Effective leaders lead with consistency even when their personal life or work environment lacks structure and organization. Read Proverbs 14:4.

King Solomon of Israel, who wrote most of the book of Proverbs, lived in an agrarian society. Several of his proverbs lose their profound meaning when read by leaders three or four generations away from the land. Proverbs 14:4 talks about an ox and an empty or clean manger, etc. and is not instantly viewed as a proverb that would shape a leader’s thinking or actions. When restated in today’s leadership language it has a profound point; “An empty barn or stable (or business) stays clean but there is no income from an empty stable so get used to working in less than ideal situations.” Read more »

Like a loving parent, effective leaders urge those under their charge to develop the wisdom, understanding and skills that will lead to their success. Read Proverbs 4:1-9.

Rather than simply teaching the characteristics of success, effective leaders focus on people and invest in them. They create a culture that enables people to develop the wisdom needed to do their work with excellence. They pay attention to details and decisions that are essential to their team’s development of wisdom and common sense. Wise leaders create a culture that affirms wise decisions and holds team members accountable for decisions and actions that demonstrate a lack of wisdom. Read more »

It is difficult if not impossible for a Christian leader to lead with the moral beauty of God’s truths unless they are grounded in what is written in God’s book the Bible. Read Psalm 119.

Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible. Chapter 119 is filled with words of wisdom and extremely practical information for daily life and leadership. Leaders are urged to value the words of wisdom of God and to treasure it more than anything else in life. In these days of rapid change in our society, leaders must remain adaptable but for Christian leaders this adaptability must come from a foundation of timeless truths that allows them to remain principle-driven even in the face of change. Psalm is a roadmap to wisdom, values and principles. Read more »

Wise leaders recognize wisdom, knowledge and passion in individuals and promote those individuals to positions of authority. Read Ezra 7.

Artaxerxes was the fourth king of Persia to interact with the Jewish people who had been exiled to Babylon by the Babylonians prior to the Persian conquest of Babylon. The Persians were a fairly superstitious people which led to one of the Persian’s national defense policies – allowing a portion of the exiled population of each people group under Babylonian captivity to return to their homeland and establish a national presence and re-establish worship of their god in their homeland. This policy gave the Persians the good will of those returning to their homeland and those from that people group staying in Persian territory, and it gave them physical allies on the perimeter of their nation and the favor of the gods of the people living in these regions. Read more »

A wise leader relates to their team. Read Ezra 1:1-7.

King Cyrus of Persia understood how to relate to those in his kingdom. The Persian forces had conquered the nation of Babylon. Babylon had been a great power and at the height of their power they had captured Jerusalem and exiled most of the Jewish people living there to Babylon. Not only the Jews but many of the people that Cyrus now governed were exiles that the Babylonian army had relocated from their homeland. This potentially made Cyrus’ governance more difficult. As we have seen in modern days with the breakup of the Soviet block of nations, ethnicity and national loyalty are not easily forgotten. Cyrus could have had several exiled national groups resistant to his rule and his army could have been paralyzed battling internal rebellious people groups who were seeking their own identity.

Cyrus chose a non-military leadership strategy; he studied the needs and desires of each people group and related to them through their needs thus becoming a conquering hero rather than an enemy to be contended with. Leaders can learn some practical steps in relating to their team from Cyrus’ leadership: Read more »