maintain a successful church and business. Simply put – everything rises and falls on leadership
World renowned leadership guru John Maxwell states that leadership is influence. Nothing more nothing less. This statement is true. We must be mindful though that all influence is not for growth, productivity and development. With this in mind leadership can be for the good of someone or group or it could be for the detriment of individuals. A person using violence to steal from someone is influence. His leadership is certainly negative. This is not true leadership.
The late Dr. Myles Munroe defines leadership as the following, “Leadership is the capacity to influence others through inspiration motivated by passion, generated by vision, produced by a conviction, ignited by a purpose.” Leadership with this foundational view begins when an individual discovers purpose that was birth by a conviction. This conviction is sparked by a revelation birth on the inside that is pursued with passion. It is this that drives leaders to seek to make a difference in the lives of others – influence.
There is a leadership proverb that states, “He who thinks he leads but has no followers is only taking a walk.” We must be reminded that followers are not necessarily a prerequisite for leadership. Sometimes leadership is just doing the right things when no one is looking. Leadership maybe standing alone in the face of opposition, being strong when the bottom gives way; pressing on when the door is closed in your face. There are so many dimensions to leadership. With that said, leaders do not seek followers. People are attracted to visionary, relevant, people oriented people. People are attracted to people who inspire them and cause them to dream and believe in themselves. The truth of the matter is that there is the capacity for all of us to influence people so know that you are a leader. You may not be the CEO of a major Corporation or a mega ministry or have a franchise that is very successful. Know this you were born to lead and developing your capacity of influence is probably the single most important skill that you must seek to develop. Your life was created for the purpose for making the planet a better place before you leave. You so that by influence – being a leader.
Ethan Munroe