The Positive And Negative Aspects Of Anger In Leadership!

On the surface, it seems that anger and leadership only mix in a dictatorial environment. While it is true that dictators, whether ministers or CEO’s, often have anger as a fault, being righteously indignant is a quality that all spiritual leaders need. A classic example of this would be when Jesus drove the money changers from the Temple with a whip. No level-headed person would overlook the fact that Jesus was angry. His anger was not sinful. It did not overrule His emotions where He lost control of His temperament. His righteous passion for the dignity of the Temple, including all of its functions, caused Him to conclusively end the deceitfulness of those who were in violation of God’s Law. Thus, He was angry at their sin. This anger led Him to serve His Heavenly Father in a constructive and holy way! Every leader of God’s people must have anger as a spoke in the wheel of their character.

Just as anger can help a man deal with a disturbing situation and keep him in the battle until the smoke clears, it can also hurt him; costing him everything. There are high stakes in this arena of anger. A hot-headed man, who is always boiling over, will not mature in character. Rather, he will regress and eventually lose the respect of those with whom God has placed into his care. Anger can behave much like a termite does in wood. On the inside, inch by inch, the core is being eaten up. After a while the signs show up on the outside. Sooner or later, the structural integrity of the building will collapse. So it is with the spiritual leader who fails to utilize anger in the right way.

Is There A Place For Humor In Leadership?

Humor is essential to sound leadership. The ability to take the edge off of a sharp comment or the acknowledgment of a failure through a tactful jest can be both helpful and befitting to those around. Serious people can learn to be funny by prayerfully maintain dignity of character, while aptly poking fun at themselves. The ability to balance jest and retain character is a fine line. Many a preacher has lost his influence by too candid of humor. Likewise, many able men of God have minimized their usefulness unknowingly by being too serious. The man of God must keep humor in his tool chest; pulling it out only when needed and promptly replacing it so as to retain sound influence.

Leaders in any forum can be helped greatly by managing a good sense of humor. Dirty jokes, foul language, and racial overtones must be avoided at all costs. Whether in the business world, barber shop, supermarket, or the local city park, all leaders must be careful to use proper etiquette. Leaders need the respect of those they are leading. If they sever that cord, then they risk loosing the momentum they had in their project, hinder the potential of their subordinates, and lose credibility. Bottom line... leaders should tastefully use humor to their advantage.

Can A Leader's Vision Be A Hindrance?

A person who is a visionary can be so caught up in the “end” that he forgets the “now”. By this I mean that a leader who has vision must be able to see “it” in the end, but be able to clear a road for people to make it there. It is true that your best leaders were those who saw things others did not. Many times, however, a leader has made the mistake of forging ahead and leaving his subordinates behind. When this happens he has ceased to be a leader, and, in effect, become a loner. A leader can turn vision into a reality, but he has to adjust for the wind. Thus, vision can create a vacuum if one is not careful to balance vision with realism.