Leadership Is Everything’: Christian Council Boss Urges Church Leaders to Prioritize Growth, Attitude

Story by Fada Amakye

The General Secretary of the Christian Council of Ghana, Rev. Dr. Cyril G. K. Fayose, says intentional leadership training is critical to transforming churches and communities, as poor attitude and lack of knowledge continue to undermine effective leadership.

Speaking after a leadership training session organized in collaboration with the John Maxwell Institute and the EQUIP team in Ghana, Rev. Dr. Fayose stressed that leadership affects every other aspect of life and ministry. “Leadership is everything. Leadership affects all other things,” he said. “We thought it necessary to collaborate to train church leaders in how to practice good leadership — a leadership that will lead to transformation of themselves and also the people that they lead.”

The event brought together staff of the Christian Council and selected leaders from the Presbyterian Church, Methodist Church, and Evangelical Presbyterian Church dioceses and presbyteries within the enclave. Rev. Dr. Fayose explained that space limitations restricted attendance, but the model is to train trainers. “The idea is that when we are trained, we also go out and train other people, or we have the Maxwell team also go out there and train other people.”

He said the training addressed key leadership gaps, including attitude, personal growth, prioritization, and relationships. Quoting John Maxwell, he noted, “Attitude is not everything, but attitude is one of the main things. If you work on your attitude, you go very far as a leader.” He emphasized that attitude is a personal choice. “We can’t blame other people for our attitude. We have to consciously and intentionally decide the attitude we are going to display to all the people we meet.”

Participants also studied personal growth and the principle of prioritization. “We should not just go through life but grow through life,” Rev. Dr. Fayose said. “If you prioritize right, 20% of the things that are topmost on your priority will help you achieve 80% of the results that you want.”

On his message to the wider Christian body, he pointed to Scripture as the foundation of modern leadership principles. “All of these things that we are talking about — attitude, relationships, personal growth — are all in Scripture. John Maxwell actually uses Scriptural passages to underscore the point he’s making,” he said. “For lack of knowledge, my people perish. If you have not traveled before, you think your mother is the best cook in the world. When you listen to other people, you grow.”

He urged Christians to study Scripture carefully and apply its leadership lessons, saying the training had been “very beneficial” and would help leaders become “transformational agents” in their spheres of operation.