Written by Prof. Mannixs E. Paul, PhD, FCFIP, FCIML, FCECFI, FFAR
Grappling for Power Without Purpose: When Leadership Loses Its Soul Written by Prof. Mannixs Paul, PhD, December 18th, 2025, MEFoundation Monthly Lecture, Series 12Across the years, a troubling pattern continues to repeat itself. Many people seek positions of authority—whether in public service, private institutions, or even faith-based organizations. The desire to lead is not wrong. Leadership is honorable. Aspiration is natural. Yet the most important question remains unanswered by many: what is your intent?Intent is the foundation of leadership. When the premise is wrong, the conclusion will inevitably be wrong. Power pursued for ego, personal gain, or control cannot produce justice or progress. Instead, it attracts pain, affliction, and lasting shame—not only to the individual but to their posterity. History does not judge intentions; it judges outcomes.Many leaders forget a simple but enduring truth: the end of a matter speaks louder than its beginning. Titles fade. Slogans expire. Applause disappears. What remains is the weight of consequences. Leadership is remembered not by how it began, but by what it produced—or destroyed.
Consider the birth of a child. At birth, the future is unknown. Parents act in faith and hope. They nurture, protect, and sacrifice, believing the child will become a source of honor. Yet, shaped by character and choices, that same child may later bring sorrow to those who labored for them. Leadership is no different. Authority entrusted in hope can later become a source of collective regret.We elect leaders. We appoint officials. We hand over power under trust. Too often, those entrusted become destructive forces—modern-day Machiavellians driven by cunning and deceit rather than service. They enter office poor and leave extraordinarily wealthy. They arrive humble and exit boastful. They speak the language of reform while perfecting the practice of plunder.
They succeed not in building society, but in looting it.
They commission “elephant projects” that look impressive on paper but deliver no value. They establish grand offices that are never funded and initiate programs they themselves do not trust. Hospitals are built without equipment. Facilities exist without staff. In moments of crisis, the same leaders abandon these institutions and rush abroad, while the people they govern are left to suffer.
The hypocrisy extends across every sector.
They build academic institutions their own children will never attend. Public schools and universities are neglected, while their families are educated abroad in systems they refuse to strengthen at home. Education becomes symbolism, not empowerment.
They create security outfits yet rely on layers of private protection. Citizens are told to trust public safety structures, while leaders do not entrust them with their own lives. Armored convoys move freely as communities remain exposed and afraid.
They distribute food to the people, yet they do not eat from it. They promote agricultural programs and relief packages that never reach their own tables. What they consider unsafe for themselves is deemed sufficient for the masses.
They announce bold reforms of monetary policy and the banking sector, preaching confidence in the national economy—yet they save their wealth overseas and in foreign currencies. While urging citizens to trust the local currency, they quietly hedge their own futures elsewhere. While calling for sacrifice and patience, they export capital, invest abroad, and secure foreign accounts. This contradiction drains confidence, weakens institutions, and signals to the world that even the architects of policy do not believe in the systems they regulate.
This is the heart of the crisis: leaders who do not believe in what they build.
Scripture captures the tragedy with sobering clarity: “What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?” Leadership that enriches the few while impoverishing the many is not success; it is moral failure. To rob the vault entrusted to you is not merely theft—it is the stealing of lives, futures, and dignity.
No one knows tomorrow. Power is temporary. Life is fragile. Offices will be vacated—by time, by truth, or by death. But legacy remains.
True leadership is purposeful leadership. It builds schools where its children can attend. It trusts hospitals it can use. It relies on security it provides for all. It eats from the same table as the people it serves. It preserves the integrity of the system under its management. It creates institutions strong enough to outlive individuals and policies grounded enough to earn trust.
We must make a decisive turn—individually and collectively. Leadership must return to purpose. Society must be built, not plundered. Trust must be honored, not betrayed. For while no one lives forever, legacy does.
And in the end, history will speak—clearly and without mercy—about those who grasp power without purpose, and those who chose to lead with conscience, courage, and truth.
Courtesy of MEFoundation