WEEKLY VALUE FOCUS:

Week 23: June 6, 2022

CORE VALUE: Excellence
VALUE FOCUS: Leadership

“When the righteous in authority, the people rejoice; but when a

wicked man rules, the people groan.”

Proverbs 29:2 (NKJV)

Reading:

Leadership is the ability to spearhead an activity, program, or cause for others

in order to achieve a certain goal. It entails stature, capacity, and an overcoming
perspective. Corollary to this, a person who
is easily shaken by circumstances and adversity may have insufficient stature to
lead. One who wrongly reacts and is easily rattled by problems must increase his/her
capacity for leadership. In the same vein, he/she must have to assess his
perspective in order to stand strong in the heat of the battle. Leaders pay the price
and clear the pathway for others to enter into their destinies. They make things
easier for the next generation to rise. They break the fallow grounds and chart the
course amidst uncharted waters. They pioneer a certain move and set the trends for
others to follow.

Understanding these, we can realize that leadership is more than just an art,
position or title. It entails gifts and graces in operation. It is not just having high
educational attainment, knowledge, skills, and abilities. It also requires preparation
on the inside in order to handle big responsibilities. One may be an expert in people
management and with the rudiments of administration by mere theories but
collapses in praxis. Some people placed in the leadership may burst out at the
playing field and become crushed by overbearing burdens and intense pressures.
The rule thus remains that a novice must not be hastily put to leadership and the one
who aspires for it must be willing to sacrifice and ready to pay the price coupled with
it.

Moses in the Bible exemplifies this value. He was a prince of Egypt prior to his
voluntary exile in the land of Midian. As a prince, he was well taught. He was
equipped with skills and talents. He was an expert in different fields. However, he
was further processed by God in the wilderness for forty years. Only after that long
period of honing and pruning that he was ready to lead. It was when he possessed
the required characteristics that God summoned him to do a great task. It proved
that his societal status and educational attainment were not enough to lead the
Israelites, neither his own strength and might. Leadership is not for personal
aggrandizement or domination. It is ruling with accountability and selflessness. To
lead entails selfless love and service to people. As they say in the movies, “with
great power comes great responsibility”, and this is also true when it comes to
leadership. If you want to be great, be the servant of all.

Action Plan:

1. List down the leadership qualities that you want to possess and identify some steps
how you may achieve them. Every week, check ourselves whether we are meeting all
the qualities we have listed down.
2. If we are parents, elder sibling, or the head of the family in household, think of the
areas where we failed as a good leader, and try to make up for them.
3. If we are leaders of certain organizations or associations, what legacy do we want to
leave to our members, and what lasting programs and projects do we want to
implement in our community or society? List them down and have a strategic plan to
accomplish them.

Declaration:
We the leaders this nation is looking for. We will lead to the best of our
abilities and with the help of God. We will not compromise and never lower the
standard of righteousness. We will stand strong and firm in upholding divine
principles and rule of law. We will set the example and model what we teach and
direct. We will carry upon ourselves the manner and conduct of an excellent leader.
People will respect us not because they fear us but because they honour and love
us.
Prayer:
God, help us become good leaders to the people under our supervision. Build
in us the character and qualities of excellent leaders. Help us not to abuse our
authority, and not to look at our position as a source of power in order to debase or
oppress others. You are the leader and ruler of our lives. Help us follow and obey
Your statutes. Lead us always, Oh God, towards the fulfillment of Your plans and
promises. Make us good followers of You that we may become good leaders. Amen.