John 20 recounts the story of Mary Magdalene and the disciples encountering the resurrected Jesus. When Peter and John ran to the tomb after hearing Mary’s report that the stone sealing it had been moved, they witnessed a startling scene. Jesus’ body was nowhere to be found; only the linen burial cloths lay there. Verse 9 adds a telling detail: “They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.” The resurrection of Jesus was not an accidental event. Raising the dead Christ was an act accomplished by God’s deliberate will and design.
In The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth, translated into Korean as What Makes a Person Grow, John Maxwell argues that the first principle a leader must understand and practice to grow is the Law of Intentionality. Leadership does not accrue automatically with the passage of time or with age. There are countless people who grow older yet remain immature. Leadership growth does not occur naturally. Unless one has a clear determination to grow, establishes a growth plan, and makes intentional, proactive efforts to pursue it, one can never become a better leader. Even the resurrection of Jesus was not a natural occurrence but an intentional work of God. In fact, from a purely natural standpoint, decay—not resurrection—is what normally follows death.
Ray S. Cline, former chief analyst and deputy director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, offered a strategic framework for evaluating national power in his 1990s book, The Power of Nations: A Strategic Assessment. He proposed the following equation:
Power = (Critical Mass + Economy + Military) × (Strategy + Will)
Translated into simpler terms:
National power = (territory and population + economic strength + military strength) × (strategy + will).
Cline assigned a perfect score of 100 for territory to countries with vast landmasses, such as the United States, China, Russia, Canada, Australia, and Brazil, and a perfect score of 100 for population to nations with populations exceeding 100 million. In terms of economic power, the United States received the maximum score of 200, and other nations were rated comparatively. For military strength, the United States and Russia received perfect scores of 100, with other countries evaluated relative to them. Using this method, the United States achieved a perfect score of 500 in the first part of the equation. Russia, despite receiving full marks for territory, population, and military strength, earned only 410 points due to its comparatively weaker economy.
The second part of Cline’s equation—strategy (S) and national will (W)—proved decisive. He used a combined score of 1 as the baseline, adding points to nations with strong strategy and will and subtracting points from those lacking them. For example, Switzerland, though politically and militarily neutral, received a score of 1.5 out of 1 due to its clear strategy and unwavering resolve to resist any aggressor. By contrast, countries such as Burma and Angola, which lacked coherent strategy and national resolve, were assigned scores as low as 0.4. When this formula is applied to the Vietnam War, it becomes easier to understand how the United States—an undisputed superpower—was defeated by North Vietnam, a nation vastly inferior in territory, population, economic capacity, and military resources. Under Ho Chi Minh’s strategic leadership, North Vietnam excelled in guerrilla warfare and possessed a fierce will to sacrifice everything for national liberation. The U.S. military, by contrast, was strong in conventional warfare but lacked a guerrilla strategy and, more importantly, lacked the will to stake lives on defending Vietnam. When strategy or will approaches zero, even the largest numbers in the front half of the equation are negligible. Any number multiplied by zero is still zero.
South Korea’s population is roughly twice that of North Korea, and its economic power exceeds the North’s by more than fifty times. Although North Korea may possess greater quantities of military hardware, the quality of its weapons systems, technology, and defense budget cannot begin to compare with those of the South. Logically, North Korea should fear South Korea. Yet the opposite often appears true. Perhaps haunted by memories of the Korean War, South Korea seems to fear the North. This puzzling reality becomes understandable when viewed through Cline’s equation. South Korea fears North Korea not because of inferior resources, but because it lacks a resolute will—a willingness to fight decisively if necessary to defend freedom and peace. Freedom and peace are never free. They are sacred spoils granted only to those who possess the will to defend them, even at the cost of their lives. The cry, “Give me liberty, or give me death,” was the source of the determination that enabled colonial America to defeat the British Empire over two centuries ago. When will is zero, national power is zero.
“Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself. Now God had caused the official to show favor and compassion to Daniel” (Daniel 1:8–9). To grow as a leader, one must first resolve to set one’s will firmly. To resolve is to establish unshakable determination. Declare your will to discipline yourself, free from emotional impulse, in order to grow into an excellent leader. The beginning of growth and development lies in will. The timeless truth remains: where there is a will, there is a way. If the personal development goals you set at the beginning of the year have already faded into short-lived resolutions, set your will again—and press on. Leaders who clarify their resolve and persevere will inevitably bring growth to themselves and to their organizations. The death and resurrection of Jesus are the ultimate expression of God’s resolute will to save humanity. Only leaders with strong willpower can breathe vitality into themselves and the organizations they lead.