Every leader, even those with great teams, will be alone and feel lonely in leadership. Read Luke 22:39-46.

Jesus has finished His final meal with His disciples and has crossed the valley to the Mount of Olives where He and His team will spend the night. When they arrive Jesus separates Himself “about a stone’s throw” from His team and begins to pray. It was during His time of prayer that Jesus faced some of the loneliest moments of His entire life. He knew it was just hours before He would be tried, convicted, tortured, and crucified. He also knew everyone on His team would desert Him and that He would spend hours on the cross where God would not look on Him as He took on the sin of all mankind in order to serve as the once-for-all sacrifice for the human sin condition.

The effective leader sets priorities and lives by those priorities. Read Mark 1:32-38.

Jesus was having tremendous ministry in the city of Capernaum and news about Him spread quickly throughout the whole region of Galilee. Jesus’ schedule was full from first light to late into the evening, yet Mark tells us that Jesus got up early in the morning and went to a solitary place to pray. Jesus set priorities which included stepping back from His busy schedule to seek the day’s direction from God. Jesus used the solitude of His prayer time to regain perspective and keep His focus on the big picture of His mission on earth.

Even when they have personal needs, true servant leaders still put their team’s needs before their own. Read Matthew 14:1-14.

John the Baptist, Jesus’ cousin, was executed by King Herod. When Jesus received word of John’s death He left the crowds that had been following Him and took a boat to a more private place to pray and grieve for John. The crowds, who had never experienced anyone like Jesus, followed Him and when He saw what was happening and sensed the tremendous needs of the people, Jesus put His own emotional and physical needs on hold to focus on their needs.

When you are in leadership, criticism and confrontation will come with the territory. Read Numbers 12:3-14.

During the time the Hebrew nation was traveling in the wilderness, Moses married a non-Hebrew woman. This was a society where having several wives was accepted but the problem was Moses did not choose a Hebrew woman. We do not know if this foreign wife had converted to Judaism but we do know it caused major dissention in Moses’ family and leadership team. Both Aaron and Miriam confronted Moses and gave him a sharp rebuke. God ultimately intervened and confirmed Moses’ position but there are some things every leader can learn from this incident.

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.