Yesterday, we looked at leaders becoming winners by winning the internal battle. Effective leaders know that it is not enough for them to win the inside battle; they know their team also must win that battle for the organization to go to another level. Read 2 Chronicles 34 and 35.

Josiah is remembered as a king of Judah that “…walked in the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left” (34:2b). His legacy is that of an effective leader and godly king. No leader can leave this kind of legacy without a quality team surrounding them. Josiah’s reforms affected the whole nation because his beliefs and core values became the beliefs and core values of those that surrounded him in leadership.

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:

An open climate is required to create an environment of learning for any team. If leaders model learning by openly sharing their own areas of growth, their team will feel confident to do the same. Read 2 Chronicles 34:19-33.

Chapter 34 illustrates what happens when an organization learns from history and from each other. Josiah’s reforms affected the whole nation because it spread from priests to the king to the people. Josiah became king at 8 years old. As he got older his devotion to God was demonstrated by his actions and decisions. At age 26 he directed that the temple be remodeled and repaired to display the nation’s honor and dedication to God.

Effective leaders see a better future for their organization and act upon that vision. They demonstrate courage based on conviction and make the hard decisions needed to bring about change. Read 2 Chronicles 34.

“Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did – with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the law of Moses” (2 Kings 23:25). Josiah “walked in the ways of his father David, not turning to the right or to the left” (2 Chronicles 34:2). Now that is a legacy every Christian leader would love to have.

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.