Thursday, April 07, 2011

Leadership Wholehearted in Purpose

Plato made an interesting observation in The Republic:
“When we say that a man desires something, do we say he desires all that pertains to it or only one part and not another?...Then any student who is half-hearted in his studies-especially when he is you and lacks the understanding to judge between what is useful and what is not-cannot be called…a lover of wisdom. He is like one who picks at his food. We say that he is not really hungry and has no appetite. We say that he is a poor eater and no lover of the table….”

Leaders must have a purpose to which they are committed. Completely. Wholeheartedness powerfully moves people. Followers love leaders who are committed. Passion coupled with knowledge mixed in the cauldron of experience provides confidence to those being led.

As I was writing today on one of my future books - The Jericho Principle – Overcoming Impediments to Success - I was struck again with the story’s hero, Joshua who inherited the leadership reigns from Moses. What caught by attention was his side-kick Caleb of whom it is said by God, “…because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.” In fact, that is said of him at least three times. What a tribute!

That's exactly what we – leaders and followers – are called to do in the workplace: “Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people…”

Christian leader: are you wholehearted in your studies of God’s way? Or do you pick and choose what works for you when you need or want it. If you are picking and choosing, Plato and I would agree – “you are no lover of wisdom.”

 A Challenge
Do you have the appetite for leadership based on Eternal Principles?


©Copyright 2011 by P. Griffith Lindell

1 comment:

Dave C said...

Yes, everything we DO reflects what we TRULY believe. So we are always leading someone, even if we think we are not. Our focus must then always be on Eternal Principals.

However, Wisdom is like food in this respect, you can only handle so much at a time. After a while you need to digest it and use it's energy before you can move on with more.

Often the glutton of wisdom becomes a full time student with no practical application of his knowledge other than to impress and pontificate. If he does not digest his wisdom and use it wisely he becomes as sounding symbols and tinkling brass. But then it really is not wisdom he has only knowledge unused.