Are you an emotionally healthy leader? (189-2)

Emotionally healthy leaders do not expect others to meet the need only God can meet. Read Matthew 2:1-18.

Herod the Great was the Roman Empire’s king of the client state Israel. He had heard prophecies all his life concerning the birth of a Jewish Messiah; the man that would become the “King of the Jews.” The insecurity of King Herod peaked when he heard of Jesus’ birth. Prophecies had foretold the time and place of the birth of the King of the Jews but when it appeared prophecy was being fulfilled, Herod became impatient, angry, self-consumed, and disturbed – all signs of an insecure leader. In a desperate attempt to protect his kingship and legacy, Herod had all the Jewish male children under a certain age put to death to ensure the Jewish Messiah would not live to take his throne.

Herod, like other insecure leaders, all share common traits. Insecure leaders consistently need feedback that they are firmly in charge; they limit their best people, sabotage their organizations success, and spend their energy keeping their position instead of doing their job. They never grow beyond their need for self-worth and the feeling that they belong. They often feel illegitimate and inadequate. Insecure leaders get their worth from “doing” more than “being.” Insecure leaders cause their organization to plateau; they don’t empower their team and they spend their time covering up their flaws rather than being honest.

If you see some of the traits of an insecure leader in your own leadership, the following will help if you desire to change:

• Slow down; evaluate your relationship with God. Do you see Him as a loving Father or a Celestial Judge? Have you found forgiveness for your shortcomings or do they continually hang over your head?
• Seek help from a mature Christian friend, your pastor, and time studying the Bible, but take whatever time you need to settle the issue of your personal worth with God.
• Release people from the requirement of meeting your emotional needs. Do not place your emotional health and self-worth in the hands of anyone but God.

We become healthy leaders only when we don’t expect others to meet the needs that only God can meet.