Scripture teaches about leadership, telling us how to lead and how to conduct our lives with respect to work, marriage, home and the community. The Bible also tells us to look to leaders as examples in the faith. Hebrews 13:7 says, “Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith.” Scripture commands us to learn how to lead, and then to live as leaders. Leadership is not a profession or personal talent. Rather it is a spiritual mandate.
How, then, do we lead? Leadership is not a set of character traits. You can have integrity, honesty, initiative, compassion–any number of positive and godly personal values, and still not be a leader (though character and leadership are closely related). Leadership is also not being first or best at something. Whether you placed first in the marathon, or are the top salesperson, or valedictorian at your graduation, these are leading positions, but not leadership roles.
Leadership is a set of relationships and actions associated with directing people toward an objective or goal. Those actions are based on values and principles that the leader desires to replicate in those he leads. The leader utilizes relationships to influence those he leads based on his knowledge of their lives, and their best interest. In order to lead, you need three primary elements:
People. Ultimately leadership is about focusing, motivating, growing and encouraging people. A leader may have formal authority over others. To lead them, though, he must be able to influence, inspire and act by example. Though the Bible doesn’t contain the word “leadership”, there are many biblical principles we can apply to leaders. One of the interesting ways we see leadership portrayed in Scripture is the image of the shepherd.
God uses the metaphor of a Shepherd when describing how He cares for His people. In John 10:11, Jesus says, "I am the Good Shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me,” and equally poignant, “The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” This image of a shepherd caring for and tending to his “flock”, seeing to their needs, keeping them from danger, tending to them as the grow—this is a powerful picture of what it means to be a leader. Your greatest responsibility in leadership is the people within your sphere of influence.
Compassion. A leader must have concern for the plight of others. A man focused primarily on himself and his own station in life cannot build the trust needed for effective leadership. Ephesians 4:32 instructs us to “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” A leader should wear compassion on his shoulders. Indeed the Bible tells us to “Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience” (Colossians 3:12).
Along with knowing people, a leader must have a deep burden and concern for them. When others have trust that a leader has their best interest at heart, they’ll listen to him and grant him a powerful tool for personal and professional growth—loyalty. This is a deep connection that comes from feeling valued and supported. When a leader has others’ backs, they will have his, rooted in an authentic human connection. A recent study found that employees’ decision to stay in a job largely came from “a sense of belonging, feeling valued by their leaders, and having caring and trusting colleagues.”[1]
Direction. Once a leader understands his key role as a shepherd of people, and exhibits compassion that builds trust, he can give others direction. This is not just barking out orders to accomplish tasks, but sharing a substantial and important vision, both for the organization and the individual. Here the leader’s ability to communicate, inspire and motivate come into play. And because he has built trusting relationships, he can also bring accountability.
Proverbs 29:18 teaches, “Where there is no vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law.” The idea here is that where there is a lack of authentic leadership, people go their own ways, and put themselves first. When a leader is in a position to cast vision, people instead grow together as a team to accomplish the work, seeing the value of their own contribution, and the benefit to their own future, in the endeavor.
[1] https://hbr.org/2023/02/leading-with-compassion-has-research-backed-benefits
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Leadership is not a set of character traits. You can have integrity, honesty, initiative, compassion–any number of positive and godly personal values, and still not be a leader (though character and leadership are closely related).