This is the report of a study on leadership that the leadership of our Ministry here engaged in during our Mid Year Retreat. I have always been an ardent student of leadership and I have since discovered that the subject is very heavy on God's heart as the subject is the major undertone of the "Creation Mandate" given to Adam in Genesis 1:26 - it was a call to Adam to provide leadership i.e. taking responsibility for and effectively manage God's real estate called earth.
This concept is also central to the Great Commission given to the Church through the Apostles of Christ - to make disciples is to provide direction for learners. The Church therefore is supposed to be God's agency that is charged with the responsibility of providing leadership for the nations of the earth by producing leaders.
This is the reason why it has been generally agreed that the greatest problem facing the world today is that of effective leadership; this will continue to elude mankind until we go back to God's oroginal blueprint for leadership.
It is my prayer that this piece will be of tremendous blessing to you all as you read.
Many thanks to my Media Assistant, Ngozi N. Uffele, who put this article together.
Stay blessed.
LIKE-MINDEDNESS: A TOOL FOR EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP
The term leadership refers to the office or position of a leader and a leader is one who leads guides or takes initiative. In other words, a leader is more or less a commander who is charged with the responsibility of providing direction for his followers, formulating plans and motivating those, he leads. To be a leader means that one must have followers as leadership implies follower ship. Leadership is not all about occupying a position but much more than that leadership is about influence i.e. training people to become people of influence.
Leadership can be either a one-man structure or a team structure. A one-man leadership structure is one in which the person at the helm of affairs is solely responsible for the initiation, formulation and execution of all ideas that has to do with the vision. That is to say, all decisions, plan formulation and execution rest solely on one man. The danger inherent in this type of leadership structure is that it leaves no room for the training and equipping of followers to eventually take up the responsibility of assuming leadership position over others.
Again, due to the weight of responsibility that rests upon the leader and the various tasks he has to perform and oversee, he tires very easily and this has a direct impact on the work, in that the pace at which the work is executed is slowed down.
Furthermore, in a one-man leadership structure, the followers are not exposed to situations, circumstances and opportunities that will help them explore and develop their hidden potentials.
There is also no room for delegation of responsibilities in a one-man show, this in turn undermines the effectiveness of the followers who are also potential leaders, and ultimately the work is slowed down.
In Exodus 18:13-16, we find this one-man show displayed by Moses. He assumed the responsibility of judging the people and both great and small matters that ordinarily wouldn’t require his attention were brought to him to resolve and this he did all day long with the people lined up before him from morning to night. Moses was judging and teaching the people God’s laws and instructions, he did all of these by himself without any form of assistance from anyone. The resultant effect of this was expressed in the counsel of Jethro, his father in law that because the task was excessively much for one man to handle alone, he would only not only wear himself out but also the people because he failed to train people to whom he can delegate some of the task and thereby lessen the burden on him. It was too great a burden upon his shoulders, what his strength was not equal to; for though his internal abilities were exceeding great, and he had a good will to do the work, to serve God and his people, yet it was more, humanly speaking, than his bodily strength would admit of.
It was tiresome to the people also, who because of the multitude of cases, were obliged to wait a long time, some of them from morning to night, and yet could not get their suit to come and so were obliged to attend next day, and perhaps day after day.
On the other hand, the team leadership structure unlike the one-man structure, is one in which though the set-man is the altar-ego; he is surrounded by people to whom he has not only delegated some of the responsibilities but has also trained them to oversee smaller groups within the larger entity such that only difficult issues which cannot be resolved by the appointed leaders gets to him. This way the work is accomplished much faster and the set-man still has lots of energy to channel to other projects with respect to the vision. This much we saw in Exodus 18:24-26 when Moses heed his father-in-law’s advice and appointed leaders over groups of thousands, hundreds and fifties, the work became much easier and simpler for him to handle.
However, it should be pointed out here that the fact that leadership structure is patterned after the team concept does not make such a structure effective. Jethro did not advice Moses to appoint just anyone as leader over the groups, he rather advised that anyone chosen to be appointed must be someone who is competent, God fearing, have integrity and is incorruptible. The connecting rod here is that Moses and the men he has chosen must drink from the same source and this reflected in their level of effectiveness and efficiency.
Effective leadership is a leadership that is not only competent but also result oriented. It is a leadership that functions on a team concept/spirit. It is not unlikely to find a disconnection between the leader and the followers. The only effective way to bridge, this gap is for all the principal players to see themselves as being part of a team i.e. irrespective of their differences; they work towards one purpose. This team concept can be likened to a football team made up of the coaches (leaders) and the players (followers). It is not every time that the players will agree with the match strategies of the coach but once they are on the pitch, they forget their personal misgivings about the strategy and partner with the coach to achieve a common purpose, which is to win the match. The point being made here is that for the team leadership structure to be effective, all the parties involved must be of one mind and heart as was exhibited by Moses and his appointed leaders.
God instructed Moses in Numbers eleven to appoint seventy elders and the He God will come and put the Spirit that is upon Moses i.e. the power that inspires and motivates Moses upon the seventy elders so that “they can stand with him” in the assignment.
The effectiveness of Elisha was traced by the sons of prophets to the operation of the spirit of Elijah in his life.
In the kingdom, the one tool that makes for an effective and efficient leadership is the tool called “like-mindedness”. It is critical for everyone on the team to share the spirit of the arrow head.
In order to fully appreciate and understand the concept of like-mindedness this article will focus on Paul’s letter to the Philippians as contained in Chapter 2 verses 1 to 11 of the book.
In Chapter 2 verses 1-2 Paul admonished them in the following words;
1. If there be therefore any consolation in Christ, if any comfort, if any
fellowship of the Spirit, if any bowels and mercies,
2. Fulfill ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being
of one accord, of one mind.( King James Version)
The import of the above is that among the Philippians, there should be harmony and mutual affection taken from the consolation that is in Christ Jesus. They are also enjoined to express this harmony and mutual affection by having likeness of mind, sameness of love and unity of love.
WHAT DOES LIKE-MINDEDNESS MEAN?
To be like-minded simply means to be similarly disposed in opinion and taste, to give one’s heart consent to a declared intention.
The above is key because in the kingdom, the common purpose between leaders and the followers is the pursuit and realization of the vision, which though revealed only to the leader, requires the full co-operation of the followers to make it come through. In other words, both parties must not only be similarly disposed towards that vision but the followers especially must be seen to have voluntarily given their consent to the declared intention of the leader (which in this instance is the vision).
It is instructive at this point to note that for like-mindedness to be used as an instrument for effective leadership, all parties involved (i.e. the leadership and the followers) must be united in Christ, is in a community of the spirit and have a tender and compassionate heart towards each other. In other words, they must see themselves as one family.
Like-mindedness also means that we are not opinionated. Being like-minded does not take away our individual uniqueness and differences but rather it requires that as members of the same team once a conclusion has been reached it becomes unanimous having the same goal and objective in view. Like-mindedness works in diversity where not everyone is the same.
FACTORS FOR AND AGAINST LIKE-MINDEDNESS
The factors that work for and against like-mindedness can be gleaned from verses 2 -4 of Philippians Chapter 2. Some of the factors that work against it include selfishness, pride and eye-service, while those that promote it include love, mutual purpose, humility, care for one another, obedience, and selflessness.
Leadership will not be effective where you have leaders and followers alike who, rather than put all their energy together and pursue the common vision are overtly obsessed with getting their own advantage, sweet-talking their way to the top and pushing their way to the front without as much as sparing a split-second thought for the vision which ought to be the unifying factor. Imagine every player in a football team abandoning their primary roles in the pitch and struggling to be the one to score the goals so that he can be in the limelight!
Like-mindedness requires you putting yourself aside and helping others get ahead i.e. forgetting ourselves long enough to lend a helping hand. Take genuine interest in others more than we do in ourselves. It also requires that as a leader, you influence or inspire your followers to make them function optimally. Trying to impress others has no place in teamwork.
JESUS OUR PERFECT EXAMPLE
From verses 5 to 11 of Philippians Chapter 2 we see how like-mindedness in the form of humility and obedience played out in the life of Jesus Christ. Though he had equal status with God, he did not think so much of himself to cling to the advantage of that status. Rather he set his rights and privileges aside to take the position of a slave. He never for once claimed any special privileges instead he lived a selfless, obedient life and even died the worst kind of death, which is death on the cross! He was willing to be humiliated and made himself of no repute because of the cause which He and His father have agreed upon.
The lesson here is that Christ was obedient and humbled himself in order that the goal to redeem man might be accomplished. Even when he had the opportunity at Gethsemane to call quits, he still allowed the common purpose to take precedence and lead him to the cross. He was willing to go to any length to obey. If leadership is not about position but influence, then Jesus is the ultimate leader as he is still influencing millions of people thousands of years after his death. We must know that when we humble ourselves, it takes the limit off obedience and like Christ; we must be willing to go to any length to see that the vision is accomplished.
If we are going to be effective leaders, we have no choice but to follow in his stead. Jesus Christ is the son of God and between them there was a vision, a common purpose and he did not allow his status as son to affect or hinder the fulfillment of that purpose. Indeed Jesus himself made the following pronouncements in the book of John Chapter 5 verses 19 and 30 to show the extent of his obedience and commitment to the cause;
19. So Jesus explained himself at length. "I'm telling you this straight.
The Son can’t independently do a thing, only what he sees the Father
doing. What the Father does, the Son does.
30."I can't do a solitary thing on my own: I listen, then I decide. You
can trust my decision because I'm not out to get my own way but
only to carry out orders.( The Message Bible)
There was no clash of interest or personality, he has completely sold out to the father’s vision and was by his actions determined to see it accomplished. Such is the power of like-Mindedness.
CONCLUSION
In concluding this article, there is need to know that what makes for effective leadership is not because one occupies a position as a leader but that the occupier of that position is a person of influence. In other words, he has been able to inspire his followers to be their best. In being your best as a follower, the critical factor of being like-minded i.e. working towards the same goals and objective with the leader comes into play.
Like-mindedness does not mean we all have the same opinion- but that none of us is opinionated. It does not mean we do not argue or struggle to get things done, but that once a conclusion is reached, it becomes unanimous. It does not mean we have or use the same strategy to get things done but that we all have the same objective and goal in view. It also does not mean that we flow with the process but disagree with the final purpose (vision).
In conclusion, like-mindedness is being united in spirit and purpose as exemplified by Christ who is our perfect example. We must all strive to be like-minded for only then can leadership be effective.
