WE must not lose patience and kind consideration for the people, as some so- called leaders have done - killing citizens mindlessly to retain themselves in power.

What is the cardinal lesson of servant leadership? It is that if we desire positive change, we simply have to become the change. As we do, the force of our personality, in the help of the Holy Spirit, will influence the needed change around us. Dear reader, maybe our nation has not changed much because those of us who bear leadership responsibility have not changed first of all! When our Lord wanted to deal with vain ambition and pride amongst the disciples, what did he do? He modeled humil~ty and selflessness.

When he wanted to teach them servant Ieaders’hip, he picked a towel. What about me? What about you?

And that brings us to the issue of mentoring. We must transit from being lords over our people and/ or staff to beirig their mentors. A shepherd does not only stay in front, he shows the way. He guides.

Exemplary leadership demands that you maintain a mentoring relationship with as many as possible of your followers, while remaining a source of inspiration to all those you cannot personally interface with. Today in Nigeria, our people (especially our young ones) need good examples to follow. Where are those examples? If we stand as such examples, and make a positive impact upon them, we shall not only enhance their chances of success as integrate personalities and positive contributors to national development, we shall at the same time deepen our own relevance as leaders. Are you a good example for those coming behind?

For us as Christians, biblical mentoring is concerned essentially with assisting a person to recognize and respond to the prompting of God’s Spirit, so that the mind and power of Christ may govern all a person does in order to arrive at the goals to which God is leading him or her. It is about enabling another ‘person to live and keep in step with the Spirit of God (Gal 5:25). It then means that the mentor must listen to God too. You are not forming people into your own mould; but into that which God has planned for them. It takes humility to help people in the direction that God has for their lives; even when doing that will diminish .our control of (or benefit derived from) them. But that is what a good mentor or servant
leader does. True leaders liberate people into their destinies; they do not keep them in bondage so that they can remain “useful” at the next elections.

Great movements and great nations have grown on the wings of quality leadership; and many of them have faded into oblivion on account of shortage of quality succession.