Tips to Becoming a Leader

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Written by

Deolu Akinyemi

“The hand of the diligent shall bear rule; but the slothful shall be put under tribute” – Proverbs 12:24 (KJV)

“Diligent hands will rule, but laziness ends in slave labor” – Proverbs 12:24 (NIV)

Interestingly this week, I have found myself in front of two different categories of gatherings and speaking on the same topic from two different perspectives. What I want to try to do today, is offer you the benefit of enjoying thoughts from both sessions.

The verse quoted above has never ceased to amaze me, the more I look at it the more seems to pop out at me from this statement. Interestingly when I ask people to task themselves and bring out 4 implied meanings of the sentence above, I actually get pleasantly surprised that people are able to look and actually see more than they also saw before taking a closer look. I’ll like you to pay rapt attention to this post, as the hidden details in the sentence above can set you on the pathway of success for the rest of your life.

Here are the things that are clear from the statements above

1. There are two broad categories of people, the diligent and the slothful or lazy.

2. The diligent will occupy the place of authority, the slothful will become a slave.

3. The diligent will find freedom and pleasure in their work, the slothful will find their work a burden.

4. The diligent works, the lazy man works. The difference is, the diligent, choose their work while the lazy man has work bestowed on him/her.

5. What we become, is an outcome of the categories of who we are.

From these implications, it is clear that diligence is the necessary ingredient for leadership. It places you in the place of authority, makes you enjoy your work and sets you on the path man’s biggest quest – freedom!

If we want the great things of life, then we must be diligent! The first question that begs for answers is, “What does it mean to be diligent, and how do you know if you are slothful?” To be diligent is to be constant in effort or exertion to accomplish, it’s being industrious, eager, working with determination, incisive. To be lazy or slothful however means to be inactive, sluggish, idle, indolent, to lean idly.

To simplify this completely, if you are diligent, you have found the secret of success, and if you are slothful, you will end up poor and lacking! Are you diligent? Or are you lazy? Of course, we know our desired answer, but if you carefully study your life, you will be able to answer correctly, and make the necessary adjustments. There are two paradigms you can study your life from, you can study it from the actions that characterize you, or from the outcomes you are currently experiencing. For example, if you are not enjoying your work, if you complain regularly or find you work a burden, you are manifesting the results of indolence in your earlier years. The results of laziness many years ago, is the burden of work today. If you want to change your future, you need to change today’s actions.

There are 2 broad actions that characterize a lazy person, none of which should be looked at lightly

1. The Making of Excuses

I came late because…, I didn’t do it because…, I failed because…, It’s not my fault, it’s because… The lazy man using “because”, may be cursed! Excuses are monuments of fools, they are tools of the incompetent, he that will be successful, will not use them. The more the excuses you make the more it demonstrates you are slothful. Excuses stem from not taking total responsibility. If you take responsibility, you will not give excuses. If you do a quick survey of successful people, you will find out that they are the people who chose to take responsibility for more than they ought to have taken responsibility for. They chose to make the problem of India, the problem of poverty, the problem of racial inequalities, the problems of social justice, the problem of affordable cars, the problem of softwares for every personal computer e.t.c. Diligence is taking responsibility and eliminating excuses.

2. Sleep

The lazy sleeps. Sleeping is existing in a mindless state, occupying an inactive unproductive state. Sleep is good if short and relaxing, but hinging one’s life on the bed like a door on it’s hinges is precarious. If you have no firm control of your idle time, you are sowing seeds for a needy future. The good book says, love not sleep, or you will grow poor. Diligence is the ability to regulate your life and make the most of your 24hrs. Sleep is only sweet after labor. The life of the diligent is referenced by work, he’s either going there, or coming from there. The lazy man is referenced by sleep, either going there or coming from there. 6hrs sleep per day, is 6yrs sleep in 24yrs. How many years awake are you?

While the slothful demonstrate, wastefulness, laziness and do not place themselves under the burden of hardwork, the diligent are hard working and are ever preparing!

You want to be a leader? Start today, make up your mind to be diligent. Diligent people always rise to the top and are given the opportunity to offer their services to kings!

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