Leadership Lessons from the life of Joseph – Part I: A Vision for Life (Genesis 37)

Posted: August 7th, 2009

Over the next few weeks we will be taking a look at the life of Joseph.  Joseph’s importance in the Biblical narrative is in part signified by the amount written about him.  Fully 13 of the 50 chapters in the book of Genesis (chapters 37-50) are about his story. This compares to only 4 about Noah, in fact, only Abraham has as much written about him in this book.  Also in the life of Joseph we also clearly see the growth of a leader.   He did not start as a great leader, but he grew into it, from a young boy stumbling about what to do with a great vision from God, to the Prime Minister of Egypt.  Joseph clearly grew into the role.

As mentioned, one of the first things we see about the life of Joseph is his vision. His vision was not just about anything, the vision itself was about his role as a leader:

“Listen to this dream I had:  We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed to it.(Genesis 37:6b-7)”

Clearly this dream had him as a great leader.  As a leaders you to need to have a vision; you need a vision about who you want to be, and what great things you want to accomplish.  The vision, at least in part, must drive you inspire you to go on, to achieve and to make a difference.  Observing the story of Joseph from Genesis 37 we can learn a number of things about a vision.

First and most importantly a proper vision comes from God. Joseph’s vision came in the form a clear dream from God.  Now not everyone will experience such a vivid dream to reveal our mission to us.  In most cases a vision will be for something that you feel God leading you in, an area you are passionate about, and in an area where God has blessed you with appropriate skills.  Be sure to prayerfully contemplate a vision you are planning to pursue.  Trust God to confirm any initial impression you have.  God confirmed Joseph’s first dream by giving him a second dream, a different dream but one that pointed to the same point.

A second point can be seen in the reaction of those around him.  As Joseph shared his vision and dream he was ridiculed by those around him. This is a problem that frequently happens to people involved in a home-based business.  They have a vision for a better life for themselves and those around them.  They see themselves being successful, maybe far beyond were they currently are.  In their excitement they share this with those closest to them, and those people ridicule their ideas, laughing at them.  This is what happened to Joseph.

The first people Joseph told were his brothers.  By now we were already told how:

“they hated him, and could not speak a kind word to him (Genesis 37:4b)”

So their negative reaction was probably expected.  However Joseph also got the same reaction when he told his father:

“When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, ‘What is this dream you had?  Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you? (Genesis 37:10)”

In light of this you might be asking if you should bother telling your loved ones about your dream.  You should be wise about it who you tell.  For example, we already knew that Joseph’s brothers “hated” him even before this dream, so in this case maybe he should have just kept his vision to himself.  Especially after his second dream – he already knew how they had reacted the first time he had told them, and he insisted on telling them again!  I believe Joseph should have discerned that his brothers would have reacted negatively and not mention his vision to them.

Now his father might be a different story.

“[Jacob] loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in old age; (Genesis 37:3b).”

I can understand why Joseph would have told Jacob it makes sense.  But as we saw, even Jacob who loved Joseph so much ridiculed him.  It’s amazing how people will ridicule you even though they love you and want the best for you – the problem is that too often they insist that they know what is best for you, and it can’t be the vision you’ve just brought them.

Having said all this it is important to note that some with a strong vision won’t be able to keep it a secret.  As John Maxwell writes,

“No leader’s vision can be kept a secret.  When vision is shared in the right way, it can enhance a person’s leadership.  But when it’s done in the wrong way, it creates problems. And that, of course, is what got Joseph in trouble.”

So the answer to the original question is that you must be discerning about whom you share your vision with.  Certainly you should share it with your spouse if that applies to you, and you should also have some loved ones that know, just be careful.   The key is that when you do face ridicule, that you don’t let it bother you.  Keep your attitude positive, and let the vision drive you forward. That’s what Joseph did, there is no sign that he got upset or depressed, he just continued forward.

A final point to note about Joseph’s vision is that he didn’t reach it immediately. In fact there were about 23 years that passed between being sold in to slavery and being appointed the Prime Minister of Egypt.  Joseph had to grow and develop his leadership skills.  Obviously when he was young he didn’t have the people skills necessary to lead others, but as he grew he developed those skills. God needed time to shape him into a man that could lead a nation through a period of tremendous struggle and famine.

So clearly having a vision is important, however you need to make sure that vision is God given.  You need to be discerning about whom you share your vision with, and expect some of those closest to you to laugh at you, and put your vision down.  And finally you need to be patient, don’t expect to reach the vision over night.  Trust God to help you grow into the person you need to achieve your dream.

Written by: Danny Gamache

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