The Art of Leadership By Dag Heward-Mills
If you are the leader, you must be able to keep the organization going. A leader ought to be able to manage the funds he has very well in order to be able to stretch it as far as possible. One of the ways to ensure that you sustain the course you are championing is by being frugal. A frugal person is someone who counts his pennies.
Every leader is going to need a lot of money to help him fulfil his vision. How is this money going to come? By being frugal! One of the principles that every leader must live by is the principle of “sustainability of the mission”. This is also called “survival”. Survival usually hinges on having enough funds to keep going.
The Unsustainable Mission
During the Second World War, the German army invaded Russia in an operation code named “Operation Barbarossa”. This was a mighty and massive undertaking involving three million men. The frontier of hostilities was an amazing one thousand six hundred kilometres long and the invasion into Russia was almost one thousand kilometres deep.
At the outset of this invasion, there was a shortage of vehicles for the campaign because the German industry was unable to keep up with the car production to supply the war effort. This resulted in the invasion depending on horses and wagons to transport supplies to the soldiers at the frontline. During this invasion 625,000 horses were relied upon to move artillery, wagons and everything else that was needed at the front.
Unfortunately, by August the ability to supply ammunition and fuel was compromised. Military operations had to be curtailed as they waited for resupply from the rear. The supply of food was also compromised. It is no easy task to feed three million men every day. Commanders in the field were forced to slaughter local livestock to feed the soldiers. They also began to slaughter and eat the very horses that were pulling their supplies.
The Germans also did not consider their ability to sustain the war in the extremely cold winter of Russia, so no provisions were made to protect the men from the extremely cold temperatures. It is not easy to provide winter clothing for three million men. Fuel that was needed to keep trucks moving froze. There were no supplies of essential anti-freeze grease, oil and lubricants, which are needed to keep guns and other weapons in action.
No provision was made for winter clothing as it was assumed that these would not be needed. Troops resorted to stuffing newspapers into their summer uniforms to keep warm. About 14,000 amputations resulting from frostbite were conducted. By December 6, 1941, after 168 days of continuous fighting and within 30 kilometres of Moscow the mighty German army was exhausted. They were starved, frozen; out of fuel and ammunition. Their supply lines stretched a distance of 1600 kilometres. As a result of this, the Wehrmacht was unable to continue and sustain the invasion of Russia.
Be Frugal
There is no limitless amount of money sitting anywhere. Many rich people are cash-strapped. Very few people have anything to spare. Years ago, when our church began a building project we asked a multi-millionaire to help us with some money. Someone even offered a building as security for a loan. But the millionaire was not moved by our request. He was not even moved by the offer of the building as security. No one helped us. The Spirit of God spoke to me and said, “You will accomplish this vision if you count your pennies.” True to His word, we counted our pennies and we accomplished the vision.
The best way to become rich is to minimize your losses. If you are the leader of a company, your duty is to minimize your losses and prevent stealing. If you can do these two things, your company will prosper naturally. If you are a political leader, aim at reducing corruption. If the money stolen from third world nations were to be recovered, we would no longer need loans from the bodies that give loans – whether they be IMF or the World Bank!
Neither a wasteful person nor an extravagant person can accomplish much. Are you concerned about impressing people? Then you are not a good leader. Are you concerned about showing off expensive things? Then you are not a leader. A leader knows that in order to get to his goal he is going to have to count his pennies.
Why did Jesus ask the disciples to gather the crumbs? He said very clearly that he was preventing losses. “When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost” (John 6:12). Follow the example of Jesus, the good leader. Gather the crumbs! Do not let your crumbs go to waste! Count your pennies!
Culled from “The Art of leadership”
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