I have selected Joseph of the Book of Genesis for this project. Aside from the Lord Jesus, I cannot think of a person who exemplifies strategic leadership better than Joseph. Joseph had to overcome hardships to become the leader needed for the situation: Youthful pride Betrayal by his brothers False accusations Wrongful imprisonment Forgotten by those he asked to help him

The Lord God used Joseph for His strategy of saving His People: The Leadership of Joseph can be categorized into: Strategic Thinking Strategic Influence Strategic Action Strategic Leadership

Non-strategic thinking: As a young man, Joseph was shown a glimpse of his future, but he failed to include others. He alienated his brothers and triggered their jealousy Changed Thinking: After being sold to slavery, Joseph must have learned to work with people for Potiphar, his master quickly understood his potential Strategic thinking means to include people (Hughes, Beatty & Dinwoodie, 2014).

Joseph opened up and allowed himself to be led. Strategic leadership “involves ongoing, collaborative learning, and that means strategic leaders must create a climate where they not only exert strategic leadership themselves but encourage strategic leadership from others” (Hughes, Beatty & Dinwoodie, 2014, p. 154). Joseph allowed his strategic thinking to do what was right in God’s eyes even if it cost him is job, freedom and even his life. Joseph was blessed, therefore, in whatever he put his hands to do.

Strategic thinking requires vision: Stephen Covey’s number two habit of highly successful people is “Begin with the end in mind” (n.d.). “If you don’t know where you are going, your leadership doesn’t matter” (Blanchard, as cited in Johnson, 2001, p. 37). Joseph seemed to never loose sight of heaven for him (as well as for us) it was “the end” that we need to keep in mind.

Joseph’s gift of Influence: 1. Potiphar’s household - put in charge of the servants and everything except the personal affairs of Potiphar. 2. Prison - put in charge of the prisoners. This was probably a work detail. He did such a great job, the prison warden did not need to do anything. 3. Egypt - put in charge of the storing of grain for the nation.

A Leader must have credibility in order to be followed willfully. Components of Credibility: Expertise Trust Credibility is necessary with followers as well as with supervisors: Joseph had both: Joseph had the trust of the servants, prisoners and the Egyptian people. Potiphar, the Prison Warden and Pharaoh trusted his expertise to lead.

Four Elements of Strategic Acting: Only some actions are strategic Strategic acting is both short term and long term Strategic acting is an opportunity for learning Strategic acting always involves uncertainty (Hughes, Beatty & Dinwoodie, 2014, p. 105).

Elements of Joseph’s Strategic Actions: Joseph’s youthful actions were not strategic, even though God gave him dreams of the future. His actions only made trouble for himself and those around him. Joseph worked in the short term to gain a reputation for hard work and diligence. God used this for the long term to save many people. Joseph learned through his failures to lose his pride and to seek the glory of God. Joseph spent many years in slavery and prison with an uncertain future.

What is strategic leadership? “Individuals and teams enact strategic leadership when they create the direction, alignment, and commitment needed to achieve the enduring performance potential of the organization” (Hughes, Beatty & Dinwoodie 2014, p.11). Strategic leadership is for the betterment of the whole organization and involves many individuals or teams of individuals.

Joseph showed strategic leadership: In Potiphar’s house: “Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned” (Genesis 39:4b, NIV) In Prison: “So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.” (Genesis 39:22-23, NIV).

Conditioned to be a leader: Joseph rose from Prisoner to Chief Operations Officer in a few moments but the conditioning for his rise had taken years. Joseph was proven to be effective: Potiphar did not worry for anything with Joseph in charge The prison warden did not worry for anything with Joseph in charge Then, Pharaoh did not need to worry for anything with Joseph in charge.

The Lord God’s strategic plan: Develop Joseph through hardship, trials and suffering Grant favor to Joseph among people because of his faithfulness Elevate Joseph when he proved himself worthy of leading Continue to bless Joseph before the Egyptian nation Use Joseph to save the Egyptian nation and use it to save His people of Israel. Allow Joseph to forgive his brothers.

Joseph’s story speaks to us: Know that God wants to lead us Know that God loves us even in our failures, pain and hopelessness Trust that God has a plan Trust that heaven is the ultimate strategic goal for ourselves and others. Therefore, we should: Be faithful to God even in suffering Be faithful to God even when the future is not clear Behave in a manner that glorifies the Lord Jesus Look for God’s leading in the short term and long term