Effective leaders provide for leadership during their long-term absences. Read Nehemiah 13.

Nehemiah is one of the best models of effective leadership in the Bible. But, even Nehemiah left some vital leadership roles unfinished and they ultimately hurt both him and his team. After 12 years in Jerusalem, Nehemiah returned to Babylon to once again serve the king. According to 13:6, “…Some time later I asked his permission and came back to Jerusalem.” Upon his return he learned that a priest had allowed a foreigner to use part of the temple as his extravagant residence, that the people no longer provided provisions for the priests and Levites as required by the Law of God, and that the Jewish residents had violated the covenant they had made with God and were once again intermarrying with pagan neighbors.

Yesterday, we looked at leaders becoming winners by winning the internal battle. Effective leaders know that it is not enough for them to win the inside battle; they know their team also must win that battle for the organization to go to another level. Read 2 Chronicles 34 and 35.

Josiah is remembered as a king of Judah that “…walked in the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left” (34:2b). His legacy is that of an effective leader and godly king. No leader can leave this kind of legacy without a quality team surrounding them. Josiah’s reforms affected the whole nation because his beliefs and core values became the beliefs and core values of those that surrounded him in leadership.

Our society tends to give one leader credit for what the team has accomplished. Leaders who read their own press clippings can easily fall into that same trap. Read 2 Samuel, chapters 8 and 10.

In The Maxwell Leadership Bible, John Maxwell talks about effective teamwork:

To build trust, a leader must exemplify three qualities: competence, connection and character. People will forgive an occasional mistake based on ability, especially if they can see that you’re still growing as a leader, but they won’t trust someone who slips in character. If a leader has an occasional lapse in character, it is lethal. No leader can break trust with their people and expect to keep influencing them. Trust makes leadership possible. Read Judges 13:24 – 16:31.

In The Maxwell Leadership Bible, Maxwell looks at Samson and the Law of Solid Ground.

Many of us work daily on specific areas of personal/character development or becoming better at specific leadership techniques and principles. This daily effort allows us to utilize the potential God created in us. Along with this daily growth, we are well served to periodically look at the big picture of how God develops a leader and make application to our own situation.

Joshua became a leader at one of Israel’s most difficult times in its history. Within days of his appointment he led the nation across the Jordan River into hostile territory and set out to conquer, divide and settle the land God had promised the Hebrew people. It was a daunting task but Joshua succeeded in this assignment as God’s leader. A brief review may help you see how your daily work fits into the big picture of becoming God’s leader for the assignment He has given you: