Leadership (Dt 1:9-18)

Deuteronomy 1:9-18; Key Verse: Dt 1:13

"Choose some wise, understanding and respected men from each of your tribes, and I will set them over you."

In the first lesson, Sin (Dt 1:1-46), Moses explained how sin set them back 38 years of going around in circles in the wilderness. It is sobering and wise to always consider what sin does (rebellion), why sin happens (unbelief), and how sin is solved (remember God's grace and believe God's promise).

In this second lesson, Moses shares the secrets of successful leadership. Leadership is always a hot topic because it affects everyone and is what everyone experiences. Leadership guru John Maxwell says, "He who thinks he leads, but has no followers, is only taking a walk." Here are a few other memorable and relatable quotes:

• "Earn your leadership every day." Michael Jordan.
• "You don't need a title to be a leader." Multiple Attributions.
• "You don't lead by hitting people over the head—that's assault, not leadership." Dwight Eisenhower.
• "A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week." George Patton. (Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way.)
• "A leader is best when people barely know he exists; when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves." Lao Tzu.
• A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks that others throw at him. Sidney Greenberg (Rabbi).
• "Leadership consists of nothing but taking responsibility for everything that goes wrong and giving your subordinates credit for everything that goes well." Dwight Eisenhower.
• "A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way." John Maxwell.
• "Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm." Publilius Syrus (Slave, Latin writer).
• "So much of what we call management consists in making it difficult for people to work." Peter Drucker.
• "Successful leadership is influence, not authority." Kenneth Blanchard (1 min manager). "(It) comes from passion, not position." John Maxwell.
• "Great leaders genuinely care for and love the people they lead more than they love leading itself. Leadership without love degenerates into self-serving manipulation." Rick Warren.
• "The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly." Jim Rohn (Entrepreneur, business philosopher).
• "A ruler should be slow to punish and swift to reward." Ovid (Roman poet).
• "Outstanding leaders go out of their way to boost the self-esteem of their personnel. If people believe in themselves, it's amazing what they can accomplish." Sam Walton.
• "A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the equality of his actions and the integrity of his intent." Douglas MacArthur.
• "All of the great leaders have had one characteristic in common: it was the willingness to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of their people in their time. This, and not much else, is the essence of leadership." John Kenneth Galbraith (Economist).
• "If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." John Quincy Adams.
• "Lead and inspire people. Don't try to manage and manipulate people." Ross Perot.
• "Leaders must be close enough to relate to others, but far enough ahead to motivate them." John C. Maxwell.
• "No man is good enough to govern another man without that other's consent." Abraham Lincoln.
• "You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing you think you cannot do." Eleanor Roosevelt.
• "A good leader takes a little more than his share of the blame and a little less than his share of the credit." John Maxwell.
• "A cowardly leader is the most dangerous of men." Stephen King.
• "The supreme quality of leadership is integrity." Dwight Eisenhower.

In Dt 1:9-18 Moses expresses:

1. The problem of leadership
2. The solution of leadership
3. The practice of leadership

Questions:

1. How did Moses express his burden of being a leader (Dt 1:9-12)?
2. How did Moses practically solve the problem of leadership (Dt 1:13-15)?
3. How should leaders exercise their leadership (Dt 1:16-18)?
   

References:

1. The Leaders (Dt 1:9-16).
2. The Judges (Dt 1:16-18).
3. Quotes by John_C_Maxwell. John C Maxwell.
4. 100 best quotes on leadership.
5. 10 observations of contemporary leadership.
   
6. 7 reasons why leaders fail.