Abraham
The Entrepreneurial Leader
The first leader that we looked at in our class is Abraham. He is called the Entrepreneurial Leader. He is charged with leading his people based on the vision that God gave him. Proverbs 29:18 says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” People can follow a leader that they trust and that has a clear plan for where he is going. An unknown author once said, “Leadership usually begins with a vision of success; a glimmering intuition that solutions to problems are possible.” God chose to make Abraham a great and mighty leader. His name was originally “Abram” which means, “exalted father”. God promised that he would be the “father of many nations” and therefore changed his name to “Abraham”. Abraham is known as the father of the Israelites.
He was a successful leader because he had many strengths. In today’s world, he would have been called an innovator and a pacesetter. He was good at meeting people and getting people to trust him quickly. He stayed in very close fellowship to God and therefore heard specific instructions from Him often. He was able to rally the people around him when they were feeling discouraged. Abraham was able to use the vision that God had placed in his heart to motivate those around him. Dr. Towns notes that Abraham would be classified as Choleric in temperament. That can be a good thing when you recognize that Cholerics are often known as those who get things done. He was also known because of the long-term commitment he made to following God’s covenant.
Abraham’s Choleric temperament also lead to the exposure of some of his weaknesses. Sometimes Choleric leaders get so caught up in doing what needs to be done that they don’t communicate their vision clearly. By moving too fast, it is also hard for them to build up a loyal group to follow them. There were times that Abraham was tempted in the absence of a clear vision. God told him that he would be the father of many nations, yet his wife was barren. Therefore, Abraham and Sarah decided that they would continue their family through Sarah’s maidservant Hagar. Abraham slept with her and she became pregnant and bore him a son named Ishmael. God reminded Abraham that he had made a covenant with him and did not intend to break that promise.
When Sarah was very old, she became pregnant and had a son named Isaac. Abraham finally slowed down long enough to recognize that Isaac was part of the fulfillment of God’s promise. When God asked Abraham to bring Isaac to the altar to sacrifice him, Abraham went willingly because he knew God would provide. I’m sure this was a time of loneliness in Abraham’s life. Of course, God did provide a ram for the sacrifice and spared the life of Isaac.
Abraham had many opportunities to give direction to those in need of a leader. He was able to motivate people to move from where they were to the place that God had prepared for them to be. He used his gifts of encouragement and motivation to help them endure long days that were difficult and didn’t seem to get them closer to realizing God’s promise.
There were all sorts of obstacles along the way. Some threats facing the Entrepreneurial Leader include defective vision, unnecessary or extreme risks, a non-receptive culture, difficulty raising support, and a lack of skills and followers. Abraham faced some of these threats, but he continued to press on to chase the vision that God had placed before him.
Genesis 25:8 says, “Abraham breathed his last and died in a ripe old age, an old man and satisfied with life; and he was gathered to his people.” As a leader, many people followed Abraham. He is noted often as an example of faith because he never lived on this earth with Christ or after His death that provided our salvation. Abraham believed very strongly in the power of God and he was able to convince many people to run hard after Him.