Effective leadership does not fall on anybody like ripe pawpaw. It is not something that you go into your backyard and pluck off a tree. If you are going to ever produce any meaningful result within the sphere of your leadership assignment, it is important that you understand the principles that guides effective leadership. One thing you should know about principles is this: they are laws or fact of nature that explains how something works or why something happens. That means if you adequately and judiciously follow a principle, it would definitely hand you a specific outcome. Take for example the principle of sowing and reaping, it says: whatever you sow, you will reap. You cannot sow maize and you reap a mango fruit.

 

The same thing is applicable in principles that guides effective leadership. When you know these principles and you give yourself to them, they are going to hand you a definite result which is effectiveness in leadership. I remember apostle Paul’s admonition to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:15. It says: “Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all.” I love the way Amplified version puts it. It says: “Practice and work hard on these things; be absorbed in them [completely occupied in your ministry - leadership], so that your progress will be evident to all.” If you would diligently give yourself to these principles, I believe the sky would be the starting point for exponential progress in your leadership. So, let us examine these uncommon principles that guides effective leadership.

 

The first principle that guides effective leadership is this: LEADERSHIP IS HELD IN TRUST. See what the Bible says concerning Judah in Genesis 49:10. It says: “The scepter or leadership shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until Shiloh [the Messiah, the Peaceful One] comes to Whom it belongs, and to Him shall be the obedience of the people.” From here, we would see that Judah was expected to hold this leadership in trust for the original owner till He comes, talking about the Messiah. Judah is not the original owner; he was supposed to hold that position of leadership in trust. Now, what does it mean to hold something in trust? I believe it is important we explain it for the sake of what we are talking about.

 

In legal parlance. To “hold something in trust” simply means: you are not the original owner of that thing you are holding in trust. You are just in charge of it pending a determinable future time when such a thing would revert back to its original owner. If you give me your house or landed property to watch for example, let say you are living outside the shores of Nigeria, that means I would be holding that property in trust until such a time you would return back to Nigeria, provided you have given me the power or letter of attorney to represent you on that property. This is what it means to hold something in trust.

 

Now, we must understand that leadership positions are held in trust, either for the people that are being led or for the organization that is being led per time. The thoughts that “one day, I would be called upon to account for my stewardship as a leader” should be the number one guiding principle towards effectiveness for every leader. When a leader knows this, a leader knows peace already. You won’t be the president of that nation forever; you won’t be the Chairman or the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of that organization forever. At some point, you would have to vacate that office, either by death or by virtue of retirement. Whatever you do in those years of your leadership would either vindicate you or hunt you for the rest of your life when you eventually leave. But in all you do, never forget that LEADERSHIP IS HELD IN TRUST.

 

The second principle that guides effective leadership is this: THE PRINCIPLE OF ADEQUATE REPRESENTATION. Now, it is essential that a leader understands the nitty-gritty of this particular principle for effective discharge of leadership duties. For example, Nigeria is a country of about 200 million people but we have just one president who represents the entire people of Nigeria in the comity of nations. If the Nigerian president goes anywhere in the world to attend any meeting, what it means is that he is representing the entire good people of Nigeria in that meeting and whatever outcome that ensues from that meeting, it is binding on the rest of the people of Nigeria. IN LEADERSHIP, WHAT IT MEANS IS THAT THE LEADER REPRESENTS HIS NATION, HIS ORGANIZATION OR THE PEOPLE HE OR SHE IS LEADING PER TIME. There is an accompany Scripture for this principle in the book of Numbers 27:15-21 that I would love to read to us. The Bible says:

 

“Then Moses spoke to the Lord, saying: ¹⁶ “Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation, ¹⁷ who may go out before them and go in before them, who may lead them out and bring them in, that the congregation of the Lord may not be like sheep which have no shepherd.” ¹⁸ And the Lord said to Moses: “Take Joshua the son of Nun with you, a man in whom is the Spirit (NIV says: “a man in whom is the Spirit of leadership…”), and lay your hand on him; ¹⁹ set him before Eleazar the priest and before all the congregation, and inaugurate him in their sight. ²⁰ And you shall give some of your authority to him, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may be obedient. ²¹ He shall stand before Eleazar the priest, who shall inquire before the Lord for him by the judgment of the Urim. At his word they shall go out, and at his word they shall come in, he and all the children of Israel with him—all the congregation.”

 

There are a few things we would see in this Scripture that represents what leadership is. Number one: Joshua was expected to go out before the children of Israel and go in before them (talking about representation), Number two: Joshua was expected to lead them out and bring them in, Number three: Joshua was expected to be the shepherd over the people of the LORD; that is, he was expected to feed them, guide them and shield them; these are the three fundamental duties of a shepherd.

 

So, let it sink into you as a leader that you are not in that position to represent yourself, you are simply there to represent your nation, your organization or your people and so, you must represent them well.

 

The third and the final principle I want to share with us that guides effective leadership is: THE PRINCIPLE OF REPLICA. Effective leadership starts from the point a leader begins to replicate himself in others. One of the greatest mistakes some leaders make is their inability to replicate o reproduce themselves in their followers. They have built the whole leadership structure around themselves in such a way or manner that when they are not available to lead, leadership function ceases to continue because there is simply nobody to fill in the vacuum that the leader has created. This in turn hinders or stalls the progress that the organization or the nation is meant to make at that particular point in time.

 

How does a leader replicate himself in others? An effective leader identifies certain people within the organization and then begins to pour himself into them in the place of grooming them so that those people that are being groomed can do as much as what the leader can do even in his or her absence. This was exactly what Jesus did with His disciples in His earthly leadership assignment. The first thing He did was noted in Mark 3:14, it says: “Then He appointed twelve, that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach…” Jesus identified twelve men in the early days of His leadership assignment and called them to be with Him. While they were with Him, he taught them everything that they will require for their leadership assignment: He taught them how to pray, He taught them faith, He taught them leadership principles, He taught them love, He taught them tolerance, He taught them patience, He taught them longsuffering. And after teaching them all these things, He commissioned them in Mark 16:15 saying: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”

 

Notice that He didn’t send them out immediately He called them first, they were first with Him. Now, take note of this as I begin to conclude now: if you want to remembered 2000 years from now as a leader, replicate yourself in others. Isn’t this what Jesus did? And today, over 2000 years after He had walked the face of this earth, we are still talking about Jesus and His influence is everywhere in the world.

 

If you want to be effective in leadership, always remember these principles that we have shared with ourselves today. Number one: that LEADERSHIP IS HELD IN TRUST. You are leader simply because God puts you there at such a time as this and therefore, you are holding that leadership position in trust till you will meet Him to give account of your stewardship as a leader. Number two: you are not in that leadership to represent yourself, but to represent the people or the organization that you are serving. Never at any point in your life as a leader use that position or privileges that leadership confers on you for your own selfish advantage. At the end of the day, doing that would rubbish your legacies as a leader. Number three: Replicate yourself in others as a leader. Don’t build the entire leadership structure around yourself in such a way and manner that if you are not around, nothing can be done. If you are going to be remembered long after you have left the scene as a leader, it would be because you have simply poured yourself or replicate yourself in others so that if you are not around, others can carry on the assignment.

 

I believe you have learnt something.

 

Please don’t forget to share this podcast with your friends, drop your comments in the comments section and let me know your thoughts on what we have shared with ourselves today. Till next time on Leaderview, stay blessed and God bless you.

Thanks for the gift of your time, I am Obayomi Abiola Benjamin!

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