THE car ahead moved forward, I followed and there was a screech of brakes as a vehicle from the right narrowly missed hitting me. I looked at the signal, it was still red. I had followed the car in front blindly without checking to see whether the signal had turned green. I had blindly followed a leader.
As I reflected on my carelessness, I thought of all of us who blindly follow those who lead. There are various reasons for us doing so; many of us are attracted to those who have the power of oratory, or others who have glib tongue or charming personality. We are fooled by dynamism, or sometimes by an air of authority.
One group of people, who are being exploited and fooled day after day are the youth and have watched a so-called guru from the south with glib tongue and charming chuckle fooling the youth with wrong notions. I have seen senior citizens following TV evangelists who convince these gullible souls to part with their time and ultimately their money. This money finally goes in the leader leading rich lifestyle with half a dozen Roll’s or a Merc in every city!
When Israel was rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem under hard and dangerous conditions, their leader Nehemiah took his turn at both building and standing guard. Special food was allotted to him as the leader but he refused to accept it, unlike his predecessors. He ate from the same rations that were offered to everyone else. Two options come to those who lead, the temptation to serve themselves or the opportunity to serve the people they lead. Nehemiah chose to be a servant leader and it earned him enormous respect.
So, there’s your test: Look for the servant leader, people who are willing to serve you, rather than those who will make you their servants, when they come to power. People who will walk beside you, not those who are enshrined in ivory towers or behind Z category commandos tell you what to do.
The servant leader is the leader you should look for. Gandhiji was a servant leader, Mother Teresa another. Not for them fancy car or fancier lifestyle. They led because they loved the people they served, and people loved them back in return. I read from the words of Kahlil Gibran: “You may have heard of the Blessed Mountain.
It is the highest mountain in our world. Should you reach the summit, you would have only one desire, and that to descend and be with those who dwell in the deepest valley. That is why it is called the Blessed Mountain” And that my dear friend is the leader we should be looking for. The one who has climbed up the mountain top, seen his vision and now has one desire, to climb down and serve those who dwell in the deepest valley..!
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