Effective leaders do their best to produce and facilitate systems that work together. Read Matthew 12:22-32.

As Jesus continued to demonstrate supernatural power, He healed a man who was demon-possessed, blind and mute. When the religious leaders heard of what had been done they accused Jesus of being a devil to have the power to cast out a devil. Jesus’ comment to this accusation was that “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand” (v. 25). Expanded only slightly, any kingdom or organization, or business, or church or family divided against itself will fall. This is true because all the various parts of an organization affect each other.

How a leader sees the team determines how that leader treats the team. Read Malachi 2:10.

The questions in verse 10, “Have we not all one Father? Did not one God create us? Why do we profane the covenant of our fathers by breaking faith with one another?” If answered seriously, these questions would shape how a leader sees their team and change the leader/follower relationship in virtually every case. Seeing your teammates as God’s creation, a person He personally designed with specific talents and gifts to serve at your side in a team situation will definitely change both the leader and the teammates’ behavior toward each other and the team.

When leaders fail to practice servant leadership they will become self-serving and the organization can become a very unpleasant place to work. Read Micah 7:1-7.

The people of Israel were in dire straights. They could not trust a neighbor, put confidence in a friend or even trust their own family members. The root of the problem is identified as corrupt leaders when in verse three it says, “…the ruler demands gifts, the judge accepts bribes, the powerful dictate what they desire – they all conspire together.” There was self-centered leadership who worked for personal gain, kickbacks and bribes. They forced the people to serve them rather than them serving the people.

A leader’s decisions affects the stakeholders. Read Jonah 1:1-17.

God gave Jonah a command to preach repentance to the Assyrian king and the people living in Nineveh. Jonah chose to go the opposite direction and caught a ship in Joppa bound for the port of Tarshish. God decided to recall Jonah and in the process sent a mighty storm that threatened to sink the ship. Jonah’s decision to run from God threatened the lives of the unsuspecting sailors. The cause of the storm lay with a man they had never met based on his decision he made before the journey began. Jonah became part of the sailors’ system and their lives were dramatically affected.

An important part of a leader’s responsibility is to create structure and organization so their team knows how they fit into the big picture and why they do what they do. Read Ezekiel 40-44.

In the 25th year of exile in Babylon, God appeared to Ezekiel and gave him a vision concerning the structure, organization and operation of the temple when the people returned to Jerusalem. God went into great detail as He described the order and organization that He designed into His temple. This, like many other scriptures, shows just how important structure and organization are in God’s design for leadership. Effective leaders create structure that enhances productivity and nurtures the emotional health of those they lead.