Steward with a difference

Each one of us has been given a measure of opportunity to oversee something, whether big or small. You may be a manager, an executive, a teacher, a business owner, a trader, a tradesperson, a worker, a community leader or even a parent, caregiver or an older sibling. I may not remember to mention what you are involved in or who you are. However, at every stage and within every one of our endeavours is a responsibility on our shoulder, the duty we owe to ourselves and to others for managing resources and situations appropriately. I do not know anyone, whether old or small, that does not have a responsibility, except those who refuse to do what they must do. We are all stewards of every opportunity that we have, including all the resources and physical and intellectual abilities that we possess.

A true measure of success in stewardship is the difference between the beginning and the end of an opportunity. For example, if you are given an opportunity to manage a team, a measure of your stewardship success is the way you leave the team after your time managing it, compared with the way you met it. If you are a talented musician, a measure of your stewardship success could be how you used music to benefit those around you or how music has made you a better person. Stewardship requires that we carefully manage whatsoever is entrusted to us. In stewardship, we strive to add value to everything under our supervision or control, leaving things much better than how we met them. It is all about the difference that our action makes in the matter at hand.
​
Making a difference in stewardship extends to almost everything we do, including our career, how we manage resources, how we use our time, how we manage people, and how we relate with those around us. Considering those who are close to you, would you say that they became better people because of your relationship with them? Good stewards influence others positively, imparting positive life changes and leaving memories of good things in the minds of those they encounter. Are you a good steward? Are you a successful steward of all the opportunities, resources, time, positions, authority, gifts, and skills with which you have been endowed? Would you make a difference through your stewardship?

---

Actions for the week

1. Take stock of your opportunities to manage resources or lead people. How well are you doing in stewardship?
2. Decide that you will always leave a place or people better than you met them.
3. Share this message with those who would also become great stewards.

---

​A quote to remember
Where I was born and where and how I have lived are unimportant. It is what I have done with where I have been that should be of interest. - Georgia O'Keeffe

---

Until another time,
Dele Ola, Award-Winning Author of Be A Change Agent
​Click HERE to learn about and get copies of Dele’s Books