Characteristics of Bad Leadership

Introduction

When the Israelites asked who wanted a king to rule over them and rejected the theocratic kingdom of God, God gave them Saul son of Kish as their king. It 'was the decision of God to continue to govern the Israelites through a human representative. Later, God rejected Saul as unfit to continue to govern the Israelites. Because the leadership of Saul condemned?

Solomon was one of the many kings who ruled Israel after Saul. He had a long and peaceful reign over Israel. His son Rehoboam succeeded him as king. But shortly after his accession to the throne, the United Kingdom was divided in half and has lost most of the kingdom. What made the United Kingdom divide and disintegrate under Rehoboam king?

After the death of Joshua and the elders who have lived outside, there was a big issue of leadership in Israel. God raised up judges from time to time to free his people from oppression and rule over them. Samson was one of those judges that God has placed. The Israelites, who was raised Samson to deliver on several occasions has tried to deliver it to their oppressors. Samson later became a prisoner of the Philistines until his death. What has happened to this great man that God raised him as a delivery?

For a woman to rule a nation like Israel, must certainly have some great qualities. So you can not go wrong in saying Athaliah mother of Ahaziah, who also ruled Israel had great qualities. However, in the seventh year of his reign the people conspired against her and put her to death with the sword. What was wrong with his driving that caused his subject to have acted in this way?

The four leaders mentioned failed in their leadership roles. For this reason, their leadership has been characterized as evil. However, it is because you can not the leadership that the leadership of a person is bad? Failure is an indication that there are some characteristics of leadership that are not good. These features, which cause leaders to fail, would now be identified in the direction of the four leaders. This will be done under the following headings: (a) A reflection on the leadership of five leaders in biblical times (b) the basic characteristics of their leadership (c) an assessment of their leadership.

A reflection on the leadership of five leaders in biblical times

This section is a reflection on the leadership of five leaders whose leadership has been characterized as evil. As mentioned in each of these leaders have experienced failures in their leadership. But, it is because of an error that leadership should be characterized as a villain? This reflection is the first step to answer the question posed above. The leadership of Saul, Rehoboam, Samson and Athaliah will be briefly discussed focusing on their preparation and fitness to drive and their specific areas of failure.

Saul

Saul was the first king of Israel. Saul is chosen by divine guidance. He is a man of humility, anointed by holy oil and filled with spiurit.1 There is no denying that Saul was prepared for leadership by the guarantee of divine support and special duality that God has given him as a person. As Joyce Peel rightly pointed out, early in the reign of Saul's has demonstrated its ability to drive as he saved the city from the control of Jabesh Nahash the Ammonite. The victory over the Ammonites, Saul gave him acceptance among all peoples.

Without disagreeing with Joyce Peel that Saul had good qualities for leadership and was prepared for leadership by the guarantee of divine support, Ted Engstrom said that Saul lacked the most beautiful quality that you expect in leadership.2 In support of his argument, he referred to an account in the second Samuel chapter five. This account was in reference to a request from the people of the northern tribes of Israel made to David, asking him to also be their king. In their appeal to David Engstrom noted that, said David was the real power in the government of Saul and Saul was just a figure. It 'was David who led Israel to fight and win for the nation. In addition, Engstrom said that the nation has left behind Saul has been torn by civil wars.3

In may be true that Saul lacked most of the fine qualities you would expect in leadership, but the qualities he had was good enough for him to succeed. Identify areas of failures of Saul able to prove the point that he had what would have happened. According to William J Dumbrell, there were three main areas of failure in leadership of Saul. The first challenge was when Saul Samuel at Mizpah ordered to wait until he comes to offer sacrifice before the soldiers going into battle. Saul came along and offered even if the sacrifice was not a Levite. The second was, as Dumbrell says, his food taboos, and his death proposed by Jonathan. Jonathan had eaten a bit of wild honey, not knowing that Saul had pronounced the faster the religious self-determination, forced with a curse, to the pursuit of their enemies was over. Moreover, the victorious army of Saul was so hungry that they return the animals slaughtered and eaten without cooking the meeting. In this situation certainly Saul lost control of his followers. The third failure was when he failed to carry out God's instructions regarding the Amalekites. He had to destroy them and their animals completely, but he spared the king and the best of animals.4

Bankruptcy Saul must however be seen in its wider context. The problem was that he refuses to recognize the authority of God established through the prophet Samuel. Samuel was to provide divine guidance for him to succeed Saul.

Rehoboam

Rehoboam was the son of King Solomon. It can be assumed that, as one of the sons of the king who was very interested in the kingship. As the son of the king would also have been treated for leadership, especially when one considered the fact that under normal circumstances, a son of the king was to succeed him. He therefore had potential that qualify him to lead. However, according to some authors, Rehoboam was not adequately prepared for leadership. William J Dumbrell noted that Jeroboam, once a supervisor forced labor in the north, capitalizes on the ineptitude of Rehoboam son of Solomon and leads the northern part of the ten tribes in succession as the topic of the Kingdom of Israel.5 Dumbrell was that if it had been properly Rehoboam prepared for the leadership would not have acted as he did on that particular occasion. You can have a clearer picture of Joyce Peel observation that Rehoboam was not adequately prepared for leadership. She states that Rehoboam, like Absalom, is arrogant. Growing up in the palace of Solomon, who sees royalty in terms of privilege and absolute power. He ignores the advice of the old councilors, and encouraged by his arrogant men returned a hard answer.6 It can be seen from the peel, Joyce said that the problem of lack of preparation by Rehoboam's leadership was basically his. It was his character or behavior. Each person should be personally responsible for his character and behavior. King Rehoboam failed to keep the United Kingdom has left by his father. The incident led to the aforementioned division of the kingdom. Although the division of the kingdom had already been prophesied, the action of Rehoboam should not be overlooked. Its failure, it should be noted, has resulted not only in a political division of the nation, but also in the apostasy of the northern tribes.

Samson

Samson was one of the judges raised to rule Israel before the monarchy. According to Judges 13:15-23, was the promised son of a barren woman. Even before he was born, God began to make preparations for him as a leader chosen. Samson grew up to become a Nazirite, vowed not to drink or a haircut. The secret of his phenomenal strength was to keep this vow. It should be remembered that the preparation of Samson as a spiritual leader was of the utmost importance to God should take into consideration that it was because of the apostasy of the nation who were experiencing the removal from their enemies. The enemies at the time of Samson were the Philistines, who had controlled most of the land and have had exclusive possession of iron weapons. Perhaps for this reason God raised Samson to be exceptionally strong to deal with them, even without weapons.

When Samson took his leadership role, Joyce Peel described the type of person who is found to be: "But Samson was lustful, stubborn, and irresponsible." Peel made reference to the Philistines, he married two women, who infatuated and deceived him. The first who had the secret of its enigma to him and the second, Delilah, who obtained the secret of his strength.

People that Samson should have led him as a failure. On some occasions they tried to deliver it to their enemies, because they saw it as the cause of greater repression. Arthur E. Cundell describes the humiliation of this great judge in the hands of his enemies with these words: "The Samson has been weakened now easily captured by the Philistines His eyes were gouged out and was taken to Gaza, the scene of one. Of its celebrations of previous force (16:1-3) and put to work at the tedious task of grinding grain. "8 Samson life, which promised so much, taking into account the special abilities that God gave him, was ruined and ultimately destroyed by his sensual passions, and the lack of separation faithful to the Lord.

Athaliah

The last of the four leaders to discuss is Athaliah, the mother of Azariah. As already mentioned, he ruled Israel for six years. Eugene M. Merrill described how she came to the leadership in the following quote: "The empty throne of Judah was left by default to Athaliah, the mother of Israel Azariah bad." 9 the biblical account in 2 Chronicles 22 shows that puts to death all those who may find that he was entitled to the throne. Then describes her as an evil woman can be justified. However, in order to achieve this was to have a good support. The fact that this woman was able to sit on the throne for six years, show that had the capacity for leadership. This is however not justify the way he used his abilities.

The seventh year of his reign, the Biblical records indicate that he was overthrown and killed by the same person who was in power. In punishment for his blasphemy and murder, was operated from the house of God that his children had sacked (2 Chronicles 24:7) and was killed near the palace.10 This shows that people who ruled accepted his leadership. She managed to use force and its position as queen mother to stay in power.

Basic characteristics of leaders and their leadership

After briefly reflected on the four leaders and their leadership, will now be appropriate to discuss the basic characteristics of their leadership. This will be done in three headings:
a) The leader as a person;
b) His leadership;
c) The followers.

This is because leadership involves a relationship between these three elements.

one. Leaders

According to Bob Gordon and David Fardouly, many people fail in leadership because he has not received a divine call to leadership. A call of God has an inner recognition that the individual will be equipped for the task. They said that without God, would not adequately equipped to perform any task in the Kingdom of God single individual operating in its own strength.11 It is worth noting that two of the leaders in question received the divine call, but they also failed . Perhaps because they have worked in their own strength? Gordon and Fardouly point is that one of the reasons why leaders fail is because they operate in their own forces, which in some cases, may be an indication that they were not called. In other cases, they may have been called, but have fallen away from God's authority and support. Therefore, from what Gordon and Fardouly have said, one of the negative characteristics of leadership is seen in the conduct or character of the leaders who do not recognize their inadequacy and try to do everything on their own.

b. Their leadership

In discussing the leadership of the four leaders, two main things have been given primary importance. These are their vision and leadership styles. As John rightly said Haggai, "a vision has a direct impact on its style.12 leadership as a starting point, you might ask, what were the4 visions of these leaders? What was Saul's vision for Israel? Or Saul really have a vision for Israel? A careful examination of the observation of John Maxwell will help determine whether Saul truly a vision. Maxwell noted that, having tasted success in battle, had mistaken his position as king for real leadership. Although he had the title, power, and the crown of a king, the monarchy has never moved beyond a president-based judgeship. He was appointed general, but it never attracted a large standing army. has created no organized government in order to preserve its gains. And when God did not help him if the title of king the right to continue leading.13 From these observations one could rightly say that Saul had no vision that played on Israel's behalf. As a result, his style of leadership was seen mainly in its response to Israel's enemies. During these occasions proved of a more or dictatorial or authoritative leadership.

King Rehoboam on the other hand felt he had achieved his goal when he sat on the throne. It can be inferred from his response to the Israelites, who appealed to him to reduce the burden of King Solomon placed upon them, which did not have a proper vision for the people. It was clear from his answer that his vision was the people to serve him and make him comfortable. Moreover, the caliber of the councilors chose argued that he had a vision for Israel. His vision could sit on the throne until he retires or dies. As a result of his lack of vision, his leadership style was more of an authoritarian or dictatorial.

Samson was not different from Rehoboam. According to Joyce Peel, Samson was lustful, stubborn and irresponsible.14 Samson has never been seen in a constructive role of leadership in Israel. His attacks against the enemies of Israel were exclusively based on personal vendetta. It 'was, however, had to subdue the enemies of the nation because of their suppression of the nation. Life experience has shown that it has had a clear vision for the nation. So his leadership style was more of an authoritarian or dictatorial one.

Like the others, the Queen Athaliah had a vision for Israel. He came to power through a palace coup, and his only goal was to stay in power. The only way he could do was exercising a dictatorial style of leadership. Leaders such as Athaliah total demand obedience from their subjects.

c. Their followers

Some of the characteristics of bad leadership can be identified with the followers. You must take into account the declaration Anthony D'Souza that leadership involves an inter-relationship between three elements:

a) The skills and quality requirements of leading
b) The needs and expectations of the group
c) The requests or requirements situation.15

On several occasions the men of Saul has left him in battle. On other occasions he had to do what he wanted. For example, when it declared a fast until Israel has completed the pursuit of their enemies. This has caused the soldiers to sin, in the end, eating meat with blood or in other words, the meat was eaten raw and not cooked.

In the case of Rehoboam, the largest number of Jews rejected his leadership and turned against him. Samson's situation was even worse. His followers were willing to hand him over to their enemies. They saw him as the cause of their problems. Athaliah followers rebelled against her and killed her. None of these leaders have chosen their successor. In fact, with the exception of Rehoboam all died grisly deaths. Rehoboam escaped death as with the purchase of peace from Shishak who was planning to invade Jerusalem. Rehoboam bought peace by giving him the treasures of the temple of Jerusalem.

Conclusion

In the introduction to the following question was asked: 'Is it someone that his / her leadership should be characterized as a villain? 'In attempting to answer this question, which is the thesis of this chapter, the leadership of four leaders in the Bible was examined. These leaders - Saul, Rehoboam, Samson and Athaliah, were chosen because their leadership had been characterized as evil. The objective of the evaluation was to identity the main characteristics of their leadership to determine what was common to all, and then compare these characteristics with those of good leadership.

FINAL NOTES

1Joyce Peel, A Journey through the Old Testament: the story of God's relationship with Man, Woman and the World (Oxford: The Bible Reading Fellowship, 1993), p. 66.

2Ted W. Engstrom, The Making of a Christian leader: how Dvelop Management and Human Relations Skills (Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House, 1976), p. 30.

3Ibid, p. 30.

4William J. Dumbrell, The Faith of Israel: It 'expression in the book of the Old Testament (Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 1992), p. 80.

5William J. Dumbrell, The Faith of Israel: It 'expression in the book of the Old Testament (Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press, 1992), p. 87.

6Joyce Peel, A Journey through the Old Testament: the story of God's relationship with Man, Woman and the World (Oxford: The Bible Reading Fellowship, 1993), p. 66.

7Joyce Peel, A Journey through the Old Testament: the story of God's relationship with Man, Woman and the World (Oxford: The Bible Reading Fellowship, 1993), p. 62.

8Author E. Cundell, Judges and Ruth: Comments Tyndele Old Testament (Illinois: Inter-Varsity Press, 1968), p. 179.

9Eugene H. Merrill, 2 Chronicles: The Bible Knowledge Commentary (Colorado: Chariot Victor Publishing, 1985), p. 636.

10John J. Davis and John C. Whitcomb, Israel: A Commentary on Joshua - 2 Kings (Michigan: Baker Book House, 1970), p. 438.

11Bob Fardouly and David Gordon, Master Builder: Developing Life and Leadership in the Body of Christ (Kent: Sovereign World, 1990), p. 6.

12John Haggai, Lead On! Leadership that lasts in a Changing World (Dallas: Word Publishing, 1986), p. 16.

13John Maxwell, The most powerful 21 minutes in a day to day leader of a Leader: Revitalize Your Spirit and Empower its leadership, (Nashville Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2000), p. 4.

14Joyce Peel, A Journey through the Old Testament story of God's relationship with man. Woman and The World (Oxford): The Bible Reading Fellowship, 1993), p. 62.

15Anthony D'Souza, being a leader (Achimota: African Christian Press, 1990)

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