Who was the best biblical leader and why it is important to examine the messenger.

It is hard to determine who was the best, since three are so many different ways to analyze success. For example, Moses led the Jews out of Egypt, Jesus transformed numerous generations and people to come, David was a visionary leader, Joshua was a military hero, and Abraham exercised numerous leadership skills from military success to opening his house to visitors and generating 10,000 followers from Charan. The Torah portion this week (12/19/09) focuses in on Joseph and his role in interpreting the Pharaoh's dream. The portion provides a great framework for strategic planning and how he prepared for potential famine by storing the harvest for seven years. However, there is another part of the portion that bears further examination. When his nine brothers return from their first trip to Egypt (one brother was left behind in prison) they discover that their money was in their bag right after leaving Egypt. However, when they return to Joseph (their father), they mention all that occurred with the strange viceroy, how he asked about their younger brother/father, how he accused them of being spies, etc.... But the brothers never mention the money returned to their sacks. It is only when they open their bags in front of their father that they expose the money and act surprised that the money is there. The brothers new about the money, but did not mention it at first. This represents a major concern for leaders. Here you have messengers who are not giving the entire story (similar to how they did not say they sold or killed Joseph in the incident with the coat, but just showed the coat and hinted that an animal must have done torn the coat). A leader needs all the information to make a proper decision. If Jacob had all the right information he might have been able to put all the pieces together. When information is given in spurts, the decision making process is impossible or significantly flawed. Thus, if I was to choose the best leader, one of the key considerations I would have is whether they were able to obtain the right information from the right information, which to this day is very difficult for any manager.
Gil-

Welcome

This blog will focus on biblical and historical leaders and how we can learn valuable managerial lessons from their actions. By learning about such leaders and the stories about their times we can become more effective leaders and ultimately become righteous managers.