By Not Known
I came across a quote that says, “Leadership isn’t the most important thing. It is everything.”
Is it? In the wake of this week’s US presidential election and the debate in our Parliament on the elected President, we are again led to examine this issue on leadership.
Campaigns continue to be won in spite of these challenging economic times. Success is realised when organisations determine to forge ahead, but proceed with powerful and influential leadership. Success awaits those organisations unwilling to compromise with anything less than the best (Jerold Panas, Linzy and Partners).
Success awaits those unwilling to compromise with anything but the best seems to be the ethos of great leadership propounded here. But what does the Bible tells us about leadership? There are lessons we can learn from biblical characters. One such persons in the Bible is Joseph (Gen 37-50). His was an unbelievable story of God’s grace and sovereignty. He had his flaws but he had shown us that he was also a God-fearing man. There are five things about him we can learn about leadership.
1. Imagination. Joseph is often called a dreamer. Dreamers can be problematic because they are often idealists even though they see things others don’t. They are big-picture people and have the vision to lead their followers.
2. Integrity. Joseph when tempted by Potiphar’s wife resisted her advances and kept his integrity. A leader’s heart must continue to seek what is right and what is of God. Others are watching and the evil one will always find ways to lead them astray. The more power a leader has, the greater the temptation.
3. Investment. Joseph’s wisdom in managing Pharoah’s stockpile of grains is legendary. His leadership focuses on how he plans and manages his lieutenants to work with him. Besides, even though he was far from his family, his focus was to develop his brothers and challenge them to do great things for God. A great leader invests his time on developing people.
4. Intentionality. Joseph’s ability to focus on getting things done was another of his strength. He knew God has a plan for his life and he refused to be distracted from things that do not contribute towards that end.
5. Innovation. In the midst of adversity, Joseph was able to devise ingenious plans to bring relief to the entire nation of Egypt from the brink of a disaster. Leaders need to be calm and creative to come up with plans to lead his people to success.
These may be ways we can reflect on our own leadership. What is our heart like as a leader? How may you learn from Joseph?
Peter Poon