Biblical Leadership

GOD has blessed me with a new Job. It's a leadership position that is higher then I have ever been so I was lead to do some studying on leadership. The Bible is filled with Knowledge on how to lead GOD's way. The following is from a study I found by Hershey H. Friedman, Ph.D. The Bible does not hide mistakes made by great people. This makes it an extremely valuable text for teaching moral character. In fact, the lessons learned from mistakes often provide a more lasting and powerful impact than those learned from doing things right. These lessons are not only valuable for individuals in positions of leadership but all people who wish to improve their character. Stories of the following Biblical personalities are examined: Jacob, Joseph, Balaam, Samson, Saul, David, Solomon, and Haman. This examination indicates that the purpose of leadership is not fame, power, fortune, or settling old scores, but to lead people with truth and righteousness. Leaders must be ethical and should not cover up injustices, even on the part of loved ones. Scholars have examined everything from films (e.g., Dunphy and Aupperle, 2000) to literature (e.g., Clemens and Mayer, 1999) to history (e.g., Kaltman, 1998) to come up with helpful insights into what it takes to achieve success as a leader. Interestingly, very few studies on leadership have focused on the Bible. This, despite the fact that the Bible has had a profound effect on a countless number of people. To the believer, it is the word of God and provides a blueprint for how individuals should lead their lives. Even non-believers recognize the Bible as an important work of literature and a valuable tool for teaching timeless lessons to humankind. The Bible is the most popular book of all time -- it is estimated that as many as 6 billion copies have been sold -- and is the source of many metaphors and scenarios that can be very helpful to those teaching principles of moral leadership. Even for those who have no interest or inclination to lead, an examination of the deeds and misdeeds of Biblical leaders can be useful in understanding the importance of ethical behavior. Some researchers have found worthwhile lessons in leadership by studying the stories of Abraham and Moses, two of the great leaders of the Hebrew Bible (Herskovitz and Klein, 1999; Friedman and Langbert, 2000). The current paper, which extends and complements their work, will briefly examine the lives of several Biblical leaders. Since the Bible does not hide mistakes made by great people, this makes it an extremely valuable text for teaching moral character. In fact, the lessons learned from mistakes often provide a more lasting and powerful impact than those learned from doing things right. These lessons are not only valuable for individuals in positions of leadership but all people who wish to improve their character. Jacob Jacob was one of the patriarchs, a grandson of Abraham, and father of the twelve tribes. His major mistake as a leader of the clan was to designate Joseph as his successor when Joseph was still young and somewhat irresponsible. Jacob gave Joseph the coat of many colors, a symbol of leadership, when his son was only 17-years old. Joseph, however, was immature and reported his brothers’ shortcomings to his father (Genesis 37:2). Needless to say, his brothers did not like him. Jacob was prescient and recognized the potential of Joseph. Indeed, Joseph would eventually prove to be not only a good clan leader, but would become one of the great leaders of Egypt -- one who would get Egypt through seven years of famine. Unfortunately, at this point in his life, Joseph was not yet a good judge of human nature and further aroused the envy and hatred of his brothers by recounting his dreams to them. Relating a dream in which the sun, the moon, and eleven stars bow to him -- a dream that was not very hard to interpret -- infuriated Joseph’s brothers who made it clear that they would never accept him as a ruler over them. Joseph was sold as a slave by his brothers and did not become a leader of Egypt until he was 30-years old. The lesson that can be learned from Jacob’s mistake is not to designate a successor prematurely and not to show favoritism to one child. It usually takes time for people to recognize and appreciate the qualities of others. A successor has to be groomed. With time, Joseph would have matured and his siblings might have accepted him as the leader of the clan, or at the very least Joseph’s siblings would have been unable to forcefully sell him into slavery. Sometimes successors have to be prepared for positions of authority. In fact, Joshua was groomed for 40 years by Moses before being designated as Moses’ successor by God (Numbers 27:16-23). Joseph’s mistake was in bragging about his dreams. Little good can come from making other people envious of oneself.

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Biblical Leadership

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