John N. N. Ng'ang'a

Leadership - King David Style

This is not a ‘book study’ but a ‘Bible book survey.’ We are seeking to pick lessons that we can practice in our daily living out of the life of King David. The Bible in different instances shows both successes and failures of the men of God, so that we may learn from them.

I am assuming you will read the Bible through the books of 1 Samuel & 2 Samuel before going on with the survey. This will assist you to understand the basis of the lessons we are picking from the survey.

In addition, it is helpful to buy a detailed commentary on 2 Samuel,so you can study the book on your own.

Going through it with me in this book survey is not enough.

Thirdly, this is not a book for scholars but a ‘devotional’ for Christians in the pew seeking to ‘walk their talk’ as David tried to do.However, because David was a leader, we shall get lessons from his life that are mainly on leadership both on how to lead others and how to lead ourselves. We can never lead others well if our private lives are a mess. So, even those who might not lead others will benefit from the lessons from David’s life.
David was a public figure. Therefore, we can learn from his life lessons that make us to be good leaders either of our businesses, Christian ministries, or families.

The lessons are put in four parts:
1.Preparing for Leadership
2.The Art of Leadership – How to Lead Well
3.What to Avoid in Leadership
4.A Leader and His God

We shall first look at the lessons that helped David prepare for leadership. Without good preparation, the final product is unlikely to be either good or effective for the purpose it was intended. It is no wonder that God took David through very difficult preparation. We also need to check if there are areas where we need to prepare more in order to be effective in accomplishing what God has commissioned us for. This is especially important if we are to do it through others as is required of leaders. The main emphasis here is the need for interpersonal skills, which any leader must have.

Secondly, we shall look at the strategies David used to lead his people. Here, the emphasis is lessons on:

1.Knowing Your Mission
2.Following it
3.Getting Others in the Team to Appreciate it
4.Need to Know Your Resources Including the Team Members Available to You
5.Identifying Pit Falls that Could Stop you Reaching Your Goals

Thirdly, we shall look at what to avoid in order to be an effective leader. Issues that will be considered include:

1.Unforgiveness
2.Living for Pleasure
3.Mistaking Popularity for Ability
4.Managing Internal Rebellion
5.Mob Psychology

We finish with a look at the main resource for your leadership; your relationship with God who gave you the mission in the first place. Knowing your God and His thoughts about you will be a clear stress reliever that releases you to produce the very best. It saves you from being a prisoner of other people’s opinion, and even the possibility of wrong self-image that causes you to have inferiority or superiority complex.