The effective leader understands the value and dangers of exhortation. Read Mark 6:14-29.

John the Baptist, Jesus’ cousin and friend had publicly exhorted King Herod saying “It is unlawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” Herod’s response was to have John imprisoned. Herodias, the wife in question, responded by nursing a grudge! Ultimately, Herodias, through her daughter, got her chance to publicly exhort Herod to kill John and, socially backed into a corner before his friends, Herod had John executed. Lest we be too hard on King Herod, most leaders written about in the Bible responded unfavorably to prophetic exhortation or rebuke. How a leader responds to exhortation says a lot about their character or lack of character.

A hostile audience is a great test of a leader’s communication skills. Read Matthew 21:23-27 and Matthew 21:33-46.

Those serving in leadership of Judaism despised Jesus. The strict rules of the priesthood came down hard on anyone claiming to be a representative of God let alone the Son of God. Even though Jesus did not proclaim He was the Son of God in His public messages, neither did He deny it and to the religious leaders the lack of denial was equal to proclaiming it. Lest I leave the impression all their motives were pure, the religious leaders also did not want to have anyone upset their power grip on the people and their profitable financial activities. These leaders were angry with Jesus and would have had him killed but they were afraid of violating the law of the Roman occupying force and they were afraid of the Jewish people who thought Jesus was a prophet.

Conflict management starts with a leader’s attitude. Read Matthew 5:43-45.

Jesus was teaching His disciples some truths that were (and still are) counter cultural. In what many consider His most famous sermon He called His team to be different, to see the world from God’s perspective, to relate to people in a supernatural fashion, and to develop a God-like attitude rather than to accept the popular worldview. With these words, “You have heard that it was said, ‘love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven,” Jesus challenged a culturally accepted norm held by virtually every leader on earth.

Leaders must have courage. Sooner or later leaders will be required to stand for their values against powerful adversaries. Read Matthew 3:1-10.

The prophet Isaiah had foretold of another prophet that would precede the Messiah. Isaiah said there would be “A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for Him.’” John the Baptist was the prophet Isaiah identified. He was Jesus cousin and was approximately six months older than Jesus. John’s ministry was to call the Jewish people to repentance so their heart would be ready for Jesus’ message of repentance. John courageously called for the Jewish people to turn from their sinful lives and live out what they claimed to believe.

Effective leaders connect with their team before they correct their team. Read Malachi 1:1-14.

The name Malachi means “Messenger of Yahweh.” Malachi was the last prophet to bring the Hebrew people any message from God until John the Baptist brought God’s word to the Jews approximately 400 years later as the forerunner of Jesus. Malachi uses an easy to follow question and answer format to address issues such as divorce, infidelity, hypocrisy, tithing, false worship, complacency, and arrogance. Even though Malachi had a difficult message of the changes the leaders needed to make to please God he made a connection with the people before he brought God’s message of correction.