Mom was a great cook. She raised eight of us, and we ate well. Mom, however, frequently frustrated her adult children. You see, her generation did not use recipes or measuring cups. So it was difficult to learn her recipes. For example, if we asked her how much of this or that to add, a common answer was, “Enough.” It was difficult to learn cooking from mom. It seems cooking is a performance art. Good cooking is done for those we love.

Learning how to lead, like learning how to cook, can be difficult. Leadership is such a broad subject that one can find as many definitions for it as there are individuals who seek to define and teach on the subject.¹ Simply stated, leadership is influence. Great leaders will learn the art of influence from biblical role models. Joshua is one person we can learn from.

Great leaders are also great followers. Before Joshua took the mantle of leadership, he observed and learned from a great leader, Moses. He served well as Moses’ aide.

People love to follow good leaders. The chain of command (vv. 10, 11) is an important element in effective organizations. Joshua had already been called to this position of leadership (Deuteronomy 3:28). When it became time to step out of the role of being a follower and lead God’s people, he was ready and willing because he had learned to follow.

Great leaders know this: “Leaders are people who do the right thing; managers are people who do things right.”² Like Moses, Joshua must balance leadership and management in religious, domestic, judicial, military, civil, and social realms. Leadership and management go hand in hand. You do not get to choose one or the other; you must balance both leadership and management. Managers are concerned with predictability and order. Managers deal with allocation of resources, monitoring, and implementation of the vision. Leaders are concerned with vision. Vision is a preferred future. Leaders develop, communicate, inspire, and monitor vision.

Great leaders walk with God. At the center of walking with God is his Word. Joshua learned well from Moses to emphasize the importance of following God’s Law. Those who lead need to understand that we cannot deviate from God’s Word either to the right or to the left (v. 7). I often encourage students to read a text aloud at least eight times (v. 8). And then they should read it again. We need to hear and process God’s Word so we are careful to follow everything in it (v. 8). Joshua had a passion for the Law. If you lead, do yourself a favor; be a student of the Word.

Notice we are not only to know the Word, but also obey it. The value of practicing obedience cannot be overstated. We are to know the Word of God so well that we carefully obey all of it. When Moses did not carefully obey the Word of God, it cost him and his people dearly (Numbers 27:12-14). Careful obedience is for both leaders and followers. Those following Joshua pledged to follow him as long as he followed the Law.

Great leaders are courageous. One wonders if Joshua was intimidated by following such a great leader as Moses. For 40 years Moses was the leader. Now Joshua does not hesitate to lead when his appointed time comes. Joshua is encouraged multiple times to be strong and courageous. Paul gave Timothy the same advice (2 Timothy 1:7).

Joshua finally earned the title “the servant of the Lord” (Joshua 24:29). We can learn from Joshua so we too will be called, “the servant of the Lord.” Joshua’s privilege was to lead his people into the promised land. Our privilege is to lead God’s people to fulfill the “Great Commission” (Matthew 28:18-20) and the “Great Commandment” (Matthew 22:37).

And there are many more leadership lessons one can learn from Joshua.

Oh, by the way, we did learn how to make Mom’s chocolate gravy. Actually, she sent us to my grandmother for the recipe. This is a Perkins family breakfast tradition. Cooking breakfast for those you love is so wonderful. Leading those you love is also wonderful.

The leadership lessons we can learn from Joshua are significant. Great leaders learn from biblical role models. It seems that leading is a performance art. If you lead well, one day you will be called “the servant of the Lord.”

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¹R. M. Stogdill, Handbook of Leadership: A Survey of the Literature (New York: Free Press, 1974).
²W. G. Bennis and B. Nanus, Leaders: The Strategies for Taking Charge (New York: Harper & Row, 1985).

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*All Scriptures are from the New International Version, unless otherwise indicated.