ExodusMagSep2017

LEADERSHIP NOTE
CONFIDENCE vs. ARROGANCE
In my years of Junior High School, I had such
a gifted choir director. In the three years I
was in the choir I had never had a music
sound come out of her mouth, even when
she needed to affirm a note. She had a small
keyboard that she used to guide us. Every
note she would play on that keyboard even
the off-notes. She had a very attentive ear
and she could pick up who is off tune from a
crowd. She could also pick up a beautiful
voice even when hidden by the other
voices. She taught us a lot about music, different
ways of singing, how to nurture your
voice and how to interpret lyrics through
your sound. I always asked myself as to how
she knew all that because she was a teacher
and had studied teaching. Given that she
never uttered a musical sound, I concluded
that she could not sing. Yet she brought out
the best singers out of us. Her love for music
gave her enough courage to teach herself
about music. It gave her enough courage to
find out every ounce of information there
was about music. It gave her enough courage
to learn to play the keyboard so she
can be able to communicate musically with
singers. That courage gave her confidence
that she can direct a choir. That confidence
brought out confidence from her singers to
sing to their utmost potential. Confidence
shared is confidence built.
People want to be in leadership positions because
they want to have influence. They
want to be able to influence those that follow
them, as well as the decisions of those
that they follow. Having influence means access
to power, which is what humans are
constantly hungry for. But how are you as the
leader influencing your subordinates? Is it
good influence or bad influence? Most of all,
what do you want to achieve with the
power you have?
The dictionary defines confidence in a number
of ways but the one relevant to our discussion
is that, ‘confidence is a freedom
from doubt’.
A young lady that teaches the gospel one
day sat down and weighed her options in
terms of what she could and could not do.
What she knew that she could do she did
with confidence. She knew that she could
stand in front of a crowd and teach without
worry or concern of whether or not she is doing
it well, or if they are paying attention. She
also knew that although she can have the
word to preach, she was not equipped
enough to strip it to its depths in order for her
to make her message clear. With that understanding
she sought out help with those that
were good at understanding, interpreting
and organising the word. She did that to
equip herself enough to speak to the crowd
with confidence and depth.
When you understand your shortcomings,
you are able to do as much as you can to
assist yourself. It is what the world describes
as weaknesses. Weaknesses are not that you
are weak, but that there are others who are
better gifted in those areas than you are.
They exist so we can be able to work together
and assist each other. Because you
ought to do whatever you are supposed to
do free of doubt, it is important to understand
those weaknesses. It is important to
equip yourself through whatever available
resources so you can do whatever you have
to do at your full potential.
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