INTRODUCTION: PASSING IT ON

Genesis chapter 1






Today we are walking in: Introduction: Passing It On






Today we look to the word-LEADER- H5057 nagiyd-- leader, ruler, captain, prince; excellent thing, (chief) governor, leader, noble, prince, (chief) ruler.







The Torah Testifies.............................

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The prophets proclaim...............







Isaiah 55:4 - Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader H5057 and commander to the people.


















The writings bear witness.............







2Chronicles 32:21 - And the LORD sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders H5057 and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he was come into the house of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels slew him there with the sword








Passing It On
Introduction
The Lions


TEN THOUSAND PEOPLE rose to their feet, filling the convention center in the quaint South African city of Bloemfontein with thunderous applause on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. I had just completed three days of motivational and inspirational training sessions with one of the largest multilevel- marketing distribution companies on the continent of Africa. My host, Charlie, the president of the company, hugged me with a deep expression of appreciation as he asked, “Dr. Munroe, how would you like to spend a few extra days here in Africa and go on a safari cruise?” I had no idea what he meant, but I was ready to take a break and experience an adventure.


“Of course I would,” I answered. Thus began one of the most memorable vacations I ever could imagine. The next morning a driver picked us up and took us to a marina where we boarded a forty-foot yacht. On board, a pleasant, middle-aged man greeted us and introduced himself as our captain and cook. Just my wife, two other couples, and I would take the journey along a river that ran through five southern African states, including Zambia, Zimbabwe, and South Africa, for a five-day safari through wild country. I was excited as I thought of all the National Geographic episodes I had seen on television. I was about to embark on a similar experience in reality.


After settling in, we began cruising up river, astonished by the untouched beauty of nature and the virgin forest filled with birds, reptiles, and other animals in their natural habitat. The captain, perched in his seat high above the cabin, pointed out the many species of animals and plants, warning us of the dangers surrounding us and emphasizing that we must not leave the boat at any time during the trip. The whole setting excited me, waking up the sleeping child inside of me. It was a boyhood dream come true.

Suddenly, I heard a blood-chilling sound coming from the bush on the right side of the river. It was like nothing I had ever heard. Animals and birds became restless and began moving nervously about, responding with their own sounds. We were also uneasy and asked the undisturbed captain what that sound was. He simply responded, “They are going to make a kill tonight.” Then he explained that the sound came from a pride of lions organizing for the hunt.


My heart started racing and my palms sweating as I felt the adrenaline rushing through my body. It was as if I were going to join the lions for the kill. I asked the captain if we could observe the action, and he indicated that he would try to position the boat so we could watch the unfolding drama of nature in safety. By now the sleeping child within me was wide-awake! Could you imagine having front-row seats to a lion kill?


The sun was about to set as a family of elephants who were obviously the target of the lions emerged from the bush. These giants of the animal kingdom began to trumpet warnings to each other as they moved like tractors through the trees and grass, which fell like twigs in their wake. Like ghosts, the masters of the wild appeared from nowhere—lions, the majestic cats that rule the world of animals. I had seen them in still pictures, movies, and television documentaries, but here they were in real life, in real time, with real power, about to prove their kingship.


Everyone on board grabbed their cameras and focused on the lions and the elephants, but I noticed something—a lioness holding two cubs in her mouth, gently carrying them to a small mound, and setting them under a tree not far from the action. One by one, she placed them in full sight of the elephants and the rest of the pride. My first reaction to was to think, “What is she doing? She is placing them in danger, exposing them to the force and authority of some of the most powerful creatures on earth.”


However, I was about to observe one of the most valuable lessons I would ever learn as I wondered about this aloud to the captain. “Why is she doing that?”
The captain quietly answered, “She wants to make sure they see everything.”


I was confused. In the midst of all this danger and power, why would she want to make sure they saw it? The captain, noticing my bewilderment, eased my confused mind, showing me not only why the lion is the king and ruler of the animal kingdom, but also why it has been a successful leader for so long. In fact, the secret to the longevity of the leadership legacy of the king of beasts was in that act of the lioness placing those delicate, little cubs on the mound under the tree to watch. The purpose of this act was to teach the cubs how to hunt by allowing them to observe those who had mastered the art. The lioness teaches by example.


This was the lesson leaders of humankind fail to learn or even consider. This was the lesson of mentoring and the art of preparing for succession. The lions did not leave the continuity of their pride’s leadership supremacy up to chance, but rather carried out an intentional, planned, purposeful program for transfer of power and skills to the next generation of leaders.


I sat there in the African bush staring at the solution to most of the leadership challenges of that continent and the world—mentoring and training successors intentionally. I thought of all the coups, dictatorships, infighting, suspicion, and distrust among leaders, especially in developing countries. I saw on the mound under the tree the answer to unstable governments and broken economies. There, staring me in the face, was the least-practiced art of leadership. There, in the wilds of this great continent, was the lesson of leadership that inspired the research that resulted in the birth of this series.


The greatest act of leadership is mentoring. No matter how much you may learn, achieve, accumulate, or accomplish, if it all dies with you, then you are a generational failure. The act and art of mentoring are the manifestations of the highest level of maturity and self-confidence. The spirit of insecurity, low self-esteem, poor self-concept, and devalued self-worth always will focus on self-preservation and self-protection—a defensive perspective in life. This spirit of insecurity breeds the attitude of fear, suspicion, and distrust. These words describe the mind-set of many of the leaders serving in our governments, political parties, corporations, departments, religious organizations, churches, families, and civic organizations.


When many people rise to positions of power, influence, notoriety, and celebrity in our society, because they lack the character and maturity necessary to manage that power effectively, their first order of business is to secure their position, extinguish any opposition, and erect a defense mechanism that others would not dare violate. They see colleagues as enemies and partners as competitors. This creates an atmosphere of schism, friction, suspicion, distrust, and low productivity. Individuals with this attitude toward power and position never will mentor others and actually see the prospect of mentoring as personally unwise and threatening to their own survival.


This lack of willingness, desire, understanding, and interest in mentoring is the greatest curse and weakness of our twenty-first century leaders. The majority of leaders at the controls of our political machinery, economic empires, and massive social or religious structures all seem to be preoccupied with protecting their occupational lives and not their generational legacies. We need leaders who think more of the next generation and not merely of the next position in the organization. We need leaders who feel they owe a debt to the future and who are committed and willing to securing it by intentionally preparing the future stewards of our world. We need leaders who are more dedicated to history than they are to money. We need leaders more interested in investing in people than in pursuing private ambition.


The highest manifestation of true leadership is to identify one’s replacement and to begin mentoring him or her. Life is really a generational relay with each succeeding generation responsible for passing the baton safely to the next with all the distilled knowledge, experience, and wisdom intact. All leaders should strive to execute their duties, reach milestones, achieve major progress, and fulfill the vision for their families, businesses, corporations, ministries, and nations. However, they also should work to produce the next generation of leaders who will value, protect, preserve, and build on those achievements.


Too many times we have seen great works, sacrifice, and hard-fought victories squandered and devalued by the irresponsible, insensitive abusive acts of a succeeding generation of leaders who have little or no appreciation for the blood, sweat, and tears expended by those of the former generation. Should the new leaders bear the blame for this abuse of history, or should we place the blame at the feet of the former leaders who failed to prepare, sensitize, and mentor future leaders? Should we consider failure to mentor the next generation of leaders generational suicide? Could it be a divine paradox that the very word succession comes from the root success?


The most important responsibility of leadership is to prepare for succession. The most valuable goal of leadership is not to succeed in the present, but to secure the future. You are only truly successful in leadership if your accomplishments and achievements are preserved and perpetuated for posterity. It is not what leaders achieve that counts. It is what they transfer. Building people to protect and preserve our institutions is more important than building institutions.


Leading beyond your leadership is the ultimate accomplishment of true leadership. No matter how great your accomplishments may be, if they die with you, then you are a failure.


Therefore, the greatest obligation of true leadership is to transfer your deposit to the next generation. Leadership success is measured by the success of your successor. It takes a lifetime to accumulate the knowledge, wisdom, skills, insights, and experience that make you an outstanding leader. It would be a tragedy to see the wealth of that life deposited in some cemetery and marked only by a tombstone, which can speak to no one.


True leaders must focus on investing in people more than buildings. Their priority should be to make deposits in the banks of human spirits and souls, not just in the financial institutions of Wall Street and Switzerland. Mentoring a successor is the most valuable investment a leader can make because it could guarantee preservation of all the other investments. Losing a lifetime of leadership achievement to an unprepared generation is the highest violation of leadership responsibility. It is imperative that mentoring successors becomes as much of a priority as fulfilling vision. In essence, a vision is only successful if it is durable.


Be ever mindful that you are a link in a long chain of purpose that was designed to fulfill the divine desire of the Creator. Thus, life is not about you, but it is about preparation for the next phase.


History is replete with sad stories of great leaders who accomplished outstanding social, economic, military, political, or spiritual feats only to witness an unprepared succeeding leadership dismantle most of what they spent a lifetime laboring to create. It is a true tragedy to see one generation’s work destroyed, ignored, or devalued by the one that followed.


I am certain that every leader throughout history desired to see a vision, work, programs, projects, mission, and passion continued beyond his or her tenure. No generation wants its hard-fought leadership success to be swallowed up in a whirlwind of neglect, insensitivity, and lack of appreciation for the sacrifice expended on that achievement.


We must mentor! No greater measure of leadership success exists than the ability to protect, preserve, and transfer the accomplishments of the present leadership to the next generation. This is the heart of the principle of succession and must be a priority in our twenty-first century leadership challenge. This series is about this challenge, and I invite you to join the adventure and the journey. It is my hope that this series will inspire and equip you to think beyond your own leadership and motivate you to leave a legacy, not in institutions or on tombstones, but in people. May you always remember that your success depends on your successors.
-Dr. Myles Munroe