Spirit of Leadership

THE SPIRIT OF LEADERSHIP The Impact of Intrapersonal Attitude on Interpersonal Attitude

Often, whatever you believe about yourself, you will believe about other people. In the fifth and last book by Moses, we find these words: “Love the L ORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” Jesus Christ, the ultimate leader, repeated this statement when he was asked, in effect, “What is the most important duty of all mankind?” He replied that the command to love God is the first and greatest commandment, and that the second is exactly like it: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” We’ve missed the fact that this is a leadership statement. If you consider his words carefully, he wasn’t telling us to love our neighbors first. He was saying, in effect, that we have to love ourselves first because we can love our neighbors only to the degree that we love ourselves. Y OU CANNOT GIVE SIGNIFICANCE IF YOU DON ’ T ALREADY HAVE IT . Therefore, a healthy intrapersonal relationship is a pre requisite for effective interpersonal relationships. Your attitude toward me is a reflection of your attitude toward yourself. This means that if we don’t get our attitudes toward ourselves right, then we’re going to have the wrong attitudes when interact ing with others. It is imperative that leaders possess a healthy, wholesome love for themselves first in order to lead others effectively. The command to “Love the L ORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” has to do with discovering the nature of the Creator. If you

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