Katara Washington Patton - Successful Leaders of the Bible

You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.

(Genesis 50:20, NLT)

Every human being has a dream at one point or another. Kids dream about growing up and being teachers, firefighters, or police officers. Teens dream about being independent and free from their parents. Adults dream about creating a good life for their families. Successful leadership starts off with a dream, whether big or smalla desire to be better, a desire to do better, or a desire to help someone else.

Yet life will show us that dreams dont often happen as we play them out in our minds; they grow and morph and change. And the mark of a successful leader is that he or she can grow and change with those dreams even when they seem faraway and out of reach. The way a person handles setbacks and challenges can be an accurate predictor of his or her ability to be a successful leader. We can all do good work under great conditions, with the support of our team, the love of our family, and encouragement from friends. But what happens when things go sideways or when youre the only one believing in your dream? Do you give up and bury the dream? Do you rehearse the issues, deciding the circumstances at hand are too overwhelming to overcome? A successful leader keeps moving forward, no matter how gloomy the forecast appears. He is always looking for new opportunities and paths to get to the goal. She uses adverse conditions to regroup and double up her efforts to forge ahead. True leaders have an inner determination to follow their dreams and vision no matter what happens. Even when their dreams seem far off, they hold on to their goals.

Look at Josephs life. He exemplifies perseverance. He was given a dream at a very young age, as many of us are too, but he had no idea what he would go through to reach that goal. Yet his setbacks did not deter him; they propelled him to grow into a successful leader.

When we first meet Joseph in Genesis 37, he was his fathers favorite son. Joseph was born to Jacob, also named Israel, in his late age (Genesis 37:3) and with the woman he loved the most (Rachel). Joseph was born into lovehe was wanted and cherished and nurtured (oh, for every child to have this privilege). Joseph was the golden child, the one who garnered sweet memories as his father gazed upon him. Joseph was the one who received the best handpicked gifts from his father. If he lived today, hed be the best-dressed child in class. Hed be the one with the expensive education. With all the privileges afforded to him, one would think Joseph was destined to be a leader. But even the privileged have to be developed into leaders. Your ability may seem naturaland it may be even God-givenbut it will need to be developed. And like it or not, our best lessons and opportunities for growth come from our setbacks. How you handle adversity will determine your propensity for success.