Are You Becoming a Leader or a Tyrant?

Initially: God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; … Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and every living creature that moves on the ground.

Later on: God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; … The fear and dread of you will fall on all the animals. – God’s Blessings

Many folks love to see themselves as leaders. Unfortunately, when the word, leader, is mentioned their minds paints the picture of what is actually not leadership. This is a picture of someone who is feared and revered by his “followers”.

For this leader only his opinion matters. Whatever he says is final. He is never wrong. At times when he is most obviously wrong the standards are simply changed to accommodate his misdoing. From him emanates the unspoken statement which says, “Do what I say but forget about what I do.”

You see this leader in every sphere of life. Yes, he is that religious cleric in your mind whose word is the unchallengeable word of God. He is the father whose children run in panic when they hear the sound of his motor car revving close to the house. He is the business owner who does not need his worker’s opinion because they are not part of his family. He is that Head of State who seeks your listening ears with pleas for your vote but does not incline his ears to listen to you any more until another election season.

Unfortunately for all these people, they are not leaders but tyrants. A leader is not respected because he is feared. He is feared because he is respected. This second fear is not that which cripples but which empowers. It is given willfully by the followers and not gotten by coercion.

It really does not matter in what area you are leading – whether it is being a father, business owner, governor of a state, or a class monitor – you should not be feared! True followership is never gotten where fear exists. In case you are wondering how to know if you are genuinely respected or merely feared, ask yourself this question: If I were not the leader will I still be respected?