Certain prevailing circumstances have driven people in to having doubts about their capabilities. When it comes to leadership and greatness, there are set presumptions. In a series of leadership training classes titled “The leading Edge Leadership”, Dr. Myles Munroe expounds on this topic. His view is that everyone is born with a leadership spirit, but must learn the spirit of leadership for it to bear fruits. To show how this can be achieved, he explains the importance of discovering oneself while drawing from the analogy of a seed.
Discovering your Personal leadership
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Deeply embedded in every man is the natural inclination to lead, but most die as followers. With the following pointers, you can overcome this, and awaken the seed of greatness in you.
- Leadership starts with discovering whom you are and nurturing the person you were meant to be.
Leadership is first personal before it becomes public. Without this, people will not follow you as they won’t see anything in you worth following. Leaders don’t wait. They are always ready to jump first, because they are confident in their capabilities to deal with whatever they find on the edge. Personal leadership gives you disposition and empowerment.
Image Source - You were born to lead but must undergo a process first to become a leader
To explain this further, Myles draws from the analogy of a seed. In every seed is a tree trapped inside. However, it must go through a process to become what it already is. For a mango seed to become a mango tree, it has to be planted, and given moisture and nutrients. Once these are available, it takes some time hidden in the soil. Eventually, it pushes through the soil and is exposed to the sun to help it process the nutrients necessary for its growth.
Just like all the above elements don’t create the tree, but only nurture and activate what already is, you don’t need anyone to make you a leader as you are already one. You only need to go through a process, fight to get to the surface and expose yourself to external input. Once you discover what you are carrying, you also have to be careful what you feed yourself.
Image Source - True leadership is born when you discover your gift and serve it to the world.
When you try to become something you are not, people will avoid you. However, once you discover what you have and become a servant of your gift, you become attractive and valuable.
Image Source - The value in each human is the gift they were born to deliver to humanity
Value determines wealth. Finding your gift and serving it to the world gives you wealth as a byproduct. When you are at ease with personal leadership, people will eventually discover what you have to offer and pay for it.
Leadership is not about getting people to follow you, but discovering you are a tree with a gift. The gift in the mango seed is the mangoes on the tree it becomes, and they are the reason people come to it. In the same way, when you bear fruits, you do not need to look for followers as they will find you. And just like we don’t pay attention to the tree when picking the fruit, it is essential to not confuse the people’s attraction to your gift with them getting attracted to you. This will protect you from disappointment and emotional scarring resulting from rejection and disapproval.
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