Leaders’ Humility Ensures Peace and Reconciliation

Today’s post marks the end of our series for leadership lessons that we can learn from the great leader from the Bible named Joseph. His incredible life is like a servant leader’s handbook. However, Joseph also delivered a transformation in the people he served, which makes him a true transformative leader as well. With his strategy to save Egypt from the foreseen famine, Joseph taught the nation to change their lifestyle and bring a radical change to the way they lived, and such social change is the hallmark of transformational leadership.

LEADERSHIP’S ULTIMATE GOAL
What really makes a good leader or a bad leader? How do we measure their quality of leadership? In recent years, the world has been victim to very poor leadership. The world is riddled with war and innocent lives are lost every day on the watch of people who call themselves great leaders. The reason behind their failure? It is puffed-up egos and politics of self-interest in the name of national security. They let conflicts brew so they can stay in power, which is the worst form of leadership, if it could even be called leadership at all.

The ultimate goal of leadership is to achieve peace and resolve conflicts. What could be more important than saving innocent lives? When he felt this risk coming for the Egyptians, Joseph did everything he could, with sincere work and meticulous planning, to prevent the disaster. Even more striking is that he did it all for a nation he did not belong to!

LEADERSHIP FIXES FAMILIES
On the other hand, what did he do with his hateful brothers who left him for dead in a well when he was a boy? He forgave them all. When their father Jacob passed away and Joseph’s brothers were afraid he would take revenge for their mindless hate, Jospeh chose to take the high road and not only forgave, but promised to help them and look after their children.

"‘So do not fear now: I will nourish you and your little ones.' And he comforted them, and spoke kindly to them."
– Genesis 50:21

TRUE LEADERS ARE BLESSED WITH GOD’S FAVOR
The path of a true leader is the righteous one. It is the path of a person with integrity and commendable character. It is the greatness they are blessed with, and not a result of an accident. As Joseph indicated in his words to his brothers, God chooses a person to lead so that some good can be done for the world (Genesis 50:20). That argument, however, leads to the conclusion that some leaders may come into power without God’s help and perhaps this is why they do not benefit the people but become a source of evil and loss for them.

In the end, it must be understood that leadership, when done right, can prevent conflicts and avert disaster. Whether it is a matter of a household, a race, or a nation, true leadership works towards establishing peace with sincere action and much more than just words.

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