If you have a family of high achievers, you know what happens when you gather them all in the same room for a while. How many Thanksgiving celebrations have run off the rails because of contrary opinions forcefully expressed?

This verse tells us that this was a family where every man thought he was in charge. Each one knew his way was best. His ideas were superior. His words were authoritative. 

This is a powerful reason we require humble leaders. Five strong minds, fit bodies, and increasingly influential community leaders can only work together with mutual subservience to a goal greater than themselves. As long as one person must have the final say, it should be a person the whole team of leaders has chosen for this responsibility. 

Few moments demand an emergency response in which one person alone must make a decision for the immediate good of all concerned. When those moments arise, a system should be in place. It is far too late to create such a system in the heat of the moment. 

* Who possesses the maturity and perspective to make such a decision under intense pressure? 
* How will this decision reflect the best thinking and proven pathways for immediate success?
* How will the steps to take for such emergencies be determined beforehand?
* What will they be based on, what wins and losses and evaluation?
* What is the process of reviewing crisis moments and decision-making that strengthens the whole team for the next crisis?
* How will those not tasked with making the emergency decision support what is decided and add strength to the necessary response?

Five strong leaders can become champions. They can also fall flat on their faces like Goliath and his brothers or like LeBron and his hand-selected teammates who were going to win every NBA championship for years to come. 

It takes more than strong players to build a winning team. 

What if all five chiefs in this family were the kind who knew each other’s strengths and worked to complement each other? What does that make possible? What if they deferred to one another in their areas of strength? What if they learned from one another so that they could instruct the next generation? What if they understood that egos in competition are a betrayal of all each one of them holds dear? What if they understood how collaboration and cooperation build better lives, families, and communities?

Humble leadership protects, serves, defends, and elevates.

Self-focused leadership separates, grabs, fights, and destroys. 

What kind of leader are you? What are your best next steps toward becoming a humble leader?

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I will become a cooperative servant leader.

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Our Father, please deliver me from my tendencies to serve myself. Empower me instead to humbly serve those within my circles of influence. Make me ever more collaborative, cooperative, and mutual in my decision-making. Please prevent my unhealthy ego from causing problems where a Christ-centered mind would solve them. Amen.