Life is a journey; on the day you were born you commenced the journey. Life is called a journey because a huge part of living is the process of learning and figuring it all out. Life is filled with experiences sometimes good and sometimes bad, challenges, special moments and memories that define our existence as humans. It is these events, planned or unexpected, that impact our travels and define our purpose in the journey called life.
Therefore, like any journey, in life there are exciting times and sometimes it can be a bumpy ride. But in it all, the goal is to grow. Growing into the image of the master and into maturity. The good news is that we have a compass, the word of God. It also acts as a guide. We also have the Holy Spirit. Thirdly, we have the lessons we learn today to live a better life tomorrow.
Many of us do not pay attention to the lessons, and sometimes we experience frustration as we keep making the same mistakes. Lessons can be learnt in different areas e.g. family, leadership etc. This blog is for the purpose of sharing my experiences in leadership, having served as a minister and as a pastor’s wife for almost three decades and still counting, there were lessons that I learnt on this journey that I would love to share. One interesting thing to note about the journey of life is that we meet people because life was not made to be lived in isolation. In the bid to interact with these people, life makes us meet, we either leave an imprint in their lives or they leave an imprint in ours. That is why today we would be talking about how to be a person of influence. Today, I would love to start with the truth that John Maxwell has always asserted about leadership. According to him leadership is influence. Our topic today therefore is INFLUENCE.
What is the meaning of influence?
Oxford Languages defines influence as “the capacity to have an effect on the character, development or behavior of someone or something, or the effect itself.” Among other characteristics of a leader is the ability to influence his/her followers. People can hardly forget people who have a certain effect on them, so as a leader it is wise to be a person of influence rather than use power arbitrarily. You should aim at listening to your followers, encouraging them to express themselves and that way you can encourage them to share your vision. People work better when they are motivated than coerced. Instead of being just a leader you can consciously take steps to be one with an influence.
To enable us to understand leadership with influence, let us look at the life of Luke Hart, a young entrepreneur who struggled with leadership to illustrate our concept for today. Luke Hart was a young managing director of a fast-rising shoe company. He did not work alone but had a team that worked with him. His company was fast rising but there was an issue with could bring it down if it was not addressed on time. Luke lacked what he took to be a good leader, he thought leadership was all about position and ability to control the people under him. He came late to work every day, prepared his presentation for meetings five minutes before, paid his staff late and was critical about little mistakes they made. Everybody in the office feared their boss, Luke, and stood on their toes when he was around.
One day, Luke invited his friend, Mark, over to his company and he watched him engage the staff in conversations like asking them how the work was going. Luke observed from the corner that his staff were relaxed and expressing themselves in front of Mark. Martha, the cleaner spoke without stuttering for the first time. Luke wondered what magic Mark had performed on his staff within his short stay in the office. When Luke was alone with Mark, he asked him how he managed to win the favour of his staff.
Mark simply laughed and said, “Remember, John Maxwell once said, leadership is not
about titles, positions or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another.” He patted Luke’s shoulder, even the person with the lowest position can be a leader if he or she can leave an effect in the lives of people around. Practice more listening than ordering, Luke.”
Luke was sober because he had realized how hard he had been on his staff and how uncomfortable they always looked around him. Inspired by Mark’s advice, Luke decided to be kind and lenient to his staff. The next day, Luke came into the office smiling and during lunch he bought food for everyone, they looked shocked at first but within days they got used to the changed man that Luke had become. Luke’s new attitude made his staff to express themselves, offer advice and become productive. The story of Luke and serves as a powerful reminder that true leadership is not about authority, but about the impact we leave on people around us.
John Maxwell once said, “A successful person finds the right place for himself. But a successful leader finds the right place for others.