In the silent corridors of struggle, every trial a person faces is a mirror, revealing not just strength, but the soul’s sincerity. When life or leadership subjects you to the furnace of persecution, humiliation, or misunderstanding, do not rush to escape. Endure it. Endurance is not weakness; it is wisdom clothed in patience. For every hardship has its sunset, and at the appointed hour, those who once mocked your pain will celebrate your perseverance.
Yet in the delicate theatre of power and governance, endurance is often mistaken for inaction, and restraint for cowardice. Leaders, whether in politics, institutions, or faith, often confuse the need to prove a point with the duty to protect the people. Many, move in their haste to defend their ego, lose sight of the higher calling of leadership: the quiet stewardship of public trust.
Power is a dangerous mirror; it reflects not who we claim to be, but who we truly are when no one restrains us. In every contest of governance, the temptation is not merely to win, but to win at all costs. And therein lies the slow corruption of the human spirit, when we justify the unjust, manipulate truth, and call it strategy.
The philosopher Plato once warned that “The measure of a man is what he does with power.” Yet, in our political landscape, power has become the theatre of insecurity, where those who should build the nation instead seek to break others for validation. The obsession to prove superiority in debates, in governance, or even in public narrative often leads leaders to make decisions not guided by justice, but by pride.
We live in a time where endurance has become unfashionable. Where leaders are quick to react, not reflect; to retaliate, not restrain. But true statesmanship is not proven in the applause of the crowd, nor in the suppression of opponents, it is proven in the quiet moments of moral decision, where integrity whispers louder than ambition.
So before you act, before you argue, before you use your office to “prove” a point, ask yourself: what will this decision do to others? For every careless decree, every vindictive policy, every public outburst carries consequences far beyond the moment. Leadership, like life, is not judged by how loud you are in your triumphs, but how thoughtful you are in your trials.
History will not remember how loudly you spoke, but how wisely you led. For no power lasts forever, but the legacy of how you used it will outlive your reign.
“Power is Never Proven by Force, but by the Wisdom to Withhold It.”
“He who masters his impulse to prove himself, governs not just others, but himself.”
Comrade Danladi Boyis Hassan, FIICA.