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Abstract
Leadership is crucial in all parts of life and in our world. The writer will talk about different
ways people lead others today and how they did in the past. They will look closely at, compare,
and point out the differences between various leadership ways, qualities, and traits. They will
shed light on how these leadership methods work, how effective they are, how leadership was
seen in biblical times, the variety of leadership ways, and how these relate to characters in the
Bible and in today's world. The discussion will include three leadership styles found in the
course materials and writings by Merida. Definitions, styles, and traits of leadership will be
identified and examined.
Keywords: leadership, biblical leadership, leadership methods
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Final Leadership Project
The idea of leadership is something not often understood. The term or title itself is often
attributed to someone, but its more specific definition can be a very broad-brush stroke. What
this means, is there is no one archetype of a leader. Leaders, like the people who are defined as
such, come in all shapes and sizes, in a variety of styles, characteristics, and attributes. In
defining someone as a leader you could be referring to their rigidness and diligence to a adhere
to a set of standards. You could also mean someone who is lose and adapts to the changes and
challenges of the day. A leader could be someone at the forefront of a battlefield or someone
sequestered in a corner office. A leader is not one specific thing, it is an array of things centered
around one common theme, guiding change, direction, and purpose for a set group of
subordinates (Ahmadi et al., 2023). A leader can achieve this by being democratic or dictatorial.
They could be transactional or transformational. They could be a coach or a visionary.
Biblical Leadership
Throughout the course of history hundreds, if not thousands, or even millions of
examples of leadership, even high-quality leadership. There have been exemplary leaders of
nearly every race, creed, and gender. Leaders have done some remarkable things throughout
history, things that progressed the human race forward. Opposingly, there have been some
leaders who, although arguably still great in terms of skill, have done some unsavory things with
their power and held the human race back (Asier, 2023). When we look more specifically within
the context of the bible we see numerous examples of leadership, some remarkable leadership
even. Merida (2015) examines closely the leadership that is found in the books of 1 & 2 Kings
and highlights many examples and their stories. Merida (2015) opens his book with a quote from
the Apostle Paul from Romans 15:4, “for whatever was written in the past was written for our
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instruction, so that we may have hope through endurance and through the encouragement from
the Scriptures”. Merida quotes this and Paul says this, because even though these lessons and
stories may be thousands of years old at this point in history, they are just as applicable today as
they ever were. Life may have changed drastically since the days of 1 & 2 Kings, even since the
days of the Apostle Paul, but people have not. Humans still have much the same strengths and
weakness, the same egos and dreams, the same virtues and the same corruption, the only real
difference is that these days people read these stories on an electronic device rather than a stone
tablet or papyrus scroll. Merida examines several leaders and their traits, here three will be
highlighted.
Democratic Leadership
The leadership style that is democratic in nature and style is a style all to familiar in the
current point in history, in biblical times it was only just a fresh new idea. Democratic leadership
is best defined by its inclusive participation of the very people it governs (Deemer et al., 2022).
At its best a democratic leadership is very impactful and beneficial for the people. A democratic
government has been described as one that is a leadership that is designed for the people, by the
people. Democratic leadership is also known as participative leadership, as the people involved
get a say or a vote it what is done by the leader. Feelings are shared and voices are heard, and the
group consensus or majority vote is the course of action that is taken. No leadership style can
answer the question of best serving all the people under it, but this style ideally can best serve the
majority of the people. The United States is considered the greatest experiment of democracy
and thus far it has worked rather brilliantly. The democratic characteristics of its democracy have
been called into question a few times through history, more so in recent times, but democracy
has prevailed time and time again.
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In 1 Kings 15 we see the leader, Asa. Asa had a storied reign over the people lasting an
unusually long time. Having served for over 40 years Asa ran through a gambit of decisions,
successes, and failures. Largely Asa could be a democratic leader. Not always the perfect
example of such, but we see many instances of him seeking the guidance and decisions of the
people, not simply his own. In the case of Asa, the many years of good, strong leadership that he
had are often overshadowed by the troubled final years. Merida (2015) points out that in his final
years Asa succumbs to idolatry, arrogance, and general corruption (pg. 90). Had Asa kept his
positive, God fearing, democratic style throughout his reign, likely he would be remembered in
history as a great king. His failure was that he lost sight of God and in turn lost sight of his
leadership style and things crumbled around him. In modern times this leadership style has been
shown to be the most effective in terms of large-scale leadership
Transactional Leadership
Transactional leaders are called such because they have one thing on their agenda,
carrying out transactions. It can be thought of in clear business terms, I do this, and you give me
that or I give you this and you give me that. Such as at a grocery store, the customer takes items
home in exchange for a transaction to the store by giving them money for the goods.
Transactional leaders have a stronger effectEon project success for smaller projects as it is easier
to set performance goals (Abbas & Ali, 2021). Transactional leadersEdefine the purpose of the
organization then provide subordinates the plans to attain the predetermined goals.EBiblically
speaking, more specifically 1 & 2 Kings speaking, King Solomon was a transactional leader.
Merida (2015) gives a deep look into the life of King Solomon and his reign. He highlights
something that shows great humility in Solomon. He points out 1 Kings 3:7, in which King
Solomon says he has no experience in leadership (pg. 23). This mention is important because
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when stepping back and looking at King Solomon’s reign, you see an incredibly wise man and a
successful leader, despite failures along the way. Yet, what is seen here at the beginning is a deep
lack of arrogance and likely confidence. At the early stages, and for most of the subsequent
stages, of King Solomon’s reign, albeit as wise as they come, Solomon’s leadership style is best
described as transactional. King Solomon was handed the keys to a kingdom and more or less
given a list of tasks to accomplish along the way. It is a gross generalization to summate King
Solomon’s reign like this, but essentially, he was working through a checklist of tasks many
times. A grand example of that would be the temple that he built to perfect specifications. As
wise as King Solomon was, a democratic style of leadership likely would not have served his
people better. Although it could be argued that a servant style of leadership would have been a
better course of action for King Solomon to take during his reign. This style has a sense of
humility built into it and tends to keep one’s eyes and mind more focused on the end goal (Ferry
and Sanford, 2022). Today this type of transactional leadership would likely work best in a rigid
environment with little change and where repetition and process is paramount, possibly a
hospital or more specifically an emergency room type of setting.
Transformational Leadership
In 1 Kings 17 Elijah comes onto the scene. In terms of leadership rockstars, Elisha is
often seen at the summit of that mountain. Elijah is not without his faults, but his zeal for God
and his people is nearly unmatched. He accomplished so much and changed so much for the
people of God. We see countless stories of Elijah effecting the hearts and minds of the people
around him. He was a beloved leader. This was in large part due to his transformational style.
Elijah led with a passion for his people and his purpose. When the people needed him, he was
there with an answer.
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SubordinatesElook toEleadersEin moments ofEneed,Eso theyEmustEbe aEsubject matter
expertEthat exudes confidence and morale amongst the followership.EWhen leaders remain loyal
and open with their employees, that fosters a positive work environment in which the workers
believe their leader has their best interest at heart.EThis stresses that employees need to be able to
trust their leaders to motivate them and put their optimal effort into the given tasks.EThe leaders
must buildEmeaningfulErelationships with the employees to gain their trust, and the members will
contribute more in given tasks when their trust in the leadership and management increases
(Princes & Said, 2022). The transformational leader has higher success rates on long term
projects as they tend to foster a more open environment (Bormann and Diebig, 2021).
In terms of personal leadership, not many styles would have been more beneficial for
Elisha’s story. Possibly servant leadership would be considered better because they focus is more
on the people specifically, rather than the result by way of the people.
Conclusion
As was demonstrated throughout this paper, the times may have changed, the people may
have changed, even culture may have changed, but who people have not. The beauty of
leadership is that there is no singular one right style or characteristic. Loumpourdi (2023) warns
that companies should steer clear of one size fits all approaches to leadership. The leadership
styles and principals of many, many lifetimes ago, are still just as relevant today as they ever
were. Jesus gave a answer to the question of what the greatest commandment was. He said it was
to love God and love people (Matthew 22:34). This answer would hold true on what is the best
way to be a leader, love god and love your people. No matter who is plugged into any position in
the story, if those two things are true of the leader, the rest often works itself out.
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References
Abbas, & Ali, R. (2021). Transformational versus transactional leadership styles and project
success: A meta-analytic review.EEuropean
ManagementJournal.Ehttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.emj.2021.10.011
Ahmadi, A., & Vogel, B. (2023). Knowing but not enacting leadership: NavigatingEthe
leadership knowing–doing gap inEleveraging leadership development.EAcademy of
Management Learning & Education,E22(3), 507–530.
https://doi.org/10.5465/amle.2020.0534
Asier, B. (2023). Authentic leadership, employee work engagement, trust in the leader, and
workplace well-being: A moderated mediation model. Psychology Research; Behavior
Management. https://doi.org/10.2147/PRBM.S407672
Bormann, K. C., & Diebig, M. (2021). Following an Uneven Lead: Trickle-Down Effects
ofEDifferentiated Transformational Leadership.EJournal of Management,E47(8), 2105–
2134. https://doi-org.ezproxy.liberty.edu/10.1177/0149206320931584
Deemer, E. D., Sharma, P., & Xu, C. (2022). Leadership/Teamwork self-efficacy scale:
Longitudinal confirmatory factor analysis in the context of an energy science
intervention.EJournal of Career Development.,E49(3), 585–599.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0894845320953899
Ferry, L.EandESandford, M.E(2022), "Developing “place leadership” when hierarchical
accountability is omnipresent: the case of English sub-national government",EJournal of
Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management, Vol. 34 No. 4, pp. 557-
565.Ehttps://doi.org/10.1108/JPBAFM-06-2021-0094
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Loumpourdi, M.E(2023), "Leadership development programmes: part of the solution or part of
the problem of women’s under-representation in leadership?",EGender in
Management.Ehttps://doi.org/10.1108/GM-01-2022-0017
Merida, D. (2015). Christ-centered exposition: Exalting Jesus in 1 & 2 Kings. B&H Publishing
Group.
Princes, A. & Said, A. (2022). The impacts of project complexity, trust in leader, performance
readiness and situational leadership on financial sustainability.EInternationalEJournal of
Managing Projects in Business.,E15(4), 619–644.
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Annotated Bibliography
Abbas, A. & Ali, R. (2021). Transformational versus transactional leadership styles and project
success: A meta-analytic review.EEuropean
ManagementJournal.Ehttps://doi.org/10.1016/j.emj.2021.10.011
All the writers of this article are experts because they teach business or management in Pakistan
and Oman. They have written important papers before. This article is really good because it
looks closely at two types of leadership, called transformational and transactional leadership.
This is perfect for what we need to talk about. If you were to think it over, the only small issue
might be that it talks to only 338 people working in IT in Pakistan, which isn’t a lot of people.
But what they find out mostly makes sense for everyone. The article is special because it brings
together two ideas about leadership that people usually study on their own. It checks out how
these two ways can make workers come up with new ideas because of how the leaders act. The
big idea here is that servant leadership might be a bit better because it makes sure workers feel
very important, leading to better results. This kind of leadership builds a strong trust with the
workers which then leads to really good results. At the end, the article says that this is especially
true for jobs that need a lot of brain work, like IT. This article was found via a search in the Jerry
Falwell Library Online Database.
Ahmadi, A., & Vogel, B. (2023). Knowing but not enacting leadership: NavigatingEthe
leadership knowing–doing gap inEleveraging leadership development.EAcademy of
Management Learning & Education,E22(3), 507–530.
https://doi.org/10.5465/amle.2020.0534
The paper was written by two well-known professors from the University of Reading in England,
who specialize in business and leadership. They are recognized for their leadership expertise, not
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only through teaching but also by publishing many articles that have been peer-reviewed, which
means other experts have checked and approved their work. The Academy of Management and
Learning and Education, a trusted source, published this article. It has been cited in various
places, showing that it has been well received by other scholars. The title of the article does a
good job of explaining its main point: there's a big difference between knowing about leadership
and leading effectively. The research showed that just because a leader knows a lot about
leadership doesn't mean they will automatically succeed in leading an organization. This problem
is called the leadership knowing-doing gap. The article argues that knowing about leadership and
leading are two different skills that can be developed separately. This article is a perfect match
for this assignment, especially since it directly relates to the case of Ralph's leadership failure.
Ralph was given the chance and the information he needed to improve his leadership style or his
'leadership knowing,' but he struggled to change his old habits. This caused problems for his
team and, in the end, the organization. This article was found via a search in the Jerry Falwell
Library Online Database.
Asier, B. (2023). Authentic leadership, employee work engagement, trust in the leader, and
workplace well-being: A moderated mediation model. Psychology Research; Behavior
Management. https://doi.org/10.2147/PRBM.S407672
Dove Press has a huge collection of about 90,000 academic papers that have been checked and
approved by experts. This means it's a good place to get information from. Dr. Asier Baquero,
who teaches economics and business in a university in Spain, has also had his own work
approved by experts in his field. This shows he knows a lot about what he talks about. He wrote
a paper looking into how real and seen leadership qualities can really influence how engaged
employees are at work and how much they trust their leaders. The paper breaks down authentic
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leadership into three qualities. It then looks at each one to see how it affects these outcomes,
ending with clear evidence that it really does have a positive effect. This study is super relevant
to our project because we're dealing with a lot of trust issues among employees in the banking
world of Boston. It seems like Ralph didn't trust Ellen enough to listen to her advice or warnings
about his failing way of leading his teams. Also, it was noted that his employees didn't trust in
Ralph's skills either. According to the paper, this kind of trust problem can lead to bad
performance in the organization, which is why Ralph ended up losing his job. Although this
paper focuses on hotel management and how leaders interact with hotel staff, the lessons learned
could apply to many kinds of businesses and groups. The one thing to keep in mind is that the
study was done over two months. This means the results might be seen differently if looked at
over a longer time, like a year or more, which was the case with Ralph Emerson. This article was
found via a search in the Jerry Falwell Library Online Database.
Bormann, K. C., & Diebig, M. (2021). Following an Uneven Lead: Trickle-Down Effects
ofEDifferentiated Transformational Leadership.EJournal of Management,E47(8), 2105–
2134. https://doi-org.ezproxy.liberty.edu/10.1177/0149206320931584
The people who wrote this article are all teachers at a university in Israel, working in the
Department of Human Services. They have written many articles that other experts often quote
or reference, showing that their work is well-respected. The article focuses on a study that looks
into how effective leaders are at running programs that teach others to be leaders. It talks about
the impact of these programs on the people learning to be leaders. A key point of the study is that
it lasted two years and included many participants. They also worked with students at a military
academy, which helped show how important leadership is in the military and highlighted the
varied backgrounds of the students. A special part of the research was that it looked at how the
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students saw each other's ability to be leaders, not just how their current leaders saw them. They
found out that these students could really tell who a great leader would be long before those
people got into leadership positions, which is very interesting. Basically, the people we spend
our days with often know us very well. This research is important for our discussion because it
shows that just having leaders recognize someone's potential isn't always enough. This article
was found via a search in the Jerry Falwell Library Online Database.
Deemer, E. D., Sharma, P., & Xu, C. (2022). Leadership/Teamwork self-efficacy scale:
Longitudinal confirmatory factor analysis in the context of an energy science
intervention.EJournal of Career Development.,E49(3), 585–599.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0894845320953899
All these writers are trusted experts in their area. They have written other papers that experts
respect too. This paper is used in other serious studies. The Journal of Career Development from
the University of Missouri is also a trusted source. Even though this paper is mainly about
energy and how the climate is changing, it talks a lot about being a leader and working as a team.
These ideas are really helpful. The paper talks about why it's important for workers to get better
at leading and teaming up, especially focusing on high schoolers interested in science and math
jobs. But the lessons from this paper can help anyone, in any job. It talks about different ways to
make sure these skills are learned and accepted. It also shows that believing in yourself is key to
being a good leader. This is linked to our discussion because it shows why Elijah needed help
from God and Elisha. He was losing hope, feeling sad, and doubting his skills and purpose. This
article was found via a search in the Jerry Falwell Library Online Database.
Ferry, L.EandESandford, M.E(2022), "Developing “place leadership” when hierarchical
accountability is omnipresent: the case of English sub-national government",EJournal of
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Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management, Vol. 34 No. 4, pp. 557-
565.Ehttps://doi.org/10.1108/JPBAFM-06-2021-0094
This piece from the Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management might
not seem directly relevant to our topic at first glance. However, it offers a refreshing view on
leadership and responsibility. The authors, each known for their considerable contributions to
academic articles, share insights into how different levels of leadership and government hold
each other accountable, and how they manage power and control. They discuss the challenges
that arise when these levels clash over responsibilities or the lack thereof, leading to noticeable
issues in power distribution and policy execution. Though the study mainly focuses on the UK,
its lessons appear to be global. It's fascinating to see how the accountability and class structures
within England’s democracy and monarchy system stack up against the democratic system in the
US. A major point the article makes is the problem of unequal accountability between groups—
when one appears to have responsibility than another. This issue persists across various
government and leadership layers, such as between a county and a city, or a state and a county.
The authors conclude that recognizing the need for balanced accountability is essential. This
article was found via a search in the Jerry Falwell Library Online Database.
Loumpourdi, M.E(2023), "Leadership development programmes: part of the solution or part of
the problem of women’s under-representation in leadership?",EGender in
Management.Ehttps://doi.org/10.1108/GM-01-2022-0017
The writer of this article teaches at a college in the UK, focusing on social sciences. She's written
several well-regarded academic papers, making her well-qualified to discuss her latest article's
topic. This article looks closely at different leadership training programs, paying particular
attention to how women fit into these programs. It's useful for this assignment because it
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explores who these programs serve and their impact on both the individuals involved and the
organizations, they're part of. The article has helped me think more deeply about leadership
training by offering a different perspective. It also checks if these programs might prefer men
over women. Surprisingly, the article suggests that setting quotas for women or creating
programs just for them might not help. It could even make things worse by highlighting the
differences in gender representation within these programs. Instead of making special programs
for women, the article advises that organizations should foster a culture where everyone can
access leadership roles. The main advice from the article is for organizations to tailor their
leadership training programs specifically to their needs, rather than using a generic, one-size-fits-
all approach. The article doesn't show a bias towards any gender but does argue that we need to
aim for equal opportunities for all genders. This article was found via a search in the Jerry
Falwell Library Online Database.
Princes, A. & Said, A. (2022). The impacts of project complexity, trust in leader, performance
readiness and situational leadership on financial sustainability.EInternationalEJournal of
Managing Projects in Business.,E15(4), 619–644.
The authors who wrote this paper work at a university in South Africa, teaching philosophy.
Other researchers have mentioned this paper in their studies, showing it's a respected source. The
professors have written more papers on similar subjects, which have been published in well-
known academic journals. This shows they are knowledgeable and recognized for their expertise
on the topic. This paper talks about the common mistakes leaders make, like trying to appear too
good or too enthusiastic. It's important for our discussion because it explores how leaders
behave. It specifically looks at what the Bible says about leadership – that the people who think
they should be in charge will end up last, and those who are humble will come first. This idea is
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not only discussed from a religious point of view but also how it can apply to everyday
leadership roles. The paper points out the dangers for leaders who try to be perfect and suggests
that understanding the idea of putting others first can create better leaders. I found the paper
useful because it made me think about a part of leadership that's not usually talked about – being
selfless. This paper challenges that way of thinking. I found this paper through an online search
in the Jerry Falwell Library Database.
