The Bible on Leadership: From Moses to Matthew: Management Lessons for Contemporary Leaders

What in heaven does the Bible have to do with leadership? Everything!
The Bible is probably the most widely-read book in the world. It is revered for its religious precepts and guidance, its wisdom, and its liter-ary beauty. Read carefully and with another perspective, it is also the greatest collection of leadership case studies ever written, with tremen-dously useful and insightful lessons for today’s leaders and managers.
Whatever our religious beliefs, most of us in the Western Hemisphere are familiar with the Bible’s stories and heroes. They form some of the major archetypes of our collective consciousness and can serve as uni-versal examples of leadership at its best (and worst).
Consider some of the managers and leaders of the Bible and the les-sons they can impart to today’s manager:
❖Jacob, although inferior in strength to his macho brother Esau, was able to usurp his brother’s birthright by appealing to ‘‘the power behind the throne’’ (his mother) to deceive the CEO (his father).
❖Joseph, cast into corporate exile because of his brothers’ jealousy of his close relationship with his father, Jacob, was forced to join the opposition, Egypt. There he was able to inf i ltrate the court, use his inf l uence with Pharaoh, and ultimately bring his family and tribe to live with him, where they became a mighty force. However, the ‘‘merger’’ of the Israelites and Egyptians soon became extremely rocky, creating a whole new set of leadership problems