TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP SERIES 55

Solomon Appiah

ISA 58:12 May 21, 2018

Welcome to another week of the Transformational Leadership Series. Today we will talk about Leadership and
Expenditure.

Ecclesiastes 10:16-17 (KJV)

16 Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and thy princes eat in the morning!

TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP SERIES

17 Blessed art thou, O land, when thy king is the son of nobles, and thy princes eat in due season, for strength, and not
for drunkenness!

Leadership is about knowing times and seasons and what are to be done during specific times and seasons. With respect
to expenditure/feasting, it is about knowing when to feast or spend (expenditure related consumption) and why to feast.
The scripture above shows that knowing WHEN to feast (timing) and the purpose i.e. WHY leaders feast (purpose)
determines if followers will prosper or meet ruin.

There is a proper time or due time to spend/ feast/ eat and an improper time to do so. There is also a proper reason or
purpose for spending and improper purpose. Purpose is influenced by the mindset of a leader. Mindset informs purpose
and purpose informs action including spending. Let us practicalize this issue by looking at a quasi-case study. In Africa
and other parts of the globe, leaders in the political sphere feast in the morning. They start spending on themselves and
family and friends using state funds soon as they take office. The winner-takes-all syndrome of political science kicks in
and government leaders procure bigger residences and fancier more expensive cars. Woe to any people whose leaders
have such a mindset of feasting at the beginning of their term of leadership. Where does this mindset come from? Verse
16 shows that leaders who feast in the morning have a childish or slavish mindset. They are children at heart.

LEADERSHIP MINDSET

Good leadership feasts at the proper time. What is the proper time? What is the purpose for which transformational
leaders feast? Using the former example, the purpose of feasting/expenditure should simply be for strength and not for
drunkenness. In other words, leadership should not be a means to enrich oneself or for self-aggrandization. It is rather a
platform to serve and increase and improve the welfare and the development of followers. In some government
ministries in the developing world and some developed economies, if the leader (minster of state) does not get a kickback
of 10 percent, a tender will not be awarded to an applicant. This is one of the banes of the military industrial complex in
the USA. This is also what causes regulatory capture. Regulatory capture is the process by which regulatory agencies
eventually come to be dominated by the very industries they were charged with regulating. The industries capture the
regulatory agencies by paying bribes etc. In summary, if leaders in these regulatory agencies do not feast in the morning,
it would not be easy for them or their agencies to be captured by industries or lobbies that assist such industries.

The bottom line is mindset. ‘ Transformational leadership mindset is selfless but God and people centred. Leadership has
the led as the focus. For some leaders, they, their offices and positions are their focus (self-absorbed). These are the
leaders spoken of in verse 16.

Let’s all aim for v17. True leaders are those in v17. If consumption should be done, it should be done to give necessary
strength to perform duties and tasks of leadership. When the people who follow prosper, they will be our crowns and
God will reward our selfless leadership.

1 Thessalonians 2:19 (Weymouth) For what is our hope or joy, or the crown of which we boast? Is it not you yourselves
in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His Coming?