A leadership lesson on decision-making, conviction and standing alone.
“Leadership is not measured by how many people agree with you, but by how many generations will be saved because you refused to agree with what was wrong.”
My 20-year wound
For more than 20 years, I have served in church, civil society organisations, government, boards and communities. The greatest pain I have encountered has not been lack of money, opposition or even betrayal.
It is this: being right when the majority says you are wrong.
I have sat in meetings where everyone voted yes, while my conscience, policy and Scripture told me no. Standing alone can look like arrogance to the crowd, but for a leader, it can be an act of responsibility.
That burden pushed me back to school. I pursued a Master’s degree in Management, Leadership and Administration and later a PhD in Organisational Leadership. I did not do so simply for titles, promotion or job opportunities, but to answer one question: How does a leader stand right when everyone else sits wrong?
This article is part of my answer.
“A leader who needs the majority to feel right has not yet started leading. He is still campaigning.”
There is another lesson I have learnt: “All excuses are equal, but they do not cancel responsibility.”
The three core dilemmas of a true leader
1. The burden of conviction
A leader often sees further than the people he leads.
Like a watchman on a tower, the leader may see the danger before the village does. While the village is still dancing, the watchman may already be sounding the alarm.
That is the burden of leadership: carrying responsibility for outcomes that the group does not yet see.
Moses saw Canaan while some Israelites saw only graves in the desert. Caleb saw possibility where the majority saw giants.
Ezekiel 33:6 warns about the responsibility of the watchman who sees danger but fails to sound the trumpet. The lesson is clear: when you see the danger first, you have a responsibility to speak.
In Numbers 13:30, Caleb urged the Israelites to go up and take possession of the land. While 10 spies focused on the giants, Caleb and Joshua saw the possibility of victory.
The majority saw fear. The leaders saw the future.
“Conviction is when God shows you what the committee is not yet ready to see.”
Peter Drucker similarly emphasised that effective leadership is ultimately concerned with results rather than popularity or personal attributes.
Conviction is lonely. If a decision pleases everyone immediately, a leader should sometimes interrogate whether it represents genuine leadership or merely compromise.
2. Comfort versus progress
Consensus feels safe.
In Uganda, we often say, “Twekwatire wamu” — let us hold together. Unity is important, but togetherness without truth can become groupthink.
It may keep people comfortable while preventing progress.
Many breakthroughs have required people to move beyond familiar ways of thinking. Decentralisation, for example, was a major change in Uganda’s governance system when it was introduced in the 1990s. Today, local government is an established part of the country’s governance structure.
Likewise, policies such as the Parish Development Model have generated debate, but their stated objective is to transform households from subsistence into a more commercial and productive economy.
The broader leadership lesson is that change is rarely comfortable at the beginning.
John C. Maxwell observes that leadership involves having people follow, but leadership also requires direction rather than simply moving with the crowd.
“Comfort is the enemy of transformation. The RDC who wants to be loved by everyone will never implement a single government policy.”
Scripture offers a similar warning.
In Exodus 14:12, the Israelites questioned Moses for taking them out of Egypt, preferring the familiarity of slavery to the uncertainty of freedom.
Yet Isaiah 43:19 offers another perspective: “See, I am doing a new thing!”
New things rarely feel comfortable at first.
A comfortable church, district, organisation or nation can become resistant to necessary change. Progress often begins when somebody is willing to challenge the comfort zone.
3. Being right versus being effective
Being right is not the same as being effective.
A leader can be factually right, biblically right or policy-right and still fail to persuade the people he or she leads.
Why?
Because correct facts do not automatically change minds.
Being right is a position. Being effective is the process of taking people from where they are to where truth requires them to go.
Nelson Mandela’s leadership philosophy is often associated with the idea of remaining ahead of the people while staying close enough not to lose them. The lesson is important: leadership requires direction, but it also requires connection.
Second Timothy 4:2 calls for correction, rebuke and encouragement with patience and careful instruction.
Proverbs 15:1 adds: “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.”
You can therefore be right and still lose everyone because of the way you communicate your truth.
“Truth without love is noise. Love without truth is deception.”
The three pillars of lonely courage
1. Listen first before you stand
Lonely courage should not be confused with stubbornness.
Before pushing an unpopular position, a leader should ask:
- Why does the majority resist?
- Is it fear, ignorance or vested interest?
- What information do they have that I may not have?
- Is there something I have failed to understand?
Listening does not mean that you must agree. It means that you are willing to understand.
James 1:19 advises people to be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry. Proverbs 18:13 warns against answering before listening.
This principle applies even in public administration.
For example, if an LC1 resists aspects of PDM implementation, a leader should not immediately conclude that the person is simply wrong. The resistance may reveal a genuine concern, misunderstanding or information gap that needs to be addressed.
In a district security meeting, instead of saying, “You are all wrong,” a leader can ask: “Help me understand why you believe this road should pass here.”
Listening can turn confrontation into understanding.
2. Communicate the why with calm consistency
People do not always reject what you are asking them to do. Sometimes they reject the reason they have been given for doing it because they do not understand it.
Do not merely shout a policy.
Explain the law, the directive, the evidence or the principle calmly and consistently.
Truth shouted can sound like an insult. Truth explained with patience can sound like wisdom.
Simon Sinek’s well-known leadership argument places emphasis on the importance of understanding the “why” behind what people do.
Habakkuk 2:2 similarly says: “Write the vision and make it plain.”
Nehemiah did not merely tell the people to rebuild the wall. He explained why they needed to act, and the people responded: “Let us rise and build.”
The lesson for leaders is simple: do not just quote the Local Government Act. Explain how the law protects citizens and taxpayers. Do not merely quote Scripture. Explain how its principles can strengthen families and communities.
“A right decision communicated badly becomes a wrong decision in the eyes of the people.”
3. Accept the isolation
Leadership is not a popularity contest.
There is a price for taking unpopular decisions. You may be called proud, rigid, difficult or not a team player.
That is sometimes the lonely tax of leadership.
The Bible contains several examples of people standing against the majority.
Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 4:16-17 that during his defence, no one stood with him, but he found strength in God’s presence.
In Daniel 3:16-18, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused to bow to the golden image despite the pressure around them.
The lesson is not that every unpopular decision is automatically correct. Rather, leaders must have the courage to stand by decisions they have carefully examined and believe to be right.
“If you cannot stand alone for one night, you cannot lead a district for one year.”
What this means for public and institutional leaders
For RDCs, chief administrative officers, district education officers, bishops, district leaders, pastors and chief executives, lonely courage has practical implications.
On policy
When a government policy requires action against wetland encroachment, for example, a leader should not abandon the policy simply because enforcement is unpopular.
The responsibility is to explain the policy, sensitise affected communities, follow the law and enforce it fairly.
Leadership requires both firmness and compassion.
On corruption
When a culture develops around the belief that “we all eat,” the leader who insists that public funds must remain public may become unpopular.
But public resources are entrusted to leaders for the benefit of citizens.
The pressure to conform does not remove that responsibility.
On the Parish Development Model
PDM implementation also requires leaders to distinguish between political pressure, community expectations and the actual programme guidelines.
If programme guidelines identify eligible households, leaders have a responsibility to follow those guidelines rather than distribute public resources according to popularity or personal relationships.
Such decisions may be unpopular in the short term, but accountability requires leaders to act within established rules.
The African context
Africa has often struggled with what can be described as a consensus of fear — agreeing because people fear isolation, rejection or confrontation.
Leadership should not be about whether a decision pleases one’s tribe, political group, church or professional network.
A responsible leader must be prepared to examine an issue on its merits and stand by a sound decision even when the people around him or her disagree.
That does not mean rejecting consultation.
It means understanding that consultation and conviction can coexist.
A leader can listen widely, consider different views and still make a decision based on evidence, law, principle and conscience.
The final test
The true test of leadership is not how one behaves when the crowd is cheering.
It is how one responds when the crowd hesitates, murmurs or walks away.
Being right should not be confused with being proud. It should be understood as stewardship of the responsibility entrusted to a leader by God, the Constitution, an organisation and the people.
You may lose a vote today.
You may lose friends today.
You may even stand alone for a season.
But leadership requires the courage to remain faithful to a decision that has been carefully considered and is consistent with truth, policy, law and conscience.
Go and lead — even when you must lead alone for a season.
“The crowd counts numbers. The leader counts generations. Be right, be patient, be consistent — the majority will find you in the future where you were waiting for them in truth.”
And finally:
“If God is with you when you are right, you are never alone — you are just early. The majority may join you tomorrow.”
As John Quincy Adams is widely credited with saying, a leader is one whose actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more.
Leadership, therefore, is not always about standing with the crowd.
Sometimes, it is about having the courage to stand, listen, explain, remain accountable and — when necessary — stand alone.
By Dr Gad A. Rugaju, PhD — Organisational Leadership
