Effective leaders help their team believe they can be trusted as their leader by giving them understanding of the scope of their work before a project starts and continually reinforcing why the team is taking certain actions as the project progresses. These actions are designed to help the team believe in their leader as much as understand the project. Read Nehemiah 2:5-18.

God had given Nehemiah His favor with King Artaxerxes and allowed him to return to Jerusalem from Babylon to rebuild the protective walls around the city. Nehemiah showed up in Jerusalem with some fanfare. He rode in, probably dressed more like a “royal” than an ordinary caravan visitor. He was escorted by a troop of Persian cavalry sent by the king for his protection. His initial actions gave indication he wasn’t passing through but staying a while. If you were a citizen of Jerusalem, there was more reason to mistrust Nehemiah than to trust him. It might have been hard to see him as a leader that had Jerusalem’s best interest at heart. Read more »

Every great leader has the ability to relate to their team and people in their sphere of influence. If you want to be a superior leader, you must learn to connect with people. Relational leadership dramatically raises your influence as a leader. Team loyalty requires that you relate with your team through empathy, understanding, truth, fairness, respect, and mutual accountability. If a leader will give of themselves in these areas to their team, their team will be loyal and will follow their leadership anywhere. Ignore the need for connection and your leadership influence will be limited or a disaster. Read 1 Kings 12:1-24.

King Rehoboam had an opportunity to make some reasonable concessions to the people of the nation of Israel in the early days of his leadership that would indicate he understood their situation, empathized with their circumstances and would be fair in his leadership. Even when the previous king’s closest advisers counseled Rehoboam that he could win the people’s hearts forever by lightening their workload and tax burden, he turned a deaf ear to the people’s need. Read more »

All of us have met or served with leaders who read one too many of their own press clippings and started to believe what they were reading. They forgot that they did not achieve any victory alone. Effective leaders understand the value of their team and are fiercely loyal to them. Read 2 Samuel 23:8-35.

David led one of the most famous teams written about in the Bible. Some of the battle feats are so phenomenal that if we saw them reenacted in a movie we would immediately assume the story was fictional. Josheb-Basshebeth “raised his spear against eight hundred men, whom he killed in one encounter” (v. 8). Another one of David’s Mighty Men was Eleazar who, when all the rest of the army retreated “…stood his ground and struck down the Philistines till his hand grew tired and froze to the sword….The troops returned to Eleazar, but only to strip the dead” (v. 10). Eleazar single-handedly defeated the troops that put the rest of the army to flight. This team was so important to David that he named them individually in chapter 23. Read more »

The term “building alliances” seems to be replaced in today’s language by the term “networking.” Whether you use the term alliances or network, effective leaders pay attention to this function of leadership. Read 2 Samuel 15:32-36 and 16:15-17:23.

David used his resources to help others succeed. He genuinely befriended people and repaid loyalty. Because of these things he had loyal friends who were willing to invest their resources in his continued success. Read more »

Leadership is a gift from God. Everyone is a leader to some degree in their home, in a peer group, etc., but a select few are given more influence and given the privilege of serving others in a leadership capacity in their church, work, play, community, or nation. Wise leaders take their leadership responsibility seriously and understand that loyalty will be earned through their consistency over a period of time. Effective leaders understand the “two way” nature of loyalty and serve with consistency while continuing to strengthen the bond of loyalty. When the leader fails in their leadership responsibilities respect can erode and loyalty can be lost. Read 2 Samuel 15:1-37.

Sometime after he returns to Jerusalem following the murder of his brother Amnon, Absalom rises to power and assumes a position of leadership in Israel. In the intervening years he becomes a stronger, more forceful leader than his father, David. He wins the people’s loyalty. Read more »