The readers of this magazine should become LEADERS!
Do you have the capacity to inspire — to influence — to lead others for good?
Here are vital KEYS to building a powerful and effective personality — and to making your life more abundant!
SOME fifteen years ago, my boss ordered me and a partner to make a long and grueling trip back to the head office — immediately! We were already tired and sleepy from the long and difficult road trip we had been making. But now, just when we hoped to slow down and rest a while, we were ordered to drive over a thousand miles within the next thirty-six hours.
An important meeting was to be held, and we were to be there.
All the way back, I became more conscious than ever of how tired we really were. As we groggily rolled over plain and desert, I began to feel more and more sorry for myself. Sure, he wanted us back for an important meeting — and I should have been flattered that he did — but all I could think about was how tired I felt, and how he had insisted that we start back "immediately."
"Doesn't he know how tired we are?" I muttered to myself. "Can't he realize that an extra day or two wouldn't make all that much difference — besides, we're so tired we might get in a wreck and be KILLED!" I thought.
Exhausted, sweaty and with tousled hair and two nights' growth of beard from our long "straight-through" drive, we stalked into the building to check in and to find out when and where the meeting was to be held that afternoon. I walked a little stiffly, with set jaw and a chip on my shoulder.
They said the boss was coming, so we waited for a few minutes in the hallway. Soon we heard him coming around the corner.
The Boss Appears
"Hi, fellows!" the familiar voice boomed out with resounding warmth and enthusiasm. "Boy! It's good to see you guys here!" He gripped my hand warmly and put another friendly hand on my shoulder. "I know you're tired, but you look great. This meeting would just not have been the same without you fellows being here. Say, I really appreciate your driving straight through the night to get here in time! I think I'll line up a long weekend recuperation period over at a very special resort I know about as soon as this meeting is over. It'll all be on me. How about it?"
"Oh, that's all right, sir," I found myself saying, "It wasn't so bad a trip, and we're sure glad to be back here on the job again."
The warmth in his voice and his smile, the sincere love and concern in his eyes and manner — it melted me like butter out under a tropical sun!
"Yes, me," I thought to myself later as I was alternately puzzled and glad at the sudden, unforeseen shift in my entire mood upon encountering the boss. For — as a former Golden Gloves boxing champion — I had thought I was "tough."
What changed my attitude so VIOLENTLY — SO suddenly?
It was simply the force of a sincere, dynamic and powerful PERSONALITY. It was the boss's personality. And, as I have realized more with each passing year, that personality is at least one of the important reasons why he became the "boss" over a large and growing organization!!
Now, what about you? Do you know the "keys" or the building blocks of this kind of personality?
What Kind of LEADER Are You?
A new age is coming. And the right kind of LEADERS are going to be needed. Those who have proved the Word of God — who know that the Bible says what it means, and means what it says — realize that Christians are now in training to be those leaders. Notice Revelation 2:26, 27: "And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations: And he shall RULE them with a rod of iron . . ."
Again: "To him, that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my father in his throne" (Rev. 3:21). And Jesus directly promised the twelve apostles: "I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; that ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging [RULING] the twelve tribes of Israel" (Luke 22:29-30).
But in the World Tomorrow, as today, you can either lead people, or you can DRIVE them. You can cause them to want to follow you, or you can MAKE them.
Which is it going to be?
When Jesus spoke, the people were warmed and inspired. The jealous, bickering religious leaders of His day were fearful lest the whole nation begin to follow Him (John 11:48). His teaching and His personality had a profound effect on people. His disciples remarked: "Did not our hearts BURN within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?" (Luke 24:32)
Here are those "keys" Jesus had — five of them — to help build a powerful personality — the personality of a KING.
I. Develop an Outgoing Interest and Warmth for Others
What is the thing that strikes you most about those who easily win your love and respect?
Chances are, it is the sincere warmth and affection they show. It may be the light in their eyes or their smile. It will often include the pleasant, friendly sound of their voice. For people who possess a great deal of personal charm really "like" their fellow human beings and are genuinely interested in them.
Learning to love and enjoy others — to "give" of yourself to them in personal relations is certainly the foremost key to building a radiant personality. Jesus Christ — the greatest personality of all times — stated this universally applicable spiritual principle: "It is more blessed to GIVE than to receive" (Acts 20:35).
If you can sincerely learn to share your warmth, your love, your plans, hopes and dreams with others — to "give" kindness, encouragement and a sense of being loved and appreciated to them — you will build bonds of friendship that will endure many a trial. And you yourself will be the one most blessed in the end.
All of us should learn to SMILE more! We should put more warmth and enthusiasm in our voices and in our handshakes. We should build a sincere feeling of empathy or "at-oneness" with our fellowmen—having THEIR welfare and THEIR happiness at heart as much as our own.
Sincere LOVE is the Basis
Remember that sincere LOVE is one of the rarest of commodities in this fighting, squabbling, envious, fiercely competitive world of ours. Several years ago, the Reader's Digest magazine ran a magnificent article entitled, "The Awesome Power of Human Love." It described case histories — based on hundreds of other similar cases — showing that only a half century ago the MAJORITY of infant children admitted to hospitals and children's institutions never emerged alive! Gradually, they found that if a young child were picked up, amused and "mothered" several times a day, his chances of survival were dramatically increased.
The article concludes: "Scientists are today discovering that to live as if live and love were one is an indispensable condition — because this is the way of life which the innate nature of man demands."
Yes, to live is to LOVE! And — within the guidelines expressed by the Ten Commandments — you can never give away too much love.
The Proverbs state: "A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: But a broken spirit drieth the bones" (Prov. 17:22). This inspired statement shows the powerful effect of a happy, positive frame of mind not only on one's self, but on others as well.
"A man that hath friends must show himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother" (Prov. 18:24). To inspire love and loyalty in your friends and associates, GIVE of these qualities yourself in a spontaneous, wholehearted and sincere manner.
This quality of outgoing interest and warmth toward others is the BASIS for the type of personal charm and magnetism we all desire. It is, of course, based on sincere LOVE toward God and fellowman — the kind of love that cannot be mimicked or "put on." So don't try to. But Do exercise the faith and courage to freely and cheerfully express the love you do feel — and go to Almighty God and ask Him for more!
Learn to think of love and warmth as something you GIVE, not get. For, to quote a popular song, love is more real "when you GIVE it away."
II. Build Zest and Humor into Your Life
One of the most endearing qualities in a man — especially a leader — is the ability to see the humorous side of things, even about himself. Mr. Armstrong has told about one of the great American bank presidents he knew many years ago who had a sign hung up on the wall behind his desk proclaiming: "Don't take yourself too seriously!"
This is excellent advice. For most men of ability are, alas, too busy building up and protecting their "image" of greatness and grandeur to maintain their childhood zest for small occasions and their ability to laugh at and enjoy many things in this temporal life, even themselves.
A number of this world's outstanding leaders and statesmen have maintained the hearty zest and humor of younger days — and it has even increased their stature as leaders.
Although many disagreed with his political theories, overwhelming millions of Americans were charmed and inspired by President Franklin D. Roosevelt's personality. When his rich, resonant voice came over the radio, "My fellow Americans . . . ," millions of his insecure countrymen were warmed and reassured. His full, vibrant laughter and engaging smile made him a popular companion even apart from his political life.
One of his close associates and a counselor of many presidents, Bernard M. Baruch, describes his feelings after news came that President Roosevelt had died. "Now that the President was dead, I remembered with particular force his ZEST for living. He used to enjoy the 'pleasures of the children's hour . . . and the convivial conversation of his friends.
"His sense of HUMOR was always evident. I recalled many of the amusing messages he had sent me, such as the one I received when I turned seventy-three. 'Keep right at it,' he wired. 'Someday you will grow up.' "