A Study on Jesus' Leadership Style

As part of the requirements of my MBA in Biblical Stewardship, I need to make and submit a paper studying the leadership style of a Bible Character. I picked Jesus. Jesus was a very powerful and effective leader for me. Two thousand years after His death and resurrection, the church continues to be a thriving and growing entity despite the dark areas in its history. The following are some characteristics in our Lord that I believe makes Him a great leader:

Jesus was clear in His Mission and Vision. He knew what He was put on the Earth for. Even when He was twelve, He knew that He was placed on the Earth to do His Father's work. (Luke 2:49) And since He was clear with His life goal, He learned everything there is to know in the past related to His purpose: He was well-versed in the Scripture. Also, He was willing to sacrifice, even Himself, for the fulfillment of the purpose He was put on Earth for (Luke 22:42). Since the goal was clear, He knew His priorities. Even though He knew it was painful, humiliating and difficult, He did what had to be done for the fulfillment of the goal.

On the other hand, though, although it is known that Jesus was single-minded in His pursuit of the fulfillment of the goal, He wasn't extremely busy as most of the current generation are proud to be. He still took time to get away from the crowd and pray (Mark 6:46). Jesus knew the value of recalibration and being in-tune with the Father. This also prevented Him from burning out.

In His dealing with people, He saw potential in them. Even in today's setting, people would question the wisdom of Jesus' choice of His twelve apostles. But He saw in them something other people don't normally see. Even in Saul's case, this is seen. Saul was a persecutor, technically an enemy, of Christians. But instead of killing him off, Jesus chose to recruit His enemy. And given that the church is still thriving to this day, there must have been something in the people He chose that were perfect for the job.

Jesus knew how to delegate. Aside from the twelve, He had seventy disciples whom He sent out to do the work He did (Luke 10:1-16). He was not afraid to share authority (Luke 10:19). And this, in the proponent's opinion, comes from the confidence He has of His position; and in the knowledge that, the goal, the Will of God, comes before the putting up of the self. There is also open communication between Him and His disciples. In numerous passages in the Bible, Jesus is found in His disciples' homes, and with His apostles.

Jesus taught. He knew that if He wanted His purposes to last beyond Himself, He needed to train people. Nowadays, leaders are so afraid of being ousted or replaced that they keep their knowledge to themselves to be irreplaceable to their companies. But Jesus didn't think that way. He taught people what He knew. He modeled what He wanted done. And He even enabled His people to do greater things than Himself (John 14:12).

It was not always easy-sailing and, given the apparent flaws of His chosen ones, He often found them not meeting expectations. Peter denied Him (Mark 14:66-71). Thomas shifted between false bravado (John 11:16) and doubt (John 20:24-25). But after all these, He forgave them. He didn't even bring the faults up anymore. But He also didn't keep to Himself what He knew was wrong. Like when the people were treating the Temple as a marketplace, He had no qualms showing them His displeasure (Mark 11:15-17).

Jesus was also a charismatic leader. People were drawn to Him. On the one hand, He had authority. He could rebuke demons and illnesses. And when He wanted someone to follow Him, He never asked if they wanted to. With authority, He would tell them, “Come, follow me.” And they would follow Him (Mark 1:17). With authority, He would tell them, “Your sins are forgiven.” (Mark 2:5) With authority, He would tell them, “Get up.” (Mark 5:41)

On the other hand, He had compassion. And people could come to Him, and He wouldn't turn them away. He felt for them (John 11:33). And He loved them (John 11:3). Jesus also had flair. This, to me, is not a bad thing as some would think. Human beings are attracted to wonder. And Jesus often used presentations to make a point. Take, for example, Lazarus. Instead of merely healing Him, Jesus allowed Him to die, and He resurrected him from the dead (John 11:43). The woman with the bleeding problem was already healed when she touched Jesus' robe (Mark 5:29). But Jesus had to stop and ask who had touched Him. It made more impact on the woman's life that Jesus stopped especially for her to tell her that her sins were forgiven.

The best way I could describe Jesus as a leader would be that He studied the past, He cared about the present, and He prepared for the future. Well, I guess I'd better learn from Him then.