The Leader and His Vision

THE LEADER AND HIS VISION BY AGHARA JOHN Pgoogle.comcharmzpaul007@gmail.com AUL

Jesus said, “if the blind leads the blind?” He believes that a leader can be blind and because somebody is in leadership position does not mean they can see. If the blind leads the blind they both fall into a ditch. So go the leader, so go the organization. So go the leader, so go the church. An organization can never rise above its leader. A church can never rise above the vision of its pastor. You can only lead people as far as you’ve gone yourself, in vision. The word leadership implies going to a place you’ve been in your mind’s eye. So you as the leader, your job is to move the people to where you’ve been mentally or spiritually. Where have you been? -VISION! Leadership is impossible without vision. A visionless leader is a misionless leader as stated by Rev. Dr. Paul Igbongidi. You cannot exist as a leader without a vision. Vision qualifies you for leadership. Vision makes your leadership legitimate. It is illegal to lead people to nowhere. So you must have a clear vision for the people to follow. So clear that you can document it on paper and let others run with it even in your absence. Most projects have died along with the leaders of that generation. Vision is transferrable and so, it must be documented and communicated to the followers from time to time. It should be a daily statement of testimony that yes! the church or organization is living to the true meaning of its vision statement. Managers are concerned about maintaining the system; leaders are concerned about transferring the vision to the next generation. The vision is, should and must be bigger than the leader. God has not called leaders to see into shallow waters but deep oceans. As a church, we’re exactly where our leaders have led us to. The leaders you follow will determine your destination. That is why it is important you submit yourself to visionary leaders, innovative, progressive, challenging leaders who are ready to break new grounds.
WHO IS A LEADER?
I’ll start by giving you a picture of Leadership to create an insight into who a leader is. Leadership is the capacity to influence others through INSPIRATION, generated by a VISION, motivated by a PASSION, produced by a CONVICTION and birth by a PURPOSE. Visionary leaders take this definition and start living it from the end to the beginning and this is what you’ll have.
A leader must first capture PURPOSE. Purpose is your reason for being born. The assignment God has given you to fulfill here on earth. Know that we all have different purposes to achieve. Don’t live mine because you admire it, discover yours and hold unto it. Your upliftment lies in the realization and fulfillment of your purpose. Purpose produces CONVICTION. Conviction is a believe that you were born to do this thing. Your conviction becomes your life. At this point, people’s opinion about your Purpose & Passion doesn’t become your reality. A convicted leader is not moved when he sees another person succeed in another vision; he can be challenged but doesn’t change his own course. Here, focus is the centre of his gravity. Conviction produces Passion. Passion is a product of conviction and purpose. Passion is a desire that is stronger than opposition and death. Without passion you can never be an effective leader. Passion is the reason why Bishop E.O. Bobmanuel would use his cash to buy more land for the church. Passion is the reason why we want to build an excellent and influential youth system. Passion is the desire that makes people invest their resources into a vision. A leader without passion is visionless. Passion is the reason why Martin Luther King Jr. fought for human rights. Passion is the reason why I created Sprintlife to inspire hope in every corner I access. People follow a PASSIONATE LEADER. Are you passionate about your convictions? Ask yourself this leadership test question. Passion gives birth to VISION. Note that vision without action (excellent implementation) is a pipedream. This is the height of true leadership. Vision is sight to the blind. Vision takes you into the future far ahead of your time. Sheikh Rashid of Dubai built their largest seaport in 1971 foreseeing that one day they would need it and it’s the same port that allows for the free flow of heavy equipments for the excellent development of Dubai today. That’s what I call vision. The City of God project is a vision that we would look back and be grateful that Bishop E.O. Bobmanuel saw, and created it. Vision saves your children’s generation. It brings peace and stability at the end of the tunnel. Imagine how a lion teaches her cob how to prey and survive. Imagine how the eagle trains the eaglets how to soar. This is true visionary attributes. Lack of vision kills. Vision must be your life-blood if you want to be an outstanding leader. Vision is creating something new out of the pre-existing one. Visionary leaders look at the past with one eye and the future with the other. Visionary leaders don’t serve because of the benefits of today but the great reward tomorrow holds. An original vision is the one that allows you as the leader to grasp the future. You must adhere to your vision, fully confident that you can see things that those in your entourage may not be able to perceive and that your vision will fulfill its set goals. Vision does not make civilizations nor achieve growth & success, unless you the leader in question transform your vision into a reality within a reasonable time. Most leaders tend to relax once they achieve a set vision but fulfillment of vision does not mean you’re at the end of the road, it only affords you the platform to start greater visionary projects.
So having a vision starts with you as a leader discovering your purpose, becoming convicted about it, living with great passion about your convictions and creating a vision that will inspire the world. The recreational parks, the schools, the roads, the organizations (NGOSs), the companies, raising an excellent people in your ministry, building a football team, centre for human development, the degrees, the awards and so many more are all examples of an achieved vision.
I will close with the challenging words from the leader of Dubai, Sheikh Mohamed Bin Rashid Al Makhtoum who said “If some of our young people think that this mission (vision) is impossible, I would like them to open their windows and take a look around them… then I will tell them, nearly all of what you see before you was created from nothing. There was nothing before but the sand of the desert”.
Do you think your vision is not achievable? Mediate on these words as you reflect on the glory of Dubai city where all nations are flooding to. Thanks and Start Thinking!!!