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n a previous post, we examined the leadership conundrum that Kenya as a country faced in 2017. Our discussion zeroed in on in how individual lives would be or would not be affected directly or otherwise by whatever leadership ascends to power.

The conclusion of that message was that yes, Leadership is the greatest need for man. Leadership is also the greatest solution to the many troubles that we face. Yet Great leadership is the greatest desire for people world-wide. However, we also concluded that self leadership is the type of leadership that is more effective than any other. These are my reasons for that premise.

1. There was no intention of “Herding” humans from the beginning: The greatest mandate, and the very first mandate that was handed to man was the mandate for leadership. This leadership was not over other human beings. No, it was leadership over the created. It was over every living creature that was made. In other words, the Creator never at one point intended for man to lord over another. He never intended for man to be helpless and wait for a leader to show him the way. He pretty much intended everyone to lead themselves.
2. Authority and Dominion was Given to All: The program of leadership that God gave to mankind called “Dominion” was not to be exercised by a selected few. It was to be exercised by everyone who came out of Adam.
3. Purpose is the domain of everyone: Within the general program of dominion, each person on earth is allocated a specific purpose to fulfill. Exercising that mandate and fulfilling that purpose is not a function of being led but of leading oneself.
4. Self Leadership is about Responsibility and Control: The productivity and effectiveness of each person is not based entirely on a dependency. In other words, as much as each person has a purpose to fulfill, the fulfillment of that purpose is not a prerogative of someone else.

The Right President Is Not The Answer

[ictt-tweet-inline]All in all, your development and productivity in life is not based upon who your president is[/ictt-tweet-inline]. Please do not get me wrong. At times, the right president that ascends to power can create a great and conducive environment for your purpose to prosper…but that is just it. His responsibility is not to bring your mandate to fruition. His responsibility is to equalize the playing field, and provide the enabling environment. That being said,[ictt-tweet-inline] even if you had the right president, it is no guarantee that you will be blessed, productive and effective with your life.[/ictt-tweet-inline]

Self Leadership is The Answer

Therefore, we need to stop all the clamoring that we are up to and [ictt-tweet-inline]come to the stark realization that political leadership is not the answer we are looking for—self leadership is[/ictt-tweet-inline]. Now, someone might blame me for seeking to create gods out of all of us but you would be wrong. God Himself intended and created self leadership. As much as that self leadership does not negate the fact that it is subservient to the Creator, all will be well. In fact, great self leadership is inherently ingrained in purpose which itself is the original intention of God over everybody.

So what happens about political leadership? What are we supposed to do about it? Well, we ought to play our part in electing the right leaders. We ought to lobby, teach, campaign and be thoroughly involved in the process of gaining great leaders. However, as we do that, we should never at any one point in time think that that great leadership will be a substitute to self leadership. We would have missed the boat by a mile and a half. Our involvement is to make sure that when we have the right people at the helm, we have the right laws, peace and security and an enabling environment to serve our God and fulfill our purpose in life.

So how do we Develop our Self Leadership capacity?

1. Determine Your Purpose

[ictt-tweet-inline]Self Leadership is all about discovering, deploying and fulfilling your potential.[/ictt-tweet-inline] In doing so, you first must discover your “why” of existence. Let me tell you that there is no way you will lead yourself if you have no clue where you are going. Purpose provides the compass with which you navigate through the maze of life. The most self disciplined people are those who are pursuing something greater than themselves—their life purpose. So it is imperative that before you can go to that political function to tout and champion your man or woman, first find out who you are and why you are here on earth.

2. Determine What’s Not In Your Control

Self leadership dictates that you are fully aware of what is not in your control. God has built us uniquely and differently. In his book, “What’s Your Genius?” Jay Niblic gives an analogy of this uniqueness. He says that some people are “blind” in the head, others in the hands and others at the heart. This means that the gifting and talents we have are not all rounded. So it is absolutely imperative to know what you cannot do, what you should not do and what you were never meant to do in the first place. I for one was never meant to be a medic because I can’t stand blood. I can’t stand hospitals. I was never meant to be an engineer because I simply am not good at it. So I really never bother about those things. However, I am a wordsmith, I am an encourager, I am a motivator. I stick to those lanes and leave what ‘s outside of my control to others who are self leading in those areas.

3. Forge Relationships

It is imperative that we create bonds in order to mitigate areas where we are “blind”. This is our prerogative. In other words, when we discover people who passioinately complement us, we forge relationships with them. It is up to us to nurture such relationships and make them work. As we do this, in the spirit of self leadership, we need to make sure that we offer that relationship value, honesty, integrity and dependability. In fact a person with great sense of dependability is a person who is self led.

4. Plan

Self Leadership calls for planning incessantly. I have talked extensively about this portion of life. Many people have statistics about how the government spent money but have no clue about their own statistics. Planning is the prerogative of every individual. Before you go for the next political rally, make sure you have your own personal plan intact.

5. Persist Till the End

A self leader must of necessity be persistent. Why? The world is unfair. The world is fallen and dark. No matter how a motivational speaker will tell you to dwell on the good, eventually you come by a setback or it finds you where you are. The spirit of self leadership comes under serious scrutiny whenever a setback is in the offing. It is easy to start looking at the government, the wife, husband or kids to blame or for help. Ultimately God restores us all to the level that we should practice self leadership.

All in all, I believe that self leadership is the greatest weapon that we have at our disposal. Surprisingly, it is one of the greatest vacancy world wide.