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.

Leaders look ahead to next month, next year, to three and five year plans, to the next decade or even the next generation and beyond. They tend not to be paralyzed by the “now” decisions because they understand how “now” decisions fit into the future. Read the story of Abraham in Genesis 12-25.

In Genesis chapter 12 when God told Abraham “Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great…and peoples on the earth will be blessed through you” Abraham caught a vision and a hope for fathering a great nation; a vision for becoming a leader that would have an impact on his generation and those to follow him.

God is the ultimate leader and the obvious place to start when looking at elements of individual leadership. Read Genesis 1:1-31.

God initiated the creation of the universe. He made something from nothing. God demonstrated the use of a step-by-step process over a period of time to bring order out of disorder. Because the process took six days to complete doesn’t mean God did not have an end in mind when He started the project. Being God, He could have jumped over the process to the end product in an instant but He chose to utilize a specific process. The following are just a few truths that leaders can learn from God’s process in creating the universe: