Have you ever thought about what separates the leaders who achieve victory from those who suffer defeat? What does it take to be a winner? Winning is an inside job. The leader that achieves is the one that first wins the internal battles. Re-read 2 Chronicles 34 and 35.

Josiah remained faithful to his covenant with God throughout his entire life. Some elements of leadership we can learn from Josiah: Read more »

There are times when a leader can get a new understanding of their character and the core values they have consciously or unconsciously chosen. There comes a point when leaders realize that everything they have given their life to has little or no lasting value; they see their legacy as God sees it and they know they need to change. Read 2 Chronicles 33:1-20.

Manasseh became king of Judah when he was 12 years old. He ruled in Judah for 55 years. His spiritual legacy, based on the majority of his leadership life is described in 33:2, “He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, following the detestable practices of the nations the Lord had driven out before the Israelites.” During the early years of his reign, Manasseh rebuilt the altars to false gods; he was involved in witchcraft, sorcery, astrology, consulted spiritualists and mediums and even killed his own children for religious purposes, burning them alive because of his superstitions. Manasseh led the people of Judah totally away from the God of his forefathers. Even when the Lord spoke to Manasseh and the people they totally ignored Him so He withdrew His protection from Judah, and the Assyrians captured Judah and made Manasseh a prisoner. Read more »

Leaders can make a serious error in judgment and still have a positive impact with the rest of their leadership life. Read 2 Chronicles 11:5-17.

Rehoboam’s leadership is primarily known for a poor decision early in his reign as king of Israel that split the kingdom of Israel into two nations. I don’t think I have ever seen a positive leadership example based on Rehoboam’s life. But even though Rehoboam’s reign as king started poorly, when the entirety of his leadership is viewed, he had some outstanding moments. Read more »

All leaders have character flaws; areas of weakness that tend to surface and resurface throughout our career. These negative elements of character, if not dealt with and replaced with God-honoring character traits, will continue to create problem situations, limit a leader’s influence or destroy their career completely. Read 1 Kings 1:1-10 focusing on verse 6.

David was God’s leader for Israel for 40 years. Even today, he is recognized as one of the great leaders of all time in world history. Under David’s leadership 12 independent sovereign tribes that could each trace their family lineage back to the 12 sons of Jacob, united and became a military and political force that changed the entire landscape of the Middle East. Today, thousands of years later, David’s influence can be seen in the nation of Israel and felt in world politics. Read more »

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal, it is the courage to continue that counts,” Winston Churchill. David’s moral failures in seducing another man’s wife and then finding a way to cause that man’s death could have derailed his leadership of Israel but his failure was not final. Read 2 Samuel 12:13-31.

David demonstrated several actions and attitudes that can help any leader survive a major failure: Read more »