Skilled leaders encourage their team by recognizing their contributions. Read Mark 12:41-44.

Jesus was in Jerusalem in what would be the last few days of His earth-bound life. During those days He spent some time in the Temple interacting with the people. On one of those occasions He was watching people put their offering into the treasury box. When Jesus saw a poor woman drop in two coins that would not equal a penny, but were all she had to live on, He called His disciples to Him and pointed out this woman’s sacrificial gift, giving her a great compliment. Jesus understood the importance of celebrating other’s sacrifices.

An uncommitted leader is actually a danger to their team. Read Zechariah 10:1-3.

Teams take on the attitude and behavior of their leader. The Lord held the leaders among the returned exiles accountable for their treatment of the people. He says, “My anger burns against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders; for the Lord Almighty will care for His flock…” (v. 3). Through my leadership life I have found a lot of individuals who wanted to be a leader but didn’t want to do the work of or accept the responsibility of a leader. Accepting a leadership role requires committing to leadership responsibility.

Leaders must continually address the values and viewpoints that drive their behavior. Read Ezekiel 11:1-13.

In chapter 10 God carried Ezekiel to Jerusalem in his spirit and showed him that He had withdrawn His spirit and glory from the temple. As chapter 11 begins God carried Ezekiel in spirit to a specific temple gate and allowed him to see 25 leaders who were discussing the economic opportunity that would be available to them when the Babylonian siege ended. They had totally missed the point of God’s discipline of the people living in Jerusalem and were planning to take advantage of the poor once things were back to normal. A very revealing statement that should be considered by ever leader is when God said, “I know what is going through your mind.”

A leader without integrity is a dangerous person. Read Ezekiel 8.

God had directed Ezekiel to prophesy stern judgments on Jerusalem. In Chapter eight he was transported to Jerusalem in visions from God and shown the reason for the judgments. God showed Ezekiel scene after scene of idol worship in the temple built to worship Him and Him alone. In the vision, within the temple itself, Ezekiel saw people worshiping a statue of Asherah, the Canaanite goddess of fertility that King Josiah had removed 30 years earlier, he saw crawly things that reflected Egyptian influence, Tammuz a Babylonian fertility god, people worshiping the sun and in verses 12 and 13 he saw 70 elders each worshiping at the shrine of his own idol.

It is a leader’s internal qualities that drive their skills effectively and consistently. Read Proverbs 22:4.

Some leaders look for a scheme, a product, an activity or some other external element to bring them wealth and honor. But, according to Proverbs 22:4, the wise leader focuses on internal traits and attitudes such as “humility and the fear of the Lord” as key ingredients of success, achieving “wealth and honor and life.”