Dr. Henry Venter's Blog

THE WORLD NEEDS YOU!

We live in a world that’s inundated with quantity, but is sadly lacking in quality. As the people on earth multiply it seems as if there’s such a mad rush to supply all their needs that it is easily forgotten to supply quality. Gone are the days where someone took pride in how they made something – it’s now about how fast and how many we can produce in the least amount of time.

Responsibility and accountability has flown the coup – it’s gone! Companies will now easily blame you for mistakes instead of taking responsibility. The other day I made use of a company’s complaint line in desperation after weeks of not being able to conclude a simple transaction. I received an email that started off with the words: “As our valued customer you are very important to us.” Unfortunately, at the bottom of the email it also stated, “This is an automated message. Please do not respond to it.” Well, I didn’t, but neither did they. To this day no living person has followed up on that message to this “valued and important customer.”

In a recent article in the New York Times a journalist eloquently captured this trend in a piece about who’s to blame for the financial crisis in America (and some other parts of the world). The answer? No one! Experts he talked to held the notion that no one could see it coming, regardless of the fact that financial analysts now look back and pinpoint where companies started to take ridiculous risks such as selling expensive homes to people without verifying their income. And then structuring the loan to escalate in repayment within a few years way above what the buyers could afford. We live in a world where you can’t even trust your financial adviser to responsibly invest your money. That pipedream went the way of people like Bernie Madoff who fraudulently embezzled billions from his trusted customers, some with whom he was close friends.

Democratically elected officials turned out to be another disappointment. Often it is those who run their campaigns on the basis of family values that have been shown to be the very people that had no family values and morals. And yet, it seems as if there is no end to the unscrupulous and opportunistic people seeking power. Looking around at business and political leaders today few people are inspired. In fact, looking at voter participation we have given up voting – often less than 50 % of the people actually vote.

There is truly a need for a new kind of person, for a kind of leader. There’s a need for people that can be trusted, whose word is their honor, who are willing to take responsibility and lead in a new way. The world is anxiously looking for trusted visionary and inspirational leaders. Inspirational leaders are people that can transform their world, their school, their city, their state, their country and their neighborhood – wherever they emerge they produce solutions that inspire people. They are people with passion, compassion, and character. Visionary leaders are able to show the path to others, to help people prepare for the future, and bring hope and faith. That leader could be you!

On April 22nd I will present a workshop in Los Angeles at Azusa Fest on how you can develop and foster inspirational and visionary leadership. The Azusa Street Revival was an historic revival that took place in Los Angeles, California. It began with a meeting on April 14, 1906, and continued until roughly 1915. Today, the revival is considered by historians to be the primary catalyst for a major spread of revival the world over in the 20th century. Pastor Fred and Wilma Berry now run the Azusa mission on the very site of this revival. Every year they present Azusa Fest, a time of teaching and spiritual renewal. I will talk about the six vital keys for the development of this kind of leadership in your life. If you want to attend just click on the link below to register. For those of you who can’t attend I will have the eBook available after the presentation and you will be able to instantly download it. The world is in need of visionary and inspirational leaders – let us become those leaders!

Click here to register for The Azusa Festival!