“Authority without wisdom is like a heavy axe without an edge, fitter to bruise than to polish” (Bradstreet 69). Anne Bradstreet explained in her fourth meditation that wisdom is a necessary attribute in successful and effective leaders. Bradstreet believed wisdom plays a crucial role in the success of a leader, because it allows the leader to pit his followers’ needs first. An effective leader must be wise because a foolish leader will cause harm to his followers; God desires for us to look out for the best interest of others and for our leadership to be wisdom based. First, a wise leader’s main priority should be to look out for the best interest of his followers by encouraging them and putting their needs first. Encouraged workers feel more appreciated, and will be more productive. A leader should see his role as a way to serve his followers and not as a path to power over those below him. …show more content…
Second, God explains his desire to be wise and not foolish in the book of Proverbs and in the life of Solomon.
“God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore” (1 Kings 4). The Bible states that King Solomon was the wisest leader. In 1 Kings Solomon displayed wisdom throughout his daily decisions as king and left his followers in awe. One day two prostitutes came to King Solomon’s court both claiming that the child was their own and pleading with the king to grant them right of being the child’s mother. We become more comfortable relying on our own strength, instead of depending on wisdom that can come only from God. However, some people believe that intelligence is the only thing needed for success. Intelligence is highly sought after in our day and age. People spend countless hours and amounts of money pouring themselves into their education and intelligence. The fact that intelligence is a necessary part in being successful is taught to us from the beginning of
school. Lastly, a leader lacking wisdom will cause harm to his followers. On November 18th, 1987 by not using wisdom, spiritual guidance from God, Jim Jones misled 918 people in his group to drink the poisoned Kool-Aid. He told them that if they drank the Kool-Aid they would go to heaven. Jim Jones was a religious leader, but by not using wisdom he led his group to a mass suicide. Also, Hitler led his people to a mass genocide, caused them to lose their war, and ended up destroying the country of Germany. Wisdom entails compassion. The heart behind wisdom is to look out for the best interest of those around you. “If anyone lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you “(James 5). A successful leader will use both his intelligence and wisdom to compassionately look out for the best interests of those around him.
Keita Powell is a pint-sized powerhouse. She is energetic, result oriented, focused, and driven. Ms. Powell is one of many women in the Mary Kay Cosmetics sales force. She rose through the ranks from Independent Beauty Consultant to Independent Elite Executive Senior Sales Director rather quickly because of her charisma, ability to build a sales team of energetic men and women, and sheer enthusiasm to succeed. One would think that she was an amazing leader to get so many women to follow her in teaching skin care, beauty techniques, increasing and maintaining sells goals and to rise from a very junior consultant to one who is an executive in the business. However, she has made mistakes along the way and continues to feign focus on her sales force and customers but the true focus is on her needs, wants, and desires as well as keeping the use of her free pink Cadillac. This paper will evaluate Ms. Powell's leadership approach through four leadership models discovered through the Unit 3 readings.
The person who has had an impact on myself, and the music industry, is Vida Sparks. Today she is the manager of Flyte Tyme Studios and Productions, and also acts as the executive assistant to the Presidents and owners Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. I interned for Flyte Tyme my senior year of undergraduate to meet my business internship class requirements, and I loved it so much I went back the next year just to volunteer for fun! Vida Sparks demonstrates many characteristics that I believe make a successful and effective leader. Throughout our readings, the three styles that I thought best relate to Ms. Sparks are the skills approach, behavioral approach, and path-goal theory.
One may wonder exactly what it is that qualities a strong leader possesses. A strong leader is determined, and strong willed. They must be of good judgment, and without bias. They cannot easily be persuaded, and they are firm, yet at the same time, a good lead must also empathize with his subordinates, and have the best interest at heart for said subordinates, at all times. However, with that being said, a good leader cannot be afraid to discipline his subordinates when necessary. Unmistakably, being a leader is a very difficult feat – one which not everyone can accomplish. A leader must be an authority, a friend and a counsellor, all at once. They must be responsible, and always take into account the disadvantages of a situation. Not everyone is suitable to be a leader, whereas, just about anybody can be a good role model.
The most effective leaders know better than to try to be someone they are not. They should always be searching for opportunities to reinvest in their strengths. Leaders need to stay true to who they are and make sure they have the right people around them. The book says those who surround themselves with similar personalities are at a disadvantage to those who are secure enough to be surrounded by people who strengths will compliment theirs.
In Proverbs, he was trying to show his readers how to make wise choices. All of what Solomon wrote came straight from God, and he believed that the only way that anyone could get wisdom was if they got it from God. 1 Kings 3: 5-13 says,
Leadership is not a position but an action that is undertaken by an individual. Leadership is not just about giving orders, yet it is the action of serving others. According to Robert Townsend, “A leader is not an administrator who loves to run others, but someone who carries water for his people so that they can get on with their jobs” (2013). A good leader will support his or hers employees because a leader is not judged on their own actions, but they are judge on the success of those that they support. In the modern era, we look at business leaders in the same way that historians view military commanders or kings of the past.
Solomon implored, “Now, O Lord God, let your promise to David my father be established, for you have made me king over a people like the dust of the earth in multitude. Now give me wisdom and knowledge” (2 Chronicles 1:9). Solomon’s request impressed God, and he received not only knowledge and wisdom, but also “…riches and wealth and honor, such as none of the kings have had who were before you, nor shall any after you have the like” (2 Chronicles 1). Since this moment in history, Solomon has been revered as the wisest man to have ever lived.
He was obedient, wise and just (1 Kings 4:29-34). He is credited with building the great temple of worship to God (1 Kings 6:2). Finally Israel had a permanent place to offer sacrifice, worship and receive atonement. In 1 Kings 3:13-14, God promised Solomon wealth and honor, he would have no equal. And if he kept God’s decrees and commands as his father David, God promised long life. King Solomon is known as the wisest and wealthiest king in ancient times (1 Kings 4:31). Nevertheless, he did not walk as his father David or God walked. His sin not only caused his downfall but led to the divided kingdom, the kingdom that David had unified only decades ago. Solomon sinned against God by having foreign wives. In his video lesson Hindson points out that, out of Solomon’s allegiance and love for his foreign wives he allowed foreign gods to be worshiped in his kingdom. The worship of the false gods led to materialism which eventually devoured the heart and soul of the people. Solomon’s sin was more grievous that David’s because Solomon did not repent, out of his abundance he failed to give the glory to
Although there are many outstanding, albeit necessary qualities of a good leader, it is the leader’s beliefs in which greatness is given its first breath, fostered by action, and spread throughout the institution. A great leader believes in encouraging, not destroying; in setting the precedence instead of yielding to prominence ; in collaboration, not division; in giving, not taking; and in having high standards and volunteering to be the first of many to be held to them. A great leader does not take advantage of the people being lead, but instead, creates an advantage for the people by giving them the opportunities to lead. Only when people take ownership of an institution will passion be cultivated, action be taken, and greatness be achieved.
To be a leader you need to be able to inspire others, get people motivated, and set an example to other people. A leader needs to do all of these because if one of these aspects fails people don’t look at the leader...
The great King Solomon, the son of David and Bathsheba, was left with the daunting task of succeeding his father as king of Israel. After a great coronation and dedication service, the Lord appeared to Solomon and offered him a blank
To be a good leader you must be strong-minded, but more importantly you have to be intelligent. Someone who is smart can back up his or her statements with fact. If someone is intelligent people are more likely to listen to their ideas before someone who is less intelligent. If one is intelligent they have the ability to instruct a group properly. And if one is intelligent they can organize all of the groups projects better the a less intelligent person.
Leader should have the shared responsibility and collaborative quality. For example, instead of making the strategy alone, he will gather the idea of all brilliant workers to increase the productivity of the organisation.
Finally, leaders are able to keep everything in perspective. They invest themselves fully but also are able to keep their priorities in order. As a child I never understood anything that my mother did or said but now that I am an adult I realize that my mother had a valid reason for everything she did. My entire childhood my mother has molded me to become a great leader and all the lessons that my mother has taught me I can spread the knowledge to my children. Successful leaders keep it all in perspective because they are able to separate the important from the urgent, and devote their time
First and foremost, leaders help to motivate and develop employees in a workplace. There is a popular quote that states, “a manager