Leadership and Nature in Harsh Enviornments

            Sometimes, it’s really easy to be a leader. Sometimes you’re surrounded by people who look up to you because they have faith that you know what you’re doing because you do know what you’re doing. But other times, it’s not so easy to be a leader. This happens specifically in harsh environments; when things get hard.

            A huge part of leadership is self-leadership—being able to control your own human nature. If you can’t control human nature, then you’ll definitely have a hard time leading other people to do things. Human nature is something that each one of us possesses. We get hungry. We get tired. We lust after things that we shouldn’t. All of these are parts of human nature. Self-leadership is being able to control these things. For example, if you saw a big slice of chocolate cake on your kitchen table, you’d probably want to eat it. However, self-leadership is controlling that desire. In that situation, a leader wouldn’t just gobble down the cake. He would make a wise decision based on his own health.

            So, what does this have to do with leadership in harsh environments? Well, harsh environments make it harder for leaders to control human nature (the natural man). It’s a lot easier to say no to that chocolate cake on your table on a normal day than to say no to it when you are starving and stranded in the desert. I’m not necessarily saying that you shouldn’t eat the cake if you’re stranded in the desert, but this principle easily applies to all other aspects of the natural man. It’s a lot harder to keep your standards and be a leader in harsh conditions than it is to keep your standards in easy times of prosperity.

            Does this principle apply in each of our lives? Well, sure it does. We may not be starving in the desert or freezing in a snowstorm, but there are harsh conditions for each of us in our lives. For many of us, it is the times when we are obligated to be around others who don’t share the same beliefs or morals as we do. For youth, this could be at school; for adults, perhaps work. Let me give you a scenario to better paint what I’m trying to say.

What is real leadership?

            Many people do not believe that stealing from others is the right thing to do, so that is part of their moral code. It is something that they attempt to do each and every day: refrain from stealing things from other people. It is very easy to do this when they are around others who share the same beliefs and morals as them, because when people of the same beliefs come together, they can bond and encourage each other in refraining from breaking their moral code. However, the hard part comes when they are forced to be around other people that do not share the same beliefs as them. If people all around you are stealing from each other, then it is a lot easier for you to steal from others because you believe that nobody is watching and nobody will care what you do. Sticking to your moral code in that situation—doing what you believe is right, even when others around you aren’t—that’s leadership.

            How can we as individuals become these leaders? How can we learn to do what is right, even when we perceive everyone around us doing what’s wrong? How can we gain the strength to complete this divine task? We can become these leaders by committing and practicing. We can promise ourselves and God that we will never break our moral codes. What can you do? To learn how to become a leader, you must put off the natural man. You must first learn what is right, and then you must practice it all of the time. You can surround yourself with people who share your beliefs so that it will be easier for you to live them. However, most of the time it will not be easy, especially because of the harshness of the condition of this world in this day and age, but in order to become the person that you want to become—in order to become a leader—in order to reach your full potential and become like God—you must learn to do what is right, especially in harsh conditions.

            It’s so sad to see so many people fail to reach their potential. It is a wicked and violent world out there. If Earth isn’t a harsh condition, I don’t know what is. So many people fail at doing what is right at all times. That is why there are so few leaders for good on Earth. There’s such a small minority of good, but good will never lose because God is good. He is our ultimate leader, and with him, we can do anything. Do you want to become a leader for good? Choose now; it will be hard. Put off the natural man. Become who you were born to be. Do what is right in these harsh conditions. That is leadership.