Proverbs 20:26-30 – Tips to effective leadership

Proverbs 20:26-30 are counsels to kings. In his context as a king, Solomon speaks of wisdom, on how a king should conduct and act. For us, these verses can be applied to what we should do as leaders. In our role in leading or guiding people who look up to our leadership, these verses give us tips on how we must act and conduct ourselves too. Take note that leadership is an action, not a position.

In Proverbs 20:8, Solomon tells us that a king’s business is to administer justice. He must do so with wisdom. It reminds us to lead with wisdom so that we can be fair to the people we are leading., However, being fair requires us, as leaders, to discipline recalcitrant. We see this in Proverbs 20:26. Using the process of separating the grains from the chaff, we are shown that leadership requires us to deal harshly with the wicked. A wise leader does not just have the ability to identify evil, he must also deal with it severely and crush it.

In conjunction with leadership and how we need to act, Proverbs 20:27 shows us how critical it is for a leader to act with an enlightened conscience. For this matter, each one of us, whether leader or not, must learn to be guided by a God-educated conscience. There is a place within each of us that is spiritual in nature. It’s the place where the Spirit of God witnesses with our spirit. When we stay connected to God in this place all the time, we find great guidance to act rightly. When our conscience is touched and educated by the Spirit of God through the Word, we have a quickened conscience to guide us to act in ways that are pleasing to God. We will be guided to act rightly and appropriately. God searches our innermost being and when we are receptive, we will be imbued with divine insightfulness to act accurately.  

Proverbs 20:28 shows leaders that their authority must be exercised with integrity. Loyalty and truth are two critical elements that a king or a leader must have. When they are evident is a leader, his leadership will be sought and relied upon. Besides loyalty and truth, a leader must also exercise and uphold his role with uprightness.  

While we need physical prowess to energize our leadership, we will be remiss if we do not come to it with wisdom. The “young” is a symbol of strength and energy and in the “grey hair” we find tested experience. Proverbs 20:29 suggests that we need both energy and the wisdom of experience to guide us into effectiveness as a leader. Here’s another way to apply this proverb. The young must learn to respect the old and the old must learn not to despise the young. In so doing, we complement each other’s strength and supplement each other’s lack.  

Proverbs 20:30 says, “Stripes that wound scour away evil, and strokes reach the innermost parts.” What is it telling us? If we are to exercise leadership wisely and effectively, we cannot dismiss adopting desperate measures when they are called for. Discipline is warranted to remove unwanted behaviours. Steps taken to correct a wrong must be able to deal with the flaws effectually. No point using measures that will gross over a wrong and not dealt with it. Effective measures are what will leave a deep imprint so that the offender will not want to repeat the same mistake again.

Spiritual Leadership is influence. We must make bringing out the best in others for the Lord, as a constant goal in exercising leadership. It will require us to teach, counsel, coach and even to take harsh measures. But always keep at the forefront of our minds that we do it to bring out the best in others.