Aaron, Moses’ brother, lived the leadership experience of most leaders. Like Aaron, most leaders will not be the final authority; most will lead from within the organizational chart not the top. Most won’t have a perfect track record of performance, but take courage in that position because God used Aaron to accomplish critical leadership functions for His kingdom and Aaron’s leadership left a mark that can still be seen today. Read Exodus 4:10-17; Exodus 32:1-6 & 19-29; Numbers 12:1-3; Leviticus 8:1-9.

Aaron was not God’s choice to lead the Hebrew nation from captivity in Egypt. He was selected by God to assist Moses. Aaron did not always understand the vision and he did not always perform in support of Moses but Aaron had key roles to play as God accomplished His vision for the Hebrew people. Most leaders, like Aaron, will serve in the middle of an organization and must learn to have maximum influence without having the final authority in either the vision or the process.

The story of Esau, Jacob’s older twin brother, paints a powerful picture of a leader without vision. Read Genesis 25:29-34; 32:3-23 and 33:1-20.

Esau loved the outdoors from early life and was a skilled hunter and a rugged outdoorsman. His story is that of a leader that lived completely in the present, depending on his own strength and resources and he repeatedly made shortsighted decisions.

Leaders look ahead to next month, next year, to three and five year plans, to the next decade or even the next generation and beyond. They tend not to be paralyzed by the “now” decisions because they understand how “now” decisions fit into the future. Read the story of Abraham in Genesis 12-25.

In Genesis chapter 12 when God told Abraham “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great…and peoples on the earth will be blessed through you” Abraham caught a vision and a hope for fathering a great nation; a vision for becoming a leader that would have an impact on his generation and those to follow him.