To be a genuine leader and to go further in God, one must be master of oneself. The leader who loses self-control in testing circumstances forfeits respect and loses influence. He must be calm in crisis and resilient in adversity and disappointment. While using to the full the thoughts of others, the leader cannot afford to let others do his thinking or make his decisions for him. The humble man can derive benefit from petty and even malicious criticism.
True leadership is an internal quality of the spirit and requires no external show of force.
It is much easier to keep the peace than to make peace where it has been shattered. An important function in leadership is conciliation - the ability to discover common ground between opposing viewpoints and then induce both parties to accept it. Leaders must expect opposition and not be offended by it. A leader will not long retain his position if he is vacillating. Pessimism is no asset to a leader.