"If
we wish to have the light, we must keep the sun; if we wish to keep our
forests, we must keep our trees; if we wish to keep our perfumes, we must keep
our flowers - and, if we wish to keep our rights, then we must keep our
God". Archbishop Fulton Sheen
There
had never been a time when an imitation is better than the original. "If
it's not natural air, then it isn't. The air conditioning system isn't a
substitute for fresh natural air. We can't keep destroying our habitat and then
expect to enjoy environmental sustainability. Right to our rural areas and
villages, we see large scale pollution of various kinds
God's
gift of talent, innovation and enterprise are not given to promote destruction,
rather they were given to use so we can join Him in our own capacity as
Co-Creators of the world. God wants the best for us, and that is a world free
from disease, strife, poverty, hunger, drought, floods etc.
I
so much believe in that principle of leadership because it allows for inclusive
growth and development that is if you look at it from the viewpoint of
mentoring and knowledge transfer. It is often said that you don’t get what you
expect, you get what you inspect. Yes, to a leader, the greatest tool
available to him or her is the power of delegation.
You
can't be a leader and not delegate responsibilities. If you must test your
leadership prowess, delegate! But don't also forget that with delegation comes
supervision, hence, you must inspect what you expect. We cant make our world
more environmentally sustainable if we don’t inspect our works and check up on
our commitments.
The
truth is that many people fail at leadership because they lack the power of
delegation or out rightly refuse to delegate duties to anyone. They either
believe that they can go the whole journey alone, demand attention from others
or become the centre of attraction; even Adolf Hitler understood that for him
to succeed, he needed lieutenants who would further his cause. Yet Hitler in
many circles is not recognized as a leader because most ,leadership school of
thought believe that there isn’t anything as bad leadership; one is either a
leader or not.
Here
we see Jesus Christ as a locus classicus of one who
understood and still understands the power of delegation and how effective it
is to achieving goals. He could do anything and go anywhere he wanted to, he
had powers to heal, to forgive sins and also to provide food for the people
yet, first he chose the 72 elders and sent them out to go to the places he was
yet to go to. Later on he chose the 12 Apostles and empowered them, built
leaders out of them. Even when he sent them out, they came to report to him and
he advised them on further outings.
Many
of us have come to believe that life is all about prosperity, growth,
happiness, success. True! But wait a minute, what about the toils, the
gestation period? We all want happiness without hardship, success without
stress, prizes without prices and Crowns without crosses. Learning to delegate
is one of the most difficult things to do for many, yet it is the most valuable
thing to do for that leader who wants to achieve something meaningful out his
leadership. It is one of the many crosses you must carry to win the crown.
After all, the beauty of carrying the cross is to know the path that leads to
where the crown is.
If
we wish to keep our world, then we must keep our environment! If you want to
lead, then empower others too.
OjisiEmezie
