Leader's Job
Many have misconceptions about leadership. Like being in the manager position, or the CEO of a company, or a platoon sergeant. The job of a leader is always mistaken.
The thing that most people have a misconception with is that a being a leader, he must SERVE the people he or she is leading. the leader must show concern for his people. Remember Jesus descended from heaven to SHOW the way and to SERVE us, he died FOR us (we did not die for him) and he HEALED the sick (we did no heal him). Jesus showed a lot of compassion when he is standing on the face of the earth. To everyone, he showed love, for example, the tax collector who cheated the whole village of their money.
Looking at my former school NCC (sea) unit CSM, he had really a job to do by leading the unit. But he did serve us. When we are tired, he rest us, he gave us breaks every 30 minutes. And a leader associates with the people he or she is leading. A leader does not isolate from the others. He should play and laugh with them, but only get serious when the time comes appropriate for him to be a leader and use his authority. Look at Jesus. He is a leader that wants people to walk WITH him. Why did he choose his disciples? Why do he live in the same quarters as them, suffer the torturing the disciples may have, and teach the disciples with compassion on what God had to say?
He did not consider himself one step above the rest. This is best proven when he bore the strokes and DIED on the cross. He came down from heaven as a MAN to bear suffering, and to show the way to heaven. He left all his power behind in heaven, and followed what God told him to do. This is a true leader with compassion, love and respect.
A true leader who shows care and love like Jesus would be the ones who would earn (not win) the most respect in the world. For example, last year, my friend's NCC (land) unit's platoon sergeant. There was once he conducted a physical training session whereby everyone had to do 6 sets of pushups, situps, and more. There are a few boys who did not hear properly. Anyway they are tired after 2 sets for the exercise is very strenous. They thought they had to do only 2 sets for they did manage to hear the instructions. So they rested after doing 2 sets. Then after the session,the sergeant went to punish these people by asking them to do 250 push ups in one go. One of the boys found it totally unreasonable, so he stood at one corner and refused to do anything. This is the disrespect that is shown to the sergeant. Look at him, what kind of love did he show for his cadets, what kind of care, understanding did he show? All the while, the cadets he took charge had been complaining about him, talking on his back and showing him the most disrespect. This is the kind of treatment these selfish and unundertanding leaders recieve. I hope he understands.
But this year, my same friend had a new platoon sergeant. According to my friend, this one is great. He joked with his cadets, played with them, showed care for them, laughed with them, and when the time comes to get serious, he is serious, but he never punish people unreasonably. He gained a lot of respect from the cadets, and everyone is contrasting him and the former sergeant. 2 different shades, one black, one white.
A leader also should not exasperate his position. If you are a leader, remember, do you want to be treated the way you are treating the people you are leading? But sometimes, treating them harshly is necessary. For example, if your employee continues to show atrocious attitudes towards his work by coming late everyday and cropping up all his work everyday, though given MANY warnings, but he did not change, you have a reason to lower his pay. But you must remember to help him change. Jesus always showed love and treated the people very well and kind. But when the pharisees compared themselves to the rest of the people of the world, saying that they are better than the people of other races, and questioning the ways of Jesus with their own self-devised rules that are edited from the bible, Jesus got very angry and stung them with his words. When Jesus found people selling sheep and goods in the temple where people supposed to worship God, Jesus got very angry and threw down all the things they were selling, and scolded them that a temple is a place to worship God, not a place to sell their things.
Follow the ways of Jesus, and you would know how great a leader he is.
