Jethro Model for Identifying Leaders
By Ron Edmondson on Wednesday, January 21st, 2009 | 2 Comments
There is a Biblical model for identifying potential leaders. It is found in Exodus 18:21. Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, had advised Moses to recruit some leaders. Then he told him what type of people to look for.
“But select capable men form all the people – men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain – and appoint them as officials over thousand…” (Exodus 18:21)
So we are to look for men (and women) who are:
1. Capable.
2. Following God.
3. Trustworthy.
4. Honest.
Do you think if you found people who met each of those characteristics you could use them to build a team of effective leaders?
What other qualities would you look for in a leader?
2 responses to "Jethro Model for Identifying Leaders"
What I picked up from that verse was the phrase “from all the people”.
Your leader(s) may not be high born, weathly, in an established power base or well known. They may be a farmer, a garbage man, a school bus driver…
Good post Ron. I love Jethro’s words – “what you are doing is not good.” I think more leaders need to hear them when trying to do it all alone. We do need to pick people who meet those qualities but I would also add
-passionate
-creative
I can remember hearing many years ago the idea that you need F.A.T. leaders. Faithful, Available & Teachable. That seemed to make sense to me at the time but then I encountered F.A.T. people and I found that more often than not they were just people with lots of extra time on their hands that you could tell what to do.
I would much rather have people who are passionate about what they are doing than people who show up and do what they are told…