Genesis Chapter 18: Abraham and the Three Men: Leadership Lesson: Think Like a Servant; Leaders Learn to Negotiate.

In the beginning of this chapter, Abraham saw three men approaching his land and jumped up to greet them.  At this point he had no idea who they were.  He insisted that they stop, wash their feet, and have some food.  When the men agreed, he hurried to have his wife make fresh bread, and then he killed a choice calf and had it prepared.

This is when we learn that the three men are God and two of his angels.  Abraham was the most powerful man in his area.  He had no reason, other than a heart for service, to be so hospitable to these strangers.  During this meal, the Lord reveals to Abraham that he will have a son with Sarah, even thought they are both to old to have children.

How things could have been different if Abraham would have let the three men pass by.  Or even if he would have not been so persistent to have them stop.  What would have happened if Abraham had given them stale bread, thinking that at least he was giving them something?  This is a great example of a great man genuinely caring for other people, without having an agenda.  People love to follow leaders who are genuine and who care.  The Lord values this as well, as seen by the gift of a son, given to Abraham.

The second part of the chapter deals with Abraham negotiating with the Lord.  The Lord was deciding on whether or not to destroy Sodom.  Abraham knew that his nephew lived there.  Abraham was not willing to ask the Lord to save just his family that was there, so he began by asking if the Lord would spare the city if there were at least 50 decent people who lived there.  When the Lord agreed that he would, Abraham began to negotiate the number down, until he got to ten.

Abraham knew that the Lord did not want to destroy any good people if they could be saved, remember, the Lord saved Noah and his family when he destroyed the rest of the world.  So Abraham, respectfully, reminded the Lord that as long as there were good people there, he needed to get them to safety.

When strong leaders negotiate, they appeal to the other person’s sense of values and desires.  Abraham knew that God wants to save the good people, and as long as Abraham kept bringing the negotiation back to that, he had a chance for success.  

The other thing that Abraham did was know when to stop.  Especially when you are negotiating with now power, you need to understand when to stop.  Abraham was relying on God’s good will to save the people, he needed to understand what would be too much to ask for.  Once you cross the line and ask for to much, it is hard to go backwards.  

Pray for what you want, understand what you are likely to get (research), and be respectful and thankful to the person with whom you negotiate (interpersonal communications).  Simple lessons that are all too often ignored or minimized because people are to focused on getting what they want at that moment.

Chapter 16: Abram, Sarai, and Haggar: Leadership Lessons: Patience and Judgement

This chapter documents the love triangle between Abram, Sarai, and Haggar.  Sarai was unsure of her ability to give Abram a son, so she offers Haggar to him.  Haggar and Abram are able to conceive, and this is where the trouble begins.

Before we address that, let’s talk about the need of patience from a leader.  The Lord has already spoken to Abram about his descendants outnumbering the stars in the heaven.  If Abram would have remained patient and willing to wait to do things in God’s time, then the stressed relationships and circumstances could have been avoided.  As a leader, how many times do you push to make big, or even small, decisions on your time and not God’s time?  Don’t fool yourself into thinking that the Lord excludes your business decisions from his power.  He has a plan for ALL parts of your life, not just your personal life.  The next time that you find yourself making a decision, “just because one needs to be made,”  take a moment to pray and you might find yourself thinking twice.

Now let’s discuss how judgement affected the situation: 

1. Sarai suggested one of her maidservants to her husband, in order to conceive a child.  What was she expecting to accomplish with this decision?
1. Option 1: Abram tries and fails, to conceive with Haggar.  Maybe this makes her feel better about herself, knowing that it is not her fault that they don’t have a child, but her husband still slept with another woman.
2. He does conceive, which actually happens, and now her old maidservant has a higher standing in the household than she does!

As a leader, it is your responsibility to consider the OUTCOMES of your decisions, before you make them.  

1. Abram had a judgement decision as well.  When Sarai came to him when she was unhappy with how Haggar was treating her, after the conception, Abram had to decide how he was going to handle the situation.  Abram could have made a decision himself, but he chose to place the responsibility back on Sarai’s lap.  He help Sarai accountable for her initial decision.  May times, as leaders, when our people come to us, we are quick to help them out by making tough decisions for them.  

Often times, leaders have experience that their followers don’t have yet.  If you take your people “off the hook” by letting them know what decision you would make, then they will never get the courage or the experience to make tough decisons for themselves.

As a leader, you also need to monitor the progress of your person’s decision.  If the decision does not work out, it is important to be there to help them correct the decision and learn from their mistakes.

Genesis Chapter 15: God's Covenant with Abram Leadership Lessons: Motivating People with "Big Picture" vision.

Genesis Chapter 15: God’s Covenant with Abram

Leadership Lesson: Motivate people with “big picture” vision

In this Chapter, the Lord and Abram discuss what will happen to Abram’s decedents.  The leadership lesson in this chapter is to motivate people with “Big Picture” vision of the future and not just with accomplishments in the present.

Abram was doing a great job following God’s will and walking in faith.  God had already rewarded him with possessions in this life.  God, as leader, gave Abram a vision of something greater to work for.  In this case, God promised that Abram’s descendants, even though they would suffer hardships, would return to inhabit the land he currently occupied.

This promise helps with motivation in two ways. 

1. Abram has the confidence to know that if he continues to walk with the Lord, not only he, but his descendants, will be taken care of by God.

1. Abram can set the vision with his family and followers, that even though there will be tough times ahead, the end result will be desirable.

When truly great “movements” need to take place, a large vision needs to be set.  This is even more important if the accomplishment will likely be accomplished after the current leader has moved on.  The vision will keep people focused on the destination and not the obstacles.  If people buy into the vision, they will be more willing to see opportunities where others see obstacles.

What opportunity do you have to set a vision for your team?  What is the one thing that you would hope to have your team accomplish, even if you move on?  When obstacles present themselves, what will your people turn to in order to find hope, confidence and perseverance?

Genesis 14: Abram saves Lot: Leadership Lesson: Keep lines of communication open, Remember your promises, Honor your partnerships, Have a plan.

In this chapter, Abraham’s brother Lot gets caught in the middle of a large fight and gets carried off as a hostage.  At this point Abram is not there, so one of the people who saw what happened went to alert Abram on the situation.  It is important to remember that Abram and Lot had not been getting along when they parted.  However, since the actual parting of ways went well, there was no fear from Lot’s messanger about the reception he would recieve.

Abraham decided to honor his relationship with Lot and take his resources and launch a rescue mission.  He was going to battle a force that it would appear was much larger than his.

It is documented that he gathered his 300+ fighting men and headed after Lot’s captors.  Imagine what would have happened if Abraham would have attacked the force head on.  He would have been easily overwhelmed by the superior numbers.  Instead, Abraham planned ahead and split his troops up to attack on two sides.  He also decided to attack when it was dark to further confuse his enemies.  It would have been easy for Abram to look at the size of his foe and decide that there was not way he could win.  Instead, he got creative and found ways to use his smaller force to his advantage.

Abraham was able to win the battle and save his brother.  He returned Lot to King Mechizeldeck.  The king blessed Abraham and tried to give him his share of the spoils of the battle.  Abraham, however, remembered the promise he made to God, and refused his portion of the spoils, knowing that, due to his covenent, they were not his to take.  This is a key Leadership lesson.....DON”T BE GREEDY.  If you agree to do, or not do something, don’t change the terms because something may unexpectedly go your way.  Abram went on this mission to save his nephew.  He did not enter into the battle to gain anything for himself.  If the messenger had not found him, he would have never chosen to engage any of these people in battle.  He was also in a territory that he had agreed to walk away from.  It would have been wrong to take advantage of the situation just because he was there at a time when they were vulnerable.

This does not mean that you should not take advantage of opportunity.  The point is that if you go into a situation with a goal in mind, (in this case, rescuing his nephew) and things happen to present themselves in a way that could be viewed as taking advantage of a situation, you should resist the temptation.  Abram had already been promised many things from God, there was no need to take additional resources from King Mechizeldeck.  It would be like getting paid to do a job by someone, and then accepting additional money from someone else for doing the same job.

The partnerships that you can forge by NOT taking advantage of a situation will pay off over the long run.

Genesis Chapter 12-14 Leadership Lessons: Decision making, Risk and Opportunity, The importance of trust

Genesis Chapter 12-13

Abraham, his calling, his trip to Egypt, and his splitting with Lot

Leadership Lessons: Decision Making, Being a good team mate,  Following a strong leader

The first part of these chapters talks about the calling of Abram by the Lord.  Can you imagine what it would be like to be recruited by GOD!  In reality, we all are, but I can imagine that this occasion was probably slightly more obvious than when we are recruited.  The key is that Abram listened and decided to follow.

Many great leaders would be successful no matter what their situation, but MOST have had an opportunity present itself to them that they took advantage of.  Abram was one of those leaders.  He was told that if he believed in the Lord, and followed him, his people would be numbered as many as the sand in the desert.  What a great offering.

Abram gathers his family and begins to follow the Lord.  The next leg of the journey is a conversation about future plans.  You could almost call it a Biblical Mission Statement.  The Lord shows Abram the land of Caanan and explains that it will belong to his descendants.  What a great gifts, but the key still remained, that Abram needed to remain loyal to his leader and carry out his vision.

There is an interesting story in these chapters about a trip to Egypt that Abram took during a famine.  There is a decision that is made that I bet, if given the benefit of hindsight, Abram would have played differently.  He has a beautiful wife, Sahri, who he is sure the Egyptians will find attractive.  He figures that they will kill him if they think she is her husband, so he decides to tell them that she is his sister.  Lying is never a good idea, especially when you are the leader.  Your followers will see that you use deceit in order to try to gain an advantage.  In this case, the pharaoh, who thought that Abram was the brother of a woman he was going to take for his wife, gave him significant material wealth. 

All was going along just fine, until the Lord, being the supreme leader that he is, decided to make things right.  First, he punished Pharaoh for taking Sahri for his wife.  He put a plague over all of Egypt.  He made it clear to the Egyptians why the plague had befallen them, which led them to confront Abram.  This resulted in Abram and his family getting kicked out of Egypt in the middle of a famine. 

So now, Abram has angered the Lord, by lying to the Pharaoh, He has angered the Pharaoh, because he deceived him, which resulted in Pharaoh making a bad decision that impacted his relationship with God.  Most importantly, Abram jeopardized his relationship with his followers, most significantly his wife, by making them go along with the lie. 

I think there is a magnified penalty that leaders pay when they lie.  The reason is that all true leadership power relies on the trust between the leader and the follower.  When a follower is asked to lie to help a leader gain a position, there is always a thought in the back of their head that if they could lie to someone else and use me to do it, they could lie to me as well.

The leadership lesson here is that if you are not good enough to lead by being yourself, then no matter how long you mask your weaknesses or shortcomings, you will eventually be found out, and the consequences could be drastic.

In this case, the Lord was looking out for his follower and had a back up plan.  However, there were additional penalties that had to be paid.  The partnership of Abram and Lot had to separate in order for there to be the possibility of both of their families prospering.

Any time partners have to split, there is tension on how the property will be split.  In this case, Abram took an opportunity to take a leadership “jump”.  He allowed Lot to pick the path he wanted to take.  One-way was fertile and civilized; the other was more of a wilderness.  Lot took the easy path for himself and left Abram with the wilderness.  I believe that this exemplifies the confidence that Abram had in his relationship with the Lord.  It also showed compassion for his brother, by allowing him to take an easier path.

The Lord rewarded Abram for this decision by promising to give him all of the land that he could see in every direction.  Abram was a strong leader, and it is quite possible that Lot would not have been able to lead his clan in the wilderness and sustain growth.  Abram should be applauded for seeing an opportunity to really stretch and take a risk, by choosing a harder path, and have it really pay off.

What opportunities do you have that might be a risk?  Do you have a strong leader you can trust to help direct you through the risk?  Have you built the trust necessary with your people to be sure that they will follow you when the going gets tough (wait till we get to Moses).  Opportunity and Risk is like the wilderness, but true leaders aren’t invigorated by the easy, tame, and civilized, they thrive on discovery, exploration, and innovation.  Take a lesson from Abram and if you can answer yes to the above questions….Choose the wilderness.

Genesis 6-9 The Story of Noah

Leadership Lessons: Trust in Company Direction, Understanding and working with talent, Execution of plans, leadership confidence.

Most people are aware of the “Noah’s Ark” story in the Bible.  The question, as a leader, how can I learn from what took place.

First, from God’s perspective,  he was ready to scrap the whole  “civilization experiment” when he realized that there were so many terrible people in the world.  Instead, he evaluated the entire situation and found that there was something (or someone in this case) worth investing in and saving.   There have been many times as a leader that scraping the whole project, or letting everyone go and starting from scratch seem like easier, or better decisions.  If you take a moment and truly evaluate the entire situation, you may find that there are actually diamonds in the rough, or valuable lessons to be learned from the experience.

Next, let’s take a look from Noah’s viewpoint.  Imagine the confidence he must have had in God’s plan for him when he started building a gigantic ship in the middle of his property.  Then he had to trust that God was going to work the whole “two of every kind of animal” project out, without anyone eating each other.  Imagine the leadership patience that Noah must have exhibited as all of those creatures were cooped up on that boat for such a long time.  Even when the boat finally struck land, Noah had the patience to wait until he was sure it was safe to venture out before he made a move.  The key is that he used the birds (Raven and then later a dove) to test the environment  before he took action.

There is a lot that can be learned from this activity alone.  Noah listened to God to get his direction on what he needed to do, but then Noah took command of the situation and made sound decisions.  After being in ark for so long, it would have been easy to look for excuses to disembark as early as possible, but it would have been a poor decision.  Noah used tools to give him some understand on when it was the right time to make a move.

How many times have your rushed to a decision, or made a hasty decision, just because you were sick of waiting.  Take a lesson from Noah.  Use the diagnostic tools at your disposal to have some concrete data to help you decide when to move.  Stick to your plan, and have faith in the direction to avoid making rash decisions that could jeopardize the entire operation.

Another lesson that can be learned is to make sure that you surround yourself with a good team.  In this case, Noah was surrounded by his wife, sons, and daughter-in-laws.  Only people who knew each other so well would be able to stand the close quarters for as long as they did.  There is also a bond from family that would make life after the boat possible. 

While you will hopefully never be stranded on an Ark with your team and animals for long periods of time, it is still important to think how your team dynamics will play out in your environment as you choose member to work for you.

The final piece of inspiration that can be taken from this story is that you are never too insignificant to make a huge difference.  Noah was a single man among many.  Yet he and his team were responsible for: 1. Building a colossal floating vessel.  2. Collecting two of every animal without getting eaten.  3. Directing this ship through turbulent times while keeping all of the inhabitants from killing each other.  4. After waiting for the right moment, embarking on re-creating civilization.  Not a bad year’s work for a humble, righteous servant of the Lord.

If Noah can undertake that leadership project with the Lord’s help, what can you do?

Genesis Chapter 4: Cain and Abel. Leadership Lesson: Dealing with jealousy, entitlement and group dynamics

This is the famous story of Cain and Abel.  Abel does what he should by sacrificing his best livestock to the Lord.  Cain tries to "check the box" by giving a sacrifice, but not with his best offering.  Abel gets rewarded with God's favor, while Cain receives God's disapproval for his poor efforts.  Cain was jealous of the recognition that Abel received and so he killed him.  When God found out, he exiled Cain. (Very short summary, remember, you should read the chapter before reading these lessons)

This whole story started off down the wrong path when Cain decided to try to get by without giving his best.  How would the story have been different if Cain would have put in the required effort.

The other opportunity for things to be different, happened when God let Cain know that he realized that the  offering was not sufficient.  If Cain would have taken God's feedback, taken accountability, and promised to improve in the future, he would have prospered in the future.

When I think about people who I have lead, it is easy to draw comparisons.  How many times do people who are "just trying to get by" get jealous of people who are truly doing everything they can to be excellent?  Our best chance is to recognize the "Cain" signs and try to change the outcome.

1. When you hear people make excuses for why another person is successful, a red flag should go up.  If you don't address the comment, you condone it.

2. Like God did with Cain, point out to the person that if they focused on doing their best, the recognition would take care of itself.

3. Check to see if the person takes accountability and commits to change.

4. If there is no sign of contrition for the acts, or willingness to change, or accountability for their actions...Consider taking similar actions to what God took.  Remove the person from the team.  They will continue the same behavior and create an environment on the team that allows excuses for why other succeed, instead of look at themselves and asking "how can we improve?"

Genesis Chapter 2-3 Leadership Lesson: Accountability and Choosing Partners

In Chapter 2 and 3, we learn about the creation of Adam and Eve and their subsequent fall from grace.  As I try to pull leadership lessons from these chapters, I begin by seeing someone who gives his followers EVERYTHING they need to be happy and successful.  They had full reign of the Garden of Eden!!!  There was only one stipulation...don't eat from ONE tree.  They could eat from anything else in the world, just not from that one tree.  So far, no brainer...but that is where the lesson starts.

Eve comes into contact w/Satanand begins to be "sold" on the benefits of eating the fruit.  He also convinces her that God is rying to keep Adam and Eve from being "all they can be" by keeping them from the fruit.  Isn't it odd that God had done nothing but give to Eve, and never did anything to call her trust into question, yet Eve was so willing to believe this newcomer.  As a leader, you will experience this all of the time.  Some humans have a terrible habit of always wanting to believe the worst scenario about their leaders.

Next, Eve convinces Adam that the snake, who has done nothing to earn their trust, is more concerned about their well being than God.  This may be the first example in history of peer pressure.  There are times, as a leader, that your people will talk themselves into believing incredible things, based on here say and speculation.  If Adam and Eve would have just gone to God to ask him about the situation, he would have been able to help.  Instead, they convinced themselves that the snake was the one they should risk everything to follow.  The big questions as a leader are: How often have I been the unknowing leader that someone is working against?  How often have I been Adam or Eve and made a decision that went againt the trust that had been built with my leader?  and How often have I been the snake, that derailed the trust and leadership that was built by someone else, in order to gain something for myself?

When God finds out about what happened, it is already to late for him to do anything to prevent the bad outcome.  In the original rules, God had told them that if they eat from the tree they would die.  He made a leadership decision to let them live, but they were punished severely.  There have never been two people MORE set up for success and happiness than Adam and Eve, yet they still failed.  Keep this in mind when you encounter people who make mistakes that are against their nature.  Don't give-up on them, just put appropriate consequences in place to make a point.

As leaders:
1. Don't be surprised when your people believe the most far fetched rumors from the least credible sources

2. Keep a close eye on the external influences that impact your team, and address rumors, with fact, as soon as possible.

3. When your people fail, or make poor choices, stay calm and deal with the consequences.  If Adam and Eve can fall from grace, so can we.

4. Your team will usually cover for each other, even if they have to compromise their normal morals to do it.

5. Don't let them "off the hook" when they make a mistake.  Even if they are fantastic people, they still need to be accountable for their actions.  NEVER JUDGE PEOPLE, BUT ALWAYS HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE FOR THEIR ACTIONS.

Genesis Chapter 1 - Leadership Lesson: Planning and Execution

God created the earth in 6 days.  That is quite impressive when you consider all that it entails.  Two things stand out when I try to relate this undertaking to my leadership.
 
1. In order for any large project to work, there needs to be a good plan put in place.  When you begin your plans, spend time considering the sequence in which things need to be done.  What would have happened if deer were created before the land?  Also, give thought to the number, or amount, of something that you need for your plan.  More than one sun would have given global warming a whole new meaning.

2. You need to evaluate your progress regularly.  At the end of each day, God looked @ what he did and said, "It is good."  Ask yourself, "How often do I evaluate my plans?" "Are they any good?" "How do I know?"  "What changes do I need to make?"  When you schedule the time to evaluate, make sure that you have pre-defined goals and milestones that you are comparing against.

3. God understands the need to rest regularly.  In today's society people feel that "more" is "better", but we can learn that if we don't take time to recharge, on a regular basis, our focus and discipline will suffer.  Activity does not equal effectiveness.  Cutting with a sharp knife will accomplish the same task, in a shorter time, then not stopping to sharpen the knife and hacking away with a dull blade.  How often have you made mistakes because you were tired, or just trying to get through something?

While we will never have the opportunity to create a planet in 6 days, the lessons are still there for us to learn... Plan, Evaluate, and Rest/Recover

If you do those three things well, you will be prepared to deal with most of the things that come your way