The recipe for success

oge okonkwo

July 20, 2015 1:13 PM

No effective leader has the 'I have arrived' syndrome because they know that's the beginning of failure

The Bible

Bible verse for today: Isaiah 48:17 This is what the Lord says— your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.

Nobody has ever achieved greatness by being a lone ranger. That's because you don't have all the knowledge in the world and will still need the help of people to be who you want to be.

Every successful leader will always tell a story of how they acquired knowledge by taking orders before they started giving orders. No effective leader has the 'I have arrived' syndrome because they know that's the beginning of failure.

The Word for Today devotional by United Christian Broadcasters (UCB) says:

In case you’re wondering whether or not God wants you to succeed, the answer is a resounding ‘Yes!’ He told the Israelites, ‘I am the Lord your God, who teaches you to profit, who leads you by the way you should go.’ But you’ll only succeed if you know and do the right things. Only as the leader grows, will the company or ministry grow. It’s amazing how much time, money and energy we spend on things that can’t produce growth. Logos, websites, brochures and slogans are all important, but they’ll never make up for incompetent leadership. So what should you do? Once you know you’re walking in God’s will and your private life is in order, the keys to success are priorities and concentration.

A well-known pastor and business leader offers the following guidelines: 1) Focus 70 per cent of your energy on developing your strengths. Effective leaders who reach their potential spend more time on what they do well than on what they do badly. 2) Focus 25 per cent on new things. If you want to get better you have to keep changing and improving. That means stepping out into new areas. If you dedicate time to new things related to your strong areas, you’ll grow as a leader. 3) Focus 5 per cent on areas of weakness. Nobody can entirely avoid working in their areas of weakness. (Note: we’re not talking here about sin or character weaknesses that must be dealt with.) The key is to delegate to gifted people the things that you’re not particularly good at. That way you’re free to concentrate in the areas of your God-given strengths.

oge okonkwo