To influence others, I heard that it all starts and ends in the hearts of men. To get the best results from and with followers and fellow leaders, we are taught that we home in on their hearts first. This sounds simple indeed but nothing could be more accurate.
I once heard about the three main reasons why people obey God. One reason I heard was our fear of getting whacked by that unseen Father who sees everything bad that we do and knows even our most secret and rotten of thoughts! The second reason I heard was that we obey because we are expecting some ‘heavenly handouts’ called blessings like food, money, and more money. We want good things from God so we obey. The third reason for obedience is simply because we like God. We love God! We obey with willing hearts!
True enough, whether it is God’s favor we want or whether we want another human being’s favor, one’s obedience, one’s following somebody else’ leadership or one’s decision to fall in behind a movement , is done best after we have influenced the hearts of the people we try to lead. One wise person put it this way: In leadership or in the arena of leading, one has to gain the people’s hearts first before he can expect their heads and hands to come and follow. Additionally, the wise guys have told me that if we think we are leading and no one is following, we are simply taking a walk!
People will only go so far and obey under threats and intimidation. Sooner or later a leadership under an oppressive and dictatorial setting will find opposition and even rebellion. The influence of ‘handouts’ are just as passing as their significance in the minds of people fade out. But win their hearts and people will follow sometimes even to their deaths. Amazing influence indeed!
Enter the past and present leadership in the history of the world and the principle of influence above holds true. Jesus Christ did not use swords to lead or influence people. He used something quite different from the usual leaders of his day. He has millions of followers today, two thousand years later and the number continues to grow. Mother Teresa used the same things. Both won their subjects’ hearts without question. We can safely assume that for years to come she will have followers and admirers just as Jesus Christ does.
Napoleon Bonaparte, who conquered a large portion of the world during his day, used the sword to spread his sphere of influence. It is said that when he was in exile after his defeat and alone, he mused and wrote about the fact that his ‘followers’ were all gone but yet ‘this Jesus’ still had millions following him. Hitler whose brand of influence attracted men of his own kind, rose and fell like a ton of brick. He led his nation to destruction. Indeed he influenced the hearts of men whose objectives were just as evil as his.
Leaders come , leaders go. The ones who leave lasting legacies and are greatly admired are the ones who have mastered the routes that lead to people’s hearts.
Looking at our own landscape of national leadership , we clearly see the three distinct routes that our leaders take. The Motherland has sadly been ruled by those that tried to influence their subjects by way of worldly and material rewards. It is still the influence peddler of the day. It is still king.
A new day is slowly dawning upon our landscape however. We see new leaders who strive to spread their wings of influence by the sheer purity of their love for the Motherland, their love for the people they serve. These new breed of leadership will surely find their place in history. They will be known to be those that dared to turn the tides. They will be remembered long after you and I are gone as the men and women who touched the hearts of even the smallest citizens of the land. These are the leaders that I see are slowly filling up our landscape. And you and I do not have to be sitting in a lofty position in order to lead and to get to the hearts of those around us. Indeed, one can win people’s hearts from the lowliest and humblest positions we may find ourselves in today.
Remember, it is he who touches the hearts that delivers the best and lasting influence .
Joe Joson
