Joseph was a destined to be a leader. This was manifested in the two dreams which he had. But His brothers, jealous of Joseph's good fortune, sold him into slavery in Egypt. In Egypt, he rose to become the governor. In this capacity, he was not only God-fearing, but also demonstrated leadership qualities of discipline, hardwork, responsibility and accountability. Joseph decided to forgive his brother. He was also magnanimous in reconciling with his brothers, who had sold him into slavery when they came to Egypt to buy food.
Leadership has to do with the ability and capability to guide, protect and motivate a group of people so as to bring the best out of them for the lurpose of improving their spiritual life, moral and material status. It calls for certain Sterling qualities which the leader must possess in order to achieve these objectives. These qualities include fear of God, honesty, faithfulness, loyalty, courage, accountability, dedication to duty, selfless service, self sacrifice, magnanimity, patriotism, hardworking and exemplary living.
Some of the leaders of ancient Israel such as Joseph, Moses, Joshua and Deborah demonstrated these leadership qualities in varying degrees. They are presented to us as role models so that we might learn good leadership qualities from them, in order to practice such to save our people from ignorance, poverty, disease and also from spiritual and moral decadence. Having learnt these good leadership qualities, we would then be in a better position to choose or vote for the right people who would become the leaders of our various countries in the world in Future
Joseph's two dreams meant that he was destined tobbe a great man. But he was not boastful about it. He merely informed his family about it. We must imbibe the quality of humility displayed by Joseph at this early age.
Joseph's brothers in an attempt to derail the destiny of Joseph sold him into slavery. This is bad. A family is supposed to stand by any member who shows promises Joseph
Bt to destroy him. We must learn to support all those who show prospects in life and not to seek their downfall. We should not be envious or jealous of others. As a boy, Joseph was God-fearing and law abiding. Even when he was Sold to slavery and later became the slave to Potiphar, he never yielded to temptation. Potiphar's wife wanted Joseph to lay in bed with her. And because Joseph was God-fearing and law abiding, he overcame this temptation, by refusing to commit adultery. Not to commit adultery is one of the ten commandments. To be good leaders, we must be God fearing and law abiding and be able to overcome temptation, which Joseph displayed.
Still as a boy, Joseph was righteous. Even when he was put in jail for overcoming Potiphar's wife temptation to lie with her, he didn't mind going to jail. Leadership roles require righteousness, even if we are to suffer for being righteous. This is one significant aspect of why Joseph was sold into slavery so that such leadership qualities can be exhibited even before he became the governor of Egypt.
Leadership qualities showed by Joseph
A. Humility: He showed humility in that he was not boastful about the prospects of becoming a leader in the future
B. Obedience: Joseph was an obedient child since no act of disobedience was reported against him.
The Significance of Joseph as Governor of Egypt
As the governor of Egypt, Joseph displayed sterling qualities of leadership worthy of emulation by national leaders. He led by example. Joseph did not delegate authority to subordinates, but personally went to the fields to supervise the planting, harvesting and building of storage facilities. He also supervised the sale of food to eliminate fraud and favouritism and gguaranteed fair and equitable distribution to all. In all this, Joseph demonstrated qualities of discipline, devotion to duty, hhardwork, responsibility and accountability. He was also Godfearing. This quality enabled him to place the interest of Egypt far above his own. He committed himself totally to the nation's welfare.
Now what can you learn from this?
1. Great concern for others.
Joseph was concerned for the consequences of seven years of famine and suggested remedy to save the situation.
2. Discipline, hhardwork, responsibility & accountability
Joseph combined all these qualities in leading the people to store surplus gain against the famine.
