Three Ingredients Needed To Build Leadership Trust By Alex Afriyie

 

Why did Boris lose his position as the Prime Minister of Great Britain? Boris Johnson had the biggest conservative majority since 1985.

He was popular even with those who didn't normally vote Conservative. He was admired for a number of accomplishments like getting Brexit done and introducing the vaccine early in the UK.

So what was the problem?

Aristotle talks about three things being important for winning an argument.

1) Logos (LOGIC)- Your argument needs to be logical. People need to see that what you are saying and doing makes sense. I think people could see that with Boris. Even if they didn't initially agree with him on something like Brexit, they could see it made sense to be strong and stand up for Britain and get rid of European regulation and get good trade deals for the country. People also supported his leadership in defending Ukraine. Jesus is described as the logos (John 1: 1) who created everything at the beginning and holds everything together with his divine logic (Word) and who is in fact God.

2) Pathos (EMOTION) - Your argument needs to make people feel something. They need to feel the anger of a cause with you, or sympathy for your point of view or even envy for what you are promoting. Boris also had the ability to win people through his open, humorous and enthusiastic way of speaking. He also related well to ordinary people by visiting them in their workplaces and wearing their uniforms. We are told the logos (the word) became flesh and dwelt among us. God related to us in Jesus. People could and we can connect with him.

3) Ethos (VALUES) - This is about values. You have to be trusted. That you are a person of integrity. You mean what you say and you say what you mean. This I think is where Boris failed.

People stopped believing what he was saying. Although many in his own party liked him and tried to defend him on numerous occasion it became obvious that he was liar. This meant he was a liability.

His party knew that even though his arguments were logical and people could connect emotionally with what he was promoting they just wouldn't trust him because his words and actions were not congruent. 

It is exactly the opposite with Jesus the logos (Word) made flesh. People beheld his glory, full of grace and truth, full of integrity.

CONCLUSION

It will be interesting to see who wins the Conservative leadership race and becomes the next Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Will it be Rushi Sunak or Liz Trust? Who will win the arguments and be most convincing in terms of logic, pathos and ethos?

Bear this in mind when you are leading others: Are you making sense in their eyes (logos)? Are you connecting with them emotionally (pathos)? And are you someone who can be trusted by them (ethos)? WWJD - Ask yourself What Would Jesus Do as a leader?

Photo by Alex Motoc on Unsplash

Theme For 2022 - Enlarge The Place of Your Tent

In 2022 we are sensing that God is speaking to us about 'Enlarging The Place of Our Tent' (Isaiah 54: 2). This means God is calling us each as the people of God to our full capacity; we might not know what that is or how we can get there but because God is saying it, He will do it.

This is about stepping out in faith even if we feel we don't have the energy or resources (Isaiah 54: 1). Good examples of this are Jesus with the feeding of the 5000 (Matthew 14: 13 - 21). 'You give them something to eat', Jesus said. But the disciples  only had 5 loaves and 2 fish from a small boys lunch. Or the widow who was about to get her children taken away because of a debt. Elijah asked her to find containers so God could fill them with oil so she could pay off her debt (2 Kings 4: 1 - 7).

This year God is saying to us that we are to move in actions of faith, where we stretch our capacity and He will meet the need. He will supply the emotional or physical strength. The Lord will supply the materials or finances needed. He will supply the relationships needed and the spiritual strength. All we need to do is offer what we have to him and he will increase our capacity. 

What Do We Need To Do?

We will need to be obedient to Jesus; the obedience of faith is key (Romans 1: 5). It's not about lots of self-effort or 'virtue signalling' but being governed by the Spirit of God (Romans 8: 14). As King Saul discovered, obedience is better than sacrifice (1 Samuel 15: 22).

As we engage with God and strengthen our tent pegs, by rooting them firmly in Christ we will see ourselves flourishing (Isaiah 54: 2). This does not mean things won't be hard or traumatic but it does mean we will see God bring about His purposes, His provision and increase, supernaturally. He is El Shaddai - God Almighty - the 'All Sufficient One', He is our Husband, our Maker (Is 54: 5) and He won't abandon us.

However, this will be a walk of faith. As the disciples and the widow had to offer what they had in the boys lunch and jar containers, so we have to make available what we have; our time, talent and treasure so God can increase them supernaturally.

So let's not hold back our hearts from God this year because He will increase our capacity and cause us to change the world as we pray, share his gospel, disciple new believers and serve Him and His world.

I truly believe the church, God's people, you and me, are the hope for our troubled world. So we need to lead the way in 2022 to demonstrate God's power, truth and steadfast love.

As Archbishop Desmond Tutu (who has just died) once said, 'Do your little bit of good where you are; it's those little bits of good put together that overwhelm the world.'

Like the heroes of faith that have gone before us and seen great change; Susanna and Charles Wesley, Charles Spurgeon,  Billy Graham, Desmond Tutu; we too can see transformation as we enlarge the place of our tent, our capacity.