Step Seven: Exemplify More Righteous Behavior in All Areas of Life

Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam
and the leaders of Judah, who were gathered together
in Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them,
“Thus says the LORD: ‘You have forsaken Me, and
therefore I also have left you in the hand of Shishak.’”
So the leaders of Israel and the king humbled
themselves; and they said, “The LORD is righteous.”
Now when the LORD saw that they humbled
themselves, the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah,
saying, “They have humbled themselves; therefore
I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some
deliverance. My wrath shall not be poured out on
Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak.
— 2 Chronicles 12:5-7 (NKJV)

As 2 Chronicles 12:5-7 demonstrates, in addition to
focusing on making breakthroughs, leaders also set the
organizational tone, either for faith or unbelief, either
for righteousness or sin, and either for humility or pride.
Without care, some leaders whose organizations and
stakeholders gain benefits from many righteous
breakthroughs may believe that they are the source of
the fruitfulness, rather than God. Consider also this
complementary observation: The more righteous
breakthroughs that occur under a leader, the greater
the hand that God has played in those achievements
through supernatural intervention and guidance from
the Holy Spirit.

God is not going to bless an organization and its
stakeholders with the fullest dimensions of
breakthrough solutions if the leader is unbelieving,
unrighteous, or prideful. Consider the experience of
the Hebrews as they approached the Promised Land
knowing that they were destined to possess it with
God’s help:

And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
“Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, which I am
giving to the children of Israel; from each tribe of their
fathers you shall send a man, every one a leader among
them.” (Numbers 13:1-2, NKJV)

When ten of the twelve leaders reported that the land
was desirable but that its occupants were terrifying
enemies, the people revolted and refused to enter
Canaan. After Moses intervened with God about their
unbelief, God sentenced the unbelievers to spend forty
years in the desert until all were dead before the
Hebrews would be allowed to enter the Promised Land.
Only Joshua and Caleb, the two believing and faithful
leaders who enthusiastically advised immediate entry
into Canaan, were permitted to go there before they
died.

As you can see from this example, organizations and
their stakeholders are very easily influenced by the
example, good or bad, of the organizational leader.
Such leaders need to be sure that they both behave
righteously and also are seen to be behaving
righteously. Here are some examples of righteous
leadership that many organizational leaders would do
well to consider and apply:

• Exemplify having a pure heart towards serving the
Lord.
• Praise God for His bounty in blessing the
organization and its stakeholders during ceremonies
of thanksgiving.
• Disclose sins and mistakes that the organizational
leader has made, publicly repent of those errors, and
ask forgiveness from God, the organization, and its
stakeholders.
• Ask people in and out of the organization to suggest
ways that the organizational leader can substantially
improve in personal and professional righteousness.
• Show faith by directing activities that are clearly
intended to make righteously fruitful breakthroughs.
• Teach classes for employees concerning how to
behave in more righteous ways.
• Establish organizational processes to make it easier
for employees to find out when they have either not
acted righteously or appear not to have done so.
• Seek advice from stakeholders on how the organization
can be more righteous.
• Encourage stakeholders to behave more righteously by
sharing the organization’s values and praising
stakeholders when they behave righteously.
• Select and promote the interests of stakeholders in
part based on the purity of their hearts in serving the
Lord.
• Seek comments from the organization’s most severe
critics on how to improve in righteous performance
and seriously investigate what can be done to make
needed changes.
• Avoid influencing legislation and regulation in ways that
will be harmful to any stakeholders.
• Try to reconcile with stakeholders when disputes arise
rather than using scorched-earth legal tactics.
• Show contrition and concern, and speed help to those
the organization has harmed.
• Be responsible in doing the righteous thing even at
times when no one will ever know the difference.

Copyright Donald W. Mitchell 2010, All Rights Reserved.