The Value of The Leader You Want to Be in Other Leadership Contexts

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In a preceding article I have entitled “The Context '' I allude to the fact that The Leader You Want to Be is deliberately targeted at a niche Anglican Church market. I suggest that there are leadership lessons for everyone who is a leader in non-religious contexts. In this article, I want to expound on the relevance of the book in these non-religious contexts in which the lessons in the book are easily transferable.

Firstly, I explain the purpose of the book as a guide to assist in the induction and orientation of new leaders. Induction and orientation are indeed processes that should occur whenever there is a handover from the outgoing to an incoming team of leaders. If this is not being done in your organisation, I can guarantee you that it is not growing at a pace that you would want, and there is no building on the previous leaders’ work.

Second, is the truism that certain segments of society revolve on the shoulders of volunteers. In my book, I write about how the church is heavily reliant on volunteers who bring their talents, gifts and time to keep it sustainable. Sport governing bodies at local, regional, national, continental and international levels are able to conduct their business because of volunteers. Society is also permeated by many non-profit organisations (NPO), and non-profit companies (NPC) that are reliant on volunteers. In the NPOs and NPCs, work gets done through volunteers working under the guidance of constitutions, rules, regulations, and other guidelines that have been identified by the members as their governance policies. Just as the Anglican Church relies on its Constitution and Canons, and Rules of a Diocese, so do other NPOs and NPCs achieve good governance, and effective leadership and management using the instruments available to them. In addition to these instruments (constitutions, rules and regulations), there is also King IV Report, Nonprofit Organisations Act 71 of 1997, the Independent Code of Governance for Non-Profit Organisations in South Africa was introduced (2012) which sets out principles, values and responsibilities intended to guide and inform the way civil society organisations are managed and conduct their affairs, and provides a standard or measure to assess the performance, and guide members of governing boards, and others who carry responsibility for governance.

In both instances of the church on one hand, and NPOs and NPCs on the other, there are parallels relating to the governance, leadership and management expected by members. There is also a sense of one being called into a vocation because a person who thus accepts the call must show commitment and a consciousness to work and give of their time and talents without compromise. As I have advised in the previous article,

“nothing but the best is good enough,” and that “every job is a portrait of the person who did it… Make yours a masterpiece.”

So, if you want to learn how to lead better so that what you do is a masterpiece, get the book and read it. Sooner than later, you will begin to do all that you decide to do, with extraordinary skills. John Ruskin’s words of encouragement that “when love and skill work together, expect a masterpiece. Therefore, you must commit to the vocation you have been called to, love it, use all your skills and talents, and there will be your masterpiece.