“The hardest person you can lead is you. If you can succeed at leading yourself, you would make an effective leader.” Those were profound words from one of our leadership conferences. That statement has shaped my leadership mindset for years. You need to understand the power of self-leadership.

Friend, the greatest form of leadership is self-leadership. It is also the starting point of leadership. You must be able to lead yourself before attempting to lead others. Rather than praying or hoping to lead others, try by leading yourself. It is deception trying to tell others to do what you don’t do (Acts 1:1).

A pastor may tell his congregation to pray when he’s not praying (Matthew 23:1-4). A parent may want to culture the character of the children when there are obvious flaws in his or her own character. Sometimes, you seem to have a word or an opinion on how people should do stuff or lead their lives but when it comes to your personal life, you still struggle with the same thing you tell others (Romans 2:21-24).

If there is one skill you should pay attention to this year, it is your leadership skill (2 Timothy 2:1-3). When you grow in leadership, you will grow in every other area of your life; business, career, marriage, family, ministry, etc. Leadership positions you well to influence or impact others. When you are able to achieve results in your own personal life and space, it prepares you to lead or help others.

You can be employed based on your skills or grades. But promotion is purely based on the ability to lead (Exodus 18:21). This will be seen first in how you have been able to lead yourself. A team lead in an organisation is not necessarily the most brilliant person but one who has learnt how to lead or mobilize others.

Being able to lead yourself already prepares you to lead others, and the one who can lead or manage others is the one who is likely to be placed in a leadership position over a team (Proverbs 6:6-11). A leader is not always the smartest. He’s only someone who’s able to harmonise, mobilize, and maximise other people’s gifts and skills. Be that kind of leader.

‘Demola Awoyele
Lead Pastor,
Destiny Impact Church
Akure, Nigeria