The Art of Leadership
MAINTENANCE OF morale is the maintenance of cheerfulness, confidence and zeal, especially in the face of battle. Morale is a positive state of mind derived from inspired leadership. Usually, the morale of human beings reduces as time passes and events unfold. That is why the morale of younger people is usually higher than the morale of older people. It is easy to lose the morale as you take up the fight to follow the Lord in the ministry. To maintain morale is to maintain zeal, enthusiasm, interest and confidence in something.
And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes:
And THEY SPAKE UNTO ALL THE COMPANY OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, SAYING, THE LAND, WHICH WE PASSED THROUGH TO SEARCH IT, IS AN EXCEEDING GOOD LAND. IF THE LORD DELIGHT IN US, THEN HE WILL BRING US INTO THIS LAND, AND GIVE IT US; A LAND WHICH FLOWETH WITH MILK AND HONEY.
Only rebel not ye against the Lord, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the Lord is with us: fear them not.
Numbers 14:6-9
Wars are won or lost by weakening the morale of the enemy. That is why maintaining the morale of the group is key to winning a battle. Joshua and Caleb are famous for their speech in which they sought to stabilise the congregation and encourage them to enter the Promised Land. They knew that without encouragement and zeal, no one would be interested in entering the Promised Land. Without enthusiasm and zeal, you cannot do much for God. People must be happy to work for God. One day a brother remarked to me, “You make working for God exciting. Everyone is happy to be around and to be doing something.” Without this positive feeling, negative thoughts quickly take over the hearts and minds of the team.
A good general knows how to raise the morale of the army. You must get the army to think less about themselves and more about what they are involved with. Motivate the troops and maintain their morale by making them think less about themselves and more about their hated enemy. You can raise the morale in the army of God’s people by making them think less about themselves and more about the lost. You can raise the morale of the troops by talking to them.
Many leaders are famous for their speeches that raised the morale of their people. Leaders like Napoleon Bonaparte, Winston Churchill, Martin Luther King, Ronald Reagan and Barrack Obama are famous for their motivational speeches. Leaders who do not speak to their troops fail to raise the morale of their troops. You must rise up and speak to your people! You must encourage them and tell them that it will be well! The morale of the people who are following you is very important. Remember that your failure to raise their morale is your failure to lead.
Julius Caesar and the “Maintenance of Morale”
Julius Caesar was a famous general who won many battles on behalf of Rome. His most famous wars were fought in Gaul (France) and Britain. The Roman army was originally a part-time army. Many of the soldiers were farmers who would return to their original jobs after fighting in the Roman wars. Indeed, the armies of Rome had been run as a “lay army” before the time of Julius Caesar.
Julius Caesar changed all that by creating a professional organization with long terms of service far from home.
One of the things that Julius Caesar did was to boost the morale of his troops by promising the soldiers some land on which they could farm when they returned home. The soldiers were encouraged to fight in the Roman wars, knowing that when they returned home, they would have land to farm on. This idea, to pay soldiers with land was a clever idea that greatly boosted the morale of Julius Caesar’s soldiers. The high morale of Julius Caesar’s troops contributed greatly to his success as a general.
You must be able to maintain zeal in times of crises. Crises have the greatest ability to reduce your zeal and confidence. If you do not maintain the morale of the troops, you are likely to lose your war. Indeed, many battles are directed at reducing the morale and enthusiasm of the troops. Many events are orchestrated by evil spirits with the intention of discouraging you from serving the Lord. Discouragement is the single cause for which most people leave the ministry. “Maintenance of the morale” is a very important thing that a leader must achieve
Culled from “A Good General”
theaol@ymail.com
By Dag Heward-Mills