The Spirit Of The Leader

We’re supposed to be leaders. The Bible calls us the eagle and the lion. Both are leaders in their species.

Leadership is an attitude that we must have. The lion is not the tallest, the smartest, the biggest, nor the heaviest. He has all those limitations and yet he removes all excuses for not being a leader because of his perception of himself.

The lion sees the elephant as lunch. Even though the elephant is bigger, it is not a problem. He is conditioned by what he thinks. It’s your mind that makes you the leader. Attitudes generate behaviour. Attitude is a product of belief. The lion is the king because of what he thinks about himself.

Change the perception of who you are. We must discover we’re important in this world. We were all born to contribute something important to the world, especially when born again. We were taught that we’re just a social security number. But there’s more to each of us. We’ve been given so much at the re-birth, that we must take the responsibility of taking on the world around us.

We all have great ability, great aptitudes, and leadership traits that we were born with. But our mentality has to match those abilities. Our main objective in this life is really and truly to bring the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. And so we must take on the mindset of authority and dominion. That’s the purpose of Jesus’ redemption of man, to give back to man the dominion over the earth and to send us the Holy Spirit as our guide to help us to be managers in whatever sphere of influence and geographical area we live in.

Potential is nothing without the belief to power it. Our ability to lead is buried under our mentality. Confidence is a product of belief. It all comes down to our faith to believe what God has provided in grace for us to lead and be a light that brings truth wherever we are and salt to bring flavor and meaning to any conversation, meeting or conference.

Our attitude determines our altitude. Our aptitude cannot come forth without the belief that we’re chosen to lead. All of the abilities, gifts and talents, and attributes inside each one of us are trapped by our attitude, our faith. That’s why we must be fixed on our mission, even if we must change our friends based on our destination.

We’re not in this world to just live and die, but to make a difference, to change the world for good. We ought to want to die empty, like the apostle Paul said, “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:  Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.” (2 Tim 4:7,8)

We all should study leadership, because we’re all called to teach and share what we’ve been given. That’s discipleship 101: to teach others, to teach others (2Tim 2:2).

We’ve talked about the attitude of lions and let’s look at the eagles for a moment. They are the leaders of all birds and they’re feared by all. They can fly two to three miles up into the sky. They don’t fly with pigeons and ducks. So if you keep running into pigeons, you’re flying too low. Eagles fly alone. That’s one of the costs of leadership. You’ve got to let your faith lead you. And oftentimes, that calls for criticism. But you must ignore those who have no better intentions than to put sticks in your wheels. Critics have time to criticize. They’re not busy pushing a vision.

Trapped in every follower is a true leader. Leadership is a tree trapped in a seed. Leadership manifestation requires the right environment. You’re no different than a seed. Watch what you fertilize your seed with. Leaders chose their friends, because they can’t afford to hang around those who just just want to chill. Folks who are doing nothing in life want you to do it with them.

The spirit of leadership is a mindset that allows you to rise above the masses. Success keeps the right company. You’ve got to learn to be selective about who you spend time with because once you decide to fly higher, the morass will try to hinder you. People don’t want you to expose their nothingness.

We were all born with a leadership spirit inside of us. From a very young age we’ve all aspired to do great things. But convention makes no room for creativity. It trains you to limit yourself. Most conventional teachings point to the “norm”. It’s the “can’t be done” spirit which is the main device of the devil. We’re taught to be employed not deployed. So they box your potential. Look what happened to the spies that went into the promised land and saw the giants. They said, “And we were in our own sight as grasshoppers.” But compare that attitude to that of David facing his giant and said, “Who’s this Philistine who has no covenant with the almighty God?” If you think you’re a grasshopper, you’ll be one, and you’ll die one. In fact, that’s exactly what happened to them.

Parents have to instill a strong belief system in their children by encouraging them to create and to believe they can be everything they want to be. We can’t live beyond our belief system. Your life is the way you think it should be. “As a man thinketh…”  (Pro 23:7). That principle applies to raising children. Your kids value what you value. If you value TV watching instead of books, your kids will value TV and won’t read books. Remember if you’re a parent, you’re a discipler.

Leadership is inherent in our spirit. It cannot be taught. It must be discovered, self-discovered. Leadership is self manifestation, that’s why we must not let our past hold us back. We must focus on one gift, develop it, cultivate it, and distribute it. It’s not leadership until you serve it to the world, and the better you serve it, the higher you’ll rise. Leadership demands that you take risks. It is self exposure: you empty yourself for the benefit of others.

Look at different cultures; every Chinaman for instance owns a business, whereas in the USA people constantly look for a job. The difference is, one looks for an opportunity, the other for conformity. Stop looking for everything to show up before you start. Every leader doesn’t really know what he’s doing, he’s only following his vision.

The greatest mentor is Jesus.  When they asked Him where He was from, He said, “I came from heaven.”  He didn’t limit Himself to earth. It’s true of all of us. We may have been born in a small town, but we came through there. You’re not from there. You’re from heaven. That small town became too small for you.

Don’t limit yourself to your heritage or your ethnicity. Stop being white or black or yellow, that’s too limiting. Don’t let your ethnic heritage dictate who you can be. It’ll become your graveyard. Become like your Father. The source of your belief is the perception of your truth. What is truth to you determines what you do with your life. And it becomes the definition of your altitude.

Leadership is not first a technique. It’s first a belief. It comes from faith in what God says you are.

Here are some verses on believing in your potential…. 

1 Corinthians 9:24-27 – Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly;I do not fight like a boxer beating the air. No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

Isaiah 40:31 – But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Philippians 3:13-14 – Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, looking into Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith.

Hebrews 12:1-29 – Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,   (Read More…)

Philippians 4:13 – I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

1 Corinthians 9:26 – I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:

Acts 20:24 – But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

Hebrews 11:1-40 – Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Matthew 24:13 – But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.