Are your team members afraid to give you counsel? (104-3)

Leaders must be teachable and surround themselves with individuals who are not afraid to give them counsel even when they are not in the mood to receive it. When they do, God is honored. Read 2 Kings 5:1-15.

Naaman was an outstanding military leader and had won the favor and respect of his king and commander in chief. Yet for all his strength and influence, Naaman suffered from the disease of leprosy. When Naaman learned of a Hebrew prophet named Elisha who might be able to help him, he requested and received permission from the king to contact Elisha concerning a miracle healing. Based on his position and his later reaction, his expectations were of some grand healing in the courts of a great man.

But rather than an impressive meeting with the prophet, Naaman received instructions from Elisha’s servant (really just a messenger) to go wash himself seven times in the Jordan River. This enraged Naaman and he angrily refused to follow this prescription. He wasn’t teachable. Naaman struggled with pride, faulty expectations, and he was inflexible. Like many leaders today:

• Naaman wanted a quick fix.
• Naaman expected special treatment.
• Naaman held certain assumptions about the solution.
• Naaman grew angry about perceived unfair treatment.
• Naaman rejected solutions outside his own expectations.

Fortunately for Naaman, he had also done some things right as a leader. He had surrounded himself with people that loved him enough to be honest and speak the truth to him in every situation. Verse 13 says, “Naaman’s servants went to him and said, ‘My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, to wash and be cleansed’!” Naaman was a leader that listened to his team and was healed.

Leaders who remain teachable and surround themselves with individuals who will speak the truth to them even when their words are not particularly welcome seem to receive ongoing and sometimes unexpected success in their leadership. But unteachable, unapproachable leaders will be left behind as God does new things in our culture, consider the Pharisees.

How do you react when solutions don’t meet your expectations? How do you react when you receive counsel contrary to your mood or to your thoughts concerning the desired outcome? Effective leaders surround themselves with people they trust, give their team the right to speak in all circumstances and are teachable even when in a bad mood.