“From that time on Saul kept a jealous eye on David.”
By putting their own interests first and sabotaging anyone who threatens them, jealous leaders diminish whatever they lead. Jealous leaders empty the talent pool of their organisations without even realising it.
King Saul, of Israel, made a good start but he finished very poorly. He made several bad decisions. One of his worst was choosing to envy young David, Jesse’s son.
David was impressive. He had musical gifts and a leader’s heart. He could play the harp, wield a sword and write poetry all in a day’s work. He stood out in battle and in the king’s court as a man of great value to the nation. The crowds loved him, the girls swooned over him and King Saul despised him. Sad really!
A modern psychologist would have some sort of label for Saul. He was not a well man. He could begin applauding David’s skill as a harpist and suddenly chuck a spear at him in a moment of jealous rage. The Bible says an “evil spirit” took hold of Saul. This behaviour condemned Israel to pointless civil strife for a long time.
How different history might have been if Saul had mentored David instead of trying to kill him. Imagine if David had received the support and backing of this initially competent King and if the two friends David and Jonathan (Saul’s son) had been left to enjoy friendship and cooperatively build the future nation. Instead Saul’s jealousy crippled his leadership and confounded the people.
We can nurture a jealous eye today, just like Saul. It is an infection that can take you by surprise when somebody in your organisation makes you feel insecure or threatened. Suddenly you want them gone. You watch them with envy and disdain. And if you act on that impulse you will shrink your organisation by much more than one person.
Jealous bosses (including parents and teachers) may not use a javelin in an attempt to skewer their competition, but there are other ways to stick it to an underling. Ego gets in the way and truly capable people are diminished. Whole enterprises fall.
Five questions to help cure a jealous eye:
- What does this person have (abilities, connections, possessions) that I want or fear loosing?
- What would be the Kingdom result if I elevated this person instead of crushing them?
- What am I insecure about and why?
- How can I change my self-talk?
- Is there something in my leadership history that is stirring up these unhelpful feelings and attitudes?
Questions
- Where are you most tempted towards leadership jealousy?
- Have you ever been the target of this kind of jealousy? What did you learn? How did you escape.
- Please leave a comment.
i really appreciate this post, Allan. I observe also that jealousy and competition is heightened in leaders where collaborative leadership is discouraged. Structures often want one clear leader, a fall guy, who is where the buck stops. But leadership partnerships can help to dissipate the jealousy factors. More than one set of gifts in the leadership pool, as you say, enriches the community. I wonder how we can grow our skills for team leadership, and help our communities not sing the songs of comparison (Saul has killed his thousands, but David...) but be open to being served by leadership collaborations?
ReplyDeleteThanks for this Beth. You raise a great point. One of the essentials of good leadership is accountable relationships. Lone Rangers only succeed in the movies.
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