NURTURE YOUR GIFT DILLIGENTLY

On the path of winners

By Bayo Ogunmupe

Nurture your gift diligently

13th February, 2013

         Good leaders have intuition. They see where others don’t. We all fall into various intuition levels.        

There are those who will never see it. Making these people leaders is like putting square pegs in a round hole, when someone is gifted as a subordinate it is a mistake to put them into leadership roles. Besides, every orchestra needs a good second fiddle we’re only responsible for the gifts God gives us, not the ones we want, or others think we should have. 

There are those nurtured to see it. Those folks have the raw materials, they just need to be mentored famous leadership expert, John Maxwell points out that the ability to think like a leader is informed intuition. They just need people to inform, instruct and inspire them and they will become great leaders. The truth is that without Intuition you are condemned to be blindfolded all your life.

        

         Indeed, there are those who naturally see it. These are those born with true leadership gift, they instinctively understand people and know how to move people around, “if a man’s gift is leadership, let him govern diligently.” Romans 12:6.

        

         The trait most critical to leadership is courage. One, it takes courage to face the truth about yourself. Two, it takes courage to change when staying as you are feels more comfortable. If you are willing to leave your comfort zone, step out in faith and follow God, you will be tested. But you also reach heights you thought were beyond you.  Moreover you will go further than others who possess greater talent than you

         Three it takes courage to stand for your conviction, the American philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “Whatever you do, you need courage.” Whenever Nehemiah’s enemies threatened him he said,  “Should a man like me run away? I will not,” Nehemiah 6:11. As a result he built the walls of Jerusalem in a record 52 days and got a book in the bible named after him.

         Four, courage usually involves getting it wrong before you get it right. It is easy to be brave where you are strong. General Omar Bradley remarked: “Bravery is the capacity to perform properly, even when scared half to death.” Courage always takes the high road. When we keep score of wrongs committed against us, we reveal a lack of maturity. The most important ingredient of success is knowing how to get along with people. If you want to succeed, then practice forgiving.  Remember, committing an injury puts you below your enemy; taking revenge makes you with him; forgiving him sets you above.

        

         Paul writes; Act with courage, every detail works to your advantages”, 2Cornthians 4:5. Any time we want to move forward obstacles are going to get in the way. HG wells asked, “What on earth would a man do with himself if something didn’t stand in his way”? But adversity is our friend even though it doesn’t feel that way. Each obstacle we overcome teaches us about our strengths and weaknesses. It shapes us, makes us wiser and more courageous. The greatest people rose to the occasion by facing the most difficult challenges with courage.

                  That was certainly true of Winston Churchill. In his book, American Scandal, Pat Williams writes about Churchill’s last month. He says in 1964, President David Eisenhower went to visit the Former British Prime Minister; Eisenhower sat by the bold-spirited leader’s bed for a period of time, neither speaking. After 10 minutes, Churchill slowly raised his hand and painstakingly made the V for victory sign which he had so often flashed to the British people during World War II. Eisenhower, fighting back tears, pulled his chair back, stood up saluted him and left the room. To his aide out in the hallway, Eisenhower said, “I just said goodbye to Winston, but you never say farewell to courage.”

         Another attitude of men of courage is modesty. It is the way of Jehovah to diminish the full and enlarge the modest. It is the way of earth to overthrow the full and replenish the modest. God brings down disaster on the full and bless the modest. It is the way of man to hate the full and love the modest.

          Humility displayed in a position of honour, increase the radiance of that honour, displayed in a lowly position, men will not seek to brush it aside.

         Therefore, the champion encounters good fortune in all his undertakings.

         Our champion for today is Thomas Crombie Schelling the American economist and co-winner along with Robert Aumann of the 2005 Nobel Memorial Prize in economics. Schelling gained the award for having enhanced our understanding of conflict and cooperation through games theory analysis.

         He was born to John Schelling and Zelda Ayres in Oakland, California in April 1921. Thomas Schelling graduated in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley in 1944 and received his PhD in Economics from Harvard University in 1951. He served with the Marshall Plan in Europe; the White House and in the Executive Office of President from 1948 to 1953 He wrote his dissertation on the US national income behavior while in Europe.

         Thereafter he joined the Yale University economics faculty and in 1958 Harvard appointed him professor of economics. In 1969 he joined the staff of John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. And for 20 years he taught at Kennedy School as Littauer professor of Political Economy.

In 1993 Schelling gained an award for Behavior Research. Relevant to the Prevention of Nuclear War,

         Schelling was married to Corinne Saposs from 1947 to 1991, with whom he had four sons. His marriage to second wife, Alice Coleman occurred later in 1991.

         Schelling published, The Strategy of Conflict in 1960, Arms and Influence in 1969 and 1971, Schelling published articles dealing with racial dynamics which he termed a general theory of tipping. This dynamics has been cited as explanations that are found as meaningful differences Schelling has been involved in the Global warming debate since chairing a Commission for President Jimmy Carter in 1980. He believes climate change poses a serious threat to developing nations. He has argued that global warming is a bargaining problem, if we are able to reduce emission, poor countries will receive the benefits, but rich countries will bear the costs, Schelling is still alive and kicking at 92.