One of the greatest responsabilities of a Leader is to give…Hope

When Britain’s legendary leader Winston Churchill was asked what his country’s greatest weapon had been against the Nazi regime of Hitler during World War II, he didn’t hesitate for a moment. He promptly replied, “It was what England’s greatest weapon has always been..hope.” What Churchill knew and all great leaders know is that one of the most important things a person can have is hope. There is nothing more powerful than the power of hope. If you give a person hope you have given them one of the greatest gifts you could ever give. When hope fills the hearts of others they will dream about a better future. They see possibilities that otherwise they may not have seen. Hope makes the seemingly impossible possible. It is when we lose possibilities that we begin to die on the inside. Show me someone who has no hope and I will show you someone who will drift off in life. However, give me a person with hope and they will have limitless possibilities. Hope is the backbone of all great exploration. You will never step out into greater things without the hope that you can get to somewhere better. Our great country was founded on the premise of hope. Hope for a better life and a new start. In the journal of Christopher Columbus during his first voyage to America there was an entry that read…

 “The sea will grant each man new hope, the sleep brings dreams of home.”

 Hope gives us the vision to pursue greater things. Hope makes the future come alive. Hope puts wings on our dreams. Vision without the hope to accomplish it will merely be a fleeting idea that is here today and gone tomorrow. When people have vision they will begin to have hope. George Washington Carver said,

 “Where there is no vision, there is no hope.”

 True leaders touch a heart by giving others hope. The future is built on hope. Nothing great can be built for the future while living in the past. Hope causes us to look forward and prepare for a better tomorrow. Most people spend their time repairing yesterday rather than preparing for tomorrow. But leaders prepare to make the future better than the past. They keep the eyes of their people forward. You can never get anywhere if people are starring in the rearview mirror of life. If what happened in the past is bigger than what our eyes are on for the future, hope will begin to fade away. When hope fades away the future goes with it. If we talk more about the past than we do the future we will never move ahead. We can certainly learn from the past and appreciate the past but we cannot allow ourselves to live there. Don’t let your past determine your future. Use the past as a catalyst for the future but don’t get stuck there. When there is no hope for the future there is no power in the present. There is always a way to bring hope back to people, they just need someone to help them find it. Napoleon Bonaparte said,

 “A leader is a dealer of hope.”

Are you a hope dealer? As a leader do  you give hope to those around you? Whether you are a leader in your organization, church, business, school, family, home, or even your own life, you are to give the gift of hope to others!

What are some ways you give hope to others? I would love to hear from you…as well as the followers of this blog…