Effective leadership involves planning. Planning is generally cherished by the more naturally introverted leaders who find their energy from times of solitude and generally not-so-cherished by the naturally extroverted leaders who find their energy with people. But for leaders to become all that God intended them to be, no matter their personality, they will have to find a method of planning that allows them to live within their personality and still create carefully thought out short and long-term plans. Read Numbers 10.

Estimates say there were approximately 3 million Hebrews that left Egypt under Moses’ leadership. We know that God determined the times and directions of the Israelites’ movement. They had no way of knowing in advance whether they would camp in a particular location for a few days or for a year. Each time they set up camp, they had to do so as if they might be there for a lengthy duration, but they also had to be flexible enough to break camp at any time. If there was not a carefully thought out plan in place to add order to pack up, march out and set up all 3 million Hebrews would have lost motivation for being part of this team. To put some personal understanding to the scope of this task, just think for a moment what it takes to get your family fed, dressed and into the car to get to church on time.

Problems are part of every leader’s life. Effective leaders do not let problems paralyze them; they know that solutions usually exist. Read Genesis 37:5-36; 39:1-41:16.

Joseph dealt with everything from being tossed in a pit by his brothers and left to die, to being sold into slavery and transported to a foreign country, to false imprisonment and yet these problems did not stop him. Joseph could have taken any of these “problems” and lost faith in his situation and in God. It would be very difficult to imagine how long the last two years in prison seemed to Joseph after the release of Pharaoh’s cupbearer who had promised to speak to Pharaoh on Joseph’s behalf because Joseph had correctly interpreted his dream. If Joseph had put his faith in people instead of God, this incident could have crushed his spirit.

Effective leaders find a way for their team to win. Good leaders will give whatever it takes; they find a way to achieve their goals. Read Genesis 29:16-30.

Jacob worked seven years for his uncle Laban for the hand of his daughter Rachel, a woman he loved. On their wedding night Laban substituted his older daughter Leah and Jacob did not discover the deception until the morning after.

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.