Tag: war

The Courage Leadership of Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Shared History, Broken Promises Pt. 2)

By Ife J. Ibitayo

Living here in the United States, I honestly scoffed at the concept of a country having both a president and a prime minister. In ignorance, I always saw such “presidents” as glorified figureheads. It wasn’t until Zelenskyy stood up when the rest of the world expected him to fly out–like Afghanistan’s former president Ashraf Ghani–that I realized how wrong I was.

This article is not meant to lionize Zelenskyy at the expense of condemning Ghani. Both leaders were dealt horrible hands, and I still lament the deplorable way the United States concluded the War in Afghanistan.  But I hope that by contrasting their divergent responses to the crises they faced, we can learn some valuable lessons about leadership.

Set the Tone

The first words I heard from the Ukrainian president were: “The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride.” His words touched something deep within me, and rallied the world in support of his beleaguered nation. His statement stands in stark contrast to Ashraf Ghani’s: “Now is not the moment for a long assessment of the events leading up to my departure.”

There are countless differences between the takeover in Afghanistan and the invasion of Ukraine, but one of the most important distinctions is how their presidents responded. A primary reason Ukraine has still not capitulated to Russia’s might is that Zelenskyy hasn’t given up on his nation. His country’s war is his war. Their fight is his fight.

It may seem like that should be a given for any leader, but far too often, leaders take their bag of money and escape down the nearest safety chute. When times get tough for our church, our company, or our country, where are we? As leaders, we set the tone, and those under us follow suit.

Dictate the Terms

Secondly, Zelenskyy did not let others choose his decisions for him. Zelenskyy insisted on staying in Ukraine because he believed his presence during this crisis was more valuable than his safety. Returning to former president Ghani, he told the BBC, “My instructions had been to prepare for departure for [the city of] Khost. [My national security adviser] told me that Khost had fallen and so had Jalalabad. I did not know where we will go. Only when we took off, it became clear that we were leaving [Afghanistan].” But as president of Afghanistan, he had the authority to stay if he insisted.

We choose leaders because at the end of the day, we hope that they will have the courage to make decisions and own up to them, even when their wrong. But when our leaders let others lead them, they are abdicating their duty and relinquishing the authority we entrusted them with in the first place.

Conclusion

The greatest men and women in history were leaders. They steered the course of millions of lives toward glory or the grave through the decisions they made. As we step into leadership in our households, our workplaces, or our governments, we’re faced with the same responsibility and opportunity these leaders faced. I pray we lead well; the future depends on it.

“When someone has been given much, much will be required in return; and when someone has been entrusted with much, even more will be required.”

(Luke 12:48)

The Fear and Pride of Vladimir Putin (Shared History, Broken Promises Pt. 1)

By Ife J. Ibitayo

As bombs burst, rifles blast, and fires blaze in Ukraine—a nation with a larger population than California—I find myself with a long list of questions and too few answers. Top among them is: What is motivating Vladimir Putin to invade another sovereign nation?

Fear

One of Putin’s primary motivators is fear. “In a pre-dawn TV address on 24 February, he declared Russia could not feel ‘safe, develop, and exist’ because of what he claimed was a constant threat from modern Ukraine.” Considering that Russia’s army alone is larger than the entire Ukrainian armed forces, this is a patently ridiculous claim. But fear drives irrationality.

Whether it be Brexit overseas or Trumpism here at home, fear of others brings out the worst in all of us. But love brings out the best. That is why love and fear cannot coexist. As the Apostle John said, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18). True love casts out fear, not other people. It doesn’t invade their homeland but invites them into our own.

Pride

Secondly, Putin is motivated by pride. “The Russian dictator has grown to see himself as not another middling, kleptocratic dictator, but as a figure of historic import, dedicated to restoring Russian greatness.” Here in the United States, we’ve seen the tremendous amount of damage attempting to make a nation “great again” can wreak. All too often, those who lift themselves up do so by pushing others down. They reduce greatness to a zero-sum game where in order to win, everyone else must lose. But that was never God’s intent for greatness.

Jesus said, “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:26-28). We were made for greatness, but it can only be found by putting others first. Our selfish desires must give way to selfless ones. Our backs must bend to scrub other people’s feet, just like Jesus did (John 13:4-5). Only then will we lay hold of true greatness rather than egotistical self-aggrandizement.

Conclusion

Fear and pride lay close at hand for all of us. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, a former prisoner of Russia’s Gulag once said, “The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either — but right through every human heart.” The only thing that separates you and me from a tyrannical dictator is not culture, education, or power. It’s grace.

“But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: ‘God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.’”

(James 4:6)