Leaders in Scripture
The five steps are older than any leadership book.
Short studies of leaders in the Bible: what happened, what the leader did, and what to try with your own team this week. Each study connects to one step of the LEADS Path.
The Studies
Eighteen studies. Five steps.
Grouped by the LEADS step each study teaches.
01 / Listen
Job and His Friends
Three friends who did everything right for seven days, and then started talking.
- PassageJob 1–2 and 42
- LessonPresence before explanation
02 / Listen
Rehoboam
He asked for advice, ignored the people who knew, and lost most of a kingdom in one meeting.
- Passage1 Kings 12
- LessonAsking is not the same as listening
03 / Listen
Samuel and Eli
An old priest who had stopped acting on what he heard, and the boy he taught to listen.
- Passage1 Samuel 2–3
- LessonHearing without acting is not listening
04 / Listen
Abigail
One person with the courage to speak, and a future king angry enough to kill who stopped and listened.
- Passage1 Samuel 25
- LessonBe a leader people can speak to
05 / Earn Trust
David and Nathan
A king hid a failure. A friend with access and courage named the failure to his face.
- Passage2 Samuel 11–12
- LessonLeaders own failure first
06 / Earn Trust
Ruth and Boaz
A widow with nothing and a landowner with everything. Both showed loyalty in action.
- PassageRuth 1–4
- LessonLoyalty is shown, in the open
07 / Earn Trust
Joseph
Thirteen years in a house, a prison, and a forgotten corner before anyone handed him a nation.
- PassageGenesis 39–41
- LessonFaithful in every setting
08 / Earn Trust
Daniel
His rivals audited his whole career looking for something to use, and found nothing.
- PassageDaniel 1 and 6
- LessonFaithful in private and in public
09 / Earn Trust
Amos
A shepherd with no title, sent to tell a successful nation the truth.
- PassageAmos 1–7
- LessonPrivilege raises accountability
10 / Allow Autonomy
Jesus and the Seventy-Two
A purpose, a partner, a few clear instructions, and real authority. Then he let them go.
- PassageLuke 10:1–24
- LessonGive the purpose and release the outcome
11 / Delegate Authority
Moses and Jethro
Moses decided everything, from morning until evening. His father-in-law told him to stop.
- PassageExodus 18
- LessonHand over authority, not only tasks
12 / Delegate Authority
Nehemiah
A cupbearer with no building experience, a broken wall, and fifty-two days.
- PassageNehemiah 1–6
- LessonEvery section needs one owner
13 / Delegate Authority
Jesus and the Twelve
He chose a small, mismatched group to be with him first, and then gave them his authority.
- PassageMark 3 and 6
- LessonWith him first, then sent
14 / Share Leadership
Joshua
Forty years as an assistant, one public handoff, and a warning at the end.
- PassageNumbers 27 and Joshua 1
- LessonDevelop the next leader in public
15 / Share Leadership
Barnabas
He vouched for a man nobody trusted, went and found him, and let him take the lead.
- PassageActs 4, 9, 11, 13, 15
- LessonSpend your credibility on someone else
16 / Share Leadership
Deborah and Barak
She led a nation by calling someone else to lead the battle, and went with him when he asked.
- PassageJudges 4–5
- LessonCall others to lead, and share the credit
17 / Share Leadership
Elijah and Elisha
An exhausted prophet who thought he was the only one left, and the farmer who would not leave him.
- Passage1 Kings 19 and 2 Kings 2
- LessonThe answer to burnout includes a successor
18 / Character
Esther and Mordecai
A queen who was safe in silence, and the cousin who asked what her position was for.
- PassageEsther 4–8
- LessonPosition has a purpose
Go Further
The same pattern runs through church history.
From Athanasius to Bonhoeffer, leaders who held to the truth and equipped ordinary people.
Find out where your team stands.
The LEADS Self-Check takes five minutes and shows which step to work on first.