When Apparent Failure is Success Disguised

by Lester Rennard

The dawn of success can be very deceptive and those who do not have the discernment to recognize it when it comes disguised as failure, are bound to surrender to defeat when they should instead be singing their victory song. As true as the maxim that states that the darkest hour of the day is just before dawn is the reality that success often comes to those in pursuit of it clothed in the unattractive garments of what appears to be failure.

It often appears that many of those who have had tremendous success in certain ventures have first experienced many unparalleled failures and setbacks. This observation has left me to wonder whether failure and setbacks are meant to be nature's clinical laboratory for processing, preparing and refining those on whom it intends to bestow the weighty responsibility of success. Since success is a greater burden to carry, if one is to survive it without becoming corrupted and entrapped in self-indulgence or egocentricity, such a person would need to experience a kind of transformation that only the humbling effect of failure and setbacks can offer.

The trying effect of failure does not only reinforce the need for humility but it also demonstrates the futility and foolhardiness of trusting in that which is materialistic. It shows the importance and necessity of trusting in a greater power outside of one's self rather than in the transitory nature of success. One's capacity to successfully endure success is conditioned upon the lessons learned in the school of adversity. Such adversity provides a purging and a spiritual emancipation from that which is material to a focus on that which is more real and enduring.

Abraham Lincoln experienced many political setbacks and apparent failures before finally becoming one of America's best loved presidents of all times. The biblical story of Joseph in Egypt and his trials, adversities and eventual rise from prisoner to prime minister is a classic illustration of failure that precedes success. Nelson Mandela of South Africa is another case of one who rose from the humiliating experience of being a prisoner to occupying the highest position of political power in his country.

Another person who comes to mind who faced many setbacks and eventual success by sheer perseverance is Jack Canfield of the Chicken Soup for the Soul fame. Before his series became a world-wide bestseller, he was constantly turned down going from one publisher to another who apparently could not see the vision of success that his publications eventually became. These are a few of numerous cases of individuals who have faced setbacks, adversities and failures before success finally showed up.

On the other hand are the stories of people who have failed miserably because they have chosen to give up just when they were on the brink of experiencing their long sought success. One such story is that of a prospector who invested heavily in mining equipment during the gold rush era. He spent money, time and energy mining for gold but all his efforts constantly ended in vain. He finally became discouraged, gave up his dream, sold his equipment to a junk dealer and retreated in defeat.

The junk dealer wishing to check for gold hired an engineer to test the minefield that his predecessor had just abandoned and to his delight, discovered gold just feet below the last area of drilling from which he gave up and retreated. The junk dealer inherited the wealth of success that was just on the other side of apparent failure awaiting discovery because the one who blazed the trail failed to discern success by confusing it with failure.

The lesson to be learned about success is that it does not often come dressed in refined garb. It requires patience, perseverance and the tenacity to stay the course of your dream until the red light of failure changes to green. It is to embrace the courage that Winston Churchill describes as "going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm"; and to accept as someone else who observed that "success is failure turned inside out."

When it appears that you are at the most humiliating and lowest moments of your life, staring failure squarely in the face, it might just be the time when success is about to yield to your constant knocking at its door by turning the other side of failure to reveal itself in all its grandeur.

How to Be The Kind of Leader Everyone Wants to Follow

by Lester Rennard

Can you recall a time when you were a child and played the game, "follow the leader"? It was always a lot of fun as long as the leader knew where he was going. Fast forwarding to today, the stakes have not really changed. To follow a leader, one must be sure that, at least, the leader knows where he or she is going.

What qualities must a leader possess to cause him or her to be trustworthy enough to have everyone desiring to follow? Can you be that kind of leader in your home, place of worship and workplace? The leader who is valued by everyone regardless of social and economic status is one who has integrity, credibility, wisdom, knowledge, understanding, vision, courage and emotional intelligence.

A leader must possess integrity to be effective in his or her effort at providing leadership for others. This virtue defines a leader who is true to principle, transparent and will not be bought or sold. In the global village in which we are all co-existing where individuals of influence are constantly being tempted by the allurement of greed and unfair personal gain, we should take comfort in the fact that despite the pressures to conform, there are many leaders who will not be swayed or turned aside from the path of rectitude.

The virtue of credibility twins with integrity to produce a leader who is above board and in whom there is no guile. He or she can be trusted to be genuine and to be a model worth emulating. With wisdom, he or she will know how to acquire knowledge and understanding in order to formulate a clear vision to advance the cause for which they are appointed or elected to champion. Wise leaders will acknowledge when they lack knowledge and expertise in various areas and will be proactive in seeking out and surrounding themselves with those who possess such knowledge and expertise.

Since no one person knows everything, a wise leader will develop the emotional intelligence of self-awareness. He or she is well acquainted with his or her own weakness and need for growth and will never waste valuable energy in feigning strength in areas in which they are weak and may learn from the wise counsel of others. Leaders who are liberated from the fallacy and self-deception that they should be able to be all things to all people and instead are able to recognize and respect their own limitations will always seek to value and empower those who exhibit strengths in their own areas of weakness.

The ability to be decisive and the courage to stay the courage in the face of overwhelming odds when all evidences indicate that the path on which one is walking is the right path, is a coveted strength of effective leadership that can not be lightly esteemed. Those who follow look to their leaders for this kind of courage and strength of character to keep hope alive and to help to pull them through the tough times. The examples of perseverance exhibited by such leaders will inspire courage in their followers and give them reasons for hope in the darkest of times.

So how can you be the kind of leader that everyone wants to follow? First, know and acknowledge the truth about yourself. Be sincere in your commitment to put the interest of your followers above your own personal interests. Develop your own emotional intelligence. Take your role of leadership seriously but not yourself. Learn to deal with criticisms whether they are positive or negative. Use the positive criticisms for your own growth and development and the negative ones to refine your patience and tolerance for those who would oppose you. Promote the cause for peace and unity and above all, be the example of one who can not be bought or sold.



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The Effective Use of Power Without Attempting to Control

by Lester Rennard

The consequences arising out of the desire, lust or fight for power have created more pain in our world than any other single desire of which one may think . Wars have been fought and continue to be, resulting in the loss of millions of lives over the desire for power. One individual seeking to control others may resort to any means to gain the power to do so. The likes of despots such as Adolph Hitler and Idi Amin are testimonies to the evil that can result from the abuse and misuse of power that causes mass destruction of lives.

It must be understood that the desire for power in itself is not necessarily evil. Nothing can ever be accomplished without the use of power. We give power to those we trust to govern and manage the political and economic affairs that affect our lives as citizens. We place power in the hands of judges to administer justice and in the hands of law enforcement agencies to enforce the rule of law. We give power to doctors and other health care professionals to administer to us procedures that can potentially harm or bring about our demise. To educators, we give power to educate and prepare our children for their lives' careers and responsibilities. Members of religious bodies give power to pastors, priests and other leaders to nurture their spiritual needs. In family relationships, spouses give power to each other that can have serious consequences for good or bad.

Legitimate power when acquired appropriately and with the right motives to advance the interest of the ones who confer such power is a sacred trust that must be cherished and guarded with vigilance. Since we live in a world that requires by necessity a great deal of interdependence for any meaningful co-existence, the mutual exchange of power among people who share a common goal or destiny is paramount. This mutual exchange creates a check and balance since power has a tendency to bring out the worst in human nature.

As the late 19th, early 20th century Neapolitan-British historian Lord Acton observed, "power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Absolute power in the hands of mortals regardless of whether it is political, religious, economic or otherwise is unwise at best and calamitous at worst. When one is able to sway absolute power without accountability to anyone - his words become law and he himself can not be questioned or be subject to any law, such a person is elevated to the level of a god who has within the power of his word life and death.

The democratic mutual exchange of power prevents such possibility of despotism since the one into whose hands power is vested by the people is accountable and subject to the people who retain the power to relieve him of his position of power, should he fail to accomplish the will of those who place him in power in the first instance.

To a greater or lesser extent, we all willingly give power to others over various areas of our lives but we will naturally resist any attempt of those to whom we give such power to control us. Power constitutes a privilege to serve while control suggests a desire to become a master rather than a servant. Since we desire to retain the right to be our own masters, we will resist any effort from those whom we empower to serve us who confuse the privilege of power as an opportunity to usurp control as our masters.

In the delicately intimate relationship between a husband and wife, when motivated by selfless love, they each mutually grant power to the other to serve their needs. As long as that arrangement remains functional, their relationship will thrive but when one begins to abuse the privilege of such power to attempt control over the other, the relationship suffers damage and if not reconciled may die.

For power to be effectively used as a privilege of service without any attempt to usurp control, the one so entrusted and empowered must need be secure in his or her own sense of self. The attempt to use the privilege of power to control arises out of a feeling of insecurity and inadequacy and therefore a need to be served rather than serving. This feeling of insecurity and inadequacy places one between a rock and a hard place.

They do not feel that they have the capacity to serve as it is required by virtue of their empowerment. They can not give what they do not have and since this feeling of inadequacy makes one feel a lack of control over his or her own life, they resort to a natural desire to regain that control over themselves by presenting themselves to be served rather than serving. The only way they see themselves being able to accomplish this desire is by elevating themselves to become masters and thus requiring others to serve them by abusing their privilege of power to control those who they should instead be serving.

In conclusion, one is not qualified or ready to receive the sacred trust of power if he or she is troubled by unresolved insecurities and feelings of inadequacy. The combination of insecurity, inadequacy and power will naturally result in the abuse or misuse of such power. The most obvious sign of this insecurity and abuse is the attempt to control others. The symptom is the same whether in the home, church, workplace or in politics.

When one is in control of self, secure and self-confident, he or she has much to offer and can be entrusted with power to be a servant. He or she has no lack that demands the need to become a master of others and therefore no need to want to usurp control over those they should be serving instead. Notwithstanding, grant thou not to any mortal the deadly and deceptive weapon of absolute power.

Copyright (c) 2006 by Lester Rennard

The Meaning of Faith and How to Apply It

by Lester Rennard

If you were to ask different people from all walks of life and religious influences the meaning of faith, you would certainly be surprised at the answers you might receive. Someone explained that faith is a leap in the dark. One biblical writer explained that it is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seem. Still another explained that faith without works is dead. I would like to share my ideas and conviction and welcome your comments.

I believe faith to be a synergistic combination of vision, conviction, trust, action, fortitude and perseverance. To have and apply faith, I must first have a vision of something that I desire. It may be the desire to achieving a certain level of qualification and competence in my chosen career. It could also be the desire to overcoming a spiritual defect or stronghold that is paralyzing my spiritual walk; or the desire to have a certain amount of material resources to accomplish something important to me.

I must then have a compelling conviction that my vision can be transformed into reality. I will make sure that this vision is not just a pipe dream or the substance of what nightmares are made of, but it is something that is possible to accomplish. The knowledge and confidence of the possibility of that vision becoming a reality reinforces my conviction or belief. I must then move a step further in believing that that possibility can become my reality. If the vision is to achieve a certain level of qualification and competence in my career, I must believe that it is something that is possible for me to accomplish. I must begin to see myself living the reality of my vision since without a vision, there can be no birth to possibility.


My conviction will then lead me into the exercise of trust. By this point, I would have the knowledge as to what it will take for my vision to become a reality. I must begin to set goals, explore options and make solid plans to transform this vision into reality. I must develop the confidence in my ability to order all the forces that be to cooperate in my favor and to support my vision and conviction. I will also create an atmosphere that will neutralize all the negative forces that are bound to resist my efforts in trying to defeat and discourage me. I must also trust in divine providence to aid me on this journey from vision to reality.

I must now burst through the starting gate into action by implementing my carefully designed plans in laying the foundation and building the infrastructure upon which my vision will transform itself into reality. I will enroll into that career educational program and apply myself diligently to study, experiment and apply the knowledge gained to enrich my experience. In order to overcome that spiritual defect, I will spend time in the Word, prayer, meditation and fasting. I will begin to make those choices that will help rather than hinder me and will choice to avoid walking in any path that might not lead me into victory. For achieving resources, I will put my plans into action and begin to do the work designed to bring about the needed resources.

In pursuing my plans, I will understand that because I am living in an imperfect world that is programmed negatively, I will need to exercise the courage to withstand those negative forces that will be unleashed against and intent on defeating me. Like a duck in the rain, I will oil my feathers to cause the water to roll off and prevent the rain from getting to my skin. I will learn to deflect the criticisms and neutralize the evil schemes of those naysayers who wander aimlessly along the sidelines as I follow my dream on my path to the destination of actual reality.

Finally, I will persevere and refuse to give up regardless of the obstacles that are thrown in my way. I will keep my eyes steadfast on the prize and allow nothing to distract me until I have grasped it by crossing the finish line. I will respect nothing that will try to convince me to abandon my dream and will run my race with patience until the reality of my vision is in full view and I become united with that reality. When this becomes my experience, then I can truly say that I know and understand the meaning of faith and how to apply it.

Copyright (c) 2006, by Lester Rennard