The Message of LeadershipUddrag

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"The value of marriage is not that adults produce children but that children produce adults."
-Peter De Vries

Sometimes there are tricks of the trade that others are willing to pass on to save a little time and energy along the way. But when it comes to leading others, there aren’t any shortcuts. Take the example of raising your children. Discipline is a vital ingredient in the recipe of parenting. We all need to learn to bend to authority. That was man’s basic failure in the Garden of Eden, and we continue to make the same mistake today.

Cross-grain investors on Wall Street have made a fortune out of seeing which way the masses are moving and doing just the opposite. A leader often has the same opportunity by cutting across the grain of conventional wisdom. The masses say that discipline of our children will break their spirit, but the wise leader knows this is not the case. Discipline will make your child into the adult you want them to be.

It is not easy to say “no” to those under our authority, especially if we care about them. But their short-term gratification is not worth the long-term disappointment of a ruined life and a hardened heart.

Some of the worst failures I have seen in parenting have been committed by successful leaders who would never treat their employees so carelessly. Only God can help you do what is right and pass on a blessing to your children that will last a lifetime. Trying to take any shortcuts in this process of training will only prove to be frustrating. Dead ends often look like shortcuts, but you can’t get where you want to be by taking them.

Essential Insight 29: An effective leader knows how to manage those under his authority and has the will to do what is right for them.