Becoming a leader is not a quick, simple process. It may be possible to become a self-made leader but that would be rare by any standard and impossible for a Christian. If the Spirit of God is not in control of leading and directing a Christian leader, they may develop skills but those skills bring glory to themselves not to God. Most highly successful, effective Christian leaders receive input not only from the Spirit of God but also from another leader that invests in them. Joshua is a tremendous example of such a leader. Read Numbers 27:15-23.

This portion of scripture is right at the end of Moses life when he was publicly passing the mantle of leadership to Joshua. There are excellent leadership lessons for both the mentor and the person receiving the mentoring in these few verses:

No leader can enjoy success without developing a healthy sense of discernment and intuition. Read Numbers 22:21-35.

Balaam lacked both discernment and intuition about what was happening around him. Balaam angered God because he disobeyed what he knew (or should have known) to be right. It actually took an angel standing in Balaam’s path to stop him. Balaam lacked the discernment to see the angel’s blockade and even whipped his donkey, who had more discernment than Balaam, for responding to the angel.

There are two kinds of false leaders in organizations: man-appointed and self-appointed. Yesterday, there were truths about Korah, a self-appointed leader, today truths about Balaam, a man-appointed leader. Read Numbers 22:5-24:25.

God established the concept of working in teams. Read Genesis 2:18-24.

God realized that it was not good for Adam to work alone. He created for Adam a teammate that was a perfect match for his needs and complement to his skills. It is interesting that God did not clone Adam but made an entirely new creature that complimented Adam’s skills. Adam and Eve were not one mind but could function as one mind.