The Keep Your Head Up Series: The Leader

images from Pinterest and quartz

Every great story has a beginning and every rainbow needs rain. Stars need darkness to shine and innovation is born out of adversity. These are all quotes that we may have come across at one time or the other. Now, why have I mentioned a bunch of quotes? Well for one, quotes are nice, and also I wanted to compare them. If you've noticed, these quotes though different are basically saying the same thing. There will be difficult times before success. There will be times when you feel unrecognized but that should not stop you from creating your story. An example is Nelson Mandela. In his youth, Mandela was not a particularly popular person. He still faced the same kind of treatment millions of South Africans faced during the apartheid but that did not stop him from advocating for racial equality in South Africa. In fact, some would say that inequality was what fueled his campaign even more.

But what about when he started? He wasn't still accepted because he was up against people who ruled the land then. Even at some point, his own people turned against him and told him to stop campaigning. It wasn't easy and he could have decided to stop at any time. Nelson wasn't special compared to other people, he was just concerned and he decided to do something about it. He did not stop when he was attacked, he did not stop when he had to flee for safety, he did not stop when it seemed impossible and people advised that he had done enough, he did not even stop in prison. He could have surrendered in prison after 1 or 10 years but he endured 27. He stayed until something was done about it.

So what am I trying to say here?

1. Greatness is not a gene, it is achieved.

2. Things don't come easy.

3. When you embark on a "life-impacting" mission, choose a reasonable cause.

What does this mean? It means choosing something that you can sacrifice for. If you are not committed to your cause, you will give up easily. Nelson committed because it was his skin color and that was important to him. Generations and livelihoods depended on that single issue of skin color.

4. People are depending on you.

Because of what Mandela did, millions of people were able to come out of poverty and make a better life for their families.

5. Don't do it for fame.

This is kind of related to point 3. Fame is one of the reasons why some of us, especially youth do things. Unfortunately, fame is never a good reason to embark on such journeys because you can never predict how people will respond to your ideas. If fame is your reason, you are basically saying that I'm doing this for other people's approval. People are different and so are their desires. Trying to please everyone becomes exhausting especially since our desires change ever so often. Also, all leaders will experience difficulty. And truth be told, most people who you are trying to please may turn away when you're in the pit. If you are relying on their approval for motivation, this phase of your journey will be painful and can even crush your spirit. But when you focus on something not determined by others, your drive is stronger and more stable.

6. Age does not matter. You may be in the Early life section of your own Wikipedia page.

Nelson was in his old age when he finally achieved his dream but Malala was a teen when she received the Nobel Peace Prize. Don't stop because you're not where you want to be, you still have a whole life ahead of you. You may just be in the Early life section of your Wikipedia page.

7. The work is never done.

It's good to try and make your impact as big as possible but keep in my mind that Rome was not built in a day. Train people who can take over from you. Do your best and leave the rest.

8. Create an inner circle.

Motivation comes not only from your cause but from those people who surround you. Any great leader always has that inner circle of people who can advise them, laugh, and cry with them. People who support their vision and are as committed to it as they are. Most of all, they have to love you. The journey will be hard. I don't know of any success story that just happened without hardship. In those times, your inner circle also becomes your shield so start building now.

9. God first

Yes! Spirituality is involved. You have to involve God because even though all the other points are awesome and all if God is not involved then all you are doing is probably in vain or much harder than it is supposed to be. In any mission you embark on, working with God alone is 1000 times better than working with the world. Sometimes, only God can encourage and remind you of his promise over your life, of his good plans for you ( Jeremiah 29:11), of how he will use you use for greater things than you can ever imagine (Ephesians 3:20).

Also, things are much easier with God. When he's on your side, he opens doors, pours favor over your work, convinces people on your behalf. Basically working with God is the greatest thing you can do. He can help you achieve all the other points. Bring the inner circle, motivate you, steer you away from worldly gains, etc.

You want to involve God because if God is for you then who can be against you?

(Romans 8:31)

Thank you dear reader for reading the first post in this new series. There's more to come so stay tuned. I hope you enjoyed reading. You can also comment below and share this post if you know people who need that boost of faith today.

Stay safe and stay blessed.

Kamikun.