EVERYONE is a leader in his or her own gifted field in life. By nature you are a leader. You are designed to lead by your creator. You were born to lead, not necessarily people, but in your field. When you discover and pursue your vision for your life, then you become a leader in that vocation. According to Myles Munroe, a renowned international speaker, “Every person is a leader in his or her own vision, because he is the only one who can imagine, nurture, and fulfill it.”
As an individual, there is something that makes you unique. When you stay in your place of uniqueness, you are bound to reign and lead in that place. There is a process to becoming a leader. Leadership calls for development. Just as one is born a male and become a man, so also you become a leader. Being a male does not automatically make you a man, but as a male, there is a man in you that needs to be developed. It is your choice to become a man. Becoming a man in this context is not about growing physically…it is about maturity.
The same goes for being a leader. You were born with leadership traits within you that need to be developed in other to become a leader. All these leadership traits are the potential that your creator has placed within you. Some biblical heroes like David, Moses, and Joseph were all born leaders. But individually, they all went through some rigorous wilderness experience to get to their God-given desired place of leadership.
Many definitions have been given as to who a leader is. Going by Chambers dictionary, a leader is someone who leads, or goes first. In other words, a leader is a goal-getter and a pace-setter. He goes first because he leads himself first. He is an initiator, a steward of his God-given talents, who influences others to follow the same course.
To be a leader is to operate and stay in charge in your place of talents. A leader, who has found his place of call, talent, and gift, will always lead others to leadership because the primary purpose of his potential is meant to benefit others.
In whatever field or vocation you choose to be, you will always meet and deal with people. And to excel in that field, you must pay the price. One of such prices is sacrifice, selfless service, patience, perseverance, and full commitment. Ernest Renan wrote, “As soon as sacrifice becomes a duty and necessity to mankind, I see no limit to the horizon which opens before him.”
Someone may ask: if everyone is a leader, who then is a follower? In other words, who leads who if everyone is a leader? That is a good question but get it clear in your subconscious mind that as an individual you are “your own leader” in your own field of potential. You are not competing with anyone except yourself. No one is like you – you are simply unique. Have you found your place of strength where you can make a difference? Then, you are a leader in that place. That place could be in government, music, accounting, law or any other field of your life's endeavor.
In every society you will always find followers. There is nothing like automatic leader unless you were born in a royal family as a king. There is always a transition from being a follower to becoming a leader in whatever field you find yourself. At this stage you have tutors, teachers and people whom you look up to as role models and mentors in that same particular field you are pursuing. John Maxwell, a notable leadership expert said, “Leaders must first be good followers.
No one can lead well without following well.” Leaders who have located their field need time and experience to grow and prepare for leadership in that place. You don’t become a lawyer overnight. There is a preparation time. And that entails series of training that requires you to go through the primary, secondary, and the university education before becoming a qualified lawyer. But do you know what? Some people remain perpetual followers when they sit back without developing the talents that is in them.
There is a popular saying that, “Those who perpetually remain as followers don’t have a reason for living”. Indeed, if you don’t have a reason for living, you don’t have a reason to live. There is nothing wrong in following as long as you follow to discover and lead in your own course of life. When you know why you exist, you will go wild and radical to fulfill your course in life. Discovering yourself and the ability to answer your “why” for living is the foundation of becoming a leader in your field of assignment. You may start off following just like every other person but you ultimately become a leader in your area of talent because you know where you are heading. As a leader, you follow with purpose and with an ultimate end in mind.
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What is Leadership?
Is it better to Lead than to manage?
Are Leaders Born or Made?
Do you consider yourself a leader or a follower?
