There is a lot of emphasis on leadership positions and the perceived privileges associated with such roles. However, the responsibilities and self-sacrifices such roles exact from the bearer do not get much attention. To make matters worse, there are certain people that love to attribute success attained by others to external factors like having some special “connections”. They downplay the effort that has gone into producing the visible results and rather choose to highlight privileges and “connections”, relegating merit to the background. This is the origin of weak leadership; people seeking prestige, privileges and power of the office without any consideration for the work, responsibilities and self-sacrifices such roles demand.
Leadership must begin from the understanding that one wants to serve more than everyone else. One wants to work ten times harder than every other person. A true leader realizes that they are becoming a better servant every single day. There is this old saying that rings true every single time: “one that is too big to serve is too small to lead”. This implies that good servants would make good leaders if they decide to step up. A good servant must desire to take on more responsibility, that is what eventually separates talented servants from effective leaders. We can deconstruct an effective leader as a servant that is hard at work, figuring out how best to serve, how they can deliver more value and go the extra mile.
The interesting thing about true leadership is that they do all they do for nothing. A true leader should not be motivated by physical rewards like a bigger paycheck for example. Your stewardship does not really begin until you grow your soul to a level whereby your satisfaction is primarily spiritual. A watchman does not keep watch over a community, city or industry without being persuaded within their own heart. There is no amount of money, physical reward or bonuses that can command the excruciating labour these kinds of performances require. Real leaders work for nothing. This does not mean that they will not be appreciated, or they should be denied their due wages. It merely highlights the fact that they are driven by spiritual desires and not any physical benefits that they enjoy.
