Leadership Lessons from King David by Uche Okeleke
Synopsis
King David of Israel is one of the most iconic and prominent bible characters whose captivating rise from a shepherd boy to a larger than life warrior king of his era remains a stunning inspiration till this day. Numerous motion pictures have been made from his story, multiple stage dramas has been performed inspired by his life and preachers cannot resist making him the central focus of sermons. In this book, Okeleke looks into the many different aspects of his life that today’s leaders and influencers can draw critical lessons from to ensure their continued success.
Chapter 1
GET SKILLED UP
David was a man of many skills. David was the boy that kept acquiring skills day after day. He was a skilled shepherd. He was a skilled harp player, he was a skilled songwriter and composer, he was a skilled fighter, he was a skilled politician, he was a skilled dancer even. As a result of a cumulation of these skills, David, became a skilled leader.
“And Saul’s servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee. Let our Lord now command thy servants, which are before thee, to seek out a man, who is a cunning player on an harp: and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be well. And Saul said unto his servants, Provide me now a man that can play well, and bring him to me. Then answered one of the servants, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Beth-lehemite, that is cunning in playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and the LORD is with him. Wherefore Saul sent messengers unto Jesse, and said, Send me David thy son, which is with the sheep. And Jesse took an ass laden with bread, and a bottle of wine, and a kid, and sent them by David his son unto Saul. And David came to Saul, and stood before him: and he loved him greatly; and he became his armourbearer. And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Let David, I pray thee, stand before me; for he hath found favour in my sight. And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.”
1 Samuel 16:15-23 KJV
This is where it all begins. Your journey to becoming a leader and excelling at leadership has to begin from gaining the right skills required. Whether it is in public service as a politician or in business as an entrepreneur or manager, climbing the leadership ladder is essentially a question of the quality of skill sets you pack.
Why You Need Skills
To solve problems.
It is as simple as that. Life is an endless series of problem solving, which means that the longer you do life, the better you get at fixing problems – or so it is supposed to be. In any organization, you are only as important the number of problems you can solve. Leadership as principal position of life is a series of solving problems after problems. You cannot become a leader if you have no ability to solve problems. You cannot even get started on your leadership journey or be noticed by existing leaders if you can’t solve problems. Because leaders know the essence of their role is to get things done and solve problems, they only surround themselves with people who possess the right kind of skills that solve the kind of problems they are mostly faced with.
The anointing of David by Samuel would mean nothing if David wasn’t skilled in anything that would bring him in contact with Saul. He perhaps wouldn’t have even be considered for the anointing if he wasn’t a skilled shepherd or a skilled musician. Most importantly, David would never have found the courage to dare Goliath if he wasn’t already skilled with killing Predators. For him, Goliath was just another predator he must kill so his flock can be safe.
Think of it this way, if you’re starting off from the bottom of the ladder on any path in life, your skill is going to be the only thing you have to trade to give you access to certain spaces and people of influence. There’s an Igbo saying that goes, nwata kwo aka, osolu ike’i liei nni. Loosely translated to mean ‘when a child washes himself clean then he can dine with men. In this sense, you set of useful skills is what qualifies you to sit among the ‘men’ that matters in your industry. Even Solomon says that a man diligent in his business sits among kings, and not mere men. Prov. 22:29. In a nutshell, when you don’t have the privilege of coming from wealth and heritage, skill will be your only ticket to the big boys’ club.
You need as many skills as possible to make you relevant to authority and useful to the people you seek to lead. The skills you have mastered, and show over a period earns you the respect of others on the field and has a way of making people more open to following you. Your skills make people listen to you because then, your opinions are considered expert opinions. It is your skills that would make people recommend you in high places. When Saul was disturbed by demons and it was suggested to him that music could help his plight, he was told the finest harp player was a certain David. Your skills qualify you to sit among other professionals in that particular field or industry you seek leadership. Generally speaking, your skills earn you respect among your peers.
This is not only the first step but the most important too. Acquiring skills is crucial to leadership. The beautiful thing about skills is that it can never be too late to do that. It doesn’t matter what stage of your career or how far in the ladder of leadership you are, you would need to keep acquiring new skills and you can always acquire new skills irrespective of your age or stage in life. All it takes is for you to identify which skills you need at this juncture of your life and career, and how best to obtain that skill. This will lead us to the next segment.
Identifying Required Skills
How do you know which skills you need for a particular stage of your path to leadership? Well, I will give some pointers to what skills are essential for a number of life’s path. However, here is a general guide to determining the skills you need to obtain.
Take a look at the current leaders in your field, observe your bosses that are getting it right. Observe the successful players in your industry. What do you see in them? What skills can you clearly tell they possess? What skills do they exhibit that people admire so much about them? Those are most likely the set of skills you would need to excel in that field. Do they speak fluently and with confidence? Then you may need to brush up your oratory skills. If you notice they are characterized by quick thinking, then I bet you a primary skill you would need is quick and critical thinking skills. If the most successful people in your field are multilingual, try learning a new language.
Aside from the skills you notice are present among the leaders of your industry, think about skills that may be missing. Often times, what sets you apart is the extra skill you have that most people around you lack. So, think about the skills that most people in your sector seem to lack but would be an advantage, even if marginally. In a highly competitive industry, a minute advantage over the hoard can make a whole world of difference. Take the music industry for instance, it is almost a given that every music artist knows how to sing, play at least one instrument, write a half-decent song, and a bunch of other music related skill. What you find however, is that the ones who make it above the brew tend to have something extra that may or may not have anything to do with their musical abilities. Skills like people relations skills and proper communication skills would make them easier to work with by the big wigs. While skills like time management and organizational skills would make them more prolific and productive than the rest.
Industry Specific Skills
Some of these skills are necessary for these specific sectors.
Leadership in business generally requires analytical skills. An ability to look at data and make sense of it such that you can project future outcomes. It requires also, keen attention to details. You would also need strong negotiation skills. This includes the ability to make deals that keeps all sides happy so that business partnerships are sustainable.
Leadership in politics would need strong argumentative skills. The ability to make your case more convincingly without offending people’s sensibilities but being firm enough to show conviction and clarity. The negotiation and deal making skills are also needed. This will help you find middle grounds that satisfies all sides of the divide.
Church Leadership requires a set of developed spiritual gifts, especially the gift of a Pastor. But you also need a bunch of other skills like project development skills, oratory skills, etc.
In addition to the skills mentioned above, a wide range of skills sets are universally necessary for leadership. This means that whatever kind of industry or sector you seek leadership, you need these skills, whether it is leadership in career and corporate place, or in business or in politics or even in social and community work.
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