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Joshua provides a great example of the Law of Influence. Consider where Joshua started. He was one of the twelve selected to spy out the Promised Land. Numbers 13:2 says these spies were “every one a leader.” If all 12 spies had given a good report on the Promised Land, the people of Israel likely would have obeyed God and crossed into the land. But ten tribal leaders—who were scared about what they saw—led the people astray. They lied, claiming the land “devours its inhabitants” (Numbers 13:32).
Unfortunately, those ten leaders died of plague and all of their followers died in the desert.
Fortunately, Joshua was determined to improve as a leader. He continued to be faithful to God and learn as much as he could from Moses. I see many parallels between Joshua’s growth (and his mentoring by Moses) and my own journey (with my mentoring from Natalie–see my recent post for more about her leadership). Let’s look at some of those parallels:
1. The follower’s influence grew because of his relationship with the leader
Because of Moses’ mentorship, Joshua not only polished his skills, but the people accepted him as their leader. The Bible says, “Then Moses called Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, ‘Be strong and of good courage, for you must go with this people to the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall cause them to inherit it’” (Deuteronomy 31:7). In this way, Moses imparted authority to Joshua.
In the same way, Natalie introduced me as the Acting Director of Human Resources to our Senior Staff at the Johnson Space Center as well as to our own Human Resources Office team. As a result, I was immediately accepted as the new leader.
In addition, a behind-the-scenes look at the past five years reveals how Natalie has offered me direct insight into her leadership—often pausing to explain a decision she made or an approach she took. This mentoring and guidance has me very prepared for the next steps in my career.
2. The follower’s influence grew with time and maturity
If you compared the speeches Joshua gave to the people of Israel in Numbers 14:1-10 with the one found in Joshua 18:1-10, there are a lot of similarities in the words he used. The difference? The second time, a mature Joshua spoke to a new generation.
For me, I can look back and see the value of experience as a teacher. Recently, I worked with our team to help navigate a very difficult external audit. From that experience, my teammates could see my growth and leadership. Once team members saw my leadership skills in action, their confidence to follow only increased.
3. The follower’s influence grew because of timing
Sometimes a leader has little influence until his followers want to go somewhere. Only when the Jews were tired of wandering in the desert did they heed Joshua’s words. In fact, they responded by saying, “All that you command us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go” (Joshua 1:16).
Our organization is at a unique venture, as our Center Director has initiated several organization changes, trying to instill a mindset that is lean, agile, and adaptive to change. Our HR Director is trying to help her achieve this transformation by helping a few key organizations understand how to merge their cultures and identify efficiencies. By stepping away to tackle these new challenges, she leaves me with a great opportunity…timing is right for us to develop a Workforce Strategy that supports NASA’s Journey to Mars!
4. The follower’s influence grew because he possessed patience and integrity
Joshua continued to grow patiently even after the people suggested that he be stoned in Numbers 14. While Joshua didn’t die in the wilderness, he was forced to wander in the desert for 40 years through no fault of his own. It could have been easy for Joshua to say that was “unfair” and become angry, disgruntled, and cynical. But Joshua continued to display great consistency and credibility—until the last people were ready to follow.
Patience was one of my key themes from last year, as I still seek to learn that Fruit of the Spirit better (see my October 22, 2014 post on the Patience Bible Study). And integrity is a core value (along with excellence and improvement) that I learned from both my grandfather & father, who taught me consistently to do what I say. So, my hope is that—like Joshua—my influence will grow due to both my patience and my integrity. I do know that my team members consistently appreciate the calming influence I have on our organization. May that continue throughout 2015!
And—like Joshua—I seek to do the right thing. From the beginning, Joshua wanted to lead the people in the right direction. His message never changed, and eventually everyone saw that he was right.
Leadership is all about influence, and Joshua demonstrates that influence comes down to character and conviction. May your character and conviction serve you well, as you shoot for the stars!