Water by the gate

It takes a visionary man or woman to see mighty men and women trapped inside debtors, worthless men and women, and discontented men and women! And it takes either a visionary man or woman to see a queen on the inside of a mere orphan. Also, it takes a visionary man or woman to see a man or woman—who walks straight in a trickster. Leaders do not see people as they are; they see them as they can be. In other words, when it comes to leadership, vision is everything!

When it comes to progress, greatness, transformation and success, your capacity to follow those—who have become what you are trying to become is everything. There are many people who desire to become successful today, but they are too big to submit themselves to those who are far ahead of them, following and learning from them. There is no nation that is doing very well today that did not start by following those who were ahead of her. Taiwan, China, Korea are well known for their ability to follow and copy. Indeed, most nations that recently became “rolling in it” used the art of following. The nations that became well-heeled in the last fifty years are well known for their ability to copy. Indeed, many of their products were simply called imitations. They produced cars that were exact replicas of well-known European models. The Koreans had no shame in modeling their Daewoo cars after Opel, and the Saangyong after Mercedes Benz and the Hyundai after Toyota. Through their shameless copying they caught up and surged forward until they became leading carmakers.

In almost every field of technology and endeavor, they have caught up and surged frontward—the wealth that others could only dream of. Those who were ashamed to copy could only stand by as the masters of copying surged ahead to become millionaires, billionaires and trillionaires. This is one of the most profound secrets of success, greatness and progress I have ever seen in the midst of the earth. You want your life changed and transformed?  Then identify those who have become what you are dreaming of becoming and dependably follow them!

One of the brawny and strong evidences that one is a leader is the rock-solid capacity to make success out of losers, mighty men and women out of worthless and discontented men and women. History has it that some men were attracted to the biblical David and his exemplary leadership. They were malcontent, debtors and hollow men. But some years after, they became impressive men as an effect of David’s leadership dexterity and proficiency.

Recently, I was invited to teach some leaders and I decided to speak along this line. I asked them this simple question while teaching: “do you desire ‘the water by the gate’ when your evening time comes?” They all said: “yes!” After all of them said “yes” to my question, I took the teaching a little further by asking them some more questions: “what training are you giving your followers right now? What doors of opportunities are you opening unto them today? Is their following you moving them up the ladder of life? When I asked those questions and more, the whole hall went extremely silent. It was a soul-searching leadership session that every participant is yet to recover from.

David’s impressive men were not a bunch of foolish people, who were tired of breathing. They knew what they were doing and they knew what was at stake. They knew they were going to lose some blood. They knew they could get killed. They counted the heavy cost and they were not coerced to pay it. They were willing to do it to honor their leader, the only man who could identify with them when they were debtors; the only man who could identify with them when they were discontented. No price was too lofty to pay for David, their leader!

I remember when a rare man of honor, our own late chief Obafemi Jeremiah Awolowo moved to the land of the silent ones. When one of his followers, late Ayo Ojewumi also known as “Pen Atalata” got a wind of it, he stopped smoking immediately to honor his leader. And did not return to smoking till he also breathed his last, all because of the major role “Baba Awo” played in his life and career. You think it is easy to stop smoking suddenly? No! But “Pen Atalata” did it to honor his leader.

There is a level you’d sacrifice for those who are following your leadership that would make them want to do anything to honor you. There are some people I can go to the ends of the earth for. Why? Because of the blood (sacrifice) they have shed for me when I was trying to stand in life. They tutored me. They opened doors of opportunities for me. They equipped me with necessary tools. They taught me what I needed to know. They told me I could do it, even when it appeared that I couldn’t do it. They opened their homes to me when I was a fugitive. They allowed me wash my eyes (in the pool of what they knew) when I could not see beyond my heart-busting issues of life. They gave me their shoulders to cry on and lean on. They are my own “David” and I have become a “mighty man” to them. And as long as I am alive, they can never lack honor, “the water by the gate.”

As I begin to coast home today, I want you to be sincere with yourself and ask yourself these honest questions: “am I really leading those who are dependably and faithfully following my leadership?” Are they still what they used to be when they began to follow my leadership ten years ago or they have moved higher in every sphere of life? Do they have a voice as a people? Have they become potent men in every sphere of life? If the answer is yes to these questions and more, then when your ‘night-time’ comes, you will not be ‘thirsty.’

See you where great leaders are found!