Leaders Toolbox #22

3 Types of Courage Essential to Leadership

1. Courage to Speak Up

1 Samuel 17:26
David asked the men standing near him, "Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?"

A leader needs to be able to stand up and say, “This isn’t right. Somebody needs to do something about this.” Encouraging the downcast and teaching the unlearned are the easy tasks of leadership, but correcting the unwise and rebuking the sinful require courage.

2. Courage to Step In

1 Samuel 17:28 & 32-33
28 When Eliab, David's oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, "Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the desert? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle."

32 David said to Saul, "Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him."

33 Saul replied, "You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth."

A leader needs to be willing to step into a situation and fight on behalf of others who will not fight for themselves and are resistant a fearful of any sort of battle. Both Eliab and Saul basically told David, “This is none of your business” and yet he was not deterred. A leader is not thrown off mission by resistance…Even when the resistance comes from his own team. A leader has the courage to get involved even when he isn’t welcome.

3. Courage to Help Yourself

1 Samuel 17:34-35 & 37
34 But David said to Saul, "Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it.

37 The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine."

David was only able to help free the nation of Israel from the oppression of the Philistines because he had already experienced victory in his private life. A leader must be trained to trust God by facing down his own personal enemies before he is able to help others face their enemies. It takes humility and courage for a leader to first tackle the lions and bears that are attacking his own livelihood. Then he will have to courage and experience to tackle the giants that are facing his people.