Fola Daniel Adelesi: Leadership for Personal Gains

Leadership is a desirable thing for so many. Some have a good reason to desire a leadership position, and there are those who just want it because of their personal benefits. Some people just want to be in the leadership position because of the gains – power and money.
Maybe some other countries have not made leadership positions or political offices look so desirable but I think too many countries have done so. Now people are seeking positions not really because they want to lead but because they want to make money and get connected. They want to be able to influence decisions to their favour.

If you are going to lead you must understand that leadership comes with a lot of sacrifices. If you really understand what leadership is all about, then you will see that the sacrifices are more important that the gains. When you go into leadership just because of the gains it is likely you won’t do anything but steal from the people you are supposed to lead.

It is so unfortunate when people think that they can go into leadership as a way out of poverty. Those who think that leadership is an escape route out of poverty will always leave their people in poverty. When they get the leadership position they will not think about others but their pockets alone.

If you are ready for leadership then I take it to mean that you are ready for a lot of sacrifices to be made for the people. I will give an example of leadership positions in the religious circles first and then look into some others. I know so many people who desire to lead religious bodies today because they think that you can make a lot of money form the donations of the people.

While there are those doing that, I have also seen proof of the fact that some of those who are making a lot of money today are those who used to give a lot and still give a lot. I have seen some church leaders who are the ones practically feeding some members of their churches. Every single service, people will come to them and ask for money and they will always give this people money from their own pockets and not the church account.

Those watching from outside dont know the sacrifices that these leaders have made from the days when they had nothing. Now that they have their harvest people think it will be nice to get into leadership so that they can also make money.
In political leadership as well, we all can see that there is no great political leader who has not given so much to his or her country before the country begins to think about giving back to such people. When people live in State houses even after they are no longer in leadership, it is because they have done what needs to be done.

The opposite is what you see in most cases today. Someone gets into a leadership position today and the only thing they can think about is how to send their entire family abroad, buy up houses, buy the latest cars and use their powers to get the best jobs for their relatives. They finish their tenure and shamelessly come to the public to ask for a second term to continue the good works they have started. When you hear that, you start wondering what they mean by good works.

We need real leaders and I dare you to become one. A leader who sees that leadership is more about the vision that needs to be achieved and the welfare of the people. You have to look beyond the gains of leadership and look more at making things happen for other people. I agree that there will be some serious gains in some leadership position, but you should not look at leadership just because of what you will gain.
Those who aspire for leadership because of personal gains alone will soon fizzle out, but those who lead because of a cause or a vision will stay longer on the leadership scene and in the minds of the people. Lead for the cause and not for the gains.

Photo Credit: Dreamstime | Hugo Felix